Southward Sojourners {the other half of the jaunt}

We started the day with a simple breakfast in the Inn before entering the oldest city of Georgia-‘Savannah’ . Unlike most of the American cities, this place looked more of toy structures of buildings-graceful architecture, very well laid out landscape with dense trees bordering the streets. All roads lead to the vast Forsyth park in the centre of the city. The greenery of the rectangular lawn was something spectacular. In normal pace it would take about quarter of an hour to walk from one end to the other. There is children’s play area near the Park fountain which has a romantic aura and is a beauty by itself and walking along we reach the Monterey Square where the Pulaski monument stands tall. For movie buffs like me, it gave me goosebumps in getting to know that parts of Tom Hanks blockbuster Forrest Gump was filmed in and around this place.

We visited the SCAD-Savannah College of Art and Design- a dream University for the art loving creators and filmmakers. One woman’s dream has grown to be an empire. Their mascot is Bee- and the tour of the place in 4 D audio-visual is as narrated by the bee. The list of alumnus is remarkable – scattered across the globe as successful movie creators, advertisement barons, free lance consultants for multinationals, artists, designers, Industrial Engineering to name a few.

It was a long walk on the sunny day to the Railroad Museum, a National Historic Landmark complete with steam locomotives, diesel engines, trams, coaches all displayed in a round house- we look like a dwarf standing near those mammoth steel structures. The work shop, tool shop, warehouse are all conserved for posterity. As a child, my ambition was to become a steam engine driver- but only a ride in the engine from Kateri to Coonoor was all that I achieved(!!) when I was in my V Grade, through my Uncles car driver Mr.Batcha -I vividly remember that he had  many friends in the Mountain Railways. I used to spend a lot of time in the Coonoor station almost every second day. I also remember placing a small stone on the railway track with two other friends of my age, just to see how it gets crushed. Alas! we could not witness that- my friends got a thorough spanking by the gang man, and I being a ‘city boy’(!!!) was gently ‘advised’, but it was promptly reported to my sweet uncle who was a prominent Banker- he had a hearty laugh later!

To fuel our engines, Sathish planned for a Cuban lunch – it is very similar to that of Kerala cuisine-at least the ones we had option of-plantain fries (nendaranga chips), sweet plantains (pazham pori), boiled red rice (puzhungal arisi), empanada(samosa),ginger tonic ( sukku vellam). The taste was quite good! I hunted for Havana Cigars (for a souvenir!), but it was not there. Castro and Churchill would have been disappointed that an authentic Cuban joint did not stock up with it!!

Soon after, we were off to the sandy beaches of Tybee Island. I being a product from one of the most noisy and chaotic cities in the world, was rattled by the senseless (??!!??) silence pervading in the Island. The calm atmosphere was mystifying(!!) – a diametrically opposite scenario to our own beaches in Chennai. A wooden board walk takes us to the vast expanse of the Atlantic. Swimmers and sunbathers were scattered across the soft white sands. Sea and the waves always fascinate me- I was in my own world offering silently my reverence to Samudradevan-the Sea Lord and through him to the Lord above- a practice I have since my childhood! The sun was all in its glory- for the first time after we came in November to USA, we could feel the sun penetrating the skins. Despite that, we had a long stroll on the sands. As usual, Sathish had bathed himself with the sunscreen lotion and little Adhrith lost in his own world of fantasy playing with his newly bought jeep toy- believe me, for about 200 meters he would have crawled on the sand with that! We left for the mainland soon after. The visit to Savannah is incomplete without the world renowned ice cream in the century old Leopold’s. In a country where high quality ice cream is in abundance and available in every alternate store, it is just astonishing to see the queue outside the shop-it took over 75 minutes to get inside. I was wondering what was so special about the place and browsed through the net  and learnt that all ingredients are sourced from the best suppliers around the world -cheese from Switzerland & Greece, Vanilla from Madagascar and so on. It seems no mechanisation is involved in the process of making the ice cream.

