Three Days in Georgia

April 11, 2024 to April 13, 2024

Kingsland to Savannah

The chronic two-day backlog has stretched to three. That's the number of days it takes to cover Georgia's coastal route, so let's just clear the decks right here.

Thursday - To Brunswick

The rain started early this morning. It's still dark at 7:00 and already Mike is packed up and sitting under the covered porch at the KOA office. The man has skills.

Back at our tent the rain fly can't keep out the water that is seeping in from the soaked ground around it. Fortunately most of my stuff is in waterproof panniers; just a few things are sitting in the puddle.

By 8 am we're already past the 3/4" of rain forecasted for today.

Kingsland is in the middle of a storm system that's dumping rain from the Gulf to North Carolina. We'll be here for awhile. Luckily the KOA has a nice breakfast room where we can hang out. Free waffles with juice and coffee are the loss leader; for six bucks you can add two eggs and bacon.

When the rain stops we go back out to rescue the tent from the pond it's now sitting in. Around 2:00 after wringing stuff out as best we can, we're on the road. Originally there was a thought of camping on Jekyll Island tonight but it's too far to go at this point, and too wet. We'll settle for the next available hotel, 35 miles away.

We'll just hang out here with the RVers until this blows over.

Regrettably, Barry's panniers are not waterproof.

A tailwind pushes us along on this steamy afternoon.

No tenting tonight. The ground is soupy.

We've been on the East Coast Greenway since arriving in Georgia. U.S.17 doesn't feel much like a greenway. Just south of Woodbine an ECG points us a little ways west to a real one - a three mile segment of the Georgia Coast Rail Trail. It's part of a plan for a 68 mile trail that will eventually run from Kingsland north to Riceboro.

At the south end of Brunswick, the Econo Lodge has a big fence in the back that's perfect for drying out the tent. The smaller stuff hangs around the room to dry. There will be no grand dinners tonight; microwave lasagna will do fine.

Friday - to Townsend

Unlike the beachy Florida scene, we won't see much of the ocean on the Georgia coastal route. We're around the midpoint in an area called the Golden Isles - a cluster of barrier islands. It's a swampy land of estuaries, marshes and forests as you can see on the map at the bottom.

This estuary snakes down to Jekyll Island

The rumble strips have migrated off the white line io the middle of the shoulder. Aggressive.

Miles away we see our hill for the day. The majestic Sidney Lanier Bridge, 7780 feet long and 486 feet high, is my favorite kind, a cable-stay bridge.

The right lane is blocked off for some kind of work under the bridge, giving us a wide passage on the bikes all the way to the top.

Looking out over the Turtle River to Jekyll Island from the top of the bridge.

This historic port city of Brunswick sits at the other end of the bridge. George Washington recognized it as one of five original ports of entry for the colonies. The Union army burned much of the city during the Civil War. In the historic district we ride by beautifully restored 19th century homes.

Construction on the Old City Hall began in 1886. It was restored and reopened in 2004.

We pick up some sandwiches for lunch at the Winn-Dixie and ride on into miles of road construction on U.S. 17. They are widening the road which is good; there's not a lot of space here to share with the cars. Matters improve when we get to the new lane which is closed to cars. The construction workers don't seem to mind us riding through here. One of them in a huge tractor pulls to the side to let us pass and gives us a friendly wave.

At a construction stop with one way traffic there must be 40 or 50 cars waiting in line. There's room to ride up the shoulder to the stop where the flagman waves us on so we have a little stretch all to ourselves. Lucky timing.

Lunch is at a little park by the Champney River Park. A nice breeze keeps the mosquitos away.

Monument to the Butler family of authors. Frances Butler wrote "Ten Years on a Georgia Plantation" about her life here during Reconstruction after the Civil War.

