Day 1
Friday, February 3, 2024
The drive from my house to Tybee Island is just over two hundred and fifty miles. About two thirds is interstate. I knew there was one side trip along the way. But, no rush to get out.
Blue sky, relatively light traffic, some righteous music and the day was starting out just about perfect. I rounded Macon early enough I didn't want to stop. Instead, hopping off I-16 an hour and a half later in the town of Statesboro.
I hadn't visited Eagle Rock Brewery before, and they did offer food. It seemed the perfect place. It was. And they're definitely on the list for a possible revisit.
From Statesboro, I had two choices, the direct route back to I-16, or the slower, not too scenic route of Hwy 80. If only I had checked the traffic first.
Just a couple of miles east, two miles past Pembroke , everything stopped cold. As far as I could see ahead, nothing was moving there, either. It turned out to be a truck fire. As I settled in to wait it out, a fire truck, ambulance and two state police vehicles drove by on the shoulder, lights spinning.
The pin on the map shows approximately where the fire was. It's just a few exits further to Savannah.
As southern drivers tend to do, they got impatient and started making up their own driving rules. The driver two cars back even got out, and started a conversation with the guy in the left lane.
After about an hour and a half, the State Police started slowly driving the outside shoulder and telling us all to turn around. The interstate was closed. What we didn't know at the time was the police had closed it back at the previous exit. Anyone coming east was forced to take that exit. This allowed everyone else to turn around without encountering new vehicles. First the cars. Yes, this felt weird.
Eventually, it was both lanes headed westward in the eastboumd lanes. Once all the cars had turned around, all those big trucks had to do it, too.
We hadn't gone very far when the police started feeding everyone through one of those "Authorized Vehicles Only" areas between the east and west lanes. So, imagine this... Normal westbound traffic, plus suddenly that huge clog of cars formerly going east. It took a while, but it eventually settled out. The left lane was slow, but moving. The right lane was everyone trying to get back to the previous exit, Pembroke. It took another hour and a half to get to the exit 1.7 miles back.
Everyone seemed to be headed north to Hwy 80, which was also clogged. So instead, I went south to Hwy 204. It was dark by then and I really had no idea where I was going. But, I knew 204 would eventually cross I-95 and feed into one of the main roads through Savannah.
I did eventually make it to the motel. I was hoping to be there by 5P, so I'd get sunset. Instead, I rolled in around 8P, safe and sound. But, thoroughly spend.
Day 2
Saturday, February 4, 2023
My official last day as far as Discovery corporate was concerned had been the day before. I gave it no thought as the phone alarm went off. A check of the weather, 45 degrees. But, I could hear the wind outside. Time to bundle up.
Like so many times before, I crossed the dunes for sunrise.
While used to photographers scattered along the beach, this was the first time I'd seen a gaggle huddled together under the fishing pier. One thing you learn along the way, photographers in a group means something. It turned out this was day one of six where the sun was due to rise directly in line with the inside of the pier's pilings. This day was shaping up really well.
By now, there were eight of us huddled together, chatting and waiting the twenty minutes for sunrise. That's when two more joined us, along with two models. Note the photographers bundled up, as well as the wind driven waves. We were all cold and couldn't imagine what these two young women were going through.
Suddenly they were off, wrapped in blankets and we had the pier back. Just in time...
Ordinarily, I'd take my first day and walk up the beach to my favorite lunch spot, just under two miles away. With the wind on the beach, I wasn't feeling it. Strange, I don't think I've ever taken the sidewalk. But, one block off the beach and the wind was still steady, just not quite as fierce. I've seen the nature trail sign before, but don't remember having ever explored it. It's named after local artist and all around character Sally Pierce. Sadly, she died four years ago at the age of ninety. You can read her son's tribute to her here:
It's a short trail leading to a few overlooks of the marsh...
A little further up is a place I often see people fishing. More often than not, they have company.
Eventually winding up at my favorite lunch place, a quickly little place called Huck-a-Poos. Yeah, I know. I stop here once on almost every trip. But, it's the right combination of quirky, friendly and the food is really good. Just remember, one slice here is the size of two elsewhere. So, order accordingly. After lunch, it was back out to the beach. For the walk back, the wind would be behind me, not in my face. It still makes for a cold walk though.
As you might have guessed, there were very few people out on the beach. Very few birds, too.
When it was time to venture back out for sunset, the wind had picked up again. Sure, it wasn't the most exciting sunset. But, it's still sunset on the beach...
When booking this trip, I did what I usually do and checked concert listings. While there wasn't anyone playing in Savannah, there was a show just up the road at the Tybee Post Theater.
The theater was built here in 1930. Fort Screven was still an active fort and this was the base theater. After WWII, the base was declared surplus. The fort was sold to the city of Savannah. The theater was bought by the owners of another independent moviehouse. They renamed it The Beach Theater. In the mid-'60s, multiplexes started appearing in Savannah and drew away their customers. The theater closed and remained empty for thirty years. That all changed in 1999 when a developer applied for a demolition permit. The city of Tybee Island stepped in, leased the abandoned theater, blocking its demolition. Two years later, the Tybee Island Historical Society purchased the building.
Friends of the Tybee Theater was also formed in an effort to raise money for renovation. In 2015, it reopened.
The two bands on the bill played bluegrass, in their own styles. By now you know, I'm almost always up for live music. So, I bought a ticket. I was a little early, so I got my pick of seating.
Before I left the house Friday morning, an email from Human Resource popped up in my inbox. The email informed me my Separation Agreement with Discovery would appear later that day. But, I couldn't sign it until Saturday, after my employment officially ended. So, I opened the agreement and started reading the agreement as the theater filled. There were the agreed details about severance pay and benefits, some other routine stuff and a reminder not to share insider company secrets. That's easy since I really didn't know any.
After hitting the acknowledgment button, a box appeared. Sign here with your finger. After a few tries, I got something close, clicked the second acknowledgement button. And thus like that, it was truly over.
And with perfect theatrical timing, the lights dimmed and The Yellow Dandies walked out on stage.
Their style is a bit more tongue in cheek with lyrics that can seem a bit twisted. You can stream some of their songs from their website. A few songs got a little too silly for me. But, they're obviously talented musicians
The second band was Swamptooth. There were a few traditional covers, but nothing else I recognized. They definitely won me over with their playing. To get an idea what they sounded like, here's the video for their song, "Platinum Blonde." Or this live show from a music festival last year. The audio isn't the best, but okay.
