Lots to see and eat on Georgia’s Highway 15

   

 From the backseat window of a 1964 Buick, I got my first glimpse of Georgia’s Highway 15.  I can remember the route’s landmarks as well as the brocade seat covers in Mrs. Ruth Oglesby’s blue and white LeSabre.  The Jesup High School teacher was pursuing an advanced degree at The University of Georgia.  She invited me to tag along with John, her youngest son, on those weekend trips.

     Mrs. Oglesby got her 6th-year certificate, and I got attached to Athens. When John and I left for college, he stayed straight on Highway 341 on his way to Atlanta and Georgia Tech.  In downtown Baxley, I turned right onto Highway 15 toward Athens and UGA.  And for 51 years, I’ve been rolling up and down that stretch of two-lane blacktop.

     I still chuckle when I pass through Greensboro.  In 1966, I stayed–with my parents—in the Nathaniel Greene Motel.  They thought the 210 miles were too much for one day.  We motored the last 35 miles the next morning.  Now, I can’t count the times that I’ve driven the 420-mile round trip in the same day.

     During their growing-up years, our children—Alan, Emily and Eric—made plenty of those up-and-back trips. We cheered for the Wayne County Yellow Jackets on Friday night.  And then before the rooster crowed on Saturday, we’d beeline for Athens.

     One morning, I kept hearing beep-beep, over and over.  Emily and her friend, Laura Peel, who were sitting backwards in our Oldsmobile station wagon’s third seat, were holding up a hand-lettered sign: “Honk, if you love the Dawgs.” 

      After tailgating under the big oaks on the campus, we’d soak up sunshine in Sanford Stadium’s Section 106, cheering for the Bulldogs.  Our kids can still mimic Larry Munson’s “There goes Herschel.  There goes Herschel!”