East Coast 2021:
Day 12 - Baxley, GA

	Tuesday, September 21, 2021: We were up and out of the hotel by 7:00 AM, and made it to the South Carolina capitol building about 30 minutes later. Construction on the building was started in 1851, and was finally completed in 1875.
	Immediately after the seeing the capitol, we detoured off Route 1 and headed southeast, passing the Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center. Strom Thurmond was governor of South Carolina from 1947 to 1951, and then was a Senator from South Carolina for 48 years until his death in 2003.
	There were bus stops in town with these bottlecap shaped signs. The Soda Cap Connector is a free bus that connects various attractions. Our best guess is that Soda Cap is for South Carolina.
	We stopped at Wendy's for breakfast then continued southeast, passing the state fairgrounds and ...
	... Williams Bryce Stadium, home of the University of South Carolina. Go Gamecocks!
	We arrived at our first destination: Congaree National Park.
	We drove slowly through the park, looking unsuccessfully for fox squirrels.
	Our national parks pass was really getting some good use this year.
	It had started raining after we left the capitol, and it had just about stopped when we arrived at the park.
	Some of the trees in the park had vines or ivy growning on them, and it was a really cool effect.
	We stopped at a campground on the way to the visitors center and recycled all of the cans that we had been hauling around with us.
	Here's a better look at the ivy climbing the trees.
	Streams run all throughout the park.
	Here's a closer look at one hiding in the picture above.
	We saw this American beautyberry bush right at the exit to the park.
	Back near the University of South Carolina, all of businesses in the immediate vicinity of the stadium were painted in Gamecock colors.
	This South Carolina Cockaboose Railroad was right next to the stadium.
	Back on Route 1 and headed south, we passed a hemp dispensary. Marijuana use is still illegal in South Carolina, both medicinally and recreationally, but hemp oil and CBD oil is legal.
	We crossed over the Congaree River.
	We had seen other What-a-Burger restaurants in Richmond, Virginia, along with this one in Columbia, South Carolina. They are not associated with the Whataburger-chain based in Texas, and we were sorry to pass the last one in the region without stopping to try it. Next time, definitely.
	We saw many business using the US 1 name, like the US 1 Metro Flea Market.
	We had been seeing this railroad crossing warning sign for a while, but we finally figured out that it was a warning about the raised railway and the danger to people pulling trailers.
	The South Carolina Heritage Corridor runs for 240 miles from the Blue Ridge Mountains down to Charleston. Within the corridor, business and citizens try to preserve the landscapes and natural heritage in the area.
	Traffic was still light, and the route was very pleasant.
	We saw the "Litter trashes everyone" slogan on  most, if not all, of the South Carolina adopt-a-highway signs.
	Rivers make great natural borders, and the Savannah River forms the border between South Carolina and ...
	... Georgia, our 43rd state this year.
	In Augusta, we passed this dead mall, which was in the process of being torn down. We wondered how many people used to consider this their primary shopping place.
	We stopped at Taco Bell for lunch from this Taco Bell/KFC combo building. We saw many of the Yum brand combo buildings and talked about some of the others that we had seen: KFC/A&W, Taco Bell/Long John Silvers, and even a KFC/Long John Silvers. This one was a pretty good combination if you're set on eating your lunch with your hands.
	We had to set various waypoints in Google Maps to keep our route on US 1. Even with the "avoid highways" option enabled, it kept trying to divert us to other state highways that were in a more direct line. By this point, we were getting very good at following the Route 1 signs rather than relying on apps for navigation.
	It helps when the road is a four-lane divided highway through the uncongested countryside.
	There were low shrubs with white flowers in the fields, or maybe it was some crop that we weren't familiar with, but either way, it was pretty scenery.
	We stopped at the Vidalia Onion Musuem where we were greeted by Yumion, the official mascot for Vidalia, Georgia.
	They have exhibits descibing the origin of the Vidalia sweet onion, ...
	... and others explaining how to grow the perfect onion.
	We really liked the display of the boxes from various farms that are officially branded as Vidalia Sweet Onion growers.
	The Vidalia Sweet Onion, grown in 20 counties around Vidalia, was named Georgia's official vegetable in 1990.
	Back on Route 1, we passed quickly through Santa Claus, Georgia. There were only a few streets that crossed Route 1, but they all had Christmas-themed names: Reindeer Street, Dasher Street, Candy Cane Street, and December Drive.
	We made very good time today, and around 2 PM we arrived at our hotel, the Sleep Inn in Baxley, Georgia.
	We relaxed and researched our route for the next day, making sure it had all of the waypoints necessary to stay on Route 1.
	Dinner tonight was freeze-dried Breakfast Skillet from Mountain House Adventure Meals, which for some unexplicable reason is much better for dinner than breakfast.
	After being overcast and gloomy during the day, the sky cleared up nicely later in the evening.
	We finished the day with a gorgeous sunset. Miles today: 272. Total miles from Fort Kent, ME: 2112. Day 13 >