"The Scenic Route to Columbia, SC"

The next morning, John and I were awakened by Mary, who was standing up in her crib and fussing for us to come and get her. Though we tried to ignore her in hopes that she would go back to sleep, it just didn't work, so we decided that it was time to get up and start the day. After we got dressed, the three of us went to the breakfast lounge to fix ourselves a plate of food. Then, we took our plates up to Lotte and Richard's suite, which, like the day before, was full of sluggish activity, as Bill and Erika were preparing to leave and all of the others were just getting motivated. We asked them how their party went last night, and they replied that it didn't go on too late at all. We told them that we fell asleep soon after getting back to our room - John didn't know why he was so tired, but he was thankful that he did not go to their party last night, because he needed the sleep. He then got the evil idea of calling Janice and Danny to wake them up, as a way of saying "Thank you" for their wake up call the night before. The others egged him on, so he made the call. At 8:00 a.m., we said our good-byes to Bill and Erika and wished them a safe trip back to Phoenix. For some time after that, the activity level in the room died down, which gave John and me a chance to talk to Aunt Lotte about the route we should take to get to Columbia, SC, the next stop on our vacation. Although we could have easily taken the interstate (I-20) to go to South Carolina, John and I wanted to take a more scenic route, even if that meant a longer driving time. This would allow us to see more of the country, that which we would not be able to see while zipping along an interstate at eighty miles an hour. We could also stop at any of the state or national parks along the way, if we were interested. After consulting our road atlas, Lotte found a nice route for us, one that would take us about two and a half to three hours of driving time. She suggested that we take GA 72 to Comer, where we would intersect with SR 22. She chose that route in particular so that we could visit Watson Mill State Park, where we would be able to see Watson Mill covered bridge. From there, we could continue on past the park until we came back to GA 72, which would take us into Carlton, Elberton (the "granite capital of the world", according to Uncle Richard) and finally to Calhoun Falls, SC. In Calhoun Falls, we would turn onto SC 28 to go to McCormick. There, we would be able to take US 378 all the way to Columbia. As soon as we had pinpointed our route, we returned to our room, so that we could pack to leave. Then, around 10:00 that morning, we finally stepped out of the hotel and into the cold, crisp morning air. Although the rains had stopped during the night, the skies were still overcast, covered by a thick layer of threatening gray clouds - we were probably not going to see the sun at all that day. To make matters worse, a chilling wind was blowing across the land, with a not-so-subtle reminder that I was not in Arizona anymore. We loaded our luggage into the rental car then began our long journey to South Carolina. On the way out of Athens, we managed to get ourselves temporarily lost (D'oh!), but it wasn't long before we found our way to GA 72. Soon, we left the city behind and entered into the beautiful Georgian countryside. It wasn't long before we came to the town of Comer, about twenty miles east of Athens. There, we came to the junction with GA 22, which would take us to Watson Mill State Park. We took that south for a few miles, all the while looking for a sign indicating the park. At the last minute, we found it…and drove right past it! (D'oh again!) Upon entering the park, we came to the Watson Mill covered bridge. Built in 1885 by Washington W. King, the old bridge is 229 feet long and spans the South Fork River. It was named for Gabriel Watson, who owned a gristmill nearby. One of fifteen bridges that still exist in Georgia, it was restored around 1970 to the state in which it appears today. Many of the old covered bridges lost out to progress, while others, like Watson Mill, were preserved as National Historic Landmarks, to be enjoyed by visitors for years to come. We drove through the old bridge and parked on the other side, in the parking lot across from the picnic area. There, we all got out of the car and took pictures of the bridge and of the rushing river beneath it. I'll have to admit that I was truly impressed by the South Fork River, and by all of the rivers and creeks that I had seen thus far. "Wow!" I said to John as we drove over a creek the day before. "The creeks actually have water in them!" In Arizona, it's not unusual for most of the creeks and rivers to be dry. "Yeah, but we're in the South now," John replied, in his best southern accent. "'Round here, a creek without water in it is called a ditch." The South Fork River was probably the most impressive, though, because of its waterfall. On one side of the bridge, the river drops off sharply over a twenty or thirty foot cliff, forming a rushing waterfall. The sound of it was quite relaxing to me, but we couldn't tell if it frightened or excited Mary, for she clung to us whenever we got too close to the water but continued to smile brightly. There were trails all over the park, two of which left from the picnic areas at which we were parked. Though we would have loved to do a little hiking there, it was just too cold to do so. Eventually, we decided that we had lingered