Georgia, Georgia…

Georgia, Georgia…

The soundtrack in my mind has changed, of course.

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We left Charleston this morning, driving through the suburbs past “tires for hire” and the Piggly Wiggly supermarket.

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We passed so many churches we lost count, but the church we spotted when we stopped in Summerville won the prize for the most original setting.

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We’d read about Summerville and its reputation as the home of “Sweet Tea”, a southern speciality.

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Enjoying a walk around this cute small town with a cup of sweet tea in hand, Mary spotted a sign worth pursuing.

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People, Places and Quilts is a charming store with several rooms full of fabric and gorgeous samples.  My hero found a comfy sofa with a book of Gary Larsson cartoons to entertain him, so we were all happy.

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I rather liked the pinboard with paper patterns displayed – how things used to be done pre-technology.

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We were heading for Augusta today though, so rather than linger longer in Summerville, we hit the road again.

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These long straight roads are a great opportunity for me to set up the “studio” in the back of the van and catch up on some of my journal.

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Today was a page about the ice cream in Charleston and another with the plantations on.  I managed to complete most of the cutting and sticking, leaving the writing until I have a steady table to sit at.

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Thankfully, I’d more or less cleared away before we had to screech to a halt.

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I managed a decent photo of the sign for Denmark, South Carolina.

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We’re in Coca-Cola country here and some vintage signs are starting to appear.

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The Heritage Corridor was signposted all the way, but we had no idea what it was about until now.  I took a photo to remind me to look it up later!

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By now we were heading into Georgia and my hero had instructions to give me plenty of notice so I could have my camera ready to take a photo of the “Welcome to Georgia” sign.

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The border was the Savannah River.  I sat with camera in hand, at the ready.

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And the silly auto focus decided I wanted a clear shot of those blips on the windscreen.  Bleh.

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Hey ho.  Here were were in no time, downtown Augusta, Georgia.

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We’re only here overnight, so wanted to make the most of our time and headed straight for the History Museum.

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We’re in cotton country here, and with Diana, our guide, pointing out the highlights, we spent a happy hour learning a little about the area.

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There were displays to tell the story of Augusta from the very first people until the present day.  Our favourite?

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This old fire engine with its highly polished detail and those two “armchairs” up front.

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Of course, golf featured quite large in the story.

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As did the Godfather of Soul.  (change of soundtrack!)

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Augusta was not exactly busy on this Saturday afternoon and we had the museum more or less to ourselves and really appreciated the 1:1 attention from Diana, too.

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It was pretty empty outside too!  I can’t imagine many places where downtown on a Saturday afternoon looks like this, can you?

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Though there are interesting buildings here and there, sadly we won’t have time to explore further.  We’ll just have to read a little more and find out what we missed.

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We soon found out where everyone was this afternoon, though – at the Mall!

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We were headed for our hotel though; another Hilton brand but one which is new to us.  We have a spacious bedroom…

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a bathroom, of course,

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and an enormous sitting room

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and kitchen/work area.  It’s a little excessive for just one night, but it’s good to stretch our legs a bit!  Mary has almost the same set up too – we ought to have arranged a party!!

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Winking smile

Instead, we did what everyone else was doing this evening

Through Georgia’s treasures

Through Georgia’s treasures

The Plantations

The Plantations