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Yesterday was a REALLY long day!  None of us slept very good on the trip for more than 1-2 nights in a row between time change (3 hours), different beds, typical hotel sounds, etc. We were usually all up and ready to go at least 1/2 hour before the planned departure time each day. Yesterday morning I woke up at 4:15 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep.  I didn't get anymore sleep until I was in my own bed which was 22 hours later so needless to day I'm beat today. We got to the Jacksonville, FL airport about 5 hours before the flight, turned the car in, checked our luggage,  ate lunch, did some browsing in the shops and a lot of people watching.  Actually the time went by pretty fast. The first leg of the flight was to Chicago with a stop (no plane change) in Norfolk, VA where we landed to start the trip 12 days ago.  That was rather ironic....  We had a plane change in Chicago with barely enough time to grab a bite to eat and to to the bathrooms. I am admittedly a white knuckle flyer with take offs much more traumaticfor me than landings. So the take off from Chicago into very bumpy air was not good!  It didn't help that I was so tired by this time so my concentration on relaxing wasn't good. It was a very long 3 1/4 hour flight home. Nancy's husband met us at the airport and chauffeured us all home.
Morris was glad to see me and I didn't get a lecture this time.  He met us at the door, was ready to be picked up and purred while I was holding him.  8-)  I fed him his tuna, left the suitcases by the garage door and we went to bed.  He was right behind me the whole time. I woke up several times in the night and he was laying against my legs, or on my arm, or snuggled up against my head on the pillow. He isn't letting me too far away from him this morning.
So the trip that we planned for 6 months is behind us and we get back to the mundane things that make up daily life. I took over 1,000 pictures so it will take a while to edit them and then do the vacation book.  For now, gotta go unpack, go to the grocery store and do laundry... 8-)

St. Augustine, FL

It was only about 2.5 hours from Savannah to St. Augustine so we were here before noon.  In every town, the first stop is the Visitor's Center where we load up with brochures, maps, get info from a person, etc and today I am going to be carrying home in my suitcase. We had lunch at a really neat place along the waterfront.   This picture is the view from the restaurant where we had lunch.  Notice that the drawbridge is raised.  It is opened every 1/2 hour for sailboats, etc to pass through.  After lunch  we drove over to Anastasia Island to see the local lighthouse. At dinner tonight, we were trying to decide how many lighthouses we have seen and can't decide if this was the 4th or 5th - will figure it out when we get home and I do the vacation book. Then we took a trolley tour around the town to get the "lay of the land" and decide what we wanted to go back to tomorrow and check out.  Had a great dinner at a local Italian restaurant tonight where we tried to think back on "what was our favorite town/cit? What exceeded out expectations? What was the biggest surprise of the trip, etc? It is hard to believe that tomorrow is our last full day on the trip and we head back to Tucson on Tuesday.
We expected there to be high humidity back here but it is REALLY muggy.  Part of that could be because we have always been near rain - either during the day, or at least supposed to rain whether it did or not.  The weatherman in Charleston has a Muggy Scale that he used as part of his weather forecast.  The scale is:

• Super Muggy
• Muggy
• Slightly Muggy
• Comfortable
• Nice & Dry

Unfortunately it was Super Muggy for all 4 days we were in Charleston. The muggy weather isn't so bad if it is cloudy and a breeze is blowing but if there is no breeze and you are out in the sun then it is downright miserable. This morning in Savannah, at 6 a.m., it was 70 degrees and 91% humidity. Oh well....in a couple of days we will be back in 10-15% humidity when we get to Tucson.

A Day in the South

We saw so much here in Savannah and the area today that I don't know where to start!  Our first stop was the riverfront area before the crowds got too bad and so glad we got there early. Besides there being an Oktoberfest going on, it was the Annual Wiener Dog Race which was so much fun. There were dash hound dogs everywhere and in colors I have never seen before. The dogs don't run too far but boy does the crowd get noisy. We couldn't get close to where they were actually running. After the race they had a contest for the "best dressed".

