More Time in Georgia

More time in Georgia

Yay for the Seahawks! I can’t say I spoke to any “fans” of the Hawks at the Wee Pub, but there were folks who don’t like the Patriots so they were rooting for the Hawks. I had a fine time chatting with several Georgians at the bar, only one of whom was a bit of a jerk. He’s lived most of his life in the Bay Area and declared in a friendly manner that he “left the Bay Area and moved to America.” I actually didn’t know how to interpret his comment and only figured it out the next day. Probably a good thing because I would have sniped right back if had understood it as the insult he intended with it.

If you ever visit the Golden Isles of Georgia I can’t recommend the campground on Jekyll Island…it was well kept but packed with RVs practically bumper to bumper. There’s also a bit of a “proud of colonization” vibe with the historic markers focused on white people with lots of money. The headline of one of the markers was something like “the history of this land,” which I thought would be about the indigenous people who lived there before settlers came along. I was wrong…it was about the wealthy man who owned the big fancy house in the 1800s. Yawn.

The oak trees here are breathtaking, as they were in Savannah. This photo is of a tree harvested in the mid 1800s which proceeded to came back with not one trunk, but five of them! Spectacular!

I left the island and walked around Brunswick, having forgotten that this was the town where Ahmed Arbery was murdered…there’s a street named in his honor.

I had planned on staying at Cracker Barrel that night but went to a restaurant to listen to live music before I headed there…it’s not fun to sit in the van in the parking lot so I wanted to get to CB closer to bedtime. I started chatting with a man, Tom, and soon we were sharing stories of our adventures…me in the van, he living on his sailboat at the local marina and preparing for a sailing trip to the Bahamas. Although I had reminded myself before going to the restaurant to be cagey if anyone asked where I was staying (for safety), I told Tom without hesitation. He wasn’t the least bit creepy, I knew he had a girlfriend and he was a retired firefighter…what could go wrong? Nothing, in fact it went just right! He invited me to park in the marina parking lot and enjoy the bathroom, the shower, the laundry, happy hour, yoga!! I hemmed and hawed for a minute and then said “it’ll sure beat the Cracker Barrel!”

I spent three nights there, hanging out with Tom some of the time and enjoying the amenities. Our conversations went all over the place, including him talking about his experience as the fire chief when the pandemic hit. His first-hand experience made very real the hardship first responders faced. For example, the impact of sick calls on the workforce when first responders got COVID. Or the process of disinfecting and making sure not to bring anything into the firehouse after being on a call or bringing anything home when their shift ended. It reminds me, too, of what a big damn deal the pandemic was and how for the must part, we all just keep keepin’ on. For many, though, that keepin’ on comes at great cost, whether acknowledged or not.

I had my fan resealed, learned that the power issue was the result of the cold weather reducing the operation of the house battery, spent some time at the library, and enjoyed the sea air and sailor’s vibe of a marina with visitors and live-aboards.

I headed to Mistletoe State Park which is surrounded by a lake with many fingers…I find the water calming and only wish it was warm enough to jump in. A heavy downpour proved the reseal of the fan effective…that’s a relief.

I was planning to leave for Athens but got a pretty bad cold and figured I’d stay here one more day so I could take it easy. I found out that a long time friend lives near Knoxville so I’ll work my way there after Athens – it’s been many years and I’m looking forward to catching up. From there I’ll likely go to three national parks – the Smoky Mountains (TN), then Mammoth Cave (KY), and then the New River Gorge (WVA) with stops here and there in between.

I finally got a good shot of my new favorite animal…the armadillo.