Thursday, July 31

And so the end is almost here.

Note: we apologize to our loyal coffee drinking readers, we had some Internet issues last night.  All seems better this morning.

I woke up late this morning.  Lester let me sleep until 9AM.  I think the time change may have influenced my late waking hour.  However, we had a slow and relaxing start.  We rolled into Savannah, GA around 12:30.  And, as luck would have it our room was ready for us.  So, we settled in and then started exploring.  And, let me add that once again, hotwire really came through.  All in, not including parking, under $100 at the Hyatt, Riverfront. Really nice hotel.

We started with the concierge who gave us a brief history of the founding of Savannah.  It turns out that Savannah was founded by the English as a strategic buffer between St. Augustine, FL which was owned by the Spanish and Charleston, SC which was an English colony.  Because it was a strategic location the founding fathers devised a number of open areas as defensive positions.  These defensive locations eventually turned into the two dozen or so public squares for which Savannah is justly famous.  Each is different and each is beautiful.

We wandered the historic section of the city for the balance of the day.

City Hall

While we were wandering through one square we noticed a woman walking and carrying four birds.  One each on her arms and shoulders.  We watched as she set three of them on the back of a bench. We commented on the beauty and size of the birds.  She indicated this was nothing she was going back to her car to get "the big guns".  It turns out that she and her husband take the birds into hospitals, nursing homes and schools. She brings them to this park to work on their social skills.  She and her beautiful birds attracted quite a crowd. And, she let the birds crawl on anyone willing to hold them. We declined the opportunity to hold but not to photograph. She told us some of these birds can live to be 100 years old and that a macaw Winston Churchill owned is still alive.  We have been unable to verify or deny this claim.  But, her birds were clearly alive and well and loving the attention.

We also saw some fun sights that required documentation. Nothing quite as grand as a giant chair but fun yard art and the like.

A very cool downspout.

We toured a beautiful church which, unlike the churches we saw in Santa Fe and New Orleans, has not recently been named a minor basilica but we would like to make the case that it should be, given its beauty.

We wandered by a lot of beautiful wrought iron for which the city is justifiably famous. But we were captivated by this gate. It is quite a work of art.

We also wanted to share our almost final hotel view - almost like we're being punished for some of our previous spectacular views.  We will have a much better view in our next stop and soon the view will be our own backyard.

We don't want to give the impression that Savannah is the perfect city (although it's pretty close).  There was a problem. As we were touring the cemetery in the middle of the city, we were assaulted by a smell.  A nasty smell, an awful smell. Lester claimed to recognize the smell, but couldn't quite place it.  Then it occurred to him what it was.  A paper mill. A quick google search and we discovered that International Paper has a mill in Savannah.  When the smell first showed itself, the wind had just picked up and shifted from a different direction...obviously the direction from which the mill vents its foul stench.  If you've never had the joy of experiencing this smell...well suffice to say, it's bad. 

So, tomorrow we had to Hartsville, SC to spend the weekend with our good friends J&J.  The plan quite simply will be to sit by their pool, cook in the big green egg, enjoy adult beverages and play cards. Like VT, what happens in Hartsville stays in Hartsville.  And, then on Monday long drive back to PA.  We do have plans to stop once or twice on the way. The grand adventure which you have joined in a variety ways - reading, hosting our visit, meeting up along the way is rapidly coming to an end. Too rapidly.

And, as a final note, once we are home, we will add a post-mortem, of sorts, with final thoughts and such.  Thanks for reading. We really appreciate you coming along for the ride.

A&L