.Then it was lunch and a walk through the City Market. Next we drove down to the Historic Homes District to look at some of the old houses.  It just blows my mind to see houses that were built in the mid 1800's as this house was. We were walking along the street looking at them and while standing in front of one that had not been renovated, the owner came out and asked if we wanted to see a house before it is renovated. Of course we said yes, so went in for awhile while she showed it to us, what she has already been done and her plans for it. Her house was built in 1877 and it was amazing to see inside one of these old houses even if the renovation work hasn't been completed yet. After that we drove over to Tybee Island for a tour of Fort Pulaski that was built by the Confederates and captured by the Union Soldiers during the Civil War. Tomorrow we head on down to St. Augustine, FL which is our last stop before heading home on Tuesday.

Forsyth Park in Savannah

We made it to Savannah around noon today after a short stop at Hilton Head just to say we had been there.  After lunch,  we went to Forsyth Park in the Savannah Historic District. What a wonderful place!  It's 30 acres of shaded walkways, moss covered trees and people doing different things all over the park. And to top it all off, there was a wedding going on in front of this fountain complete with 7 bridesmaids, etc. We just sat down and enjoyed everything..

The fountain in Forsyth Park was built in 1854 and is a replica of one in Paris, France. The original 10 acre park was laid out with the fountain being the center of pathways ilaid out in the pattern of spokes in a wheel. Besides the wedding there was a mother and 3 kinds on roller blades, people walking dogs, artist painting, art students making a video and a bonce ball game going on. In 1867 the city added 21 acres to the park and used it as a military parade ground.  Today the added land is an open grassy space for concerts, etc.
Tomorrow we will be spending the day downtown in the Historic District.


Plantation and Misc Observations

The tourist had a relatively easy day today compared to the last few days here in Charleston.  First thing this morning we drove out to the Magnolia Plantation which is outside Charleston along the Ashley River. The plantation has been the ancestral home of the Drayton family since 1676. It covers around 500 acres and is the oldest plantation along the Ashley river. It is a beautiful place and we loved it. I would love to see it in the spring when all the azalia's, etc are in bloom.  While there, we took a boat ride through the marsh area and learned some history of the place including it's importance as a rice plantation. It is a really beautiful place and we loved all the hanging moss.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHARLESTON AREA:
Humidity: Yep, it humid here!  We have lucked out in that it has been mostly cloudy so it didn't seem as hot as it did when the sun was out. When I went to bed last night, the sheets felt like they had been taken out of the dryer before they were completely dry. It takes towel days to dry by themself.
Manners: It really is a shame that other parts of the county don't have the manners that they do here in Charleston. We are tired of hearing "Yes Ma'am" - even from young people; drivers don't run red lights; drivers stop and let a car make a left turn in front of them, etc.
The town is clean: We have only seen 2-3 cases of graffiti while driving around the city.  Store keepers were out in front washing the sidewalk off with soap and water.  There isn't trash and litter on the sidewalks downtown. Cups, etc are thrown into the trash cans which are not running over.
They have a saying here in the south: "We start every morning slow and then taper off...."


Ft Sumter, Tea Plantation & Distillery

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Busy day today but at least we were not walking for miles and miles. However, our brain is on overload with the things we learned and did...
Nancy and I walked up to the Early Bird Diner for breakfast while Jane ate at the hotel - she isn't a big breakfast person. The Diner was on Diner's, Drive in's & Dives. Some of their specialties are fried chicken & waffles (served together) and shrimp & grits.
Then we drove downtown and caught the ferry out to Ft Sumter (right). A dolphin swam right in front of the boat for aways as we were leaving the dock. The boat did a short tour of the harbor before heading out to the fort which is totally surrounded by water.  This is where the first shot of the Civil War was fired when the Confederates attacked the Union which owned the fort. Quite interesting and now we all want to read a refresher about Ft Sumter when we get home.
On our way out into the countryside, we stopped at the Crab House for lunch.  The restaurant is right on the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway so we could watch boats go by including a good size yacht. Jane and I had a hamburger but Nancy had seafood. 8-)

