R and J in the USA

There have been some great songs written about Georgia. Once you’ve been, it’s easy to see why. And we came over that state line singing! As we went down to Georgia, Julie was dancing her face off to one of her favorite songs, playing a mean air fiddle while Charlie Daniels gave the devil his due on a real one. Before long, Ray Charles and Gladys Knight and the Pips had all given us the full welcome to the Peach State and we were off to the races – literally. 

We rolled into Georgia on a tight schedule. Having just left our South Carolina 5K in Graniteville, we went directly to our Georgia 5K in Danielsville. Who better to take us there than Charlie Daniels himself!?

We arrived on the beautiful 160-acre property of Camp Kiwanis, part of the Metro Atlanta Boys and Girls Club, on a rainy day. The event was slated to be a 5K run followed by an optional polar plunge. Julie was excited to use the polar plunge to check off her Georgia swim right out the gate. However, the rain had other plans for us. By the time we arrived at the riverside event location in the woods, the river had risen over 10 feet and was a raging brown rush of current filled with large pieces of debris – and even whole trees – floating down its path. As a result, the polar plunge was wisely cancelled. 

The race scene was a wonderful welcome into Georgia. It felt great to be out in the woods, and it was a smallish race full of fun-spirited, welcoming folks. We were enjoying our time in Georgia right off the bat.

Our Georgia 5K was a stark juxtaposition to our South Carolina’s, which we ran just a few hours earlier. After a relatively flat course on sound pavement in South Carolina, our Georgia trail run wound up and down wooded paths on wet leaves and down muddy dirt roads. You can read more about how delightful and difficult the race was in our 5K section.

Conquering the course’s multiple hills required physical and mental fortitude – and a little help from a new friend. Julie and Cindy’s friendship was forged mid-race in the fires of moderate, but very real, pain. This new friendship quickly birthed a camaraderie and determination that Julie and Cindy used to make it up the last wooded hill together.

We got a chance to hang out with our new Georgia buddies, Cindy and Gary, after the race. They welcomed us to Georgia with good times, big smiles, and that beautiful Georgia lilt. To our upstate New York ears, attuned to unmusical speech full of flat a and nasally o sounds, that Georgia drawl was like music. We would have enjoyed talking to Cindy and Gary either way, but listening to their southern cadence made it that much better. You can read more about Cindy and Gary in our People Along the Way section.

Since we came into Georgia straight from our South Carolina race, we hadn’t yet completed our South Carolina end of state tasks. So, we remained parked in the peaceful post-race setting of Camp Kiwanis and spent the afternoon writing our blog posts – and Julie wrote her South Carolina ode.

Julie writes a song for every state we visit. The original goal was to post each song on our blog as we traveled from state to state, but the technical aspects of making the songs post-worthy proved to be a higher hurdle than practical given our time and resources. Though not posted, the songs are written. With the completion of the Georgia song, Julie has 42 songs in her state song repertoire.

Julie sends a shoddily-recorded version of each song as she completes them to a small group of friends and family to make the accomplishment official. If you are reading this, and we know each other, and you have a state whose song you want to hear, shoot Julie a text. She will happily be interested to hear what you think of it!

Having written over forty songs in eight months, each new song finds Julie feeling more and more intimidated by the task of creating another one. As we sat in the van rounding out our end of state tasks, Julie opened up her voice memos to listen to the little nuggets of musical inspiration she gathered throughout South Carolina and found enough there to be the basis of what would become song #41. A wave of relief washed over her as her South Carolina ode just poured out. The process felt somewhat miraculous, just as it did the forty times previous.

After an afternoon of blog writing and ode creating, we made our way to a parking spot in nearby Athens, Georgia, home to the University of Georgia. 

Our second day in Georgia was a very special day – Ryan’s birthday! (You can tell which of us is writing this post, because Ryan would never call his birthday a very special day, but Julie most DEFINITELY would.) Julie was excited about her list of special birthday presents she had cooked up for her dear husband.

She had given her first present the day before. We had a plastic bag filled with the remnants of takeout food and containers we had not yet gotten to cleaning out. Julie would usually be obsessive about cleaning out all the plastic containers and putting them in our recycling bag (which takes up a lot of room in our space-constrained van), storing the plastic takeout bag for reuse, and emptying any leftover food into the compost bucket. Ryan is not against any of these things, and he goes along without complaint. But Julie knows that, on his happiest day, Ryan would prioritize ease of function over reduce, reuse, recycle. To celebrate the anniversary of his birth, Julie said to Ryan, “Babe, I saved you this bag of recyclable and compostable items. I will raise no objections, if you would like to simply throw this away.”

