April 17, 2015
Savannah to Point South
We woke to rain. Well, we had been very lucky to date. Of our 21 riding days (out of the 27 total days of our trip), we had never ridden in the rain. And in Georgia, it had rained all around us, and in the evenings we've had several downpours, but not once while riding. This is beyond being lucky! Until now. Or so it seemed.
As we repacked our bags and assembled the panniers and gear on our bikes (we had been on the second floor of the Thunderbird Inn, a walk-up), the rain miraculously stopped. Amazing. But it looked threatening, and temperatures were chilly, about 57 degrees. So we donned our recently purchased leg warmers, put on long-sleeved jerseys, and I added my rain jacket, in part to keep me warm and in part to be more visible to drivers. All this was a big change from the prior three weeks, but that is touring!
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So after our goodbyes to the delightful staff at the Thunderbird, we headed north on Fahm Street and took a left on Bay. The only way north from Savannah was one of two crossings: either the Talmadge Memorial Bridge, a significant cable-stayed bridge carrying US-17 but lacking bicycle and pedestrian facilities, or the N Coastal Highway bridge further upstream (Houlihan Bridge). The latter option, of course, made eminent sense and also allowed us to drop by a Waffle House on the way out of town for breakfast!
The only drawback to this route is that it leads to the Port of Savannah, so there was much truck traffic, but all were well-behaved. And the Waffle House was a hoot. Friendly and outgoing staff, as usual, made special by Kelley, who was our server extraordinaire!
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Of course, during breakfast, it opened up again and really came down hard. But for some reason, as we were getting ready to pull out again, it stopped. Granted, the roads were still wet, but I'll take that any day!
We continued west, passing through Garden City and Port Wentworth. And the further west we went, the less traffic there was, so crossing the Houlihan Bridge was rather easy and painless (even enjoyable!).
There were two more subsequent bridges, both very traditional fixed-span crossings, that provided nice views of the river and surrounding Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.
And after the second crossing, we came to our third state on this sojourn, the Palmetto State, South Carolina.
Shortly after this picture, we crossed the 1,000-mile mark of our journey. It almost happened right at the state border but occurred at MP 13, not much further along. This route, also known as Alligator Alley, was fine until we intersected with US-17, which incredibly HAD NO SHOULDERS! I had anticipated this being an unpleasant part of the ride, so we shortly turned off and headed east and then northwest and entered Hardeeville.
We were hoping this might be the hometown of the nearly defunct Hardee's, but nothing indicated such. Just a minor tribute in a city park to the Argent Lumber Company.
This route took us back to US-17 but on a less busy section. Turning north again, we continued to Ridgeland. As we entered town, I indicated to Happy to keep an eye out for a barbeque joint, and before we knew it, we stumbled onto Duke's Bar-B-Q with an all-you-can-eat buffet for $10. Not a bad deal, and I took two plates of fried chicken, pork barbecue, grilled okra, and coleslaw. We were only about 13 miles from the Point South KOA, and I figured, why not?
Why not? Because I should know better. I often only eat fruit and raw veggies while riding, munching as I go along. This was a filling lunch, and I was sluggish the rest of the day. It was hard in fact lol. But we made it and had some nice views along the way.
We finally arrived at the Point South KOA and decided on a "primitive" cabin, as we are both disinclined to camp in the rain, and as we arrived, some light sprinkles were evident.
Today's ride: 52 miles (84 km)
Total: 1,040 miles (1,674 km)
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