Later we hit the road for a 4 hour drive to Atlanta. We stayed on the outskirts of the city for the night and the next morning-the penultimate day of the tour, after a sumptuous breakfast in ‘Waffle House’, we headed to America’s biggest” Georgia Aquarium”. It houses hundreds of marine species across its seven major galleries residing in -hold your breath; you’ll have to believe it – yes… nearly six crore litres of water!! How the structures are built to withstand the water pressure and how sturdy it is considering the constant waves and ripples created 24×7 by the swimming creatures and how they are leak proof and apart from the weight mass of thousands of visitors every day. This itself is an incredible engineering feat. The waves of excitement could be seen glittering in every visitors’ eyes, be it a small child or a ripe old adult. As with all places in this part of the globe, every inch of the venue is accessible to a baby stroller / wheel chair. That way, no one is deprived of the fun and excitement. I was as excited as Adhrith.

’Predators of the Deep’ was the first gallery we visited- with its state-of-the-art, floor-to-ceiling acrylic viewing windows, this gallery offers excellent visual access to the mysterious underwater world of SHARKS! This brings us face to face with the most feared and enigmatic creature of the sea. Only the other day I was reading in the internet that in the past 90 years of talkie movies, more than 700 cinemas have been made across the world having the deadly shark as its main character- the list will surely not be exhaustive. Can any of us forget Steven Spielberg’s’ voracious man-eater prowling the Atlantic in the blockbuster of the Seventies -“Jaws”!  I read an interesting signage in the gallery that the percentage of annual fatalities on account of a shark bite worldwide is just one percent as compared to the road accidents in a single Day in North America. In fact, human beings are the greatest threats that endangers the water creatures; few of the reasons are Over-fishing, oil-spilling, polluting waters, global warming & resultant climate changes, habitat destruction, discarding the torn fishing net in the waters and the list is endless. But all said and done, somehow even the mention of the names of(leave alone their sightings)- Sharks, Snakes, Crocodiles, Wild cats always gives a painful churn in the stomach! A thick glass is what separates us from the most fascinating and formidable creature of the sea. They swim at ease in the 20 feet tall tank that spreads across to three floors. The gallery is aptly named as the Ocean Voyager with all kinds of aquatic life swimming around us. The hammer-headed shark is a great show stealer and so are the whale shark, sting rays, sea lions and multitude varieties of the aquatic world. It is a wonder that we are co-existing with all these innumerable creatures. People sit along the glass walls and gaze at the sea life which is on the other side of the glass- no scuba diving, no underwater expedition- all made available in one building complex! Visitors are allowed to touch the turtles, sting rays, crabs, shrimp and feed them. The river otters are the crowd pullers- I think they are the monkeys of the aqua world- nonstop naughtiness. I was stunned by the mammoth size of the Beluga whales – I remember seeing four of it- its look is a combination of a whale and dolphin. The always formerly dressed (??!!!) penguins are my darlings – I remember the last time I saw them in a huge enclosure in Sentosa Islands, Singapore. One unique creature I saw for the first time was the garden eel- popping in and out of the sand bed in the water- it was funny to watch them. Innumerable jellyfish, colourful reef fish, live coral reef (as what we can see in a glass boat in the Gulf of Thailand in Pattaya. The huge 4-D theatre is yet another marvel. The grand finale was in the huge aqua theatre: performance by the darling Dolphins- the most intelligent of all the water species. It was a marvellous show. A forewarning is given that first ten rows will have a splash bath- the mischievous dolphins create a wave with a splash and it sure drenches the first benchers!

We had spent over four hours with the marine life sans the swimming trunks or scuba kits-we all along had a feeling that we were swimming with the innumerable species – of course without wetting ourselves or submerging in water. How much ever time we were there inside, the post script I can write is ‘enough is not enough’ ..As with all such places of tourist attraction, we walked to the open through the café and the souvenir shop getting into the huge lawn.

