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FALL 2017 ISSUE 02 / VOL. 02
An impressive array of live oaks forms a canopy on the approach to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.
There’ s no elevator service to the top of the 132-foot lighthouse on Hunting Island.
I rode to Hunting Island State Park to camp. Trails here lead to the beach, a marsh boardwalk and a 132- foot lighthouse. I downed excellent seafood and brew at Johnson Creek Tavern, lined from floor to ceiling with signed one-dollar bills and autographed photos from the cast and crew of“ Forrest Gump.” Breakfast was provided next door at Marsh Tacky Market Café, named for the wild horses that roam the region.
I had a notion of visiting Hilton Head Island, but again was cautioned against it by knowledgeable Beaufort Isle residents; the“ plantations” listed on a map allude to private resort developments, so I proceeded toward Savannah and turned“ Upcountry” by way of U. S. Route 321. In the town of Estill, I was
stopped cold by the sight of a Bull Durham Tobacco ad spread the length of a brick warehouse. I learned the building was built circa 1910 for cotton storage, but is now used as a conference center and reception hall. Bull Durham used to advertise in ballparks and on buildings throughout the South and East, like Mail Pouch Tobacco.
Out of Allendale I picked up U. S. Route 278, skirted Augusta, crossed the Savannah River, sideswiped a portion of the 1,200-mile shoreline of Strom Thurmond Lake, and entered the 19th century town square of McCormick. As I traveled farther inland, I learned that cotton was the principal industry driving the region’ s economy. Cyrus McCormick