Season 2 Episode 22 (10/14-10/15): Sweet Georgia. Hilton Head Island, SC to Savannah, GA to St. Simons Island, GA

Season 2 Episode 22 (10/14-10/15): Sweet Georgia. Hilton Head Island, SC to Savannah, GA to St. Simons Island, GA – 

10/14 Hilton Head Island, SC to Savannah, GA 57 miles, 901’ climbing. 

We left Hilton Head on a high of good feelings from the time with our friends. But we were sad to have to “start up” again. It’s kind of a theme of this trip.

We’ve had a number of “loved ones” visits that pump us up and also make us feel like we are so done. That theme of opposite feelings co-existing goes further. Experience suffering in the rain, yet finding joy in the experience. I’m carrying accumulated soreness and finding challenge in every day, yet having a ton of fun. At about the two week point of the trip, somebody wished me well with the words “I hope you’re having fun.” I thought lots about that at the time. The truth is, along with the daily physical hurdles, we are having a blast. There have been several times I’ve cried from laughing so hard. And to us, the challenge is part of the fun. Call us warped 😉

I wasn’t looking forward to the first part of our ride - heading off the island - as I recalled it feeling treacherous riding onto the island just a few day earlier. And then as we rode over the final bridge section off the island, Heather and I agreed it was far easier and shorter than we recalled. Why is it that often happens? The return of a trip almost always seem like less distance and easier than the way there?

On highway 17 South approaching Savannah, we had about 20 minutes of harrowing riding. Due to construction, the shoulder was narrowed down and lined with concrete barriers. It was a single lane each way so the cars going in our direction were bunching up behind us without space to pass. A few did pass and honk. It was tense!

As the construction ended and one hurdle was over, the next appeared even closer. There is the Talmadge Memorial Bridge that spans the Savannah River that we’d soon climb and cross.

Coming over the bridge.

Zoom to see my look of fear on high bridges over water. 

Consulting with Kris and Brian at the Trek store. We went there for Heather’s peace of mind as she wanted to check her bike out for our final two week homestretch. I didn’t really want to go and felt my bike was fine. So naturally she needed nothing other than a minor cleaning and tuning; I ended up replacing my chain and rear cassette. Shows how much I know! Both of us left saying our bikes rode much smoother.

Savannah was even more charming than we recalled from our one previous visit. We loved riding through the Historic District and around the various squares: Chatham, Monterey, Pulaski, Lafayette & Madison. 

Mikveh Israel. Founded 1733, just 5 months after the colony of Georgia was established. Present building is from 1878.

Blueberry Flapjack cake. A first for both of us. Maple syrup icing. Delicious late afternoon tide-us-over to dinner. 

Bike path nice and safe for much of the way to our hotel.

We returned all cleaned up to the Temple, in non-neon attire, for a meaningful Friday nightservice. Afterwards, we were greeted by Rabbi Haas who learned we were in town for a single night. Unsolicited, he essentially commanded us that we must go to Leopold Ice Cream. 

At dinner at Treylor Park, I was enamored with the dessert menu Item of Bourbon Pecan Pie a la mode. But how could I disobey a Rabbi’s commandment?

Leopold Ice Cream since 1919. The 11th commandment.

There was a line of 30 people out the door on a cool evening at 8:45 p.m. That was a good sign.

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10/15 Savannah, GA to St. Simons Island, GA 99* miles, 1,033’ climbing. (*Heather did 100 miles as once she saw us at 99, she went back out to get the extra mile for official century ride status!)

As our alarm went off and we lay in bed, I expressed my first thought to Heather and said: “Who the f _ _ _ wants to bike today?”  I imagined having that moment where after running 15,000 miles, Forrest Gump suddenly stops running in Monument Valley and declares: “I'm pretty tired… I think I'll go home now.” I then popped out of bed and put on my cycling clothes. 

Just past the town of Midway, I experienced a terrifying moment that left me in need of pulling over to regroup. I was riding in the shoulder of the road on a two-way country road, with one lane in each direction. The shoulder was kind of bumpy and less smoothly paved than the road. That’s common. So it’s tempting to ride on the road and hop into the shoulder only when you see a car in your mirror behind you. And we’ve both done that on several rides. As I was in the shoulder, with my eyes rotating between checking my mirror, looking at the ground immediately in front of us and looking 10 yards ahead for debris to steer around, I wasn’t looking further ahead. I saw in my mirror there were no cars behind me for a while, so I was about to hop on the road when I felt a whoosh of air, heard the tires roar right by me and saw the last seconds of a car racing towards me and past me coming from the opposite direction. It was passing traffic in its left lane, meaning the lane immediately next to me that I was about to enter. It passed 2’ to my left and was completely unexpected. 

Spanish moss hanging from large oak trees, a typical image of the Lowcountry.

Near Darien, is the Fort King George Historic Site. Established by King George I in 1721, Fort King George was the southernmost British fort in North America and there are remnants. It got me talking with the Park Ranger and I learned to my simple wonder that Georgia was named after King George II (who granted the charter of the colony). It got me thinking much more about what’s in a name. We stopped there to eat and I considered entering the fort site but got eaten alive by mosquitoes in the first 5 minutes so abandoned that idea. 

Just before Brunswick, GA we headed east over the 4-mile long FJ Torres Causeway to St. Simons Island, another in the chain of coastal barrier islands.

The views over the marsh and Back River are spectacular.

Heather said her white chocolate with raspberry was the best ice cream this trip! I’m inclined to agree that Moo Cow is elite. I moaned through every spoonful of my Oatmeal Creme Pie, and Sea Turtle which is sea salt caramel. At minimum it’s better than Leopold’s.

This island was a well kept secret to us! It has a cool, low key vibe. At dinner with live music by the band Touch of Grey, and older women swooning at the band members, it was clear we were in the south. One of the woman next to me said in her southern drawl: “It only takes one drink to get me drunk, I just don’t remember if it’s the 5th or the 6th.”

© Copyright Mark Segal 2022