Savannah & North

We arrived in Savannah and lazed around for a day, not sure what we wanted to see. We made online reservations for the next day on an open air on-off tour trolley. On that day we drove to the Savannah Visitor Center, and at 9 am we boarded our trolley. There are 15 stops along the 1-1/2 hour, 9.5 mile route with historical dialog during the ride. We decided to not get off anywhere but listen to everything they were talking about. Back at the beginning of the trip  we had to board another trolley with another driver who during his spiel added the same and more information along the route.

We decided to get off at a heritage center where we learned about the Indian and British influences in the area. General James Oglethorpe was commissioned by the King to start a colony between the British seaport in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Spanish colonies in Florida. The people he brought with him were skilled laborerswho had been put in debtors prison. In return for their service they could earn their freedom. He sailed up the Savannah River, found a high bluff, and decided that was to be the location of his colony. He was greeted by native Indians who helped them settle.  Several locations in Savannah are dedicated to the leaders of the natives. Oglethorpe even brought many of the to England to meet the King, and everywhere they went they were treated as royalty.

Oglethorpe had 4 rules for Georgia, two of which are: no lawyers were allowed (he had a friend who was poorly represented in England and was sent to debtors prison where he died); no catholics (he was concerned they would sympathize with the Spanish and subvert the Georgia colony).

After the Center we boarded the trolley and went back to the beginning of the tour, boarded still another trolley, this time debarking at the Prohibition Museum, learning about the history of that movement. We then had lunch, visited Paula Dean's shop, reboarded another trolley and drove back to the RV Resort. The remainder of our stay we stayed there.

We then drove to Fayetteville,  North Carolina, where we stayed for four days, not doing much but eating at some great restaurants. We also went to Camping World and purchased some items to make small repairs. 

Today we drove to Richmond, Virginia. Our campground  is located right next to Kings Dominion Amusement Park. Fortunately it is closed at this time of year except for weekends so we don't have a lot of traffic. We'll be here for a few days before moving on.

March 13- Georgia On My Mind

Monday we drove to Jekyll Island, one the many barrier islands on the Georgia coast. The island used to be owned by the Dubignon family who were from France. Theirs was a slave cotton plantation but after the revolutionary War they couldn't afford the upkeep, so the son and a son-in-law decided in the late 1800s to establish a hunting club and sell memberships. This was the start of the ultra rich owning the island. Memberships were $600, about $24,000 in today's money, a great sum for the day.

Members included the Vanderbilts, Rockefeller, Morgan's, Pulitzer,Goodyear  and other Uber wealthy families of the day. (It is interesting that Frank Goodyear never made a tire in his life. He was a lumberman from Buffalo, NY.  His son created the tire business). The owners of these mansions were so wealthy (how wealthy were they?) that their combined wealth was one-sixth the wealth of the entire world! 

They would arrive by ship, private yacht or ferry with all their servants and all their clothing. Evening soirees would be held every night, and since the ladies would never submit to being seen in the same evening gown twice during the season, that meant at least 90 gowns in addition to other daily clothing for each. Quite a lot of luggage!

Mansions were built on the island, and all had their backs facing each other. The club had one chef who prepared all the meals for all the residents, and if a resident wanted to eat at home, the servants were able to go to the club, collect the meals, bring it back, prepare and serve their employers without ever being seen by the wealthy residents. And these homes were only used from January to March!

In 1947, the Governor of Georgia wanted to buy the island to make it into a state park. He offered the residents a total of $645,000, but the residents refused to sell for that price, instead countering with $800,000. The Governor took them to court, and the residents countersued, unsuccessfully. The land was had by the Governor, at his price, and the rich abandoned their mansions and departed. It is interesting to note that the Club which was owned by the wealthy residents owed the state $500,000 in back taxes, so the state got it fairly cheaply.

We went on a tour of the island and was taken thru one of the mansions, originally owned by William Struthers, who made his fortune with his Philadelphia marble works. His marble was used to build Philadelphia City Hall.

After our tour, we visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Rescue Center also located on the island. They nurse injured or ill sea turtles back to health, and if they can't be released back to the wild, they are placed in aquariums across the country. They also receive sea turtles from other states for rehabilitation. We observed an operation that was being performed on one turtle.

Tuesday we drove to St Simon's Island, just north of Jekyll Island. We drove around, looking at the residences, going on the beaches and seeing the sand dunes. It was an attractive island, but the traffic was very heavy.

