We booked a vacation rental house in New Hampshire about 8 months ago for the Fall 2024 leaf peeping season (yup, that’s a thing). Now, only a week out, I’m amazed that I correctly guessed which week the fall colors in New England would be at their peak. I’ve been looking forward to this bucket list road trip for nearly a year. Yet, here we are, as I begin to write this post, less than 40 hours before we depart, and not only am I not very excited about actually going, I haven’t started to pack yet.
It’s weird.
It might be because we just went through Hurricane Helene and most of the East Coast all the way up to North Carolina are reeling with catastrophic storm damage. On top of that there’s talk of another storm forming down in the same area Helene formed. Or maybe, in some way I’m changing the way I look at travel and adventure.
*******
We left yesterday morning for the first leg of the trip, to Cary, NC, where Randy’s sister, Kristine, and her husband Gary live. We drove about 6 and 1/2 hours yesterday, to Savannah, GA. I recently read a book about a woman who remodeled old, historic homes in Savannah. The city, from the description in the book, sounded delightful. I decided (thankfully, Randy lets me plan these trips any way I want to) to venture first into downtown Savannah and see for myself if it is as delightful as described by the author, a favorite of mine.
We arrived downtown and parked near Forsyth Park. I remember hearing from one of the full-time RV channels I follow that the park and its beautiful fountain is a “must see” in Savannah. It was also at the top of the Must Do Things on the VisitSavannah.com website. We walked into the park and noticed, first, all the yellow caution tape closing walkways in various places. Many branches, and whole trees were down all over the park. There was a lot of evidence of wind damage on the interstate coming into town, but we didn’t connect it to Hurricane Helene. We were, after all, 200 miles east of where it went through Atlanta last Friday. And I know that Savannah suffered damage from Hurricane Debby in August.
It was a beautiful day, 92°, but with a wonderful breeze blowing through the park. Randy and I walked through the park to the street on the far side, then around the park on the sidewalks and into the park again past the fountain. Right next to the fountain the sidewalk was closed due to a downed tree.
It was Monday afternoon so there weren’t a lot of people around. But there were a lot of folks who look like they just kind of lived there in the park. We saw two young women who had climbed up into one of the trees, hanging out looking like they were having a great day. Hard to believe officials would allow such unsafe behavior on public property in this day and age (yes, that’s sarcasm you detect there) but I imagine all law enforcement was otherwise occupied a couple days past a hurricane. There was another person who strung a hammock between two trees and appeared perfectly content to be there, regardless of how many people were around.
For me it was all a bit unpleasant. I don’t mean to be judgmental. It wasn’t the people that seemed distasteful to me. It just seemed…claustrophobic. I can see why a park in the middle of downtown Savannah is important.
I guess I’m just not a city girl.
The old, historic houses are beautiful and interesting. I try to imagine what life might have been like in the early days of the city, before the Civil War. And I think I would have hated it. Everything is so close together. It’s stifling. There doesn’t seem to be any privacy or room to breathe. Beautiful, yes. But not appealing to me in any way.
We didn’t stay long in downtown Savannah. Once I was there, took our short walk around, saw what the guides said was not to be missed, I decided there was nothing else I was really interested in. We drove down a few more streets, then headed to our hotel in one of the northern I-95 suburbs.
We ate an outstanding meal (and enjoyed watermelon margaritas) at what appeared to be a remodeled former oriental restaurant, as evidenced by the dirty koi pond just outside the main entrance. Randy, bless his heart, is always just along for the ride and is happy to do whatever I want him to follow me to do.
After dinner we stopped at a gas station where all but 2 pumps were taped off. The attendant said that yes, they are almost out of gas (and completely out of ice), yes, it was Hurricane Helene that ripped through here a few days ago (and “she was no joke!”), and tomorrow they might be restocked with fuel. Thankfully we have more than a half tank right now, but we’ll still fuel up tomorrow morning at the earliest opportunity.
Today we’ll drive the 5 hours or so remaining to Cary, NC, where we’ll spend 5 days until we leave with Kristine and Gary for the trek to New Hampshire. Once we get north of Cary, Randy and I will be in territory I can’t ever remember visiting before. For me, that’s where the real fun begins. I can do without huge the NE US cities and we won’t venture into any of them (except for Boston where we’re visiting our Goddaughter for a few days…stay tuned for that blog in a week or two).
I’m grateful we had no plans to go through western North Carolina this trip. It would have been impossible. As the governor said, “western North Carolina is closed.” The devastation there is unbelievable. Years ago, Randy and I rented a house in Chimney Rock, NC with another couple we’ve known since our early Air Force days. We had a terrific time, explored the quaint little community, took a boat ride on Lake Lure, and hiked the Chimney Rock State Park. Our friends texted me a day or two ago to let me know that the entire town is just…gone. I wonder if God is giving us a taste of a second great flood if we don’t get our stuff together and straighten up. Certainly, He can’t be pleased with us here in the US right now.
As I wrap up this post, the power went out in the brand new Home2 Suites we’re staying in tonight. Dang! It’s dark! So, I’ll end this here and go to bed very, very early tonight.
P.S. The power was out for more than 2 hours last night. My smart and resourceful husband quickly got the lights he carries for road emergencies out of the car and adapted them so we weren’t completely lightless up here on the 4th floor of the hotel. That trek up 4 flights stairs (twice) was tough though.
Leave a Reply