The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1940-03-05
SCARLETT O'HARA
AND RHETT BUTLER
ON TOBACCO TRAIL

! Elghty-flVe years is long
time but those years have not
/ dimmed the beauty of the plan
tations and mansions and coun-
tryside of the South as it was in
the days of Scarlet O'Hara and
Rhett Butler, and if you'll go to
Savannah, Ga, turn off there and
go to Summerton, S. c., and from
there on take the Tobacco Trail
north on U. S. Highway 301, you
have a peek at the world as it
was in the days of Tara and
Aunt Pittypat, and you'll see a
bit of history, too.
( ThereH be plenty of other
things to see, also. It's tobacco
planting time in the Southland,
and all along the Tobacco Trail
you'll be able to see the hundreds
of planted tobacco beds with their
white netting covers and their
boarded sides.
And to add to the gaiety of
events as you slowly drive north
ward you'll still find southern
gentlemen riding to the hounds
after Reynard in their own pecu-
liar southern way, and if you take
the time to stop you'll probably
be invited to participate in the
/ chase.
For the Tobacco Trail this
time of the year is filled with
romance, history, interest and
sport.
It all starts at Savannah, Ga,
where the blockade runners of
the Confederacy started their
brave dashes to Bermuda for sup
plies for the boys in gray. You'll
go through country with man
sions and plantations scattered
tover it as beautiful as Tara"
ever was, and you'll travel right
I up US-301 from Summerton on
the route that Sherman took aft
er he ruined Scarlett's Atlanta
and the houses around Tara.
From Summerton in South
Carolina to Petersburg, Va, you
also drive through the worlds
richest agricultural section.
The Tobacco Trail brings you
through the great tobacco mar
kets of Rocky Mount, Wilson,
Smithfield and Lumberton in
North Carolina; and Dillon in
South Carolina, while you also
pass through the great world cot
ton marts of Benson and Dunn.
AT Halifax, N. c., you take
short stop to see independence
House where the first state, North
Carolina, ratified the Declaration
of Independence. There in Hall
fax also you'll find the oldest
Masonic Lodge in the United
States.
Then, Of course, you're all the
time passing through the section
famed for that fine southern
food you've heard so much about,
and cooked in only the way a
southerner can cook it. Rich
fried chicken with cracking
golden butter sauce and dressing;
cornbread, barbecue and bruins
wick stew and dozens of other
dishes. All of this you'll find
along the Tobacco Trail.
In Wilson, NJ c., you'll find
West Nash Street, one of the ten
most beautiful streets in the
world, while further north you'll
hit Richmond and Petersburg,
Va. with their great tobacco fac
tories. Later still you'll run into
Washington where history always
has been and still is made, and
Baltimore with its quaint red
brick front homes and its mem
cries of old lace and lavender.
And Philadelphia, Pa, with its
independence Hall.
And as a safety hint for motor
lists along the Tobacco Trail, grade
crossings are few and far be-
tween, and there are no toll
bridges or ferries to annoy the
Ftraveller with delay and addi-
tional expense. Accommodations
are commodious, beautiful and
lup-to-date all along the way for
the tired traveller.
Northbound tourists who 60 via
the Tobacco Trail take US-I7
from Florida to WATERFORD, and
then take US-15 to Summerton,
while at Summerton the travel
Ter takes US-30l to Petersburg,
Va, where ISL then takes up
the path of history, romance and
interest toward the North.
The Tobacco Trail is the short
est automobile route from Flor.
ida to Maine via Washington, Bal
timore. Philadelphia, New York