For those in the early days of a courtship, romance might look more like flowers or chocolates, or candle-lit dinners. For those married folks out there, you know and understand. This was the ultimate romantic gesture, and Ryan savored the moment (cover your eyes and ears environmentalists) of tossing that whole bag right into the trash, free from any whining, wincing, or objection from Julie, reveling in how quick and easy it was. There are those out there that understand, this is love.

Julie’s next present to Ryan was to free him from the final blog posting tasks so that he could go to a coffee shop and work exclusively on his own writing projects. It’s not that we don’t love keeping up this blog, but it takes time and energy that we typically want to use for our other writing projects.

Julie’s final, and perhaps greatest, birthday present to Ryan was refraining from giving him her daily sleep report. Julie is obsessed with sleep. One of her favorite things to do each morning is report on the quality of her past night’s sleep. Ryan is a loving and wonderful husband, and Julie is quite aware that he gracefully tolerates, rather than celebrates, this behavior. Out of love for Ryan, Julie restrained herself, against all of her natural instincts, to share any sleep reports with Ryan on his birthday. When unbridled in her full sleep reports glory, her instinct is to go full on ESPN post-game analysis. But, on this special day of days, Julie kept the whole dang thing to herself. When one is married, these are the gifts that really show how much you care. She also got him some chocolate, a few cards, and a book, but these were mere tokens compared to the value delivered by her other, significantly more meaningful presents.

Nature also had a present to give. Since we returned to the mainland from Hawaii a month ago, the weather had been some version of cold or wet. We’ve still enjoyed our time, but without an assist from the weather. Ryan’s birthday saw a reprieve from the wet and unseasonably cold streak. We enjoyed a full day of the most perfect blue clouded sky and lovely 60-degree temperatures.

We spent the day wandering around the town of Athens and the campus of University of Georgia. It was really the perfect birthday day for Ryan. For all sorts of reasons, we have spent our trip with schedules and itineraries. Though we often change our schedules or abandon them completely for a more relaxed mood or pace, there was no question that, for it to be truly a Ryan’s birthday kind of day, it would have to be a day free of checking watches, free to follow curiosity and wander without goal or agenda. This is where Ryan thrives, and that is the day we had.

We walked up and down the main streets of Athens, soaking up the blue skies, architecture, and fun, hip, Georgia vibe of this college town. Julie was uber focused on playing backseat to Ryan’s whims and wanderings, until he said, “Feel free to mention any store you want to go into…” So then that happened. Before long, Julie wandered into a store that was as girly a store as you could find, filled with gorgeous clothing and earrings. Not only did she walk out of the store with a new pair of boots in her favorite turquoise blue, the store yielded one among our most fun encounters of the trip, which you can read about in our People Along the Way section. 

After walking the streets of Athens, making new friends, and getting our fill of blue skies and sunshine, Ryan’s birthday continued to be one of highlights as we landed ourselves in a perfect campsite at Fort Yargo State Park. We rolled into the campground having no idea what we would find. What we came upon was a camping spot on the edge of a beautiful lake that reinvigorated us both in ways we didn’t know we needed. It had been a while since the locations and the season had afforded us the type of campsite we’d enjoyed plenty of in our first five or six months on the road. We didn’t realize how much we missed it until we had it again. It was another slice of what Julie refers to as birthday magic. Ryan doesn’t refer to anything as birthday magic, but you can be sure, he was feeling it. We closed up a wonderful day playing our Roadtrip Triva game and finding ourselves enchanted by how many questions (including the truly obscure deep cuts) we were able to answer thanks to our travels. It was a good day. Do you know on which highway features the world’s largest collection of scrap metal sculptures along a 32 mile stretch? Not to brag, but, we do. Okay, we are bragging.

At this point, we were running up against some itinerary realities. We had already extended our trip by four days when we opted to stay longer in Hawaii to avoid flight paths through the LA fires and the Dallas ice storm. As a result, if we were to stick to our planned itinerary, we’d have to reduce our Georgia time to just three days. This was not enough time for the things we wanted to do in Georgia. Thus, we decided we’d give ourselves a full five days in Georgia and reassess how we would handle the rest of our trip timeline.

We relished a lakeside morning in the van at Fort Yargo State Park. We knew we had lots to see in Atlanta that afternoon, but we had no desire to leave our lovely spot. Julie considered trying to get her Georgia swim in at the lake ten feet away from the van. She used our meat thermometer to check the water temperature. Once the needle dropped below fifty, she decided to hold out hope that the ocean would be just a touch warmer. Water temperatures in the 40s are manageable given that she would be in her wetsuit and in the water for a short amount of time, but laziness becomes a factor, and she more than happily succumbed to it.

We headed to the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, enjoying taking in the architecture and history as usual. Julie dove into the exhibits housed on the third floor of the capitol building and took in as much of Georgia culture and history and ecology information as she could. 

