We ended our friends and family tour in New York to visit various relatives on my side of the family. We had lots of dinners with various people. We had a big family get together for one of my Grandmother’s birthdays and had lots of homebrew and a nice home cooked Italian dinner We ate bagels and pizza to our hearts content. When it got closer to November, we had to get out of there because the temperature was threatening to go below freezing and we didn’t want our pipes to freeze. So we headed south until we got to warmer weather which happened to be in Savannah, GA.
It was the first place that we stopped where we didn’t have a time crunch to get somewhere. It was really nice to be able to explore the city thoroughly until we felt ready to move on. The first place we went to was Moon River Brewing Company. The food wasn’t great but Jen said the beer was good. That night we went to an ice cream place called Leopold’s. It’s a Savannah institution that closed and was reopened in 2008. When we got there, the line was out the door so we figured it must be good! I got huckleberry cheesecake and Jen got half a scoop of cinnamon and half a scoop of chocolate. I thought it was a little too rich but Jen liked hers.
We found out that in Savannah you can get alcoholic beverages to go and walk around with them just like in Vegas. Well, we couldn’t pass up that opportunity so the next day we went down to River Street, which is a very pretty street in Savannah lined with river boats and cute artsy shops.
I found a bar that was selling old fashioned alcoholic punch and Jen got a beer and we strolled down the street looking at the shops and talking to the locals. There was delicious local honey at the Savannah Bee Company. They had free samples of honey comb that melted in your mouth. The employee there were a wealth of knowledge telling us about how Savannah is an interesting city because it’s a conglomerate of all different religious and political views and people are very accepting of each other there. Apparently, it’s a little bit of a haven in the south and known for being more open minded than its surrounding cities and states. We like to grill locals about their city because we don’t know where we are going to want to live after we are done traveling in our RV and we figure that’s the best way to find out. She also mentioned Asheville, NC as being a much more progressive section of the south. That isn’t the only time we’ve heard about that city so we are going to have to check it out on our way back up north. Who knows, it could be our new home one day!
After that we went to an “island” that is actually a peninsula to the east of Savannah called Tybee Island. It was exactly was you think of when you think of the perfect beach. There was a light house, ramshackle fences, tall beach grass, and creamy white sand. Lots of shells all around. We went for a very pleasant walk and when we got half way through instead of turning back we decided to lay a blanket out and sit and watch the water for awhile. My butt barely touched the ground before we got swarmed by teeny tiny flies. There was this black cloud of them on Jen and I so we grabbed our stuff and started walking away thinking that they would leave us alone. We weren’t that lucky. They followed us and were swarming and biting us so much that we finally decided to break out into a run. That seemed to leave most of them behind but if we stopped for a second they would swarm us again.
The sun was setting while all this was going on and it was the most beautiful sky with the light house and tall grass but every time we stopped to take a picture they would swarm us again. We were persistent and still got some good shots although there were quite a few where I couldn’t get the shot fast enough and fled screaming, “I can’t do it!” while shaking all my limbs in a futile attempt to get them off of me.
The next day, we decided to check out the Victorian district in Savannah. This is the area of Savannah that has tons of historic Victorian homes. It also has beautiful squares with Spanish moss, benches, and fountains to sit in. We found a place to park Vanna near Forsyth Park (which is nicknamed the Central Park of Savannah, although it is much, much smaller than the real thing). We decided to walk a loop around the park and take in the architecture around us. There was a lot of beautifully restored homes and quite a few that were sort of run down. It was a beautiful walk and certainly a much nicer way to get in our exercise than being stuck on a treadmill in the gym. For dinner, I got a real Southern style seafood boil at one of those restaurants that you can tell is a real local’s only sort of place. We brought it back to the park and Jen looked on in disgust at the amount of peeling, cracking, and meat picking it takes to get through that much seafood. We had a nice conversation with a fellow traveler that we met who had was a wealth of knowledge on all kinds of things (he told Jen not only where to find the vintage work shirts that she loves but how to tailor them to fit her better).
After that we made a stop in St. Augustine, FL. We didn’t do much on the two days we were there besides bum around at a beautiful beach. We parked early in the day and didn’t leave until late at night both days. There’s nothing like cooking meals in your RV while smelling the salty air and listening to the waves crashing. It was crazy to be in almost freezing temperatures in NY and then be swimming in the ocean in FL in the same week!
We are currently in Orlando because our generator stopped working and this was the closest dealership. They are going to look at it tomorrow but for tonight they have a pretty good campground in the back of their lot. It has hookups and overlooks a tiny little lake which isn’t too bad for the low low price of $0.
Cross your fingers that everything gets fixed smoothly (although not necessarily quickly because we like free campgrounds)!
Home Sweet Motorhome 