Midnight in the Garden of Oaks and Freight Trains – 10th and 11th May 2010

10-May

We left Orlando in the morning and headed north east. Before long we were in Daytona Beach. Apart from driving past the Daytona Speedway which is very huge and very cool, we got off the interstate and followed the beach north almost to Jacksonville. It is a pretty part of the world and it was a glorious day. There are no buildings on the ocean side of the road and on the other side, mainly old-fashioned Florida condos.

We passed painlessly through Jacksonville and crossed the state line into Georgia. Near the small town of Jessup on the US 341, where there were grouse and turkey running wild by the road, we turned into the backwoods and found the Mossy Oaks RV Park and Campground. It was quiet as a tomb and very, very beautiful. We parked next to a picnic table among the oaks and firs and not too far from the bath house.
Dinner consisted of Subway sandwiches from nearby Jessup and an adult beverage each. Then we sat and read and played cards by the campfire and watched the fireflies playing in the trees. It was really great.

11-May-10

We bid goodbye to the Mossy Oaks and drove the two hours or so to the fine city of Savannah. We drove right into the historic downtown district and jumped onto a trolley tour. The trolley was really an open-air bus all trimmed in wood very old-fashioned. The driver and tour guide was a really funny and informative woman called Pooky. Yup. Pooky. The tour went for a bit over an hour and a half and exhaustively covered every historic building, city square (there are 24) and every period of the stunning history of this beautiful city.

After the tour we spent several hours walking around the city and exploring. It was superb and left us feeling like it would be a stunning place to live. It must be one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Among many other things, we saw the Mercer House, which was originally the house of the famous musician Johnny Mercer’s grandfather, and later the house of millionaire Jim Williams, who was (also famously) tried for the murder of his handyman/lover, as portrayed in the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

We were going to buy a copy of the book but the cheapest we could find it was $15, which is about triple the going rate for a paperback book here in the US.

In the late afternoon, we drove north out of Savannah, crossed the South Carolina border. The highway here is bordered by dense woods on both sides and it’s very pretty. Pia saw a deer in the woods. We stopped for the night at a campground behind a motel (and right next to a railway track) in the small town of St. George.

Mark's Dream Rig - Kenworth W-900L with 120-inch sleeper and that's a 53-foot trailer there. Total length about 23 meters. These rigs are like luxury RV's inside.

Daytona Speedway, absolutely huge

Mossy Oaks Campground, Georgia

Mercer House, Savannah, Georgia

Johnny Mercer Himself. Pia Rushed In.

That flower bed is where they put the white bench and bus-stop for the movie 'Forrest Gump'. The bench is now in a local museum, but you can buy another just like it from the local Home Depot (like Bunnings), that's where the movie makers got it. We saw a man walking down this street dressed as Forrest Gump and learned that he works at the local Cinema (built in the 1890's)

The grave of Button Gwinnett, signer of the Declaration of Independence and President of Georgia.

'Bird Girl', statue from 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'. The original was in Bonaventure Cemetary but has been relocated to the Savannah Museum, for its own protection. A replica stands in the cemetary.