Georgia and Savannah

Written by Sue!

Georgia.

Well it's now the 2nd July and we are getting ready to move on from Lazydays and this time it was a lot easier than the previous journey, after saying our goodbyes to the great many friend's that we have made here we set off for Georgia around 11-00, we had a good 6 hour drive in front of us .

The weather of course is still very hot and humid and without the air conditioning, in the coach, it can be a little on the warm side and the fact that having gone over a few railway crossing's which are a bit harsh, Pete's electric sun shade decides to fall off , " Sh#t!!, I cant see a bloody thing, get it out of the way" was all i heard from the 'Captains' chair. The problem was, it was still connected electrically so i really could only move it to one side, but it gave Pete a bit of forward vision, if not limited. I can assure you it's funny now but not at the time.

We arrived at the site which is called McIntosh Lake RV Park around 5-30 it was small but very nice and quiet,we were facing the lake which is always's fun with Amber who is alway's ready for a swim and Pete trying to stop her running off into the sunset, heading for the waters edge. The lady that owned the site is called Leah, she very calmly told us to be aware of 2 kind's of snake's the copperhead and the moccasin as they will attack you because they are not afraid ,other snake's will keep away, "OK!!!! thats fine" (not!) i thought!! she also mentioned the only good snake is a dead one, she has a gun but we will not hear it ,that was good to know!!! A phsyco woman campground owner with a silenced gun! You couldnt make it up could you?? I didnt argue on the rate and paid cash, in full, on the day of arrival! Didnt want to chance the credit card not going through!!!!

We encountered one of the most violent electrical storm we have ever witnessed whilst on this site ,it's amazing how the lightning seem's to light up the whole sky and the thunder is so loud, it was great, if not sometimes scary, to watch. The forked lightening was striking into the woods at the side of the campground, you could actually see the smoke coming out of the trees after each strike! It was extremely bright, almost blinding if you just happened to be looking in the right direction. We also experienced some really heavy rain that afternoon, the campground did flood momenterily, but it was all gone by morning. But it still never cool's it down, it remains hot and humid both during and after the storms.

JULY 4TH

And most of us have a good idea what that mean's, even if we are not American, there was some firework's over the lake but that was about it , a very low key affair, a bit dissapointing really, but in a way, we were glad as Amber's not really struck on fireworks.

City of Savannah

On the 7th July we moved further up towards Savannah as we wanted to visit it before moving on to North and South Carolina. Our next site was called 'Savannah Oaks' a little more expensive, but it was in a better location for us, and it was only for 3 days.

Our Savannah Trolley Bus!

Having got up nice and early to avoid the heat, humidity and crowds, we set off to enjoy our day in historical Savannah, we decided that the Old Town Trolley bus was just the ticket,just like the one in Key West,it offers a wealth of knowledge and benefits from taking you around the City and telling you all the history with a 'real' guide tour. You may get on and off wherever you please, at each designated trolley stop, which normally incorporates a main place of interest. There is also another tour called Ghosts and Gravestones, they dare you to board the " Trolley of the Doomed" it is a night time (dark!)tour of course, and they wear the old costumes,but we didn't have the time to do both tours.

A collection of typical houses in Savannah.

Savannah is proclaimed to be the most romantic and the most haunted City in America, surprisingly, its very lush here with lot's of trees and beautiful flowered squares. The architecture here is a mix of Victorian and Georgian and the houses are outstanding ,the cost of most are in excess of something like 1.5 million , not bad considering they could not give them away at one time.

One of the many flowered squares, Downtown Savannah.

The oldest tree in Savannah, 'The Candle Oak' Savannah Historical Sector.

Customs and Excise Building. Downtown Savannah. Note the Columns are solid, single piece structures and had to be shipped in to Savannah, whole, via ship!

The Court House, Downtown Savannah.

Real Gold Dome!!

Also, whilst on the tour we went past a square called "Chippewa" ring any bells? for those of you that have seen the film,this is where Forrest Gump sat and said " Life is like a box of Chocolate's "it was filmed here, where the flowers currentley are, but the seat is not there anymore, its been placed in the museum, and the white Church spire is where the white feather floats down to his feet. There is a lot of films made here according to the guide but I had not heard of any of them so maybe they were only for the American market.

Chippewa Square, Forrest Gumps bench was where the flowers are now. Downtown Savannah.

The Church Spire. Chippewa Square, Downtown Savannah.

In the 1700,s" The Pirates House"was visited by, and inspired, Robert Louis Stevenson to write the famous book "Treasure Island".

The Pirates House, Downtown Savannah.

The Original Firestation Bell, Downtown Savannah.

The tour lasted 90 mins and, just as the Keywest Trolley, it provided excellent value for money at around $20 each.

I thought this was a very heavily English influenced city, and this was due to the revolutionary war around 1792,where 7000 soldiers from seven nations clashed for control of the city of Savannah, the British defenders won the day fending off a long awaited attack from American and French allied forces. We thought this was a very beautiful place which holds a lot of history, too much to mention on this blog.

Painting on the wall, depicting the Great Central Railroad and buildings, Note the English flag on the left side of the wall!

After the very informative trolley bus tour, and at the second to last stop before returning to the Visitor Centre, where we had originally caught the trolley, we decided to dis-embark from the bus and take a stroll along the river front. We wandered down old cobbled streets to where there were lots of old restored cotton warehouses and along the harbor where there are plenty of shops,cafes and restaurants and there was a small market there too. There was a statue of "The waving girl"who is said to have greeted 50,000 vessels since 1868-1943 waiting for her beloved sailor to return ,( I bet her arms ached!! )the lamp was for the night-time, and the dog woke her up if she fell asleep.

The Waving Lady, Historic Riverfront, Savannah.

Historic Riverfront, Savannah.

Old Cotton Warehouse, Historic Riverfront, Savannah.

As we walked past the market which was at the side of the Savannah river what should come past, but a riverboat with the old fashioned paddle at the back, check out the photo.

The Georgia Queen Paddle Boat.

We were glad we took time out from our road-trip to visit Savannah and we really enjoyed the day out. It really is a sight to behold this small English influenced, City of Savannah, Georgia.

North and South Carolina, next stop!