In Search of "Local Character" John Potter-- Part 9: No John, But Found His PBRs

Huc-A-Poos on Tybee Island was packed with customers both outside and inside.  I could see no evidence of air conditioning.  We sat down at the part of the bar that was by the back wall and it no time at all, a bartender was over asking what we'd like.

Seeing some remarkable-looking pizzas on the way in, I asked for a menu and ordered the Omnivore garbage one, well, a slice of it.

I mentioned that we were here because of the article in the Tribune and CSS Georgia.  She said, "Johnny.  I love Johnny."  Sadly, according to the article, John Potter now resides somewhere in North Carolina.  No doubt, he now sits at another dive bar.  Maybe holding court as resident mayor.

I sure would have liked to meet him.

Next, I asked about the "Wanted Poster."  She shrugged and motioned to the wall behind us and said it was somewhere back there.  Easier said than done.  With all the stuff on the wall, it would be like finding that proverbial "needle in a haystack."  I turned around ion the bar stool and started looking but had no luck.  Liz keeps after things longer than I do and after a bit longer said she thought she'd found it.

I walked over to the area she'd indicated and after a bit more searching, found it.  His picture with the words "Tybee Record-- 77 PBRs in one night."  Had he actually consumed 77 PBRs in one night?

Well, like I said, no Johnny, but we did get to see his poster.  And, to make matters worse, when we left Huc-A-Poos to drive to Jacksonville, Florida, we encountered an even worse traffic jam than the one we waited through to get onto Tybee Island.  It was so bad, we ended up "staying on the island" for the night.  Oh well, I can think of worse places to get stuck.

To read the entire story of John Potter and the CSS Georgia photo hoax, click on the Potter John label below.

One Has to Wonder.  --Old B-R'er

In Search of Local Character" John Potter-- Part 8: Pizza At the Hangout

We entered Huc-A-Poos and it is all classic dive bar.  Nothing fancy, nothing carefully planned out.  Just a jumble of stuff everywhere and very reasonable food and drink prices.  No wonder John Potter hung out here.

The place is named Huc-A-poos Bites & Booze and for $4 you can get a huge quarter slice of very unique 16-inch pizzas  One is called the Herbivore with all of their veggies on it.  Another is the Omnivore, the garbage can of pizzas (which I ordered).  Yet another is Shep Surprise, "Where you order whatever  you want.and we will give you whatever we want."

And, there is PBR on tap.  And cheap, too.

There are 378 Reviews in Trip Advisor with 207 excellent, 113 very good, 18 poor and 18 terrible.

Comments:

Great laid back atmosphere.
My favorite place on earth.
This place is a hoot,
Best pizza in the USA.

No Wonder Potter Hung Out Here.  --Old B-R'er

In Search of "Local Character John Potter-- Part 7 "A Crazy Guy"

Huc-a-Poo's owner, Eric Thomas, says, "Potter's a crazy guy, but added, "He's also a lovable guy."

As to his coming clean about the CSS Georgia photo hoax, he said that after his brother's death by suicide: "I'm not in good health.  I didn't want to drop dead and carry that to my grave..  I didn't intend to hurt or embarrass anybody, because I really love history."

He added:  "But there's still a lesson there: Do your dang homework."  Well, with just a photo of the photo it would not seem likely that anyone could authenticate it.  A picture of the picture accompanied the article and I sure couldn't tell if it was fake or not.

Supposedly the original photo was destroyed when Potter tried to take it out of the frame.  maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.

One More Tale to Tell.  --Old B-Runner

In Search of the "Local Character", John Potter-- Part 6

John Potter made the fake photo of the CSS Georgia as teenager after he made a short 8 mm movie about the ship and then decided to try his skill at special effects and made the photo.  He used a 2-foot model of the ship and took a photo of it and then another one of his brother with a fishing pole, coat and straw hat at a marsh.  He joined the two together and used dirt and glue to age the photo.  Next, he put it in a gilded frame.

