We arrived at Savannah Thursday, May 10th and stayed at Skidaway Island State Park. It was a beautiful area and close to the city. On Friday, George's sister Martha and his brother-in-law, Red, arrived to spend the weekend enjoying Savannah with us. George, Shirley, Red, Martha, George and myself all had lunch at Paula Deen's Restaurant. We had waited in line to get a lunch reservation. We got an extra treat, when Paula, herself, showed up. She is just as sweet in person as she is on the Food Network TV. We women had to have our picture taken with her!
On Friday we all took a trolley tour around Savannah and learned a little about the history of the city. It was interesting to note that w.JPG)
hen Sherman marched through the south burning the cities, the city fathers of Savannah rode out and agreed that they would surrender without a fight if he'd agree not .JPG)
to burn the city. He agreed and Savannah was saved from being burnt to the ground as some other cities were. James Oglethorpe created Savannah with 21 historic district squares which are park-like and filled with huge live oaks draped with Spanish moss and vibrant azaleas. The squares are surrounded by splendid old homes and churches, such as the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist which is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Georgia.
After spending a restful weekend and saying goodby to Martha and Red, we went on an excursion out to Fort Pulaski. Construction began on this fort in 1829 and required $1 million, 25 million bricks, and 18 years t
o finish. The fort was set up to protect the harbor of Savannah. The fort was considered invincible,with a moat encircling it, complete with alligators. Unfortunately, the builders of the fort did not take into account the new "rifled cannons" of the Union army. After 5,000 shots and 30 actual hours of battle, Col. Charles H. Olmstead surrendered. Today you can still see the marks from the cannons on the walls. 
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hen Sherman marched through the south burning the cities, the city fathers of Savannah rode out and agreed that they would surrender without a fight if he'd agree not .JPG)
to burn the city. He agreed and Savannah was saved from being burnt to the ground as some other cities were. James Oglethorpe created Savannah with 21 historic district squares which are park-like and filled with huge live oaks draped with Spanish moss and vibrant azaleas. The squares are surrounded by splendid old homes and churches, such as the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist which is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Georgia.After spending a restful weekend and saying goodby to Martha and Red, we went on an excursion out to Fort Pulaski. Construction began on this fort in 1829 and required $1 million, 25 million bricks, and 18 years t
o finish. The fort was set up to protect the harbor of Savannah. The fort was considered invincible,with a moat encircling it, complete with alligators. Unfortunately, the builders of the fort did not take into account the new "rifled cannons" of the Union army. After 5,000 shots and 30 actual hours of battle, Col. Charles H. Olmstead surrendered. Today you can still see the marks from the cannons on the walls. 
Before leaving the Savannah area, we headed over to Hilton Head and spent some time on the beach. The water was much warmer than it had been a week or two ago and George had a thought that just flitted through his head about throwing me into the water. Luckily, he decided not to do that!
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We are currently in Charleston, South Carolina. We spent a whole day just walking thru the market area and historic district. It is a bit more subdued than Savannah and not nearly as busy..JPG)
George, Shirley, and I decided to take a plantation tour and visited the Middleton Place House. The original house was a three building residence of the distinguished Middleton family with dates to the early 1700s. It, and the 200 acres surrounding it were part of a dowry brought by Mary Williams to her marrieage to Henry Middleton in 1741. Henry began impro.JPG)
ving the property by creating beautiful gardens filled with camellias, azaleas, lakes,and a reflection pool. The plantation was supported by rice farming. Union troops set fire to the home in 1865 burning the house and the north addition beyond repair. The less damaged south addition was restored in 1869-1870 and continued to be the family's residence. We spent all day walking the grounds and it was really beautiful, restful and certainly made you realize how difficult life was back during those times.
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George, Shirley, and I decided to take a plantation tour and visited the Middleton Place House. The original house was a three building residence of the distinguished Middleton family with dates to the early 1700s. It, and the 200 acres surrounding it were part of a dowry brought by Mary Williams to her marrieage to Henry Middleton in 1741. Henry began impro.JPG)
ving the property by creating beautiful gardens filled with camellias, azaleas, lakes,and a reflection pool. The plantation was supported by rice farming. Union troops set fire to the home in 1865 burning the house and the north addition beyond repair. The less damaged south addition was restored in 1869-1870 and continued to be the family's residence. We spent all day walking the grounds and it was really beautiful, restful and certainly made you realize how difficult life was back during those times..JPG)
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On Friday, all four of us went back to downtown Charleston and spent the day looking at the "Tall Ships" that had arrived in the port. We enjoyed being able to go on board these ships and we all decided that we like having our four wheels planted firmly on the ground instead of bobbing around in the ocean.
The weekend will be "down-time" for all of us. Yes, we do have to still do those mundane things such as laundry, shopping, etc. We have thoroughly enjoyed our trip thus far and will be leaving Charleston on Tuesday to head up to Myrtle Beach. We have campsites on the beach and will spend a few days there, just relaxing and soaking up some sun and surf. We're thinking of all of you and wish you were here to experience all this wonderful history with us. Take care and God bless.
