Carolinas, Georgia & South Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Alex Leviton [104]
SLEEP
Highland Inn
A great-value option near Virginia-Highland, one of Atlanta’s most desirable urban neighborhoods. 404-874-5756; www.thehighlandinn.com; 644 N Highland Ave, Atlanta; r $109
Statesboro Inn
The homey and historic choice, walking distance from Vandy’s. An Allman Brothers song was said to have been written here. 912-489-8628; www.statesboroinn.com; 106 S Main St, Statesboro; r $95-175;
USEFUL WEBSITES
www.georgia.org
www.johntedge.com
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LINK YOUR TRIP www.lonelyplanet.com/trip-planner
TRIP
3 Tracing Martin Luther King, Jr
26 48 Hours in Atlanta
28 Athens Rocks
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Return to beginning of chapter
TRIP 30
Brunswick & the Golden Isles
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WHY GO The four barrier islands that make up Georgia’s Golden Isles – St Simons, Sea Island, Jekyll Island and Little St Simons Island – are a spectacular 100-mile stretch of maritime forests, wildlife-rich estuaries, blowing dunes, wild beaches and affluent coastal towns that evoke a bygone era. Georgia’s best-kept secret is out.
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Most folks who aren’t from the South know very little about Georgia’s fabled coast and the four barrier islands (two public, two private) that elevate it to one of America’s most diverse and interesting shorelines. St Simons, Sea Island, Jekyll Island and Little St Simons Island are the jewels of the South, an affluent set of isles that offer memorable food, pristine nature, kayaking, one-third of the entire East Coast’s salt marshes, preserved 18th- and 19th-century Southern architecture and, perhaps most importantly, a damn fine place to get away from it all.
The gateway to Brunswick and the Golden Isles is US-17, which rolls south from Savannah on a scenic coastal drive through several picturesque and tiny Georgia towns. Pass through the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town of Midway and take a 15-minute detour east on US-84 past Fort Morris until the road ends at Sunbury Crab Company, one of those truly special finds that elude most travelers these days. Here you’ll find a Key West–style tree house built from rescued wood from old barns and department stores. The menu is whatever is fresh that day: blue crab caught that morning by the son; shrimp caught by the neighbor; and oysters brought in by the uncle. This is all steamed and chased by cold beer overlooking the gorgeous St Catherine’s Sound.
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TIME
4 days
DISTANCE
140 miles
BEST TIME TO GO
Mar – May
START
Savannah, GA
END
Brunswick, GA
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Head back to US-17 into the small town of Darien, where fort buffs will dig Fort King George, a remarkably reconstructed version of Georgia’s first fort, a British outpost dating back to 1721. The town of Brunswick is next, well worth a stroll for its antique shops and the potpourri of architectural styles along its main drag, Newcastle St, and throughout its Old Town National Register Historic District.
True roadies with an appetite will want to head straight out MLK Blvd from downtown to Willie’s Weenie Wagon. The pork chop sandwich slathered with mustard is road food at its finest and the family folks that run the place are as friendly as spiked eggnog at Christmas – they’re so confident you’ll love the sandwich, they offer a $2000 reward to anyone finding a better one in Glynn County. This place is the reason you are on a road trip.
An interesting way to kill an afternoon here is hopping aboard a genuine shrimp trawler. The Lady Jane Shrimp Boat takes tourists out trawling for shrimp in the St Simons Sound. Before you know it, the shrimp is peeled and served. It doesn’t get any fresher than that.
Next stop: St Simons Island. At roughly the size of Manhattan, St Simons is the largest of the Golden Isles and therefore the most developed. But it’s not without its charms – namely a clutch of unconventional churches, some great watersport action and world-class golf. Follow the St Simons Torras Causeway over the Marshes