In Macon Georgia I stopped by the office of the American Cancer Society to discuss with them my plans of connecting The Pegasus Project with cancer research and in the parking lot I hit a pile of sand which laid me down, for the first time on the trip. After a few minutes of trying I soon realized that I could not lift the thing up on my own which made me wonder about what I would do if the same was to happen in the Mojave desert for example where I'd likely be all alone in the desert heat. I flagged down two guys nearby who helped me get the bike up eventually and after a fruitless few minutes at the office I was on the road again.
Central Georgia is not as interesting as I had imagined. I tried to stay off the highways but the side streets themselves were as straight as the ones I was trying to avoid. The land was arid and not very interesting although I did appreciate the wonderful smell of pine tress which reminded me of the beautiful Mediterranean childhood. There were also many abandoned houses and buildings along the way and the area I passed through seemed rather impoverished.
I managed to pick up some bad gasoline somewhere which immediately started to effect El Bastardo, making the machine sputter and stall. Too early I though for mechanical problems but at least I could diagnose and hopefully fix it easily. Little was I to know how much this issue would complicate my journey for the following few days.
A little before I reached Savannah, my destination for the day, I pulled over next to this old, crippled house, the doors hanging from their hinges, the aluminum on the roof creaking from the wind. It was irresistible, I had to go inside! Some furniture here and there and obvious prolonged presence of animal life but the back yard provided the sweetest surprise; Blackberries!
Ripe and delicious I sat down in the shade of the large oak and took in the unexpected beauty of the surroundings, reflecting on my trip and smiling after realizing how far down south I had made it already. Everything was fine that half an hour.
In Savannah I stayed with another wonderful host Nichole. There also happened to be another couchsurfer there, Kaja, a doctor from Slovenia backpacking through the US. We walked the lovely streets of the historical district where our host lived alone in a cozy, little house from the 18oos. Later when night fell the streets seemed to get even busier and we went down by the pier where we listened to street musicians perform jazz and blues. Anyone would appreciate proper southern Jazz. I recommend taking the ferry boat across the river, it is short and sweet, and free too!
I enjoyed Savannah so much that I stayed for one more day. That day Nichole and I took a long walk through the quiet streets to the main park, Forsyth, which was a great experience. It seems that almost every block in the historical district has a park in the center with a statue to some historical figure, and I was also surprised to see so many young people out and about considering. Savannah is home to the Savannah College of Art and Design – SCAD and I must say beautiful faces are definitely abundant in this great city which I highly recommend couchsurfing in.
I shall be back to lovely Savannah.
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