Dateline Savannah, GA
November 4, 2007
Part One: On the Road
Life was good to the Steinbrechers and we were amongst the first 50 people off the S.S. Scurvy November 3rd after she tied up in port at 0730. We traveled over 4,000 miles on our sea voyage, experienced a close shave with a hurricane and saw some amazing parts of Canada and the United States. Our total trip distance to date is 8,639 miles, give-or-take a foot. Steve, of course, had to make a last visit to Jimmy where we porked out at breakfast, as we knew it was going to be a long day. We snagged our luggage, cleared customs (Steve wrote on the custom’s form he had brought in one “bottle of Jack,” and the custom’s agent laughed and told us, “If you guys brought in Jack and that’s how you declared it, I know I can trust you two. Welcome back to the States)…” This was a good thing because Steve did not want to declare the illegal Cuban cigars in his bag… We boarded the shuttle bus to the Fort Lauderdale Airport and were in our rental car blowing north through the State of Florida by 0950.
Florida is an interesting state. They have freeways that are better maintained than California’s, more outlet malls and golf courses than any other state in the union, and their rest stops along the highways are the best we have ever experienced (along with Idaho’s). They were clean, patrolled by ARMED security people, frequent and had vending machines that actually work. We do not believe there is ONE hill in the entire state. It is FLAT! The woman who ran the gas station we stopped at ($3.09.9 for regular) was missing half her teeth, so we felt right at home being from Pollock Pines.
Other than that, Florida has to be known for two things – football stadiums and the infamous “13-Foot Gator!” Every larger city we passed through has VERY explicit directions on how to get to the local college football stadium (especially along “Bowden Drive”) and they have this product called “Indian River Fruit.” Every single place we passed through from about the middle of the state north to the Georgia border advertised, “Indian River Fruit, Gator Head Whirligigs, and See the 13-Foot Gator” in attendance. Either that Gator is darned fast, or that puppy be stuffed and mounted on the wall of each of these places. Steve was extremely distraught with Carol, because he was suffering from Jimmy withdrawal, and she refused to stop at even ONE of these wonderful tourist attractions to see the 13-foot gator, and Steve was really Pining for a Gator Head Whirligig.
We hit Savannah right on schedule per the GPS at 4:40 p.m. and began searching for our hotel. We drove around and around Bay Street on the Riverfront looking for 199 East Bay Street, and the place did not exist. Come to find out that Holiday Inn Express (our preferred hotel for road trips) will not be completed until December of this year or January of 2008. No worries, though, we called the Holiday Inn people and they put us up at a very nice “Old Savannah” establishment called the Mulberry Inn, gave us a handful of drink tickets and free breakfast and parking for our stay in Savannah. Steve and Carol recommend becoming a “Priority Club Member.” Holiday Inn treats its customer’s right!
We hit town for some Red Beans and Rice and cold beer, and life was good. We woke up several times during the night to find our king sized bed rolling at sea still….
Part Two: Savannah
Unless you have read the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” Savannah probably has nothing much of interest for you. For us it has what we have read in the book, plus it was Carol’s first chance this trip to meet her relatives on this trip that she has not seen in many years.
Savannah is a place of amazing American history, dating back to Colonial times when James Oglethorpe founded the Colony of Georgia, through the American Revolution, the Civil War to present day. When you check out the photos we have taken out at our Savannah Google Picasa Album, we have spent a lot of time documenting the architecture of the city, the monuments contained in the city’s 21 squares, Forsyth Park and the Colonial Cemetery, and of course, Paula Dean’s “A Mother and Her Son’s” restaurant.
Steve was here in 1997, and was really surprised to see how much the city had succumbed to tourist-oriented growth. There are tons of new hotels along the waterfront, across the water at the port, and around the city itself. Saturday night was the Savannah Seafood Festival, and there were hordes of drunken college students crawling through the streets raising hell, which made us feel right at home. The city still has a quiet southern charm about it which we realized Sunday evening, when every business in town (including Paula Dean’s restaurant) closed their doors at 5 p.m. Imagine that in California!!
During the American Revolution (as shown in a lot of the photos) Savannah was held by British troops from December of 1778 through July of 1782. The French and Colonial troops, some 3,500 strong, won a fierce battle that spelled the beginning of the end for the Brits, over 22 days of fierce fighting in what is now downtown Savannah, in October of 1779. Many of the monuments in the city squares, as well as the graves in the Colonial Cemetery here, are testaments to the bravery of the men who fought for America’s breakaway freedom from Britain.
The homes range in date of construction from the late 1600’s to the Victorian era, and are just magnificently restored to their original grandeur. We could have photographed every home in the historical district and still would not do justice to them.
Our last day in Savannah was a TOTAL shut-out. We went out to Bonaventure Cemetery to film the famous “Bird Girl” (on the cover of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” and she has been moved downtown to the art museum. So, off to Wormsloe Plantation to film the mile-long driveway of oak trees and the buildings which were made in 1733. Oh, sorry. The exhibit is closed on Mondays! So, off to downtown to the art museum to get a shot of the Bird Girl, even in captivity. Oops, sorry… the museum is closed to\day for a special function. Steve was ready to hit the road right now!
November 4, 2007
Part One: On the Road
Life was good to the Steinbrechers and we were amongst the first 50 people off the S.S. Scurvy November 3rd after she tied up in port at 0730. We traveled over 4,000 miles on our sea voyage, experienced a close shave with a hurricane and saw some amazing parts of Canada and the United States. Our total trip distance to date is 8,639 miles, give-or-take a foot. Steve, of course, had to make a last visit to Jimmy where we porked out at breakfast, as we knew it was going to be a long day. We snagged our luggage, cleared customs (Steve wrote on the custom’s form he had brought in one “bottle of Jack,” and the custom’s agent laughed and told us, “If you guys brought in Jack and that’s how you declared it, I know I can trust you two. Welcome back to the States)…” This was a good thing because Steve did not want to declare the illegal Cuban cigars in his bag… We boarded the shuttle bus to the Fort Lauderdale Airport and were in our rental car blowing north through the State of Florida by 0950.
