Crime scene

This afternoon we headed back to Savannah, after the morning's light rain.  We're aware that there is some pretty severe weather in the south, but so far overcast skies and a little light rain this morning is our only experience.

Getting fresh water into historic Savannah had been a problem so there a been a system of aquaducts built.  The remains of some of them still exist and we travel through one of the remaining on our way into Savannah.

Pretty good condition.

On our earlier visits we had notice plenty of young people dressed all in black and some with colorful hair.  We commented that they reminded us of RISD students. Turns out, the Savannah College of Art and Design, SCAD, is a major player in Savannah. The College is engaged with the city of Savannah and the preservation of its architectural heritage. It maintains 67 buildings throughout the grid-and-park system of downtown Savannah, many located on the famous 21 squares of the old town.

This Residence Hall is located next to the public parking lot where we parked the car.

A major goal of today's return trip was to visit Leopold's Ice Cream.  It is very famous, opening originally in 1919, and serves a darned good scoop of ice cream. Frederick had mint chocolate chip and I had tutti-frutti, Leopold's hallmark flavor and Savannah's favorite. 

When we passed by on Sunday, during the tour, there was a line extending out the door and down the block.  This afternoon the line wasn't as long, but there was still a line.

After being fortified with ice cream, we headed into the heart of the historic district and the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts. There is another historic building that is the site of the first headquarters of the Girl Scouts.

A square across the street from Juliette Low's home.

Her home. She was the daughter of a prominent and wealthy family.  The Savannah History Museum had a very nice exhibit about her and the founding of the Girl Scouts.

We then headed over to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. We were about 15 minutes too late to go inside and tour, but the outside of the building was pretty impressive.

Nice gothic style.

On our way to one of the few gothic synagogs in the world, we passed by several squares.

Statue of William Oglethorpe in Chippewa Square. None of the statues of the people are in the square  that bears their name. It is also know as the Forrest Gump Square because the opening scenes of the movie were filmed here.

Lafayette Square with a fountain dedicated by the Colonial Dames of America. The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is on this square.

Monterey Square with a statue of Casimir Pulaski, mortally wounded during the siege of Savannah during the Revolutionary War (and, of course, Fort Pulaski was named for him). Temple Mickve Israel is located on the square and the Mercer House.

Temple Mickve Israel is one of the very few gothic designed synagogs in the country.  Our tour guide said it was the only one. 

Temple Mickve Israel.

On the opposite side of the square from the Temple is the Mercer House. Mercer House was built for Johnny Mercer's grandfather. Johnny Mercer, the song lyricist (Moon River, One for my baby, Winter Wonderland, and 1,500 other songs), was born in Savannah and if you go into any building, say Leopold's Ice Cream or the Savannah History Museum, you will hear Mercer music in the background. However, Johnny Mercer did not live in Mercer House, but its big claim to fame is as the location of the murder that was the central story in the book and movie, " Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", another big influence in the city. 

Mercer House.

While we were looking around the city, we met Joseph Cohen who said he had lived in Savannah for 57 years. He filled us in on a lot of the recent history.

Meet Joseph Cohen.

One word - golf

Hilton Head, South Carolina, is about 60 miles from where we are staying so we decided that we would stop in a pay a visit. We took our bikes in the hope that there would be biking trails as we found on Tybee Island. South Carolina is just across the Savannah River so we were quickly at the South Carolina Welcome Center.

Modest, but it had all the information.

It was at the Welcome Center that we learned that Hilton Head is honeycombed with bike trails. We picked up a couple of maps and continued down to the coast. Hilton Head couldn't be more different from Tybee Island. TI is open, kinda funky with multi-colored, pastel houses and friendly, laid-back people.  HH is all trees and lush landscaping. In fact, maybe because today was overcast, HH seemed kinda gloomy from all the overarching trees. All the buildings - houses, businesses, hotels, restaurants - are all the same color, tan. Every single one of them - tan. All the businesses are tucked behind a layer of vegetation and trees with a sign out front to tell you what is behind the trees. There were lots of cars buzzing around and everyone seems to have some place they wanted to get to in a hurry. But, there were also lots of people on bicycles.

