At Savannah GA - Isle of Hope Marina
January 8, 2008 - Isle Of Hope Marina
We spent the day relaxing on the boat and updating our website. We had gotten a little behind over the holidays.
Late in the day Joe washed the boat and cleaned up his dinghy. We had not had the opportunity to do this since leaving
Charleston. Had a nice dinner on board and went to bed about 10PM.
January 9, 2008
We
awoke early and again were treated to a beautiful sunrise. We had an early breakfast and showered
before being picked up by the local Enterprise Rental Office shortly after 9 for
a our car and the planned tour of Savannah.
Savannah was founded in 1733 by Edward James Oglethorpe and a group of English settlers. Oglethorpe favored Savannah with what is now her world -renowned claim to fame, the city squares. These are park-like havens that make Savannah such a brilliant place for strolling and relaxing. Graced by huge live oaks draped with Spanish moss and surrounded by azaleas and tropical plants, the squares are distinctive centerpieces for historic homes, stately churches, assorted shops, galleries, government buildings and commercial businesses. The new is blended with the old and the historical review committee of Savannah has been able to maintain the integrity of most of the older buildings when new owners come in ready to modernize.
After taking a riding tour with Oglethorpe Trolley Tours we set out on our own to explore the city. First was a walk
along the water front park. The city has saved the old warehouses which were used to store bales of cotton waiting
to be exported to England in the seventeen and early eighteen hundreds. These old warehouses are now home to restaurants,
shops selling everything from soups to nuts (literally, there is a peanut shop). These old warehouses are up to five
stories in height. The upper levels house offices, small hotels and shops on the opposite side facing the city.
The curved street winding down to the docks was paved with “ballast stones”. The story goes that empty ships came
from England weighted with stones in the hull of their ships. Upon arriving in Savannah they dumped the stones in the
river and filled the hull with their cargo. The city dredged the river to retrieve the stones and used them for paving.
The surface is very rough and I assume very difficult to walk on. We rode down one of these streets on our trolley and
it rocked back and forth. Joe and I chose to walk up one of the stairways built into a retaining wall rather than try
walking over the stones.
I was surprised to see how narrow the Savannah River is in this area. We were treated to watching a huge cargo ship
pass under the highway 17 bridge. This was up close and personal. The local sea gulls don’t mind posing for pictures.
I came so close to one I could have reached out and touched it.
As we walked along we came upon a statue of a “lady waving”. Our guide had told us a sad story of a young woman who
for 44 years waved at every ship coming in from the sea as she waited for the love of her life to return to her so
they could be married. He never came. In tribute to her memory, ships sound their horn as they pass this bronze statue.
Scenes from the movie Forrest Gump were filmed in Savannah. The bench Tom Hanks sat on during the telling of the story
was located at one of the town squares. Flowers have been planted where the bench sat. The bench is in the local museum.
The interior of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is an awesome sight. The exterior catches the eye as well.
The birth place of Juliette Grodon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts is here as well as the home she lived in after she married. Juliette married Andrew Low, a local merchant and she set up the Girl Scouts first headquarters in the carriage house behind their home.
January 10, 2008
Another beautiful sunrise on the water brought us a day get ready for continued travel. We borrowed the marina’s loaner car and then returned the rental car and ran some errands to the bank, West Marine and the grocery store. We had lunch when we returned and I updated our budget and mailed off the necessary bills. Joe worked on the computer, planning our route through the Georgia wetlands and selected anchorages along the way. I also took this opportunity to get caught up on some laundry.
We had dinner on board and watched a movie before retiring.