Day 19 -- Tuesday, May 19

Yet another lesson of the road learned the hard way: It's not always a good idea to do, in Rome, as the Romans do. For hundreds of miles now, through Georgia and South Carolina, I've been seeing signs at roadside stands, the kind that sell peaches and tomatoes and such, offering "Hot Boiled Peanuts." I had no idea what this meant but hey, who knows more about peanuts than Georgians, right? And yet, sign after sign, stand after roadside stand whizzed by and I somehow didn't feel prepared to make this leap. Finally, in dire need of change to make a long-distance call and feeling that I should try to soften up the clerk before asking her to part with some of her coinage, I purchased a 79 cent bag of this southeastern delicacy.

My, how these southerners must be laughing behind our backs! It's obvious to me now that all those signs were part of a long-tentacled ruse set up to snooker naive tourists; this entire region of the country must be in on the joke and I can picture them snickering up their sleeves every time a rube like me falls for their elaborate scheme and actually lays down some green for a bag. As it turns out, hot boiled peanuts are just what their moniker suggests: peanuts in the shell that have been boiled rather than roasted, so that the shells have become soggy and limp, and the nuts found within so mealy and chewy as to be almost inedible. The only thing I feel good about is that I was quite literally out in the middle of nowhere when I finally broke down and bought these fetid little tidbits and was motoring along some back country byway at a healthy clip when I actually ingested one, so there's not a chance in the world that any of the conspirators actually got to witness my shock and dismay when I realized that I'd been had. But, really, there ought to be a law protecting the innocent and the ignorant from these rascals.

In spite of this unpleasantness, however, the trek continues to be quite enjoyable. I covered only a little ground today; it takes only an hour or so to reach Savannah, Ga. from Hunting Island and a pleasantly diverting little drive it is, too. Savannah has, from day one, been on my itinerary; my good friend, Mary Adams Childs, fine artist and good woman, hails from Savannah and has always spoken of the city in glowing terms and that's good enough for me.

The town lived up to my expectations, too, I'm happy to report. In fact, the third highlight of my trip, after Paradise Garden and the Georgia Guidestones was found there. I've come to realize that, while I've enjoyed each and every day of the journey to date and I've always had some experience that I wanted to pass on to you, my dear readers, it's rare that I will come across the sort of transcendental experience that I speak of here. I tag these particularly special attractions as BRETTnews Highlight Attractions; when you see one so designated, you'll know it's worth going out of your way to see for yourself. And so, it will only be only relatively permanent attractions that will earn this honor. While the ocean-side moon gazing that was glowingly related above was, for me, quite moving, it was of a moment; you could go to the exact same spot on a given night and it might be merely lovely, not sublime. Fortunately for me, all the elements combined that evening to make for an extraordinary encounter but I would be loath to send you all that way for fear that you would be disappointed in a scene that might, without my build-up, have been quite fulfilling.

So, the third BRETTnews Highlight Attraction winner is - drum roll, please - Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House. It's a breakfast and lunch spot in the historic section of Savannah that has become quite renowned over the years for its food and its unique ambience. One is seated at a communal table with other culinary pilgrims not yet of one's acquaintance and the food comes in waves. During the lunch time I was there, the featured dish was fried chicken. A supplementary meat dish, a tasty sausage, was also to be had, along with 12 (count 'em, 12!) vegetables. Now, let's see how many I can recall: We had broccoli and cheese casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, rice, stuffing, yellow squash, spaghetti and tomato sauce, collard greens, butter beans, sweet potatoes...I know there were a couple more but they escape me at present. A plateful of homemade biscuits and cornbread also made the rounds and the iced tea, sweetened or not, was served in a bottomless glass. The dessert of the day was banana pudding (quite literally, just like my mom used to make!) and Mrs. Wilkes was there in the flesh to make sure everything was to our liking.

It couldn't have been a more delightful experience, like going to Grandma's house for Sunday dinner, if your grandmother was a really great cook. Everything was delicious and the price for this all-you-can-eat feast was only $7.50! Good conversation was shared by all, even as we stuffed our faces, and if I'm ever within an hour or two's drive of Savannah again, I'll be lining up at Mrs. Wilkes door, mouth a-watering.


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