Just a quick hello and a few vacation pix! I’m back from our trip to Savannah and Tybee Island to celebrate Jeff’s birthday. We flew into Savannah-Hilton Head airport, drove into Savannah for lunch and a quick look at the Savannah River,
and then drove out to Tybee Island about a half hour away. Jeff’s older daughter rented a cute cottage for a long weekend celebration on Tybee.
We headed for the beach to check out the 84 degree ocean water that was a huge change from the chilly 66 degrees that we’re used to at Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester.
It truly was like bath water, though the waves were so strong that I couldn’t do any swimming! Nevertheless, Jeff and his kids really enjoyed the body surfing.
It was a busy weekend with hours of biking around the island on Friday, kayaking on the Atlantic to see the dolphins on Saturday with visits to the beach and local restaurants in between. Lots of fun.
On Sunday, we returned to Savannah to explore the city. I had never been there before so I was very excited. We stayed at the new Cotton Sail Hotel that was a renovated cotton factory located along the river.
We had a great view from our balcony overlooking the river.
Because it was so hot and humid and we were tired, we decided to take the hop on-hop off bus tour, something I have never done before since we usually just walk and do our own tour. Boy, was that the right decision! It was wonderful to listen to the tour guide give the history of Savannah, the different squares that the city was designed around, the different architectural periods of the beautiful homes,
the famous citizens and their roles in the history and growth of Savannah, and the movies that have been filmed in the city such as Forrest Gump and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (based on the book of the same name). Below is the Mercer-Williams House that played a key role in the story told in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
The tour even had “historical characters” in costume who boarded the bus from time to time, acting as historic people who were related to the part of the city we were in.
The 90 minute tour helped us determine which areas and sites to return to visit the next day.
On Monday, we visited the Jepson Art Museum, a contemporary art museum. We saw the “Bird Girl” statue that had previously been in the historic Bonaventure cemetery that was on the cover of the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil book and played a role in the story.
In the afternoon, we visited the Owens-Thomas house, the first house in Savannah to have indoor toilets!
We learned a lot about the families and the enslaved people who had lived in the house, how the household ran and how the house was built and maintained. We even learned that the building material of the house itself was made from oyster shells and sand!
I have about a million more photos, but I’ll spare you! Savannah was a beautiful historic city, and I’m so glad I got to visit. Have you been there?
I hope to get back on track next week, and I’ve got a giveaway that I’ve got to write up. But I’m having guests for the weekend who are leaving on Monday, so it may be Tuesday before I get back in the swing of things. I hope you’re having a fun summer too!
So glad it was a good vacay! We had a quite the “you wouldn’t believe it if I told you house”. And not in a good way. They did give Kim a nice partial refund which paid for her plane trip and extra nights in Hawaii next month. Her hubby is going to a conference where he picks up mandatory credits for his work in cardiology. So she is going and will be Beach/pool side while he is in classes.
Oh, Sandy, I’m sorry to hear that something or things went wrong with the house during your vacay, but I hope you all still had a good time in spite of it. Glad that Kim got reimbursed for at least some of the cost. Did you like Charleston?