Talahi Island, Georgia

Post # 204: January 24 - February 6, 2026

Talahi Island is located about ten miles east of Savanah. It is a nice place. I stopped there for about eleven days to see my friends Cheryl and Michael. I took three days to drive, arriving on January 24. I stopped and slept at a Virginia Welcome Center in Fredericksburg on the 22^nd, at a South Carolina Welcome Center in Santee on the 23^rd, and I arrived at Talahi on the 24^th.

The term “Welcome” varies from state to state in actual application. I speak of this in terms of being welcome to stay overnight at the interstate rest stops to sleep. Many states allow it, some do not. Virginia and South Carolina are okay with it. South Carolina and Georgia have regulations against it. The two places I stayed on my way to Georgia had at least a dozen other travelers staying the night, an interesting collection of vehicles, some cars, some pickup trucks, some vans. New cars, old cars. A variety of window coverings, towels, clothes, etc. hung over windows. Some of those big front windshield covers used to block the sun. My van has window coverings that attach easily to the insides of the windows all around. They attach with magnets to the metal frame. When they are all attached, it’s dark in the van, even in bright daylight. They also do good job of blocking sunlight, when desired, and provide some insulation for cold days with the heat on.

I have slept at rest areas ever since I first began driving cross country. The first trip was in 1984 in the 1975 Chevy Malibu I inherited from my grandmother. It was a three month drive from Danbury to the Sacramento area of California. Since then, I have driven cross country dozens of times, often utilizing rest stops on interstate highways. I have never had a negative experience or situation where I feared for safety.

My recent six week stay in Danbury had been an unplanned visit. My actual plan was to spend October through January in the southwest, mainly for three months as a volunteer at Furnace Creek in Death Valley for the National Park Service. I have spent Fall and Winter over the past three years traveling to the southwest in those months. This year, I left Danbury October 5, headed first to Colorado and then farther west until I reached Death Valley. I was in Utah when I had some weird sensations, discomfort and pain, in several joints. It took over two months to determine the cause, something called polymyalgia rheumatic (PMR). I have written about it previous posts. With it now under control, I drove south, happy to be back on the road.

I had mixed feeling and thoughts about coming Danbury. I did not want to spend winter in a cold climate environment. In general, I just like warmer weather. Specifically, I like it for bike riding and hiking. Additionally, I did not have a place to stay and would have to arrange for one. But I ran into good fortune when my friend Heather texted med that Dimitri Chaber (Dee) offered me a place to stay, in an apartment he was renovating, next to The Sesame Seed Restaurant, a place I worked as a waiter in the 1980s. (Dee) owns the Seed.

This arrangement had other positive aspects, too. I got to spend time with Heather, who works at the Seed and lives in the downstairs apartment of where I stayed. And I got to spend time with another friend, John, who was moving back into the Danbury area after being away for many years. He stayed in the upstairs apartment. I also was able to spend time and do things with my brother Richie.

I joined Planet Fitness and used it for riding on their stationary bikes and occasionally the treadmills. The stationary bike felt like a life saver. In addition to meeting my exercise desires, these places were environments for spontaneously running into acquaintances and friends, some of whom I had not seen in years. And I visited with former co-workers at the Westconn library.

There was also a comfort associated with being in one’s hometown. I’ve been spending about 75% of my time traveling the last three years. There is a type of familiarity in being home that simply is not present on the road. It felt good, it felt nice. Seemingly simple things like being on familiar roads, the library, Tarrywile Park, even grocery stores and Costco, and so on, have intrinsic value.

Overall, my aversion for cold weather was tempered by these facts, and I was actually quite comfortable with the situation in many ways. On the other hand, I still did not like going out in the cold, especially on the several days it snowed and there was shoveling to do, as it raised issues with my joint pain. So, as soon as I received the okay from my doctor, I was ready to drive south. I left just in time to avoid a 16” snowstorm and what has been a lengthy period of winter with temperatures well below average.