He then took a picture of it and claimed he had seen it at a garage sale and had taken a picture of it.  He sent a picture of it to Savannah historical groups.  Then, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to raise what remains of the Georgia, interest in the ship blossomed and, of course, there was the only known photo of it (as supplied by one John Potter).

He still has the gilded frame, but it now holds a picture of his deceased pug, Puggy Van Dug.

Very Sneaky, Johnny.  --Old B-R'er

In Search of the "Local Character," John Potter-- Part 5: "77 PBRs in One Night"

Continued from May.  To catch up on all of the entries, go to Potter John in the labels.

John Potter now admits that he made the fake photo of the CSS Georgia which is in the process of being raised near Savannah.

From the April 16, 2015, Chicago Tribune "Civil War photo said to be a fake" by Mitch Weiss and Russ Bynum, AP.

Potter, now 50, lives alone in a cluttered one-story house in North Carolina.  He once owned a Savannah antiques store and provided props for movies filming in the area.  For awhile, he was maintenance man for the lighthouse and museum on Tybee Island where he spent his nights drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon at Huc-a-Poos.  I have some confusion as to whether it is Huck-a-Poos or Huc-a-Poos.  Evidently, there is no "k".

There is a mock police mug shot of him with the words "Tybee Record -- 77 PBRs in one night."

I had culture shock when I transferred from Northern Illinois to University of Georgia for junior year.  At NIU, Old Milwaukee cost 99 cents a six pack.  Beer in Athens was a lot higher (CONSIDERABLY) and the cheapest was Pabst Blue Ribbon at $1.99.  Most of the rest was at least $3.  Needless to say, I soon learned how to drink, and enjoy, PBR.

PBR Me, ASAP.  --RoadDog

Found "Local Character" John Potter at Huc-a-Poos, Well, Where He Hung Out and Drank Beer

From the April 16, 2015, Chicago Tribune "Civil War photo said to be a fake" by Mitch Weiss and Russ Bynum, AP.

I have been covering this story about the fake photograph of the CSS Georgia ironclad sunk in the Savannah River by Old Fort Jackson.  This ship is now in the process of being raised and is getting a lot of publicity in the process.

Then, there was a story about a supposed photograph of the ship, the only one known to exist.  But that photo, reported by one John Potter turned out to be a hoax he had made as a teenager.

Since I was going to be in Savannah for my niece's wedding on April 25th, I decided to go looking for this Huc-A-Poos on Tybee Island to find John Potter's lair when he used to live there.  The article made him sound much like one of those "local characters" sometimes known to hang out at bars.

Well, on April 26th, after battling huge traffic jams and touring Fort Pulaski and a lot of driving around Tybee Island. lost for some of the time, and then an incorrect GPS location, we finally found this bar.

If you want to follow the many posts on this man and the fake photo, look up Potter John on the labels/index to the right.

Hey, Maybe Mr. Potter Might Even Be There.  Who Knows?  --Old B-Runner

In Search of This "Local Character"-- Part 5: Found Huck-A-Poos!!

As we were leaving Tybee Island, we kept our eyes open for Huck-A-Poos.  Huck-A-Poos is where John Potter used to hang out for many years.  This is the guy who created the CSS Georgia photograph hoax and a man described as a local character.

After all, there is only one place to go into or off Tybee Island, and that is US-80.  We have to pass the place at some point.  You'd think so, anyway.

Traffic was light at first, but then started getting heavier as we got close to the end of the island.  We were going slow enough that Liz was able to see a small Huck-A-Poos sign among some trees.  Well, we've come this far so might as well check it out.  I turned around and we drove into a grove of trees with several small business and then saw Huck-A-Poos.

It took awhile, but we found a parking space and walked in.  They have an outside eating area under huge tarps and we could tell right away, we had found a dive bar.  Once inside the small bar, the walls were extremely cluttered, a good sign that you are in a dive bar.  And everything was jumbled together.  No planning here, just put it up as you get it.  No planning ahead.

