MORE SAVANNAH

Hesitant to leave too soon we decided to visit the beach and do some ocean swimming at Tybee Beach, a mere 15 minutes from downtown.

Located on an adjacent island, link by causeways and surrounded by waterways, Tybee Beach seemed empty by usual beach standards. The surf was rough from the recent storm but the water was warm (80 degrees) and perfect for wave diving and playing in the surf.

On the way back we stopped at Fort Pulaski National Monument and toured this incredible architectural reminant of the Civil War, complete with cannonball-pocked walls and alligators swimming in the moat that surrounded the fortress. A strange sense of peace pervades this place where a battle once raged; a seemingly feral racoon makes an unusual daytime appearance and a few tourists flock to take it’s photo which seems to confuse the animal and encourage a potentially dangerous reaction. I fucking love this place.

Returning to Savannah and our favorite coffee house The Sentient Bean, we ruminate on what we should do next and decide to leave for Athens, driving into the hinterlands. Past the open fields of the forever South and Confederate flags proudly hung we make a stop in Statesboro for a mediocre meal consumed on a curb in a a parking lot. Night falls, and we pass through towns where dogs wander freely, no one has chilled seltzer, and people seem to be consistently large in girth. We stop to piss on a pitch-black two lane highway and hear a the sad rumble of a train in the distance. Bleary eyed we can only go so far as Thomson, finding that motels are considerably less expensive the further one gets away from culture.