On the Road--Down South: Albany, Georgia to Savannah, Georgia

I woke up early yesterday (June 10) to put Albany, Georgia behind me, heading for the East Coast. Not far out of town, I noticed widely spaced rows of tall trees, the sort of trees for which the word "stately" might have been coined--tall, elegant trees. I guessed they might be pecan trees, and so they were, my conjecture confirmed by the many roadside signs for pecans and the logos of pecan growers on a number of buildings. I took the back roads, mostly Georgia 300, through Cordele, then 280 through Abbeville, McRae, and Alamo, before heading north on 221 as far as Soperton to join I-16 to Savannah. Saw Black Vultures, Mockingbirds and Cardinals along the road and a few stranger sights, including a rather buxom replica of the Statue of Liberty in one town and giant cement roosters and pigs in front of an IGA market in a place I can't name. "Piglet" is the name of a chain of convenience stores here.

Savannah is a rather pretty town. It has many small squares. These all have tall trees, benches, and, inevitably, a monument of some sort in the middle. A statue of Georgia founder Oglethorpe stands in Oglethorpe Square. There are many old houses and buildings of brick or masonry with character that give the place a great deal of visual interest. I spent most of the day wandering the streets. Down by the river are some interesting remnants of cobblestone paving and canal work. The old red stone Cotton Exchange is impressive. There's a winged lion in front made of the same stone. Is there some connection with Venice? According to the plaque out front, Savannah in its heyday was the largest cotton shipping port on the US East Coast and the second-largest in the world (the plaque neglects to say second to what other city, but it was probably New Orleans), handling two million bales of cotton a year. Dinner at a place called Garibaldi's, which was not bad at all--caprese salad and duck with a nice glass of Vermentino. Today off to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge to look for birds. The weather appears to have cleared.