long enough out in the cold air, so we got back into the car and continued our journey. We stayed on that road until it brought us back to GA 72, only a few miles away. Once we were back on the highway, Mary fell asleep, giving us a little bit of quiet, relaxing driving time. After passing through Carlton, we came to the town of Elberton, which, as we had been told, was the "Granite Capital of the World"…seriously! There is even a granite museum, for those who want to know more about granite. (We did not stop, of course, because we really didn't want to know more about granite, nor did we want to wake Mary up.) As we drove further into town, we passed by a high school with granite bleachers surrounding their football field - I guess if you live in the granite capital of the world, you can get the product dirt cheap. We had been planning to stop in Elberton for lunch, but with Mary asleep, we decided to snack on cookies and pretzels until we came to Calhoun Falls, SC. Located just across the great Savannah River, which forms the border between Georgia and South Carolina, Calhoun Falls was another recommended stopping place along our route. Lotte suggested that we stop there to see Calhoun Falls State Park, but we had decided to skip it, especially after we failed to find a place to eat there. Instead of wasting our time looking for an open restaurant, we turned onto SC 28 and drove to McCormick. A few miles before we came to McCormick, Mary woke up…and she was hungry. We managed to make it to McCormick before she erupted into screams, but unfortunately, we could not find a restaurant quick enough to get her out of her car seat before she began to share her misery with us. After driving around town for several minutes, we finally found a Hardee's (or what they call Carl's Jr. in the South), where we stopped to eat lunch. Once Mary had a few chicken nuggets and some French fries in her, she was completely happy again, much to our relief. To add to her excitement, we taught her a new trick: how to drink out of a straw. Although the bubbles in the Dr. Pepper tickled her nose at first, she was thrilled that she was able to master this new trick so quickly - this was definitely more fun than drinking out of a sippy cup! Stuffed full of food, we left the restaurant and took Mary outside so that we could run her, in hopes that she would fall asleep for the rest of the drive to Columbia. We took her out to a grassy area and let her run to her heart's content. Then, when it got to be too cold outside, we put her back in the car and drove like mad. Unfortunately, she didn't make it to Columbia. She made it to about Lake Murray (where Lotte and Richard own a lake house) before she started screaming again. We made two more stops - one at an old abandoned home along the highway and another at a convenience store - before we finally made it to the Interstate, on the outskirts of Columbia. Our first stop in Columbia was the Chakowskis' house. John was able to get us there mostly from memory, even though it had been ten years since his last visit to South Carolina. They lived in subdivision, built in the 1960's, near the junction of I-20 and I-26. Their home, like all of the other homes in the neighborhood, is a single-story red brick home with large front and back yards. In the backyard, Grandma Sofie keeps a little greenhouse, where all of her plants are well protected from the cold weather. When we arrived, Grandpa was taking a nap, so we didn't stay for very long, so as not to disturb his slumber. After visiting with Grandma, we left her and continued on to Aunt Lotte and Uncle Richard's house. Their home was located close to the University, in a neighborhood of older, antebellum-style homes, built in the earlier part of the twentieth century. Though only single story, the ceilings were so tall that, from the outside, it almost seemed like there should be a second story up there. Additionally, it was so large that it easily accommodated all of their houseguests - not only were we staying there, but so were Janice, Danny and Joshua. The Guckenburgs stayed in the spare bedroom, while John and Mary and I slept in the front room. The television room, where we spent most of our time during the visit, was converted into a play area for the kids, with plenty of toys for them to play with and with all of the potential hazards placed well enough away from their little fingers. Lotte also put up a child's gate in the doorway, to keep the children from running rampant through the other rooms of the house. After the long drive, John and Mary and I were content to stay in for the rest of the day. We put Mary in the TV room, where she played with Joshua and had the time of her life. Both the Guckenburgs and us would be there for the next two nights, before going our separate ways. While John and I were taking Mary to Myrtle Beach, SC and to North Carolina, Janice and Danny were leaving Joshua with Aunt Lotte so that they could drive up to Washington, DC. However, their plans were now in jeopardy, as both Janice and Joshua were very sick. They each had a fever and were just miserable. Lotte was insistent that they both get better over the next two days, because she was not about to keep a sick child! John and I, on the other hand, were hoping that Mary was not going to catch whatever it was that Joshua had. She had just gotten over a bout of the sniffles before we left Phoenix... Return to Southern Comforts.

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