Cheryl and Michael, and their dog Charlie, welcomed me in a way that says “feel at home” with them. They have a nice, one story ranch house. A majority of the neighborhood has one story ranches, generally on spacious lots. I like this type of home. And it is a very comfortable neighborhood where neighbors wave hello when driving along the streets. I did a lot of walking around the area and it seemed drivers waved hello most of the time. It’s a small community, Talahi Island, being only around 3 square miles in size with a population around 1,200.

Charlie!

On the second night there, Micheal’s mom, Latrelle, came over for dinner as did their son Cason and his partner Amanda. We had a smorgasbord of food, fun, and games. Latrelle lives just around the corner, in another one-level ranch house. It is on the Bull River and there is a dock off the back with a walkway that stretches about 200 yards out over the estuary to the main river. Cheryl and Michael actually live in a home that was his grandparents’. There’s some history here. Their house has some large, statuesque Live Oaks that are probably a couple hundred years old. They are amazing, living structures, draped in hanging moss.

On Tuesday (1/27) we went to Wang’s II and had a late lunch. We had eaten there last year, too, when I was with them on my way back to Danbury from Gulf Islands and my trip out west. I has arrived for Superbowl week. General Tso’s Chicken with broccoli and rice was delicious. After that we went to Picker Joe’s, an antique mall and vintage market where Cheryl has a booth. Picker Joe’s is currently in the process of moving locations. It has a grand reopening in its new location on February 12.

The fun continued Wednesday night when we went to a sports bar, Coach’s, for Trivia Night. Cheryl’ friend Betty was there too. We had dinner followed by a two hour trivia game that spans a variety of topics. There were a crowd of festive participants, over twenty teams. It appears there is no limit to how many people can be on a team, with some having 8-10 people. More team members, more brain power, better chance of winning I guess. We had Betty, Cheryl, Michael, and me. We did not win, but we had fun.

One other “night out” we had was for dinner at Lili’s. It is a casual upscale restaurant with delicious food. I had pan-fried North Carolina Flounder that was delicious on a fun night.

Cheryl and I played Parcheesi several nights. We played one night with Amanda, too. Cheryl and I kept a running tally of wins and losses. It was very entertaining and competitive, mostly very close games, and  it turned out that one of use had an amazing streak of “luck” and won the majority of games. I’m sure there will be a rematch.

Brushing up on the rules ...

There were a lot of birds in the area, particularly on Cheryl’s street, where it seems there is a greater tree and bush density than other places on the “island.” I took daily walks, often a couple times a day, in the eleven days I was there. The Merlin app on my phone detected thirty-eight different species of the little aviators. Birds singing makes great music.

I put “island” in parentheses because it is not readily apparent that Talahi is an island. It’s not like an island with large bodies of water on all sides. It is separated from other land by rivers and a small creek. It is one of several barrier islands in this area adjacent to Savanah.

I returned to my normal bike riding while here. It was the first time, since in Denver on November 19, that I rode a bike outdoors. It had been sixty-nine days! That’s some kind of record going back many years.

Although I had left the cold of the northeast, I had not escaped cold weather completely. Temperatures in the Savanah area were well below average for much of my stay. The norms for this time of year are highs around 60 and lows around 40. During my stay, we had some days with highs near 40 and lows near 20. We even had some snow one day. I was dressed in layers on many of my walks. The last few days saw a return to normal temps.

I did one bike ride along Route 80 out towards Tybee Island. It’s a nice road surface with good shoulder for riding except for a couple bridges, where there’s no shoulder at all, but there wasn’t much traffic. I rode down as far as Fort Pulaski National Monument and spent a little time on the grounds there. They have some nice trails, unpaved, and a small visitor center.

Clouds over Savanah River, Fort Pulaski National Monument

I left Talahi on Wednesday, Feb 6, after a fun time with Cheryl and Michael. Great hosts! We had a great time. I cannot express enough how welcome they made me feel and at ease things were staying with them.

I headed to Gulf Islands National Seashore, a 520 mile drive, where I planned to stay at Fort Pickens Campground for much of the next month.