After our Georgia 5K, we had asked our new friends Cindy and Gary if there were any must-do Georgia activities. They recommended the Georgia culinary delights of fried green tomatoes, fried okra, and grits. Julie had been all over finding a place in Atlanta to take in these foods despite her dietary restrictions. She found a place that offered gluten free versions of all of those things, including gluten free chicken and waffles. Heck yes! We arrived there to find that Julie had not been as studious in making sure the dishes were dairy free as she was making sure they were gluten free. The gluten free batter had buttermilk in it and the grits were loaded with heavy cream. Julie faced a dilemma. She was committed to never eating gluten, since she has too many memories of it taking her months to recover to full health after eating it thanks to her thyroid condition. Dairy, on the other hand… “Well, that’s just a piddly little allergy,” Julie thought. “I can handle one little allergic reaction. I can’t miss out on fried green tomatoes and okra.” She opted to skip the heavy cream in the grits, but figured the buttermilk in the fried green tomatoes and fried okra wouldn’t be so bad and would be worth it. Fried green tomatoes, okra, chicken and waffles galore! Julie ate as much of it as she could until she couldn’t physically force her body to willingly take in any more dairy. Julie’s reaction to dairy is subtle, and it’s easy to convince herself that there are no effects, until she happens to notice she feels like a pile of donkey doo doo for the next 48 hours. Regrets? Zero. Those fried green tomatoes were worth it!

We parked overnight in the driveway of a Boondockers Welcome host (a program like Airbnb where people offer up their driveways for free to RV travelers) in an Atlanta suburb.  In the morning, we made our way to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum and Library. Ryan was a little kid when Jimmy Carter was president, and Julie had only just entered the world to catch the last year and a half of his time in office, so we both had plenty to learn about him. We don’t know how people felt when Carter was in office – we know he didn’t win a second term – but what we do know is we were both blown away by the man and his accomplishments. We both found ourselves in awe and inspired to learn about the peace accords he was instrumental in brokering between Israel and Egypt. The exhibit left us both feeling inspired about what determined humans can accomplish and hopeful in the face of the hardships that remain in this world. We were further inspired as we learned about all of the things that he and the Carter Center have done in the world since his presidency. 

A very different and more indulgent kind of inspiration occurred after the museum. On the way to the museum Julie’s eye caught a sign that sent glee through her body and squeals of excitement into the air – Hattie B’s Hot Chicken. The hot chicken we had enjoyed (twice) in Nashville was a franchise. And they had locations in Atlanta! We did not know this in advance, but you better believe we made a stop for lunch. It’s just so dang good. 

Our next stop was one that generated some significant excitement. No. We are not talking about the 40-foot-tall peanut in Ashburn, Georgia. We wanted to visit that attraction in the Peanut Capital of the World, but we had a choice to make. We only had enough time to hit one of two special stops on our way to Savannah. It was either a statue to the legume that, though it has filled millions of kids’ lunchboxes over the years with PB & J joy, has been a bringer of anaphylaxis for Julie. OR, we could visit the infamous Sac-O-Suds and the Jasper County courthouse. Those of you who already know what we are talking about know that it was no contest. We pulled into the town of Monticello, Georgia, and as soon as the familiar town square hit our eyes Julie was asking, “Ya famous for ya mud? How’s your Chinese food?” Yes, dear friends, much of our beloved My Cousin Vinny was filmed not in Alabama, but in Monticello, Georgia. We had a blast picking out spots from the movie. Folks in town didn’t seem to be all that impressed with their cinematic history. There were no signs marking any of the spots featured in the movie. The guard at the Jasper County Courthouse had never seen the movie. As we snapped pictures around the town square, we could hear Vinny yelling at us, “Gotta let everyone know you’re a tourist?” It was a neat town with an eclectic blend of a small-town southern feel with some chic metropolitan flair thrown in. 

After running amok like two yoots in Monticello, we made our way to Savannah, Georgia. We arrived after dark and checked out a potential overnight parking spot along the hopping scene of River Street. River Street was beautiful and charming. The street was cobblestone, which is romantic and picturesque to look at, and a pain in the butt to drive down. We decided it wasn’t the right parking spot for us and headed towards a spot on Tybee Island near their famed lighthouse and found a perfect spot with ocean air to enjoy. Though the next morning was cold and rainy, we enjoyed a walk through the neighborhood streets and jaunt over to the beach. We learned a lot of local history from the various placards posted throughout the lighthouse area. Julie enjoyed a run in the rain, and we could barely pull ourselves away from a productive morning in the van. We grabbed some bubble tea on Tybee’s main drag and some postcards before heading into Savannah.

