Road Trip – Day 9 Tuesday, April 5th
It poured last night! The sound of the driving rain and booming thunder woke me up several times during the night. By morning, the rain had ended and the sky was clearing. It was windy, but the weather was promising. We took our time in the morning because we didn’t have far to go. The ride from Beaufort to Savannah was just a little over an hour on the two-lane slow-road, Route 17, and we took a detour to see Hilton Head Island first.
On The Way South to Hilton Head
Near the southern tip of South Carolina, Hilton Head Island is the largest ocean island between New Jersey to Florida. It was named by Captain William Hilton who identified the headlands of Port Royal Sound and named the island after himself. Neither of us had ever been to Hilton Head, so we both were curious about it. From Beaufort, we took Okatie Highway/Route 120 south across tidal wetlands. Then Fording Island Road/Route 278 continued east into Hilton Head Island. Today the island is 30,000 acres of mini-malls, upscale golf courses, resorts, estates, and expensive housing developments.
Residential Street in Hilton Head, SC
As we drove along the road, we saw many shopping centers and big department stores in too many malls. There were two large outlet malls next to each other. Every national chain store seemed to be represented.
A Public Park
The last bridge finally brought us onto the island and we arrived at a toll-road. We paid the toll and continued to the interior of the island. Jeff had read that the local people make every attempt to preserve the natural beauty of the island by encouraging the growth of the trees and plants. We both noticed the thick vegetation and dense trees on the island. There are many lovely well-maintained houses and apartment/condo complexes. Bicycles and bike lanes are everywhere. Unfortunately, access to the beach seemed limited because the private houses lined the ocean beaches.
Look-Out Over Marsh Grass
We bought a couple of sandwiches at Bess’ Delicatessen and drove to a public park to have our lunch. We had an enjoyable time sitting under a covered gazebo which extended out above marsh grasses. It was a peaceful, quiet, and lovely park.
We drove off Hilton Head Island and continued the 20 miles to Savannah, Georgia on the slow road. The advantage to being a “shun-piker” is avoiding the stressful fast highways and seeing the scenic beauty along the back roads. The disadvantage is entering a city from the “back door”is you see urban decay, factories along the river, commercial warehouses, and where the poor people live. Our entry into Savannah was from the gritty side. We drove over the bridge and smelled the now familiar scent of a paper processing plant and turned onto River Street.
This was a narrow old cobblestone street which ran along the waterfront. One could imagine what it must have been like there a hundred fifty to two hundred years ago with commercial wooden sailing ships tied to the wharf. Old warehouses lined both sides of the street, which reminded me of South Street Seaport and the old Fulton Fish Market in New York City. The buildings here had been transformed into tourist shops, bars, and restaurants. My car bumped along the cobblestones and we turned right at the end onto Bull Street and found the “Historic District” up the hill and inland a little.
We drove around to get a feel for the geography and to quickly see the famous district. There are 22 lovely squares interspersed every few blocks and the old city was built on a grid, so it’s impossible to get lost. Each of the squares is different with its own statue or fountain and distinctive history. We drove and parked near several squares that looked photogenic. Large old live-oak trees dripping with Spanish-moss lined some of the more beautiful streets and squares. My brother calls them “fuzzy trees”.
According to a guidebook, Savannah was named “the most beautiful city in North America” by the Parisian newspaper Le Monde. We decided that the editors must not have visited Antebellum Charleston or Victorian Cape May. Savannah is a large city of about 130,000 people and the down town historic area is lovely. However, Charleston, South Carolina seemed more gentile and user-friendly.
We decided not to stay in Savannah, and after consulting Tripadvisor.com we drove toward Route 95 and stayed at the Hampton Inn – Savannah Gateway. By this time in our journey, we discovered that the Hampton Inns were very clean, safe, and reasonably priced. They all must have been recently renovated and modernized when they became part of the Hilton organization. All of them seemed to be newly decorated with charming black & white photographs. For a comparatively low rate, breakfast and free functional Wifi were included.
Although we didn’t actually travel very far today, we saw a lot. The weather improved and by the end of the day, it was warm and humid. All in all, it was a good day.