In Darien we escape U.S. 17 for the rest of the day, turning off on to a beautiful scenic byway that takes us to the Fort King George State Historic Site. Established in 1721 to block Spanish and French expansion, the fort was the southernmost outpost of the British Empire in the North America. The blockhouse prevented French and Spanish ships from entering the mouth of the Altamaha River. Tidal-powered mills here got the lumber industry going. The steam-powered mills that replaced them drove Darien to become a powerhouse during the Industrial Revolution.

Replica of the blockhouse at Fort King George

Looking towards the Altamaha River from the blockhouse

The next 13 miles on the scenic byway are very pleasant until the last four miles when we turn west, straight into a forcefield of a headwind. We battle on to the Country Inn in Townsend.

This motel is the cheapest place I can remember staying in - $54.50, reserved on Booking.com. When Mike got there first, as he always does, they asked him what rate I negotiated. Shoulda gone lower. This place is pretty grimy, but all the camping tends to lower one's standards. It does have surprisingly nice thick towels, and at 290 square feet it's bigger than your typical cheap motel room, helpful for cramming in three bikes.

We hit the Piggly Wiggly for supplies and walk to dinner at the Altman restaurant.

My first visit to a Piggly Wiggly - say that three times fast.

Saturday - to Savannah

We have tire concerns today. Mike pulled a four inch nail out of his rear tire (tubeless) yesterday. He plugged it and reinflated it, seems to be holding. Barry has a worrisome chunk of tire peeling off. He's found a bike shop in Savannah that has a suitable replacement. We just have to cover 52 miles before they close at 5. Shouldn't be a problem.

The trees to our left are doing a good job of blocking the crosswind from the west.

I'm having more trouble than usual moving the bike this morning. Barry can't ride this slow so he goes ahead, which is fine. After a bio break I figure out the problem. My rear tire is flat. It's my first flat on this bike that I bought a year ago from my friend Hank. He claims he never had a flat. Changing it with the Rohloff hub and the disc brake is more complicated than I can handle on my own so I call Barry. He's over two miles ahead of me already but cheerfully turns around.

He can't find a hole in the tube but a new one fixes the problem. Now it's 11:30 and I've covered 9 of our 52 miles. Time to step it up.

We pass a lot of historic markers in a hurry, slogging through 25 miles of traffic and construction to Savannah. There's a bike lane for a few miles of respite but none of it is fun. To cap it off, while Barry waits for me on the shoulder, a UPS truck hits his left pannier. No damage, but it's disturbing. It's the first time he's had a vehicle make contact with his bike.

Midway Congregational Church, completed in 1792, now houses the Midway Museum

Star Bike Shop has the tire Barry wants. It's six miles south of the Savannah historic center, doubling back from the direction we came from. We didn't plan this well. As I follow Barry down there I wonder why I'm even going. I don't actually need anything. Mike is headed there too.

When I catch up with them at the shop, a sign on the door says they closed early due to a family emergency. We turn around and ride back to our home stay for two nights back in the historic district. Our 52 mile day has turned into 62 for me, more for Barry.

Mike asks if I want to draft behind him back to our destination but I can't hang, too pooped.

Robert Cooper is our WarmShowers host for the next two nights, and the only one in Savannah. Super nice guy. As we enjoy the hearty meal of beans with sausage and rice he has cooked up for us he shares lots of great intel on the route ahead and how to avoid U.S. 17 as we ride into South Carolina on Monday. Tomorrow we'll enjoy Savannah's charms.

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Today's ride: 143 miles (230 km)
Total: 823 miles (1,324 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	9
Comment on this entry	Comment	6

Scott AndersonThese good stories just keep on coming!
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7 months ago

Bob DistelbergSorry you missed Jekyll Island, but that rain definitely didn't sound like fun.
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7 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Bob DistelbergI wasn't taking any chances on another soggy campground here in the low country.
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7 months ago

Cheryl KellerI love reading your journal. Thank you for sharing your journey. It looks like a great adventure ! 🚲🚲🚲🫶
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7 months ago

Janice BranhamThanks Cheryl. So great to see you here!
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7 months ago

Rachael AndersonSorry you are having so many problems!
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7 months ago