Florida is an interesting state. They have freeways that are better maintained than California’s, more outlet malls and golf courses than any other state in the union, and their rest stops along the highways are the best we have ever experienced (along with Idaho’s). They were clean, patrolled by ARMED security people, frequent and had vending machines that actually work. We do not believe there is ONE hill in the entire state. It is FLAT! The woman who ran the gas station we stopped at ($3.09.9 for regular) was missing half her teeth, so we felt right at home being from Pollock Pines.
Other than that, Florida has to be known for two things – football stadiums and the infamous “13-Foot Gator!” Every larger city we passed through has VERY explicit directions on how to get to the local college football stadium (especially along “Bowden Drive”) and they have this product called “Indian River Fruit.” Every single place we passed through from about the middle of the state north to the Georgia border advertised, “Indian River Fruit, Gator Head Whirligigs, and See the 13-Foot Gator” in attendance. Either that Gator is darned fast, or that puppy be stuffed and mounted on the wall of each of these places. Steve was extremely distraught with Carol, because he was suffering from Jimmy withdrawal, and she refused to stop at even ONE of these wonderful tourist attractions to see the 13-foot gator, and Steve was really Pining for a Gator Head Whirligig.
We hit Savannah right on schedule per the GPS at 4:40 p.m. and began searching for our hotel. We drove around and around Bay Street on the Riverfront looking for 199 East Bay Street, and the place did not exist. Come to find out that Holiday Inn Express (our preferred hotel for road trips) will not be completed until December of this year or January of 2008. No worries, though, we called the Holiday Inn people and they put us up at a very nice “Old Savannah” establishment called the Mulberry Inn, gave us a handful of drink tickets and free breakfast and parking for our stay in Savannah. Steve and Carol recommend becoming a “Priority Club Member.” Holiday Inn treats its customer’s right!
We hit town for some Red Beans and Rice and cold beer, and life was good. We woke up several times during the night to find our king sized bed rolling at sea still….
Part Two: Savannah
Unless you have read the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” Savannah probably has nothing much of interest for you. For us it has what we have read in the book, plus it was Carol’s first chance this trip to meet her relatives on this trip that she has not seen in many years.
Savannah is a place of amazing American history, dating back to Colonial times when James Oglethorpe founded the Colony of Georgia, through the American Revolution, the Civil War to present day. When you check out the photos we have taken out at our Savannah Google Picasa Album, we have spent a lot of time documenting the architecture of the city, the monuments contained in the city’s 21 squares, Forsyth Park and the Colonial Cemetery, and of course, Paula Dean’s “A Mother and Her Son’s” restaurant.
Steve was here in 1997, and was really surprised to see how much the city had succumbed to tourist-oriented growth. There are tons of new hotels along the waterfront, across the water at the port, and around the city itself. Saturday night was the Savannah Seafood Festival, and there were hordes of drunken college students crawling through the streets raising hell, which made us feel right at home. The city still has a quiet southern charm about it which we realized Sunday evening, when every business in town (including Paula Dean’s restaurant) closed their doors at 5 p.m. Imagine that in California!!
During the American Revolution (as shown in a lot of the photos) Savannah was held by British troops from December of 1778 through July of 1782. The French and Colonial troops, some 3,500 strong, won a fierce battle that spelled the beginning of the end for the Brits, over 22 days of fierce fighting in what is now downtown Savannah, in October of 1779. Many of the monuments in the city squares, as well as the graves in the Colonial Cemetery here, are testaments to the bravery of the men who fought for America’s breakaway freedom from Britain.
The homes range in date of construction from the late 1600’s to the Victorian era, and are just magnificently restored to their original grandeur. We could have photographed every home in the historical district and still would not do justice to them.
Our last day in Savannah was a TOTAL shut-out. We went out to Bonaventure Cemetery to film the famous “Bird Girl” (on the cover of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” and she has been moved downtown to the art museum. So, off to Wormsloe Plantation to film the mile-long driveway of oak trees and the buildings which were made in 1733. Oh, sorry. The exhibit is closed on Mondays! So, off to downtown to the art museum to get a shot of the Bird Girl, even in captivity. Oops, sorry… the museum is closed to\day for a special function. Steve was ready to hit the road right now!
As most of you know, Carol has been finding out about her roots and one of the highlights of this trip was the opportunity to see my sister Soni and my cousin Dee. I haven’t seen Dee since we were both 15 years old. We saw each other in the lobby of the hotel and immediately knew we were related. It was like going back in time. We started talking and it was as if we had never been apart. Dee’s husband Doug and their son Brock joined us for lunch and we had a wonderful afternoon. My only complaint was that it was not nearly enough time. We traded family stories, including ones that involved my uncle Hubert (Dee’s father) driving in the mountains of Denver and a severe case of car sickness, shopping for groceries with my family (three shopping baskets full for the month), the fact that I wanted to be a lawyer when I was young and stories about growing up, having kids and now grandchildren.. My how time goes by. What was interesting was to find out how much our lives are the same!! We plan to stay in touch and Dee and her family have been added to the ever-growing travel blog! I am looking forward to tomorrow as I will get to see Dee and Doug, get on the road and visit with my sister Soni and her family when we get to Charleston
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