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Marshall House

Centrally located upscale hotel that’s also home to another of Savannah’s award- winning (though stuffier) restaurants, 45 Bistro. 912-644-7896; www.marshallhouse.com; 123 E Broughton St; r $199-249;

USEFUL WEBSITES

www.savcvb.com

www.travelsouthflavours.com

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LINK YOUR TRIP www.lonelyplanet.com/trip-planner

TRIP

2 Antebellum South

30 Brunswick & the Golden Isles

31 Midnight in the Garden: Eccentric Savannah

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Return to beginning of chapter

TRIP 33

Georgia & Alabama Backroads

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WHY GO What’s a road trip that never leaves the Interstate? I-this and I-that. There’s no “I” in adventure. True road warriors bail on the interstates occasionally, looking to uncover that off-the-radar nugget of travel gold that lies beyond the exits on the roads less traveled. In Georgia and Alabama, unearthed treasures await.

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Have you ever tried to take a road trip sans interstates? It’s rather difficult. When President Dwight D Eisenhower made the interstate system happen in 1956, there were probably a whole lot of lost-in-time towns and off-the-beaten-path attractions that were more than a little nervous about business moving forward. Suddenly, the traffic wasn’t passing through anymore. Luckily, being located off the main thoroughfare helps keep the homegrown stuff homey, and usually insures that a Subway or McDonald’s won’t be popping up anytime soon (though there are a few Starbucks in oddly far-flung areas of the country).

It’s pretty much impossible not to use any interstates. Unless you have Sal Paradise kind of time, head out of Atlanta on I-75 (northbound) to I-575 (northbound) and follow smaller state roads to Carters Lake, a lovely emerald lake nestled in the southern end of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a haven for boating, bird watching, hiking and mountain biking. There are 62 miles of shoreline here and you can access all of it for a petty day-use fee of just $4 per vehicle. Stop at the Carters Lake Marina, where you can rent a pontoon boat (no experience necessary!) or settle into one of the roomy pine log cabins with expansive decks overlooking the lake. The most popular hiking trail in the area is the Amadahy Trail (3.5 miles, two hours round-trip) offering scenic lake views. For cyclists, the Ridgeway Mountain Bike Trail (6 miles, 40 minutes) is a mixture of single-track and narrow logging roads with creek crossings and technical downhills.

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TIME

4 – 5 days

DISTANCE

720 miles

BEST TIME TO GO

Mar – May

START

Atlanta, GA

END

Atlanta, GA

ALSO GOOD FOR

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Head back to I-75 (southbound) for a few exits and take Hwy 53 to Rome, a small North Georgia town with a historic downtown and iconic Clocktower (which has told Romans the time accurately since its installation in 1872). A good place to stop for the night is Hawthorn Suites. Though a chain, it’s located inside a 110-year-old former warehouse and still features original hardwood flooring and support beams. You can smell the history. Dinner must be at Harvest Moon Café which, truth be told, is a little too cool for Rome. The funky space, with its exposed brick, pop art and black-clad waiters, seems as though it was transported on a wide-load trailer straight from Midtown Atlanta.

Cross the state line into Alabama on Hwy 9 (westbound). First stop? Fort Payne, north on Hwy 35, where you’ll see that Alabamians aren’t afraid of a little self-love. Country music studs Alabama (the band) take musical narcissism to new heights at the Alabama Museum, a big ol’ bear hug to themselves.

The largest lake in Alabama, Lake Guntersville, and its 950 miles of extensive shoreline, lie 45 miles west along Hwy 227 (westbound) just outside Guntersville, a charming little shoreside resort town. The newly renovated Lodge at Lake Guntersville State Park, about 10 miles east of town in Lake Guntersville State Park, is the place to stay, right on the 69,000-acre reservoir. The park boasts 18 holes of golf, a small beach and 36 miles of hiking,