Travels during Covid

After a long, too long, period of consecutive rainy and gloomy days in Savannah, the sun appeared yesterday. We were ready for an adventure. We got in the car, dogs and their gear packed, and took an excursion off Skidaway Island.

This is camellia season, so a return trip to Masse Lane garden, home of the American Camellia Society came to mind. Though it is a 4 hour trip to get there and 4 hours back, we were undeterred. What we did not reckon was our dismay at being inside a car for all those daylight hours on one of the BEST days we have had in Georgia in a long time.

First stop was Lane Orchard Farm store. They were open, with Covid protocols in place. You have to stop for the fresh peach bread, and since peach season is a distant memory, a jar of peach jam found its way into the cart. Lane is famous for its peaches and for its pecans. A croissant stuffed with a delicious chicken and pecan salad was gobbled along with a lemonade. Dogs were walked; they are welcome at Lane Farm store but not in the restaurant area. A row of white rocking chairs is perfect for outdoor dining, but we contented ourselves to eat inside our car, ignoring the drooling cavaliers in the back seat.

Next stop was the Garden itself. The sunshine is so strong in Georgia, but gratefully the camellias are planted along beautiful paths with a high overstory that shades enough to make viewing pleasureable. To me that is quintessential Georgia- bright sun streaming through old shade trees, casting long shadows to make viewing the natural world so pleasureable.

In the last post I made mention of Camellia ‘Debutante’ aka Sara C. Hastie. Another giggle from this camellia because when purchased, the label on my plant said it could make a nice hedge planted with other Debutantes. The missing piece of information was how tall this camellia can become! This one was at least 15 feet tall; that’s a very tall hedge.

We arrived back home in Savannah just as the sun was about to disappear below the Moon River marsh, and then to witness the glow of the golden reflections as we drove over the bridge to Skidaway Island was bliss. A day to forget about restrictions, Covid, vaccinations, masks and separation. Just to drive the open road and regard the camellias in bloom was enough for the day.

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