When planning the trip, I ran across a reference of the Charleston Tea Plantaion. We checked it out and added it to our schedule and what a find it was. This is the only Tea Plantation in North America. We had no idea how tea grows or is harvested. At right is a picture of the tea plants. They grow 8 different kinds of tea at the plantation and make black, green and oolong tea which is what you get in a typical chinese restaurant. It was really interestering!
Nest stop was the Firefly Distillery  which makes flavored vodka, spiced rum and some liquors. They are best knownm for their Sweet Tea Vodka and that is pretty good stuff....  Bottom pic is Jane and Nancy getting educated on vodka.  Since I was the drive, I only got a small amount of the Sweet Tea. Tomorrow we are going to Magnolia Plantation for a tour plus some other misc places before we leave here on Firday and head on down to Savannah.



History comes to life

Once again, the weather man was wrong - it didn't rain today!  However, it was hot and humid but there were a lot of clouds and a breeze off the water. We drove into town and then took a free trolley that runs around the downtown area.  We got off at a stop and then walked, walked and walked.....finally catching it again and going to another part of downtown where we walked, walked and walked some more. We saw homes that were built in the early 1700's and are absolutely beautiful.  We walked down the middle of brick streets that were completely covered with large oaks. Charleston has done a wonderful job of maintaining their historic area. 

A highlight for me was visiting the St Michaels Church (pic at left). The original church was built in 1727 but was later destroyed by fire.  The current church was opened for services in 1761 which was 15 years BEFORE the Declaration of Independence was signed. The steeple is 186 ft high. The chandelier was ordered from London in 1803. It was first lighted with candles, later with gas and now with electricity.  The pulpit inside is England after the Revolution as a prize of war, bought by a merchant and then shipped back to Charleston. We were taking pictures inside the church when the janitor stopped vacuuming, led us into pew #43, handed us a pamphlet and said to read a particular paragraph on the church history. We were setting in the "Governor's Pew" that George Washington worshiped in on Sunday afternoon, May 8, 1791. General Robert E. Lee worshiped in the same pew 70 years later. I was impressed!!!! He insisted on taking our picture setting in the pew.

Lunch was at a British Pub that a local recommended to us. The food was wonderful. Then it was on to the Charleston City Market, an open air market that was established in 1807 and covers 4 city blocks. By now, our feet are numb so we caught the trolley back to the car.  Fun day!
Tommorrow is Folly Beach and a lighthouse, Charleston Tea Plantation (yes, where they grow tea) and the Firefly Distillery where they make Sweet Tea Vodka.


More driving, more rain

We left Jacksonville, NC at 8:30 this morning in the rain heading for Charleston, SC. Fortunately for the driver, me, it quit after awhile so I didn't have to drive too long in the rain and it was just intermittent after that all day. We stopped in Surfside Beach, SC for lunch and found a little diner on the beach. The waitress there told us we HAD to go to Brookgreen Gardens before  we left the area. We had never heard of it but since we had time, decided to check it out. In 1931 a couple bought 4 deserted rice plantations and combined them into a 9,100 acre sculpture garden and wildlife preserve.  She was a sculptor and he was a poet.  Scattered throughout the gardens are her sculptures plus works by other artist.  Some of these are really large pieces!

There are hundreds of huge oak trees with hanging moss on them.  Some of the trees date back 250 years. To me, nothing says "in the south" like the hanging moss from the trees. We hung around there for an hour or so and then headed onto Charleston.  It would have been easy to spend a whole day there walking through all the gardens but time didn't permit.  I would love to see it in the spring when the flowers are all in bloom. We got to Charleston today in time to go to the Visitor's Center before going to the hotel.  Now I have a very big stack of brochures and maps to go through. There is an 80% chance of thunderstorms tomorrow so we had to make a Plan B in case it is raining and we can't do the outside stuff we had planned for the day. So far we have lucked out with it not raining where we were being a "tourist" - maybe not blue skies but at least it wasn't raining. Hopefully out luck will hole for tomorrow and then the chance of rain for the rest of the week is pretty small. Oh yes, Miss Ashley did a fine job getting us here today with not a single "recalculating". When I make a wrong turn, she very politely just gets us back on track. 8-)