On Thursday April 1, I turned in my notice of retirement. Having spent 27 years in my second career serving state and local government is coming to a close.
Some of it will be missed; most wont.
During our vacation on Jekyll, there were various activities undertaken. Some as a group, some not.
There was a SpaceX launch tonight- third time was the charm as the original launch window was Sunday night just before 10pm.
Clouds made the Falcon 9 rocket hard to pickup as it gained altitude, but we could see it as it went down range over the Atlantic.
Despite all the curve balls that 2020 threw at us, our long planned respite on Jekyll Island is upon us. Jean's parents have been coming here since the 1960's, make the annual trek in March for nearly 50 straight years. We tend to visit every couple of years, last being 2014. It is a lovely place, just outside of Brunswick, with 6 miles of beaches, shops, 63 holes of golf, restaurants, pubs and other touristy things as well. It's far enough from I-95 and costs $8 to enter, so the average day tripper tends to go to the free access on St Simons.
Part of our retirement plans, like most other couples, is to travel. Most folks have lists of exotic places located around the globe, but our list is more esoteric; giant coffee pots, old bridges, diners that are now plumbing supply stores, and places well off the beaten path. Interstates are great from getting you from point A to B, but rarely are interesting drives. The trip down was mostly uneventful other than the handful of lunatics who think the 70mph speed limit is a loose suggestion with our goal of trying to keep it under 80.
Bailing the early Saturday building insanity of I-95 near Santee, SC, we opted for US-301. 301 is one of the three main US north-south routes that I-95 replaced in the interstate system, with US-1 [301's parent road] and US-17 being the other two. US-1 end to end is on our travel list. 301 turns out to be a lovely option; little to no traffic apart from the small towns you pass through, lots of funky things to look at, great local non-chain restaurants, and mostly 4 lane county highway with good pavement it rolls through the western low country of South Carolina before crossing into the equally rolly hills of southeast Georgia. There is a very cool old swinging bridge over the Savannah River along the old 301 highway alignment; swinging bridges aren't that common for roadways in the Baltimore area as they are mostly used for railbeds to maintain the proper grade alignments.
The operative phrase is 'little to no traffic'. We had our lunch take out from a BBQ joint in Jessup where only the staff seemed to be wearing masks, mostly just covering their chins, despite the "Mask Up Georgia" sign in the front door. Taking our lunch to the nearby park, we enjoyed eating outdoors, with the doggies under feet adjacent to a play area and ballfield. It was truly relaxing and delightful accompanied by a good lunch without any of the typical fast food trappings although they were easily available.
Arriving on Jekyll roughly an hour later than we would have coming straight down 95, we concluded the inland routing was well worth the diversion.
Now, it's a solid week on the Island of beach walking, board games, food, family and some golf.
