Peachy Keen In Georgia

Upon entering Georiga, the change in topography was both startling and refreshing. The terrain became much more varied, opening up to reveal irrigated fields of cotton, peanuts, tobacco, hay and even a few cattle ranches. The soil seemed to be a combination of sand and clay, but apparently quite fertile. We had not seen farms of this size since our time in Virginia, and even though the map indicated only a few hundred feet in elevation, it was in stark contrast to what we had been experiencing for the past two weeks. While we still rode by swamps, they were much smaller in size, and far less wooded. We actually encountered a few hills that required some concentrated effort to climb, rediscovering muscles that had not been used for a long, long time. Even so, it was nothing like the "hills" of New England and the mid-Atlantic states. We were making good time, and thoroughly enjoyed the route as it took us on extremely low traffic county roads that were in very good condition. We needed to finish 70 miles before an expected rainstorm would hit, and by 4 PM with clouds building and the wind picking up, rolled our way into Statesboro, home to Georgia Southern University and the largest community we would pass through on our trip south.

Although it is true that Statesboro and Georgia Southern University have historically grown and continue to grow in tandem with one another, the city cannot be considered a true college town where the community is built around a college/university, Statesboro was a well established community whose civic leaders built and continue to build the university to this day. Although the university is run by the state government, it has very strong ties to various citizens of Statesboro. Statesboro-Bulloch County offers a diversified array of employment opportunities in agriculture and industry. However, the "Town-Gown" relationship is very real, although not as intense as it could be since a large portion of the student population are also Statesboro natives. Because Statesboro is like a college town, there are a number of restaurants, bars and a couple of coffee houses where we could actually take care of our "latte" craving for the first time since Charleston. Statesboro may be familiar to music-listeners through the song "Statesboro Blues" written by Blind Willie McTelland covered by many other musicians, including Taj Mahal and the Allman Brothers Band. We found it to be an enjoyable oasis, and opted to spend the night in a motel room so we could spend time walking through the downtown area and splurging on a good old fashioned Southern bording house meal. My, my, those fresh homemade biscuits are sure tasty!

Statesboro was "visited" but not destroyed by Union Soldiers during the Civil War as part of General William T. Shermans' infamous "March to the Sea", which still engenders bitterness even to this day. The Union's goal was to demonstrate to the Conferederate citizens that their goverment was no longer capable of protecting them. It began with the burning of Atlanta on November 15, 1864, and ended with the caputre of Savannah on Dec. 21. It is said that Sherman wired President Lincoln on the next day, offering the city and its many thousands of cotton bales to Lincoln as "a Christmas gift".

The campaign was designed to be similar to Grant's innovative and successful Vicksburg campaign in that Sherman's armies would reduce their need for traditional supply lines by "living off the land" after their 20 days of rations were consumed. Foragers, known as "bummers", would provide food seized from local farms for the Army while they destroyed the railroads and the manufacturing and agricultural infrastructure of the state. The twisted and broken rails that the troops wrapped around tree trunks and left behind became known as "Sherman's Neckties". Furthermore, the army would be out of touch with the North throughout the campaign. Sherman's scorched earth policies have always been highly controversial, and Sherman's memory has long been reviled by many natives of Georgia, but slaves, many of whom left their plantations to follow his armies, welcomed him as a liberator. The March to the Sea is considered by many historians to have demonstrated Sherman's superb command of military strategy, and his commitment to destroying the Confederacy's ability to wage further war may well have hastened the end of the conflict.

That night we decided to forgo a visit to Savannah and continue to travel south. To take the spur road into Savannah would have required two additional days of riding, as well as a day or two for sightseeing. Given that the nights were not getting any warmer, and with daylight savings time soon to end, we opted to continue our "March to the South" and more friendlier climes. Even though we were traveling with no set itinerary or time schedule, we felt that Florida was calling us. So under a blustery and threatening sky we left Statesboro behind and cycled off into the rolling countryside to find out what awaited us around the next bend.