Savannah GA

We arrived here at the Isle of Hope Marina on Sunday in the rain and went into Savannah on Monday.  The Marina gave us a ride to Walmart where you catch the city bus into downtown for only $1.50 per person.  The bus driver told us where to get off so we could walk over to the visitor center and get on a trolley that takes you all around Savannah with narration and fourteen stops.  You can get off at any of the fourteen stops and then get back on when you like.  The buses come by ever fifteen minutes.  We've done this in other cities and it's a great way to get all the info you can in a day.  In short here is a brief history.

There's a lot of history from this time to the end of the civil war.  The city was spared by Sherman during the civil war when his forces had burned and destroyed everything they encountered on their March to the Sea from Atlanta.   He was so awed by Savannah's beauty and chose not to destroy it.  Instead he presented it to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift.  Really a beautiful city.  While we were there you can't leave without having dinner a Paula Dean's "Lady and Sons" restaurant. I had the chicken pot pie and Jan went for the buffet so she could have the fried chicken.  Just before we got there the rain started and a tornado watch was given until 9:00 that night.  We decided to take a taxi back to the boat instead of the bus.  Today we slept in while it rained all night until about 11:00 this morning.  We cleaned the boat and got it ready for tomorrow when we leave for Hilton Head.  We did take Chloe for a walk around the marina and checked out the many southern style houses along the bank of the river.  Very cool homes.  Oh by the way, Spanish Moss is neither from Spain nor is it moss.  The English settlers called it that because it looked like the beards of the Spanish settlers.  Who knew?

Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church 1875

Everyone wants to go here, so they say.

Ellis Square laid out in 1733

City Market

Had lunch here that was made famous by a scene in John Berendt's book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"

City Market

What can I say?

Down on the river front they were filming a show of "American Grilled"

The Lady and Sons buffet

Couldn't help myself before I took the picture

House next to the marina

Looking down the street from the marina, just love the Spanish Moss

Another cool house

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Looking down the street again.  The pink flowers are Azaleas.

This is the marina looking across from some of these houses

This is the courtesy car you can use for 2 hours.  Headed out to dinner tonight.

Jekyll Island to Savannah

We sadly left Jekyll Island and were off to Savannah.  Since we only go 8 mph it meant only going half way and spending the night.  We decided to spend the night at anchor on Walburg Creek.  Our anchor guide book recommended this place because it had a beach to take Chloe by dinghy for her potty time.  We arrived at about 4:00 pm and launched the dinghy and I took Chloe to see how great this beach was for dogs.  It was a fairly large beach on a point and no one was there.  She had a great time getting off the boat and running all over the place.  She also took care of business.  After we got back to the boat we had to wash the salt off her legs and feet.  This was a great anchorage, I was able to pick up an unsecured wifi signal with my booster and we could even get TV stations.  This was only the second time we have anchored out since we left Texas and we want to do it more.  At about 5:30 am I woke to the sound of rain coming down and it wasn't going to stop soon.  When we got up at about 8:00 am it was continuing to rain and neither Chloe nor I wanted to take a dinghy ride to the beach, not to mention the foot of water in the dinghy.  We decided to get the water out of the dinghy and get it back up out of the water and loaded on the boat so we could get on our way to Savannah.  I'm so happy we bought rain gear before we left Texas.  For all my boating friends in the Delta when I pulled up the anchor there was no mud on it at all.  Apparently the bottom is sand and the anchor comes up clean.  Very different.  It pretty much rained all day even when we pulled into Isle of Hope Marina.  Nice little marina on the ICW about a 20 minute ride to downtown Savannah.  They even have a courtesy car you can use for 2 hours if you want to run to the store or whatever.  Tomorrow we will head to downtown Savannah and check it out.

Had a hitch hiker on the way.

Georgia landscape is pretty much marsh on the ICW

Not too much to look at

Anchored out on Walburg Creek

Looking good...

The end of the trees on the right is Chloe's beach

Isle of Hope is actually the name of the town.  The town next to it is Sand Fly! (aka no see-ums)

Can you see Panacea?

Chloe is saying, "not going in the rain."  Jan is saying "nice pedicure"

Jacksonville to Jekyll Island

The day before we were to leave Ortega Landing Marina we were informed that the railroad bridge in downtown Jacksonville would be closed at 7:00am till 12:00 and then close again at 1:00pm.  This meant we would have to leave at 6:00 am to make it to the bridge before it closed.  We left on time and made it without a problem.  We were going to stay at Amelia Island at Fernandina Florida but leaving so early we arrived there at 10:30 in the morning so we decided to head on to Jekyll Island in Georgia.  We arrived at about 3:00 pm, tied up and relaxed for the rest of the day.  Jekyll Island has much history going back to about the 1700's, however, at the turn of this century it was a private island for the rich and famous of the day.  They built a clubhouse on the island and only members were allowed.  A few names you may recognize were J.P. Morgan, Goodyear, and Rockefeller.  Fifty-three members purchased shares for $600 each, and a limit of 100 members was imposed to preserve the club's exclusivity.  From 1888 to 1942 the club opened every January, except a few because of yellow fever ourbreaks, to accommodate some of the world's wealthiest people. Members and their families enjoyed activities such as biking, hunting, horseback riding, and tennis, and frequented the north beaches. Some of the more esteemed members built mansion-sized cottages that still stand in excellent condition today. During the Great Depression the club experienced financial difficulties, and by the time the United States entered World War II the era of the Jekyll Island Club was over. The State of Georgia bought the island in 1947.

Historical Events

Because of the concentration of internationally prominent business leaders, the Jekyll Island Club has been the scene of some important historical events, such as the first transcontinental telephone call placed by AT&T president Theodore Vail on January 25, 1915.
Finance, as well as politics, was of paramount concern to many club members. J.P. Morgan could create or quell economic panics on Wall Street with the financial resources at his personal command. George Baker, head of the First National Bank of New York, and James Stillman, head of the National City Bank of New York, also members of the Jekyll Island Club, were nearly as wealthy as Morgan. In 1907 when a particularly virulent economic panic caused a run on the banks, one of these three men paved the way for a secret meeting on Jekyll. Traveling under assumed names, Senator Nelson Aldrich, four other bankers of national importance, and the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury made their way to Jekyll posing as duck hunters. Meetings the following week led to the development of the Aldrich Plan, which called for a centralized banking structure for the country. Although Congress did not pass the plan in 1912, President Woodrow Wilson and others used the Aldrich Plan as the basis for another plan that became the Federal Reserve Act, establishing the Federal Reserve System.
 We have enjoyed the beauty of the island, going bike riding the last couple of days. We are going to anchor out tomorrow somewhere halfway between Jekyll and Savannah.  We plan to be in Savannah on Sunday. Looking forward to touring and maybe having a mint julep and some boiled peanuts!

We added a new sign

Leaving Jacksonville after going under the railroad bridge

Cumberland Island

Entering the St Mary's River with the Coast Guard watching

The Napoleon Bridge leaving Jacksonville

At Jekyll Island and an air boat going by

They have twenty miles of bike trails on Jekyll Island, here is Jan heading to the Historic District

Bike Trail

For the rich and famous

This is the original Club House of the Rich and Famous, I was told you can spend the night in the tower room for only $500.00 a night

They added on the addition to the original Club House on the right

This was over the fireplace in the original Club House

This is one of the cottages on the property of private club

The owner of the house above.

Most of the rich and famous had yachts to bring them to the island

We were sitting in the restaurant having a drink and if you look real hard you can see the marina