Georgia Low Country

Low Country Oak

Medusa and Moss

Isle Of Hope Georgia

March, 2010

The Georgia low country is stunningly beautiful. Drop dead gorgeous vistas of marsh and tidal creek estuary views abound. Forest lined sawgrass wetlands that are home to a biological cornucopia of swimming, slithering, crawling, walking and flying lifeforms of all shapes and sizes. Spooky Halloween Gothic forests dripping with Spanish Moss, so thick the leaves of the hosts are near buried with the warm air breathing, humidity loving epiphyte. This is the Inter-Coastal Waterway country of the low lying Georgia Atlantic coastal plane. An area known for smuggling and blockade running during civil war days, by those motivated by both patriotism and economics.

Once off the water, to the south of Savannah, extending all the way down to north Florida, you are in the heart of a Rush Limbaugh demographic base . A region populated with mostly small towns where a gun shop is easier to find than a liquor store. Where all but the most high class restaurants have Fox News (an oxymoron by the way) on wide-screen high definition display, and the high class restaurants have it on display in the lounge. A non stop blather of "breaking news" that never seems to break, it's always just on the cusp of breaking like a frigid old woman's orgasm. And like a Rush monologue, the finely nuanced fever pitch message never stops beating the shrill drum of righteousness. Speaking of righteousness and breaking news, what is it with the "Burma Shave" like advertisements on the billboards of the local churches that are more plentiful than gas stations? Interestingly, and unlike gas stations, the churches all seem to be mid block. Those with long memories can recall when Standard Oil put a station on three corners when they wanted to bankrupt the independent owner on the fourth. Is it possible that by staying mid block, the marketing reality is that the churches don't have to compete with the other three corners?

That said, my only real heartburn with Savannah starts with the suburban lifestyle, outside the city core, where things are just a short drive away, which means of course that nothing is within walking distance and most things are a long drive away, and god knows no one would want to walk in that humidity in an area without sidewalks anyway. This of course isn't a Savannah problem per se, but rather just a side effect of the pervasive consumer culture embedded in most of North America. It seems the Savannah suburban culture (and every other suburban culture in North America) has become so enamored with things, that it's more important what you are driving than where you are going. The suburban business districts being so widely dispersed, also makes it possible to show the rest of the world what you are driving, in a long drawn out fashion, on the congested suburban boulevards.

The clear message if you'll just listen, is too stay off the land, and get on the low country waterways, where you'll meet the friendliest folks imaginable just walking the docks in the Isle Of Hope Marina. Having the best slip in the marina enabled myself and crew Tom Charron to say hello to everyone heading to and from their boats, as Ketch 22 was located at the 'T' intersection of the long dock that ran perpendicular to shore and the one dock that connected the perpendicular dock to the shore. Tom and I got to know all the local boat-owners like Henry Morgan who upon meeting for the first time would introduce himself by proffering his hand, state his name, and punctuate the introduction with "just like the rum" after stating his name. We also got to visit with a steady stream of the local boat maintenance workers (BMWs) who made a daily trek to and from the yachts in need of maintenance and upgrades. BMWs like Nell, who sported the bluest of blue eyes, who upon seeing boat-owner Mary Beth at a distance, loudly proclaimed for all around to hear, "Hey MB, wud up?". Ya gotta love the local jargon.

tm