On our way to Savannah, we stopped at Fort Pulaski. On a sunny day this would have been a beautiful spot to spend the day wandering and hiking. Even in the rain, though, it was interesting to visit. We learned the significant role that Fort Pulaski played in American history on multiple levels. 

By the time we got into Savannah proper it was already after 4:00 PM. So much for spending four hours wandering the city. We’d barely have two. But it was an enjoyable, relaxed two hours.

After parking, we strolled over to Chippewa Square, where the famous bus stop bench scenes from Forrest Gump were filmed. This was our third Forrest Gump site of the trip, after driving a curve he ran up on Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina and visiting the spot where he stopped running near Monument Valley in Utah.

We happened into the Savannah Theater, which lays claim to being the oldest and longest continually operating theater in the United States.

We made our way to Forsyth Park to take in its famed fountain.

Along the way, we wandered past the campus of SCAD, the Savannah College of Art and Design, and enjoyed their multi-media, immersive, welcome video experience. Being inside the main SCAD building was like being in a modern-day Hogwarts. We left inspired by the creativity that oozed out of it.

There is something fantastical and magical to the feel of walking through the streets of Savannah. The trees, the hanging moss, the architecture – it is simply gorgeous. There is also history on every corner. Some of it is inspiring history. Some of it is horrifying, and a reminder of the blood and enslavement for which Savannah had been a central hub. Such reminders are a good thing, even though what they remind us of is not. Overall, we left Savannah enchanted. 

We ended our day with a two-hour drive south to Jekyll Island. Julie had had the good fortune to hit Jekyll Island on her solo van trip the year before when she had worked on completing her musical, so she had gotten a chance to see it in the sunshine. We arrived in darkness this time, but had a sunshine-filled morning in the campground and afternoon near the ocean.

As for Julie’s Georgia swim, well, that is another story. After missing out on the planned polar plunge in a river on day one, wimping out thanks to laziness and cold temperatures on a lake on day two (and also not enough information to know if there were or were not alligators in said lake and no interest to find out the hard way), the last option for a natural Georgia swim would be the ocean. Our morning in Tybee Island was cold and rainy and time wound quickly to a close. Julie figured, well, there’s still Jekyll Island. When we arrived at Jekyll Island, the beaches were completely empty, but Julie was optimistic about her swim, as the water looked fairly calm with very modest waves.

That’s when we saw a sign. The sign read, “Caution. Tide Covers Sandbar 10’ Depth. Strong Currents”. Now, if you ask us what this means, we do not know. However, here is what we do know. One’s response to a “caution” sign changes with age. In decade one, it’s “What does caution mean?”, as you proceed to stick a fork in a light-socket for research. In decade two, it’s “Caution-shmaution”. You know what it means, but, not only do you not care, the more you are urged to be cautious, the more enticing an adventure it is. By your twenties, it becomes a bit of, “Caution? Booo-ring.”. This of course leads you to do enough things that, by your thirties, the tone has changed a bit. Now it’s, “Hmm…caution? Well, let’s decide if it’s worth it.” By the time your 40’s and 50’s roll around, or, at least for us, its, “Caution? Oh my goodness, THANK YOU for the heads up. Whatever it is, it is not worth it. Let’s go take a nap.” So, was it probably fine to pop into the water with a wetsuit and swim ten strokes and get out? Probably. Julie had done it in North Carolina’s waters with much bigger waves (but with a deus-ex-machina style young lifeguard that magically appeared at the right moment to accompany her in). But, this time, going into that water, alone, with no lifeguards in sight and having no idea what a tide covering a sandbar 10’ depth means and having zero desire to find out the hard way, Julie surrendered her outdoor Georgia swim.

So, we stayed an extra night on Jekyll Island to be able to swing by the Golden Isles YMCA in the morning where Julie grabbed some laps. Until surrendering to indoor swimming a handful of states ago, Julie wasn’t ever thinking of that as an option, but, now that she’s done it in a bunch of states, she’s found it’s actually a really neat way to learn about life in a particular place. There are all of these little details about a town and a community that shine through in whatever center has the indoor pool. After Julie got in a few laps, we made a last Georgia stop at a gift shop that had abalone, all sorts of gems and jewels, and, of course, alligator heads. A wonderful reminder of why being choosy on outdoor swimming in Georgia is an okay thing.

There is something about Georgia that put us at ease and helped us reconnect to the trip in ways we didn’t even know we needed. There is a spirit of inspiration, fun, community, and creativity that seems to have gotten in our bones a bit. It’s not something we specifically felt lacking elsewhere, but it is something that got into us here. There is a romance to Georgia that kind of floats in the air and seeps into your bones. It’s no wonder that Georgia might get on one’s mind. We are sure it will be on ours long after we leave.