Savannah, Georgia

Steven and I pulled the Harley into Savannah for his 50th birthday. He was going crazy watching that blue beauty sit in the garage for a month because the weather has been too cold to ride. Finally, he said, "Let's just chance it." A good idea; it was 78 degrees there.

It is hard not to fall in love with the charm and beauty of Savannah. The cobbled street grids were laid out in the 1700s, the architecture rivals Charleston with it's timeless elegance, everywhere you look is a memorial or statue, and the hugh live oaks with clumps of Spanish Moss canopy the entire city with Nature's magic.

Christmas Lights, Aiken, South Carolina

On the road south from Asheville, about 160 miles, we stumbled on a delightful town in South Carolina, just west of Augusta…Aiken. We rode in on Hwy 19 where the rural scent of magnolia enhanced our ride. We found an inexpensive ($37) and clean Days Inn. We road through the Richland Avenue Christmas lights to downtown’s Pizza Joint and dined on the patio while listening to Christmas music from the nearby church.

I learned that in the quaint town of Aiken, Native American developed the earliest known pottery in North America. With a rich cultural heritage, Aiken was also one of the first railroad towns to emerge in the 1830s and played a major stratigical role in the Civil War. In the late 1800s, the town grew into a "grand health resort"--a fashionable winter and equine resort for the wealthy.

Bad to the Bone

Yes, I am bad to the bone... Now get on the bike.