Savannah

After getting our power converter replaced we turned north once more, and drove out of Florida and back into Georgia, stopping to camp at Crooked River State Park, near St. Marys and Cumberland Island. We had intended to spend more time here, but the electrical problem ate into that particular chunk of time. We also planned on warm, sunny weather, but what we got was more like New England. Stoopid cold front! The wind and cold discouraged us from visiting Cumberland Island National Seashore, so we'll have to see that another time. In order to get home for the holidays we had to keep moving, so we drove north again, to Hardeeville, SC, just 15 minutes out of Savannah, Georgia.

It's been a while since we camped at a private park. This one's just fine, though, and with our Passport America discount, quite inexpensive. Our site is on the outside of a loop, so more private than most. Mostly, though, we wanted to be within easy striking distance of Savannah.

After the rain stopped, we went into town to have a look around. Loved the private homes and park squares in the downtown area. Live oaks draped with spanish moss, palms, flowering shrubs, vine-covered walls around private gardens, stately homes decorated with pine garlands, red ribbons and white twinkle lights...magical. We weaved our way through the grid of roads, taking it all in, then found a parking place big enough for Gigantor's ample hips, squeezed her in there, bribed the dogs with their favorite treats, and set off again on foot.


We walked down to River Street with its uneven cobbled surface and sooty old storefronts, watched tugs escort monsterous tankers upriver to the freight depot, and ducked into tourist shops if the wares looked interesting. They're big on hand-made chocolates and taffy in Savannah, and several stores beckoned passers-by with sweet aromas and free samples. Chocolate wheels kept the brown goodness at just the right consistency; workers made thick, nutty turles (they call them gophers) by the 100's; wooden rollers worked huge blobs of taffy into shape, to be carried across the store to baggers by eleborate Rube Goldberg machines - bucket conveyors, belts, slides...



We wandered City Market and the commercial streets with their antique stores, fashion boutiques & restaurants and settled on the Moon River Brewing Company for a nice meal.

These were taken in Forsyth Park:




Savannah is a great city - not too big, not too small, with plenty of attractions for tourists, but everything a full-time resident requires to make city living fulfilling. Must be even nicer when the sun is out and the air is warm!

We're now at a campground in Dillon, SC near the North Carolina border, weathering a riduculous cold front, and packing for the drive home for Christmas. The water hose was frozen this morning, despite keeping a line cracked open to let it dribble. The dribble turned into a pillar of ice overnight!


We look forward to 2011 when we'll finally see the American West. We'll head to the gulf coast, visit New Orleans, work our way through Texas and into New Mexico and Arizona. We'll hit the west coast down near San Diego, run up towards L.A. to go to our favorite sushi restaurant, then cut back inland to see the Grand Canyon, the arches of Utah, and the Rockies in Colorado. It feels just like it did when the trip first began back in March - just as new, just as exciting!