The drive east from Savannah to the Atlantic Ocean passes through picturesque fishing villages standing out from serene marshlands, where a maze of riverlets and creeks weaves through the tall green reeds, and fishing boats bob along the tidal waters as they head off to harvest shrimp and oysters.
Amid the calm stands Fort Pulaski National Monument (daily; $2; 912/786-5787), 15 miles east of Savannah on US-80, a well-preserved stone-and-brick fortress completed in 1848 at a commanding site at the mouth of the Savannah River. Its prominent island site originally held colonial-era Fort Greene, which was demolished by a hurricane in 1804 and replaced by the architecturally impressive, pentagon-shaped bulwark that survives in its battered and breached state today, surrounded by a moat and many acres of grassy lawn.
Near Fort Pulaski, just west of the Bull River Bridge along US-80, Williams Seafood Restaurant (912/897-2219) is a popular place to sample local cuisine. Harder to find, but worth the effort to reach, is the waterfront Crab Shack (912/786-9857), just across the bridge to Tybee Island on Estill Hammock Road, where “The Elite Dine in Their Bare Feet” on plates of shrimp-and-sausage, “Low Country Boil,” and key lime pie raved about by such dignified aficionados as the New York Times.
