Savannah area

Tue. Mar. 8-Fri. Mar. 10: Happy Birthday, Jordan!! Driving “down the Colonial Coast” involves driving northwest, then south, then southeast, so that we hadn’t traveled far as the crow flies but put on more miles than it would seem. Our first stop was at the town of Beaufort, the heart of Gullah Geechee Heritage. Like we had seen in South Carolina, at the end of the Civil War white people abandoned plantations and towns along the coast very quickly, leaving the area to freed black slaves. The isolation of this area made it possible for the slaves to preserve more of their African linguistic and cultural heritage than any other community in the U.S. Gullah is a blend of British, American and West African culture, food, religion and traditions. In nearby Penn Central, Penn School is one of the nation’s most historically significant African American educational and cultural institutions. Begun in 1862 as a school for freed slaves it continues its mission now as a local, national and international resource center. We were welcomed and hosted by a gentleman who was a student at the school until 1948, when he needed to go to work. It was another time we had an area virtually to ourselves and we immersed ourselves in the displays and history of which we knew so little. We hoped to have lunch nearby in a Gullah restaurant but couldn’t find a way to park the truck and camper so we regretfully drove on and ended up eating our picnic lunch in a parking lot. Continuing on we arrived just south of Savannah at Skidaway Island State Park where we could stay for four nights to take advantage of several sites in the area. We never left the park on Wednesday. In the morning we biked their 3.1 mile Big Ferry Trail loop which included alligator ponds, an observation tower from which we watched a nesting pair of osprey and two raccoons hunting in the salt marsh, an Archaic period shell midden, Confederate earthworks for defending the Skidaway Narrows, and one of the 31 moonshine stills left from the Prohibition era. It was a similar trail to the one in Lake Kissimmee, but not as sandy and not as long, so I enjoyed it much more. After lunch and an extended time on the internet at the park headquarters, as well as some time reading in the sunshine, we went to the Nature Interpretive Center to look at their displays and for a talk on the archeological history of the Island. Following the presentation we hiked on the 1 mile Sandpiper Trail loop and the 1 mile Avian Loop Trail through maritime forests and over salt flats and tidal creeks, where we saw the heaviest, most dense Spanish moss of the whole trip! As we neared the end of the trail, 4 deer sprang away in front of us. Back at the campsite we both took showers and then enjoyed spaghetti and meat sauce. On Thursday we drove to nearby Wormsloe state historic site. There a colonial avenue lined with spectacular live oaks leads to the tabby ruins of Wormsloe, the home of Noble Jones, who arrived in Georgia with James Oglethorpe and the first English colonists in 1733 to found a Utopian colony called Georgia. Despite the demise of the original Trust Company, Jones flourished and was one of the last survivors of the colony and ten generations of descendants succeeded him at Wormsloe, expanding and adapting the plantation over three centuries. It was cloudy, drizzly and 63° as we hiked into the tabby ruins of his original house, to his grave site and then into the Colonial Life area, but we had the place to ourselves other than some students from Emory University who were there doing volunteer clean-up work. Just as we left the area the rain really came down hard and the temperature dropped to 55°. We hoped to find someplace “local” to have lunch, but as we drove we didn’t come across anyplace that was open and looked interesting. By the time we arrived at Fort McAllister, the rain stopped for good, it was very windy and the temperature eventually worked itself back up to 61°. We bought a couple of bags of trail mix to tide us over and ate it while we explored the museum. Early in the Civil War, a battery that evolved into a massive earthwork was erected by the Confederate Army to protect Savannah, the Ogeechee River, a vital railroad bridge upstream, and rice and cotton plantations along the river. The stronghold withstood seven major naval attacks by Federal forces, including the largest guns used by the Union Navy, before falling at the end of General Sherman’s “March to the Sea”. During the late 1930s Henry Ford purchased the site and began extensive restoration. Then under the supervision of the Georgia Historical Commission, the earthworks and bombproofs were restored to their 1963-1864 appearance. It was eerie to wander the extensive grounds all by ourselves and Marv got some great pictures. When we had seen everything, a ranger suggested some places for lunch. We ended up enjoying authentic bar-b-que at the Smokin’ Pig. YUM! Since we ate about 3:30 we were satisfied with salads with turkey and cheese for dinner before we finally watched the Netflix movie, “Shadows in the Sun”, which we had brought with us. Friday dawned cool (46°) and perfectly clear for our day in Savannah. Directions from the campground took us directly to the Visitors Center, where they directed us to a booklet called “The Savannah Walking Tour & Guidebook”. The tours span Savannah’s rich history from the earliest days as a British Colony to the modern day setting of books and movies. It was the perfect resource for two people who are willing to walk. After seeing the James Edward Oglethorpe-narrated film about Savannah we felt ready to seize the day. First we took the .8 mile “The Booming Westside” tour, including the Farm Market area. We ended up near the Riverfront so we then walked the 1.2 mile “Along the Riverfront” tour. By then it was time to get in line for lunch at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House, a Savannah tradition since 1943 that several people had recommended as worth the wait, and it was! We waited in line with a friendly woman native to Wisconsin who had lived in Savannah for 7 years. She assured us it was THE place to eat and that she brings all visitors there. She also told us that that morning they had been to the “Greening of Savannah” where the Irish dignitaries of the town add green dye to six of the most important fountains starting with the iconic Forsythe Park fountain to kick-off their HUGE St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. So we could look forward to seeing the green water the rest of the day. We weren’t seated with her at our table of 10 but with four other people at our end who were also very friendly. The family-style meal was on the table when we sat down. Their specialty is fried chicken but with it were jambalaya, pulled pork bar-b-que, and Brunswick stew plus about 14-15 Gullah/Soul/Southern side dishes. They keep bringing it until you’ve had enough and then you roll yourself on out to clear your own place (!) and pay at the door. We really needed to work some of that off so we finished the day with the 1.5 mile “Squares of Luxury” and 1.7 mile “The First Squares”, both highlighting the famous squares of Savannah which were plotted and planned by James Edward Oglethorpe himself. 22 of the original 24 squares have been restored and protected. Along the way we saw the birthplace of the American Girl Scouts, the many fountains (including most of the now green ones) and statues, an historic church on nearly every square, and homes and graves of generations of Savannahians. The temperature never got more than 60° but the sky was sparkling blue the whole time. We walked between 5½ and 6 miles and were incredibly exhausted but satisfied that we had seen as much as one could see in one day. Our time in Savannah was pretty rigorous. We biked over 8 miles, did miles of hiking at the park, walked several more miles on Thursday at the historical sites and then walked all over Savannah. It was a great way to end the southern part of our trip before we head home over the next few days.