Found John's Hangout.  --Old B-Runner

In Search of This "Local Character"-- Part 4: Tybee Island, But Still No Huck-A-Poos

Sadly, once back on US-80 after touring Fort Pulaski, the traffic jam was as bad as ever.  However, after about a mile, it finally opened up after we reached Tybee Island and made the turn.  A possible place to spend the night as we drove along. This place had some motels and we found the main boardwalk area, but then got lost in a maze of residential streets past the boardwalk area.

It took awhile to get out, especially with cars parked in every conceivable place.  All those cars had to park somewhere. We finally found our way out of the maze, then drove along both streets of the boardwalk-type area.  Good luck finding a place to park there.  Wasn't going to happen.

Plus, keeping an eye out as we had, we never did see John Potter's hangout at Huck-A-Poos.  We finally brought out our GPS and had our British gal, Nancy, look up Huck-A-Poos.  She found it, so we went to 13th Street, but found no Huck-A-Poos.  We drove around the area, but still, no Huck-A-Poos.

We then decided to leave before the traffic got heavy heading back to Savannah (if coming in was bad, leaving would have to be even worse with everyone heading out as it got dark).  But, we kept an eye out for this mythical place.

--Old B-Runner

In Search of "This Local Character"-- Part 3: Fort Pulaski

Drove over a bridge to the fort and Liz decided to sit this one out at the park by the museum while I put $5 in the donations box and took a full walk around the fort.  This was my first-ever visit to the fort and one I was looking forward to seeing, especially in relation to all that traffic outside it on US-80.

It is a big fort, much bigger than Old Fort Jackson in Savannah and partially engineered by U.S. Army Officer Robert E. Lee before the war.  It was Savannah's main guardian and with its thick brick walls, believe to be impregnable.  However, Union forces landed across a short body of water and erected batteries on nearby Tybee Island and commenced a two-day bombardment which breached Pulaski's walls and caused its surrender.

Union guns featured the new rifled cannons which hurled shells much more accurately and with much more accuracy than previous ones.  This proved beyond a doubt that the age of masonry forts was over.  New fortifications were made of earth such as Fort Fisher.

I walked both the ground level and then the upper ramparts, using some really frightening stairs to go up and down.  If the cannon shells didn't get you, those stairs sure would.

From the ramparts, I could see not bombs bursting in air, but the beginning of movement on US-80.

Waited it Out?  --Old B-Runner

In Search of "This Local Character"-- Part 2: Just Sitting in a Jam

On April 26th, we left Savannah for the beaches out on Tybee Island...along with about half the folks in and around Savannah, evidently.  After a really cold and depressing spring, today had temps in the 80s and plenty of sun.  So, why not go out to the beach?  Unfortunately for us, they sure did.  We had a traffic jam most of the way out to Tybee Island.

Was looking for John Potter going to be worth it?

Especially when US-80, the only road to take, went from four lanes to two lanes.  We ground to a halt.  After awhile, it became apparent that I'd best stop for gas and a bathroom break.  The needle was reading below 1/8 a tank, anyway and who knew how much longer we'd be waiting out there on the road.

Not easy to fill the tank thanks to confusing and hard to read prompts on gas pump.  Then, we encountered the first of several unisex bathrooms on Tybee at the station.  I always feel sorry for the gals when they have to wait in a line, but am not crazy about having to stand in line and wait for them.  What do they do in there?  Why does it take so long?  And, this was the first of several unisex bathrooms we encountered on Tybee Island.

Then, back out to the traffic jam and more slow going.  After an hour or so, we got up to Fort Pulaski, site of the first definite demonstration of the new rifled cannons over masonry forts.  I had already planned on going there anyway, so was only too happy to pull off US-80.

