Those of us who make regular trips to the same destination can relate to the inevitable monotony of the trip. On a recent visit to North Carolina, the trip home took a twisted turn of fate when we took a road less traveled. Because when we signaled the highway exit, little did we know that we had taken the exit ramp into … the travel twilight zone.

Though it was a gentler and gentler twilight zone, it was still a reunion of the historical, the natural, and the just plain strange. These sites were collected primarily on Coastal Highway 17 in South Georgia and Florida. Although the lines of our route were a bit smudged from time to time, the images were crystal clear.

Deep in Georgia’s southeast coast region is 280,000 acre Fort Stewart. Started with a 5,000 acre purchase in 1940, what was then called Camp Stewart grew to become the largest military installation in the eastern US Fort Stewart, as designated in 1956, is located along the Canootchee River and it has been activated and deactivated with every major conflict. It has been a prisoner of war camp with World War II and a training ground for tanks, field artillery, and helicopter artillery during the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Iraqi freedom struggle. Fort Stewart, now part of the Stewart / Hunter complex, is the US Coast Guard station in Savannah, providing 24/7 search and rescue coverage for the eastern coastal areas, in addition to their training responsibilities.

This historic fort was literally located on “the road less traveled”; a rough dirt road leading to an area of ​​beautiful homes backed by low country pastures and swampy backwaters. As we continue our unofficial tour, we passed and almost missed “the smallest church in America.” In South Newport, GA is the lonely Memory Park Christ Chapel. Built in 1950 by Agnes Harper, a local grocer, the little symbol of Christianity is open 24/7 to all religions. Amid the hanging Spanish moss is the 10 ‘by 15’ building containing a small pulpit, some benches, and a stained glass portrait of Jesus, straight from England. The steeple atop the insignificant house of prayer was donated by a married couple there in 2002. Nowhere can you be more intimate with your faith than in the chapel “Where People Rub shoulders with God.”

As we returned to civilization from the ends of the eastern rim, we squinted at the mirage on the road. What looked like a dark, moving line on the road was actually a mother raccoon and five babies in a convoy like a band of schoolchildren following the local crossing guard. They disappeared into the forest, slipping away like an imagined vision in the mid-afternoon sun. We watched the last ringed tail fade into the dense undergrowth and then continue onto the road.

Once we left the dirt in our dust and continued along Coast 17, we saw even more interesting sights. In Darien, Georgia, we witnessed a man crawling through a telephone survey. Nothing unusual about this, just that this man was not real; he was an imaginary, stuffed cartoon doll with a long, pointed nose and worn clothes. In Woodbine, Georgia, we crawled into town under the sight of local law just in time to find the “Selling Dead People’s Stuff 4” sign. As if this weren’t weird enough, this sign ended up on the internet as a mugshot the next day that ranks in the top ten for a story about marketing ploys. What a surprise.

Also in Darien is the McIntosh Old Jail Art Center. This is the epitome of recycling, as the city has designated the 122-year-old building for use as a center for teaching, displaying and purchasing art. The jail cells that held offenders until 2002, when Judge Dudley Bowen, Jr. called the facility “grim and creepy,” now house art exhibits in a museum-style arrangement. Special events and shows sparkle in the washed, polished and revitalized enclosure turned into an art space.

Further down the road, the stately entrance to Jekyll Island sits amid the salt marches and the remains of the original causeway drawbridge. Once over the bridge, a 200 acre historic district awaits you. The Jekyll Island Club was the safe haven for millionaires to relax or conduct business in the late 1800s and 1900s. Names like Morgan, Astor, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Goodyear and Pulitzer populated the registry and the island, for fishing, golf, tennis, boating, biking, and swimming during the winter months. The island has significant historical value, as well as lush landscapes and architectural beauty.

Once you’ve wandered long enough to cross the border, Central Route 301 offers interesting notables for Florida travelers. Route 301 is a branch of US Route 1 that runs 1,099 miles from Glasgow, DE to Sarasota, FL. Route 301 was established as a replacement piece for part of US-17 and all of US-217, one of the original American highways designated in 1926. Route 301 features the infamous Waldo, Starke, and Lawtey speed traps . Travelers passing through here risk lights, sirens, and fines from the local police. Speed ​​limits jump back and forth so often that your foot will have a cramp that will make your arch crack.

In addition to his speed trap rep, Waldo also introduces the giant rocking chair outside the Waldo Flea Market. This exchange store has something for every Saturday and Sunday with over 1,000 stalls of new and used merchandise and goods. Their unofficial motto reads “from green beans to blue jeans,” all set on 50 acres off 301 and highlighted by the huge wooden chair towering over cars, people, and even the NE 177 Pl road sign found at the corner of the market.

Off the beaten track of 301, south of Hawthorne, is Tony’s Museum of Art Taxidermy. Stayed in a former motel, these guests checked in but didn’t check out. The ancient creatures of day and night are displayed for fun and for purchase. The likes of zebras, dik diks, elephants, deer, bears, fish, and birds adorn what appears to be every inch of the surface. Tony’s is truly a taxidermy treasure.

For part of our journey, the sights, sounds, and amazement were accompanied by another seemingly rare sight these days … the train. The First Coast Railroad occupies only 32 miles of track from Yulee to Fernandina Beach, Florida. As well as from Yulee to Seals, Ga. The train only serves 10 customers and uses the old Seaboard Air Line Railway tracks, but as we progressed the dotted cities and hanging Spanish moss, the hum of the tracks and the hiss of the taxi were nice company. A reminder that even in the twilight zone of travel, there is a family foothold.

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