Today, Mary and I spent the morning in Waycross at Okefenokee Swamp Park, where we got an excellent 1-hour boat tour of the swamp. The tourguide did a wonderful job explaining the various plants, animals, and some history surrounding the Okefenokee and its white and Native American inhabitants.

To reach the park from Waycross, take US 1/23/GA 4 south to GA 177. Turn right and go 5 miles. GA 177 will "dead end" into the park itself. Roadwise, the last mile marker is Mile 7 in the park. The highway actually picks up on the other side of the swamp at Stephen C. Foster State Park and ends at US 441/GA 89 near Fargo.

Today's route to Savannah was as follows...

- US 1/23/GA 4 to US 1 Business
- US 1 Business to US 84/GA 38
- US 84/GA 38 to I-95
- I-95 to GA 21/30
- GA 21/30 to I-516 (Lynes Parkway)
- CLINCHED I-516!!!
- Turned around at southeastern end of I-516
- I-516/GA 21 to Veterans Parkway (one of only 4 county-maintained limited-access highways in Georgia)
- CLINCHED VETERANS PARKWAY!!!
- Veterans Parkway to GA 204
- GA 204 back to our hotel at I-95

On US 84, I "clinched" 3 new counties: Pierce, Wayne, and Long.

While in Waycross, I found this sign that had one of the cities spelled wrong. Guess which one.



Apparently, someone at the sign shop did not run a "spellcheck". Otherwise, it would've caught "AUGSTA" and changed it to "AUGUSTA".

US 84/25/301 (formerly US 82/25/301 until around 1989) goes through Ludowici, the county seat of Long County and an infamous "speed trap" from the 1960s. This town's reputation as a "speed trap" was so bad, Governor Lester Maddox actually had a billboard posted in town to warn motorists who (at the time) used this stretch of highway to travel to Florida years before I-95 was completed. A state trooper was even posted at the billboard to guard it against Ludowici officials who wished to tear it down. Here are a couple of pictures of me in Ludowici.,.




Let's just say I did not go over the speed limit... just in case.

Here's a picture of a permanent weigh station located just southwest of Ludowici on US 84/25/301 westbound...



This is one of only 2 non-Interstate permanent weigh stations in Georgia. According to the official Georgia highway map, the other such station is located on US 84/GA 38 in Early County near the Alabama state line. Interestingly enough, there is no corresponding eastbound station.

Finally, here's a big "thank you" to fellow roadgeek Russell and his wife, Amy, for joining Mary and me tonight for dinner at the Cracker Barrel on GA 204 (I-95 Exit 94). We had a great time talking about roads and other things and hope to do it again sometime. Here's a photo Mary took of Russell and me...


It's getting late and I better get my butt to bed, for tomorrow, we do some sightseeing in Savannah and then, we're off to Charleston for the final stop on the 2009 Tri-State Memorial Day Roadtrip.

That's it for now. Thanks again to Russell and Amy for being wonderful dinner guests and to y'all for reading.

P.S. Since the weather finally cooperated today, I shot several videos for future "ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" episodes.

 

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