Bad Blogger

You know I have friends that keep up on their blogs regularly and I really admire that!  Unfortunately, I am not one of those bloggers.  I wish I could be more consistent, but at least I try.

We had a great time in Savannah and on Tybee Island.  We also visited Hilton Head while we were there.  A beautiful island!  The developers have been somewhat kept under control, but we would have loved to see it before you had to pay $5 to drive thru on the roads!

Of course we did some geocaching; Fritz actually sniffed this one out.  We wish he could do that more often, maybe he only finds it if the last cacher had a dog too!

Fritz is part Lab and part German Wirehair, both water dogs and he loves the water.  This was his first time in the ocean.  Obviously, he loved it!!  Hilton Head is great about dogs on the beach!  Tybee Island, not so much.  I got yelled at by a really cranky public works guy for taking Fritz on that beach;   "what signs?".

Being raised on the beach in Santa Barbara, I was almost as excited as Fritz to be on the beach!

Infantry Museum at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia.

This museum has only been opened about a year and is a fascinating history of the Infantry thruout the years.  There is a room dedicated to each war the US has been involved in, one of my favorite pieces of memorabilia was a trash can that had been made out of a bust of Hitlers head!  There is a  large section that explains todays infantry and the intense training they go thru.  A group had just graduated from boot camp and many of them were touring the museum.  It was inspiring to see these young people and their dedication!  Fort Benning's developement was supported by the community of Columbus and community and Fort are still very connected today.

After the museum we went down to the Chatahoochie River Walk.

Fritz got to go for a swin, and this section of the river was a virtual geocache.  The river is fairly shallow at this point and there were lots of people fishing and kayaking; a beautiful walk!

Back in Macon, we walked along the Ocmulgee River Walk and enjoyed the spring flowers.  Macon is famous for its cherry trees and they often look like a pink cloud surrounding the tree.

Crossing over the river on the Otis Redding Memorial Bridge, we came across this statue of Otis Redding.

Macon's Cherry Blossom Festival is billed as "The Pinkest Party on Earth"!  And it is; at the park the trash cans and outhouses are pink.  The Firemens Pancake Breakfast is, of course, pink pancakes1

This is a working fire truck, dedicated to breast cancer survivors and those that have not survivied.  Obviously it is used for breast cancer awareness and fund raising.

There was a free alligator wrestling show at the park for the Festival.  Well how can we resist a free show!!

Yeah the show was free, but if you wanted to hold the baby alligators and have your picture taken, it was $10.00.  It was a lot of fun, they are beautiful animals, especially when they are that little and there is a velcro band around their mouths!

One of the many things we love about geocaching is that it takes us places we would probably ot normally go and sometimes there is info in the cache about the area.

This cache took us to the corner where Duane Allman was killed on his motorcycle, and the details of the accident were in the cache.  "Sky Dog" was the name of this cache dedicated to him.

The gate at the "Big House" where the Allman Bros lived in the early70s.



Interesting tour, tons of memorabilia, and the staff at the "Big House" was very friendly and knowledgable about the history of the band.  Vince loved it!!

Well that finishes up our time in Georgia.  We stayed at the Shriners Park for 2 months and it was a great place to stay.  They had no problem with Fritz being loose and he came to think of it as his gigantic back yard.  Vince was able to spend a lot of time with his dad and feels good about that.  From there we went to Eufaula, Alabama then down to Panama Beach, Florida and Disney World.



Another Old Cemetary & Tybee Island

This is a great cemetery and we really enjoyed poking around it.  The statue from the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" is no longer there.  It became so popular after the movie that it was moved to a museum.  Unfortunately, we never made it to the museum to see it!

Again, lots of children's graves.  None of these kids had lived more than 18 months, all the same family.  We are blessed to life in the age of antibiotics.

Beautiful headstones.

A Confederate Soldier!!

I know, we sure put a lot of pics of cemetarys on the blog.  This one was great and would be a great spot for a scary movie with all the moss, rusty fences and old gravestones!

Vince, my Coast Guard vet, loves to visit Coast Guard Stations.  While in Savannah, we went out to Cockspur Island and stopped at the Tybee station.

One of the guys took Vince thru the boats that were docked, and then gave him a free hat.  He loved it!

This is the bridge that goes out toCockspur Island, where the CG Station and Fort Pulaski are located.

This is where the Savannah River meets the Atlantic Ocean.

After the Coast Guard Station, we took the guided tour of Fort Pulaski.  The fort was originally built in1829 to defend the port of Savannah and was believed to be untouchable during the Civil War due to its location.  There was no way Union troops could get close enough on the open marshy ground to fire on it until they came up with rifling in the cannons, giving cannon shot more distance and accurracy.  The fort was attacked from an area close to Hilton Head Island and fell after one day of fighting.  Most of the fort has been restored and the hour long guided tour was very interesing.  It was also used in Robert Redford's 2009 movie, "The Conspirator"

The powder keg arsenal.

This is part of the fort that has not been restored; these are the holes from the cannon shot.

Here is one of the cannon shot that is still in the walls.

From there we headed to  Tybee Islands Crab Shack for lunch.  They advertise seafood served low country style, where the elite eat in the bare feet!  We shared 1/2 pound of shrimp and I also had the crab stew, and, of course, sweet tea.  Everything was delicious!!

These alligators live at the Crab Shack.

On the beach at Tybee Island.

We climbed the 178 steps to the top of the Tybee Lighthouse.

We love seeing these old Fresnal lens up close and personal; makes the climb to the top worth it!

Next chapter - Hilton Head Island

Savannah

Savannah is a city I have always wanted to visit and it did not disappoint!  Well, there was the disappointment that we only had 5 days to visit; we could have stayed much longer!  We stayed in the parking lot of the Elks clubs.  They have electricity for 2 rigs there, which was all we needed.  The charge is basically a donation to the lodge.  A great deal when we talked to other RVers and heard what they were paying in the area!

The beautiful live oaks draped with spanish moss line the streets of  the older parts of the city.

Saw this sign in an apartment window!!

This building is on River St, a very historic area where the ships came in when the city was first settled.  It is now filled with tourist shops, bars, restaurants; but still an interesting strool.

This is the area behind the buildings on River St known as the Factory Walk.  The wagons loaded with cotton would park under the catwalks and the cotton merchants would bid on the loads.  River St and these side alleys are paved with stones that had been used as ballast in the ships.

Lunch at Hueys on River St;

Shrimp po'boy, red beans & rice, and sweet tea!!

River Street Candies!   This wooden taffey roller is over 100 years old, it was fun to watch the taffey being made; pretty tasty too.  The candy store is famous for its pralines.  We only bought a couple as they are 17.95 a pound!!

Chocolate Praline!!

Next Chapter - Bonaventure Cemetary. . . .