“Things go better with Coca-Cola……”- can any one of us forgot the advertisement jingle of the yesteryears and the special taste of the “original” Coke of the ‘60s and ‘70s! Just across the lawn is the museum of Coca-Cola. A flawless drawing of the itinerary by the Sathish’s and the Sudarshan’s saved us the time of purchasing tickets at any point of the tour- so was it at this venue too! We were just on time for the conducted tour of the place. How things can be dramatized is to be learnt from the Americans! The tour anchor interacted with each one of us at the assembly lounge which was packed with antiques and artefacts relating to Coke- he ushered us in a dimly lit room and the door was shut. Smoke engulfed the room and with a bang, lights were thrown focusing on a huge vault- this is where the original formula of the beverage is secretly stored. I still do not know whether it is a fact or was intended to be a pun. But, it was astonishingly presented! The museum was filled with history and information. One exhibit I was fascinated of was the yellow delivery van- I was visualising how this vehicle would have made rounds in the American streets of the bygone era. It is really astonishing as to how a fizzy carbonated liquid has been swaying billions of people across the world to its unique taste over a century. I  remember my cousin brother who was born in America drinking a bottle of coke with every meal when he came down to India as a kid of 5 years.! He kept complaining on the taste- he kept telling it had a weird taste. I used to think he was very finicky, but when I visited the tasting room- it was astonishing- the same beverage tastes different for each country. He indeed was telling the truth!! The ones I liked was the Original American flavour, followed by Chinese apple and Japanese peach. The Sprite tasted wonderful and so was the original Fanta Orange. The sight of the visitors gulping down tiny pegs of different flavours within a short span of time looked funny indeed. The usual visit to the souvenir shop followed and we exited the building and I kept belching for a while with a mixture of carbonated drinks doing its work in my system!! Our night’s dinner was at Indian Street Food where food was served in disposable boxes.

Center for Puppetry Arts Museum was where we started the days programme. It takes us through the history of the Art from the ancient days  to the current period.,  various puppets and the stories of their puppeteers, traditions of puppetry from different regions of the world, details of productions, artists, and techniques fill the Museum. The exhibits beautifully depict the part played by puppetry in communicating messages of faith & worship, passions of love & entertainment, humour & satire, protest & revolts over the ages across different cultures. Heroes & Villains, Teachers & Fools, Clowns & Kings-such easily recognised characters appear again and again in stories from different countries, culture and times. Puppetry loves action- a common archetype is the reluctant hero, a seemingly average person, who faces incredible challenges and danger. But puppets can tell quitter and more personal stories too! It showcases the wide talents of the performers. Puppetry breaks boundaries. We are even allowed to try our hands in operating the puppets. A whole pavilion is dedicated to the famed puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, film maker and inventor Mr.Jim Henson-the creator of the evergreen characters Muppets, Kermit the frog and so on. He took his comedy too seriously- gazing his various work and learning the enormous efforts put by him and his team made me offer a royal salute to him in my heart.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History is a great place for kids and family. The little child Adhrith is a double doctorate(!!) in the geological Jurassic species of dinosaurs, tyrannosaurus etc. For me, any prehistoric predator is a dinosaur-he used to correct me each time I utter that!! His eyes were gleaming as he was seeing the gigantic sculptures made from casts and sculpted bones. Each pavilion had unique exhibits with details – a very interesting exploration for one and all. There is a huge planetarium- a  4D show of the celestial wonders of the universe created in stunning immersive environment. The technology is astonishing. The 30 minute show was very captive. The outdoor adventure in the Wildwoods is worth mentioning. The elevated tour on the walkway takes us through the natural world set against the dense woods adjoining the museum. All through the breath taking walk we come across large-scale sculptures of various animals, massive eagle nests and of other birds, owl hole, different types of flowers and foliage. Deeper inside the woods are the real habitat of the North American Bald eagles- we did not get deeper inside. Altogether, it was a different type of museum which we enjoyed.

We had a Mediterranean & Mexican lunch and enroute to our place of stay, we visited the Indian Mall- it was like a shopping complex in Mumbai. It was relatively a free relaxed evening which we spent in the rooms.

It had been a fantastic week but all good things must come to an end! The last lap of the tour was to visit the magnificent temple of Shree Swaminarayan, just outside of Atlanta.It is a very huge temple built of hand carved stones with intricate workmanship. The campus is surrounded by an admirably well maintained lush greenery. The place was reverberating with positive energy. Getting a reward for eating sugarcane? Yes..it was so…. after a blissful darshan at the temple a sumptuous lunch of hot Gujarati dish were served from the full fledged kitchen attached to the temple.

In those few days we had lip smacking treats of Indian, American, Mexican, Mediterranean, Italian, Cuban, Chinese foods.

We were on the home run- a long drive was ahead of us. Sudharshan and Sathish had taken turns in driving the car. The ‘jukebox in-charge’ was Akshaya- we listened to that many Tamil,Hindi,Malayalam,Arabic songs in all those days of travelling rekindling nostalgic memories.

Late in the evening we reached home carrying wonderful memories of the road trip.

Till I lace up for the next…

J.Ram