And, right into ANOTHER line waiting to pay to go across the bridge to the fort.  I was able to use my new National Park service senior pass to get us in for free, saving us $5 a piece!!  This was my first use as you don't have to pay to go through the Great Smoky National Park.

Might There Be a Chance the Traffic Jam Would Be Gone When We Left Pulaski?  --Old Traffic-Runner

In Search of This "Local Character"-- Part 1: Dive Bars and Huck-a-Poos

When I read the article in the last several posts about the CSS Georgia photo hoax, it was just a short time before my wife and I left to go to Savannah for my nieces's wedding.  Seeing the work on the CSS Georgia and visiting Old Fort Jackson a short distance downriver from the city was definitely on my list of things to do.

Then I read this article and about John Potter hanging out at a place called Huck-a-Poos on Tybee Island.  The name alone would get my interest in going to a place named that.  I looked it up and got the address, right on the main road onto the island, US-80.

After arrival in Savannah, before the wedding, we went to a place described as Savannah's ultimate dive bar, Pinkie Master's, and it sure lived up to its name.  We loved it.  Had it not been for driving through those frightening squares, we might have gone back.

Now, we had another target, a place named Huck-a-Poos.  Might this also be classified as a dive bar?  If John Potter hung out there, there was a good chance it was, especially with that picture on the wall.

In Search of John Potter, Had Us Fooled.  --Old B-R'er

Man Says CSS Georgia Photo a Fake-- Part 3: "A Local Character"

The gilded frame around the photo shown in Potter's picture now has a portrait of his deceased dog, a pug named Puggy Van Dug.

John Potter, now 50 and living in North Carolina, never became a special effects artist.  His brother Jeffrey committed suicide last month and Potter decided it was time to come clean about the photo.

He has led an interesting life and owned an antiques store in Savannah for awhile and was even a maintenance man at the Tybee Island Lighthouse.  described as a "local character," he spent most nights drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon beer at local drinking establishment Huc-a-Poos where there is still a mock police mug shot of him with the words "Tybee Record--  77 PBRs in one night."

I Believe Him.  --Old B-Runner

Man Says CSS Georgia Photo a Hoax-- Part 2: Brother's an Accomplice

Now, the man who said he found the photo has come forward to say it is a fake.

Thirty years ago, John Potter of Savannah said he had found the photo in an antique frame at a yard sale.  On the back was inscribed the name CSS Georgia.  He couldn't afford the asking price, but took a picture of it and mailed it to a historical group in Savannah.

He now says that as a teenager in Savannah, he and his brother Jeffrey shot a short 8 MM film about the CSS Georgia and built a two-foot long model of it.  He wanted to test his skills to see if he could be a Hollywood special effects artist.

To do so, his younger brother put on a coat and straw hat and went to a marsh with a fishing pole and Potter took a picture of him from the back.  He then took another photo of the model then glued it to the picture of his brother.  he then used dirt and glue to "age" the photo.

Pretty Sneaky Fella.  --Old B-R'er

Man Says CSS Georgia Photo a Hoax-- Part 1: Was It Real?

From the April 13, 2015, Yahoo! News "Man says mysterious Civil War photo was really teenage hoax" by Mitch Weiss and Russ Bynum.

I figured since I wrote about the CSS Georgia on our recent trip to Savannah, I ought to put this article into my blog.

Rumor of a stained and blurry photo of the ironclad CSS Georgia have been around for thirty years  The 1,200 ton, armored with railroad iron never fired a shot in combat and was sunk in December 1864 to prevent its captured when Sherman captured Savannah.  No blueprint of it survives and period illustrations of it varied greatly in details.

Records show that John Potter donated a copy of the photograph to the Georgia Historical Society in March 1986.

Right now, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has embarked on a $14 million project to raise the ship from its wreck site in the Savannah River by Old Fort Jackson.

They were also hoping to track down the original, long-lost, photograph of the ship.

That Is, Until Now.  --Old B-Runner