We began our tour of the Island at Coligny Beach where there is a large parking lot where you do not have to pay to park.  The map showed a trail called the "Beach Trail" that looked like it travelled right along the ocean front.  We could not find a trail so we asked and were told that there is no specific, paved trail, you just ride along the beach! 

Entrance to Coligny Beach with chairs and swings for people to watch the world go by.

Only in Hilton Head would you have a rubber carpet to take you across the sand to the beach.

Nice hard sand.

We started out heading east, into the wind, but quickly reversed direction and could really roll along.

See, no sinking into the sand.

Lunch on drift wood.

Beach patrol car.

Huge homes along the beach.

I wonder if they don't fear hurricanes.

The beach trail is about 6 miles long and we went most of the distance.  Towards the end there is a spot on the map with an arrow that reads - "Important!!! Must go at LOW TIDE, you can only cross the Folly at low tide!!!!" We had no clue what that meant until we got to this out-flow where we had to stop, take off our socks and shoes, and wade across.

Crossing the Folly at low tide.

We left the beach and biked north, west, and south back to the parking lot at Coligny Beach, about 20 miles. Mostly what we passed were golf courses. Then, we took the car, paid the entrance fee to Sea Pines and Harbour Town ($6 for visitors), and travelled out to see the Hilton Head light so as not to disappoint my sister.

Beautiful yachts in the harbor.

HiltonHead Light.

Another day, another fort

This morning we loaded the bikes o the car and headed for Tybee Island, know as "Savannah's beach".  Savannah is not on the Atlantic ocean but on the Savannah River. So in order to "go to the beach", you head for Tybee Island. It is easygoing here and low keyed compared to more elegant and developed coastal destinations up and down the shoreline, such as Hilton Head, where we plan on going tomorrow.

Just before before you reach Tybee Island there is Fort Pulaski, located on Cockspur Island. It was placed here to guard the river approaches to Savannah and was part of a coastal fortification system adopted by President Madison after the War of 1812. Construction began in 1829 and required $1 million, 25 million bricks, and 18 years of toil (mostly by rented slaves) to finish. It is named for Count Casimir Pulaski, the Polish hero of the American Revolution who lost his life in the unsuccessful siege of Savannah in 1779. After Georgia seceded in January 1861, the state transferred Fort Pulaski to the Confederate States of America.

By the end of the summer 1861 President Lincoln ordered the U..Sl Navy to blockade Southern ports, Early in December Federal troops seized Tybee Island and began preparing for siege operations on Fort Pulaski. They erected 11 artillery batteries containing 36 guns and mortars along the shore of Tybee Island. The Confederates were not particularly alarmed; the Union guns were a mile away, more than twice the effective range for heavy ordnance of that day. But what the fort's garrison did not know was that the Federal armament included 10 new experimental rifled cannons. On April 10, 1862, the Federals opened fire. The rifled cannons projectiles began to bore through Pulaski's walls and by noon of the second day the bombardment had opened wide gaps in the south-east angle, and explosive shells, passing through the holes and over the walls, threatened the main powder magazine. The Confederate commander, Col Charles Olmstead had no choice but to surrender only 30 hours after the bombardment began. The quick fall of Fort Pulaski surprised and shocked the world and marked the end of the system of forts because no works of stone or brick could resist the impact of rifled artillery of heavy calibre. The Fort is now an interesting relic of a bygone era and is now under the supervision of the National Park Service as Fort Pulaski National Monument.

Entering the Park, we saw this bald eagle on a snag.

Interesting version of the Union flag that flew over the Fort after it was captured from the Confederates.

Fort Pulaski has a moat the completely surrounds the fort. It is seven feet deep and from 32 to 48 feet wide. 

The demilune, a huge triangular piece of land that protected the rear of the fort. The large earthen mounds, built after the Civil War, overlay four powder magazines and passageways to several gun emplacements.

