Evening star., 1939-10-22

bacco and peanuts, giving over en-
tirely to tobacco in Central North
Carolina. Raleigh is not only the
capital of the State (and an at
tractive one at that. but it is
tobacco mart. North Carolina State
University, with its large expert
mental farms, is in Raleigh.
South of Sanford is the unusual
thermal belt" containing the mid
South resorts of Southern Pines and
Pinehurst in an almost fixed year.
round temperature. There are l8
golf courses here, ranging over the
sandy. pine-covered hills. Archery
and riding are popular sports also.
AS you cross into South Carolina
the land is more productive and the
towns, therefore, are attractlvely
progressive. If you travel this area
at Christmas time, you will be in
! terested in the Southern customs of
lighting up their towns like car
nival and shooting off flrecrackers
as though it we're the Fourth of
July. Sumter is the largest town you
60 through in South Carolina.
Numerous Public Squares
You enter Georgia on a series of
, causeways and bridges across the
Savannah River, where rice is grown
commercially. The city of Savannah
is an interesting bundle of historical
facts, but the most important thing
as far as the casual traveller is con-
cerned is the number of public
squares lying athwart the main
street. The highway goes around
every one of these. Savannah. like
so many cities which are really dis
tinctive. offers little to the man who
stops but for an hour. The wonders
of these Southern cities are quietly
hidden and must be dug out, dust
ed off and shaken from their reti-
cence-a far cry, for instance, from
New York City. which bellows its
characteristics from the moment
you arrive.
A red flag to Southern motorists
is the open grazing law, which al
lows livestock to roam at will over
highway right of ways. These ami
mails constitute real danger, and
should not be lightly regarded, es-
pecially at night.
At Brunswick you are getting into
the vacation South. Sea Island
Beach here is the only public re-
sort in the Sea Islands, that vast
chain of islands strung like pearls
on the proud bosom of Carolina
and Georgia. The poet, Sidney La
nier, lived here and wrote his match
less lyrics of the marshes, the live
oaks and the dark moving waters Of
the coast lands.
A few miles brings you to the st.
Marys River, where an arch pro-
claims Florida. There is no magi-
cal change right away, but grad
ually, as you leave Jacksonville
behind and gain the beach at St.
Augustine. the lure of the real
Florida asserts itself.
The Coastal Route.
The coastal route Norfolk, Will
mington, Charleston: In Virginia,
this route takes you through Fred
ericksburg. Yorktown, within strik-
ing distance of Williamsburg and
into the great seaport area of
Hampton Roads. South of Norfolk
your road parallels the Dismal
Swamp Canal across the very heart
of the great Dismal Swamp. George
Washington surveyed the original
canal. Where the feeder canal from
Lake Drummond comes into the
ship canal lies one of the rarest
views in Virginia. A strange thing
about Dismal Swamp is that forest
fires are a menace.
This swamp and coastland ares
is a fisherman and huntsman's
paradise. Elizabeth City, N. c.. is
a center for the two sports. This
is the oldest settled section of Caro-
lima. Edenton was settled in 1858
1t possesses several relics of its age
and is surrounded in rural areas by
the descendants of the original set
tiers, who live much as they did.
Washington was the first town
named for George Washington. Fol-
flower lovers the Hendrix Van DorI
development, south OF the town
with $50 acres of bulbs and flowers
is a treat. One of the oldest sea-
ports in the South is New Bern
There are houses standing with
balconies high between the Chin
and watch for seafaring husbands
and sons.
Though this is the coastal route
you see little of the ocean-only
such estuaries as Albermarle Sound
and Cape Fear River. On the lat