Wednesday we climbed aboard the Mary Jane, an old shrimp trawler that was being used for educating people about the estuaries around the barrier islands. They did three net trawls during the 1-1/2 hour trip while a Naturist discussed what was brought up. The estuaries are used by a variety of sea creatures for laying their eggs and for the newly born hatchlings to grow until old enough to venture into the ocean. There are fewer predators here than the ocean, and commercial fishing is prohibited.

We netted white shrimp, blue crabs, squid, sea trout, rays, various jelly fish, Hatchet fish, anchovies, sea straws, puffers, and many others. After each was  discussed they were released back into the water, where if they were lucky, would not be eaten by the gulls and pelicans that followed the boat.

The remainder of the week we stayed home due to storms and tornado watches. But as I'd walk the dogs near the lake I had to watch out for it's  reigning denizen:

Today we drove to a new resort outside of Savannah, Creekfire Motor Resort, which is now Nancy's favorite.

It has two pools, a lake (with alligators), a lazy river, all large paved sites, an event center, two restaurants, a grocery store and much more. Nancy said that our late friend, Bill Boyes, would have loved it here, and she is right! Here's to you Bill, we miss you!

Sunday already?

I know,  I said every Sunday and it's been over two weeks. So here goes:

Since being at Rich & Joanne's home, we hung around with Arthur and Helen about every other day, meeting  for lunch and/or dinner and just spending time enjoying their company.

There is so much to see and do in our area and that we DIDN'T do due to covid-19 that we decided to reserve 3 months for next year at the same site/campground. Anyone want to come down and visit?

While here we had our car serviced: new battery, battery cable, brakes, rotors, etc. We had our awning weather sensor checked out. It is supposed to automatically retract the awning when the wind gets too rough, but if it was plugged in to the control panel we couldn't operate the awning at all. Turns out that when the awning material was replaced last year due to damage from a storm, the repairmen got silicone on the connectors inside the sensor housing so we had no continuity. I removed the silicone and cleaned the connections and now everything works as it should. We also did a repair to the toilet.  In a toilet there should always be water left in the bowl to prevent odors coming up from the tank. Ours had a slow leak, so we replaced the gasket and all is now well.

We almost bought a Mini Cooper S convertible. It was beautiful. A neighbor of Arthur had it for sale at their campsite. Nancy saw it and fell in love with it.  I checked it out but wanted to review the ratings for that year. By the time I was satisfied with everything I was a day too late.  The seller had traded it in on a used Mercedes. So close!

Our resort had mentioned that since we had paid for a month but weren't able to get there at the beginning of the month that they would find another site for us for a few days. Sure enough, on March 1st we had to leave our site, but they gave us another location for 4 days at no charge. Very nice of them. 

Friday, when our 4 days were up we drove to Crystal River, FL, to meet up with Rich, Joanne, Arthur, Helen, and her daughter Denise and grandson Aiden. GA. Our reservation at our resort called for an elite site, but what a disappointment!  Most regular sites at the resort had concrete pads, and we expected at least that, having an elite site and paying a very elite price. No such luck!  Our ELITE site was a back-in, dirt and sand site that backed up to a pond (they referred to it as a lake). What a disappointment! 

We all went to a restaurant  named The Blackwater in Inglis, Fl. Someone, whom I won't name, made reservations to eat outside. But at that time of evening we were inundated with so many chiggers and no-see-ums that we couldn't remain, and there were no available tables inside for over 3 hours. We left and each group had dinner on their own. I only had 3-5 bites, but Nan y has counted over 50 on herself. The bites are extremely itchy and cause small welts on the skin. Three days later and they seem to stay as annoying and irritable as the first day, despite topical allergy medications. We both hope they clear up soon.

But on Saturday, 1/2 the group went kayaking and swimming with the manatees in Kings Bay, and the other 1/2 went spotting manatees on a pontoon boat. The manatees are such gentle creatures. Their appendages are rounded flippers but  with toenails at the end, and their body tapers down to a flat tail that is shaped like a paddle. They are close relatives of the elephant. Who knew?

That is Aiden in the background 

You aren't allowed to touch, chase, or disturb the manatees, but we saw some people doing just that.  We should have turned them in to the Park Rangers.  It's a $100,00 fine and up to a year in jail.  After viewing the manatees we all went out for dinner (outside patio).Overall, it was a great day and 

Today we left Crystal River and drove to Brunswick, GA. Our campsite is gorgeous. 

 This week we plan to go to St. Simon and Jekyll Islands and tour the rest of the area. Next week we leave for Savannah, Ga.