A part of the fort's overall defense, the drawbridge is to make forced entry difficult.

Ground level view of the parade group.

View from the top of the fort's wall.

How the troops moved around inside the fort. Noooo, these are park service employees.

Showing the damage from the Federal rifled guns on Tybee Island.

The nearly demolished southeast corner was rebuilt within 6 weeks of the Federal victory.

After our history lesson and eating lunch in the picnic area, we drove to Tybee Island to find the lovely bike path.  We parked at the Tybee Island Pier & Pavilion and began the almost 10 mile round trip ride.  

For you, Rose, the Tybee Island Light Station and Museum.

We saw many yards with amaryllis blooming, some with blooms all around the perimeter.

After the bike ride we took a stroll over to the pier.

The massive pavilion.

The bench

Another beautiful city and another great tour. Savannah bills itself as the oldest city in Georgia.  It is also the third largest port in the U.S., which is something I didn't know.  These Trolley Tours, run by the same company as the Trolley Tours of St. Augustine and Key West, do a really nice job of presenting an historic city. They also run a Trolley Tour of Boston and Washington D.C.

In addition to describing the layout of the city, there was a fair amount about the founding and the role of Savannah in the Revolutionary War. Here the Patriots and the French were repulsed by the British who held the city. This defeat prolonged the war by over two years.  Nathanael Greene (of Rhode Island fame) was a hero in Savannah and, as a thank-you, was presented with a plantation.   Unfortunately Nathanael Greene died soon after but his wife and children continued to live on the plantation.  To provide an education for her children, Mrs. Greene hired Eli Whitney as a tutor, and in addition to teaching, he proceeded to refine the cotton gin on her plantation.

Once again I didn't take very many pictures on the tour but we will go back on our bikes and really poke around.

After the tour we went to the Savannah History Museum & Visitors Center. James Oglethorpe was a British general, Member of Parliament, where he served on a committee to reform prisons, was the founder of the colony of Georgia in 1733. As a social reformer, he hoped to resettle Britain's poor, especially those in debtors' prisons, in the New World. On the journey from England he drew up the design of the city which originally had six wards, each with a square, or open space, in the middle of the ward. As the city grew, the system of wards and squares also expanded, eventually reaching 22.  Each one is different and we want to go back a get a closer look.

Indian  pottery, displayed in the History Museum, in the area was not painted but designs were incised. Tools and examples of the resultant designs.

Timeline of Indian culture in North America. Paleo Indian, Archaic, Woodland, Missi sippian, and Historic. 

Oglethorpe's plan for the city. One ward.

A number of successful movies were filmed in Savannah including Forrest Gump and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

The bench, displayed in the History Museum (?), from the beginning of the movie "Forrest Gump". (Tiny picture of Tom Hanks, as Forrest, sitting on the bench.)

Quilt display in the History Museum.

Good-bye, Florida. Hello, Georgia

We left Florida today.  We were in Florida for 30 days, arriving on March 28. We spent a few days in the Tampa area; a week in Naples; a week in Miami (also visiting Key West); two days in Okeechobee; four days in Canaveral; and, five days in St.Augustine. That was traveling along the perimeter of the state with a dot in the middle. Now we have a couple of weeks planned for Georgia starting here in Savannah before we travel up to Atlanta and then into the mountains of northeast Georgia before heading into South Carolina.

We travelled about 220 miles today, 170 of them towing. We entered Georgia about 1pm and stopped for lunch at the Georgia Welcome Center.

Colorful turtle in the Georgia Welcome Center.

Preparing for lunch. That's our foldable cooler that got at the Container store. 

We got to our campground, Savannah Oaks, about 3:30pm, unhitched and looked around. The Ogeechee River flows about 20 feet from the back of our Airstream.  I don't think there are any alligators in the river.

A fishing dock.  Our campsite is just to the left of where Frederick is standing.

Looking up the river.

In places it is very shallow.  There is a measure on the dock that indicates the water is 3 1/2 feet deep.

The only wildlife we saw.