Florence, SC, April 10 -- Today is my wonderful daughter’s 29th birthday. How is it possible that someone as young as me has a 29-year-old daughter, you ask? Not only is it possible, but it’s a delight having an adult daughter. She and her hubby are on their way back from their travels to Costa Rica and Panama. My darling son and his family were in Victoria and Vancouver, BC for Spring Break last week so they were also abroad. Funny that for a few days I was the only one inside the U.S., though about as far from the Northwest as it’s possible to be and still be in-country.
After leaving Orlando on Monday, we spent three nights at a Georgia state campground just south of Savannah. On Tuesday we drove into Savannah for a little reconnaissance, then found the closest wifi-friendly coffee house.
Later Jeff and Charlie and I set out for what I thought was a quiet little hike that turned out to be a death-defying march through the marsh, under constant attack by all manner of flying predators, dodging mud and large puddles (Charlie wasn’t dodging them in spite of our valiant efforts). We barely made it through the 3.1-mile loop before dark. And we still had to go back to the Mo and make dinner! I had made a fire the night before using up the last of my dry firewood so we bought another small supply as I was planning on doing hotdogs and s’mores. Unfortunately, the wood we bought was so wet it refused to burn so we had to use the microwave. Just not the same.
Wednesday it was back to Savannah, a bit earlier in the morning, where we spent a couple of hours touring and exploring on foot. We picked the better day to spend in Savannah as it was beautiful and sunny; Tuesday had been cloudy and cool. Savannah is a beautiful old city, a glorious old dowager filled with gardens and statues and fountains and wonderful old antebellum “Georgian” homes. Wow! With the sun shining and the 75+ degrees, it would be hard to find a lovelier place to while away a few hours and a few dollars.
We spent a couple hours in the Savannah Riverfront area. There are all kinds of little shops in the old cotton warehouses along the river and a lovely brick walkway next to the river. There’s a lot of brick used in Savannah: the houses, the walls, even some of the streets. We had to try some pralines (yum!) and some other pecan-filled treats and I bought a small can of Georgia peanuts which are really quite good.
Then we headed to the tour company where we were able to park free and leave the driving to them. After about two hours of driving around all the many squares and past numerous beautiful old houses and churches, including the double-spired Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, pictured, we stopped for lunch in the City Market. We had a great seat outside where we could watch the tourists and people wandering by. I had one of Georgia’s specialties: she-crab stew, made with a bit of sherry and cream -- very good, though I still contend Dungeness is the best crab -- and a chicken salad with fruit. Shrimp and grits, another of Georgia’s favorites, just didn’t appeal to me. Jeff had blackened chicken. I also had a glass of North Carolina reisling and it was really quite tasty.
Savannah was originally laid out by by James Oglethorpe in 1733 and his name is attached to one of the main avenues as well as to one of the squares, among other things. Many of the original settlers were brought to relieve the debtors prisons in England and to create a colony to serve as a buffer between Spanish Florida and the rich Carolinas. Georgia was the last of the 13 original colonies. Oglethorpe laid the city out in grids around a series of squares. Some 21 of the original 24 squares have been preserved and are filled with live oak trees draped in Spanish moss, azaleas and dogwoods which were blooming this week, and other flowering trees and shrubs.
Many of those who came to work in the cotton shipping process were from Ireland. The biggest strike against them was that they were Catholics, a faith which had been prohibited up to that time (Catholics and lawyers were just not allowed in early Savannah). According to our guide, Savannah has the second-largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the country, behind New York (what about Boston or Chicago???). There are lots of Irish shops and pubs here.
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin while working as a tutor in Savannah. Before his invention rice was the major cash crop. Once he figured out a way to get the cotton seeds out of the cotton, it became a viable crop and many of those who raised and bought and sold cotton became wealthy. They built beautiful homes in Savannah, some of which are being restored, though some were destroyed and others are still waiting for an interested owner to take one of the challenges of restoring their former glory.
Forest Gump sat on his bench here telling his story to anyone who would listen. Savannah has been the scene of a number of movies, most notably Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil which we tried to find at the video store but were unsuccessful. Jeff has both read the book and seen the movie but I have done neither.
They call this part of Georgia, and the eastern part of South Carolina, the Lowcountry. I presume that is because as you head west and north the country climbs and eventually you find yourself in the Appalachians and the Great Smokey Mountains. We will be in that area in about a week. In the meantime we will spend a couple days in Northeastern North Carolina and visit the Outer Banks area, more low country.
On the last night at the campground my friend Russ and Carol from Maine arrived to spend a couple of nights so we had another great visit. Turns out they are also staying at an rv park in North Carolina we’ll be at, but we leave the morning before they arrive. Rving is kind of a small world sometimes.
TravelinLady
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