From the mountains to the caves to the sea

I’ve been busy these last few weekends and this one no exception. Granted, they were all busy in a fun way so I am not complaining.

Best Friend flew in to Atlanta this weekend to begin her 3 week training for the airlines. We were both so excited! I saw her for only one day in December when she flew in for an interview with the airline that she is now training for, so I can’t really count that as a visit. Really, it has been since August that we have visited. And the last time she was here in August, we went to the same place that we did this weekend…Savannah, Ga.

We are both in love with the city and its wonderful seafood. I have been going to Savannah for nearly my whole life, sometimes 3 to 4 times a year! With Best Friend being a Utah girl, I took it upon myself to educate her with Savannah history and torture her with my “tours” of the coolest, most historic, and most haunted sites in the city. Poor girl...she's heard it all from its discovery to the American Revolution to pirates to the Civil War. Now I think that she may know more than me! I know for sure that she loves it as much as me.

I picked Best Friend up at the airport at 4:00 p.m. Saturday and we headed straight for Savannah. Thanks to an accident on I-75 north of Macon, it took us over an hour longer than it normally would to get there. But all was good in the world later that night when we stayed on the beach at Tybee Island, about 13 miles from downtown Savannah. We walked out on the beach, expecting it to be windy and frigid, but it wasn’t. The Atlantic was so calm that it looked like glass reflecting the stars on the horizon. Beautiful…tranquil…peaceful.

Walking up the boardwalk from the pier we began to think about how nice it would have been to have an Amaretto Sour from Moon River Pub on Bay Street. Mmmm. They make the best! So very cherry! It was getting late and knowing that we would be getting up at 5:45 a.m. to take pictures of the sunrise, we opted for a closer bar for our nightcap. We walked to one of the island’s bars. Let me first make something abundantly clear…Tybee Island is not on of those uppity beaches full of high rises and restaurants on the beach. Imagine hip Miami Beach in your mind for a moment….Got it? Now imagine the anti-Miami Beach. A sort of run-down place with a throwback from the 60s feel about it. That’s Tybee Island, Georgia. Welcome! Anyway, needless to say the bars here aren’t the cool pubs you will find on Bay Street, River Street, and City Market in Savannah. In fact, it was quite a redneck bar that we happened upon. And they were singing karaoke in the there…badly. Our ears couldn’t take too much of the noise pollution so we downed our Amaretto Sours quickly and walked back to the hotel…while the rednecks were yelling out to us, “Don’t leave us! Y’all come back an’ sing with us!”

Sunrise came too damn early, but we decided to go ahead and take the sunrise shots since we missed it the last time we were there. (That’s because we did make our rounds to the pubs of River Street, Bay Street, and City Market last time and didn’t get back to the hotel until after 4:00 a.m. In the words of Joe Walsh, “I go to parties sometimes until four…It’s hard to leave when you can’t find the door.”) It was somehow colder and windier than the night before on the beach. It was freezing, actually! I got a couple of mediocre sunrise shots, because the sunrise wasn’t as spectacular as it has been in the past when it first paints the sky with pink and orange and then rises rapidly as a blazing ball of orange. I took some shots by the pier this time. It’s the first time that I shot sunrise pics somewhere other than by the lighthouse. Not sure if my photos were worth the stinging coldness we had to face, but it was still nice.

We went back to the warm hotel and slept for a couple more hours and then gravitated toward food. Not just food, but seafood, and not just seafood, but the best seafood in the world…The Crab Shack! But it was still another hour before they opened…dang it! We walked a portion of the 6 mile nature trail that begins at Fort Pulaski (A cool Civil War Fort) and meanders along the salt water marshes, tidal creeks, and palms to kill some time. We didn’t see an alligator, which made me a little sad. I guess we should have gone by the fort. We usually see two or three there sunning by the marshes or relaxing in the moat. We didn’t even see a pelican, egret, or heron! That was a first. Totally disappointing.

We made up for our letdown at The Crab Shack. Yummmmm. There is nothing that a bucket of steamed oysters and a broiled seafood platter full of shrimp and crab can’t fix for me! It was wonderful. The sun was bright and it was a gorgeous day to sit out by the tidal creek as we dined. The coolest thing about The Crab Shack (besides the food) is the atmosphere. You can eat outdoors on the deck that is dressed like a tikki hut by the water watching boats pass by as you sit shaded in the midst of palms adorned with white lights and hanging lanterns made from upside down baskets, while listening to Jimmy Buffett. Awesome!

It was a miracle that we were still able to walk after stuffing ourselves silly, but we managed. We headed for another of our usual spots for pictures, the beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery. I don’t care how morbid it sounds, but that is truly a beautiful place. It’s well known for the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and its gorgeous statues, monuments, and architecturally artistic mausoleums. Primrose and now-blooming azaleas color the whole place. Of course, it is a little creepy, too. With the Spanish Moss drooping from the gnarled Live Oaks and the white forms of angels and other statues seemingly glowing under this grayish canopy, it gives off a ghostly feeling. Not that this cemetery, which is well-documented to be haunted, needs anything to give you that feeling!

We left Bonaventure for Skidaway Island for some hiking. It’s such a beautiful place. It’s very tropical in appearance, with all the cabbage palmettos and tall palm mixed with pine and Live Oak forest. The trails goes through a freshwater marsh, through the palm forest, to the saltwater marsh, salt flats, and then by earthworks used during the Civil War to defend the island and remains of an old liquor still. We didn’t see any animals here either. We usually spot wading birds and deer. However, some unknown creature made this growling hiss-like sound near my feet and disappeared before I ever caught a glimpse of that which nearly made me pee my pants. I am still wondering what that thing was! This island and its trails are very beautiful and unique and leave me forgetting that I am still in Georgia and not on a tropical island.

Before heading back to Atlanta, we went to downtown Savannah and walked through a few of the squares, which are little parks in between the grid of streets. Surrounding these squares (some of which have monuments, historical markers, and fountains in their centers) are old historical homes and buildings. If you have ever watched Forrest Gump waiting for the bus, you have seen Chippewa Square. Savannah was given the title of “America’s First Planned City” because of these well placed, functional squares laid out by Georgia’s British founder, James Oglethorpe. These truly interesting, beautiful treasures are the heart of historic downtown.

We walked down River Street. I was careful to not twist my ankle walking on the uneven old (original) cobblestone road. There was a concert going on. I have never seen such a huge crowd on a Sunday before! Being in close proximity to so many people reminded me of why I have never attended the super-crowded St. Patrick’s Day festivities held there each year. It’s almost as big as Mardi Gras! As usual, we walked through the delicious River Street Sweets candy shop and took a sampling of the pralines and glazed pecans. No place smells or tastes sweeter! We walked along the Savannah River on the riverwalk and then back up the steep steps to Bay Street. Best Friend wanted to check out some of the sites along Bay. After taking a couple of pictures of the Old Cotton Exchange and it’s lion fountain and George Washington’s cannons, we made our way to the Moon River Pub for dinner(…ok, so I really wanted one of their Amaretto Sours so badly that I actually passed up one of my regular restaurants on River Street, Olympia’s, which has the world’s greatest Greek food!) All the while at Moon River, I kept my eyes opened for one of the pub’s regulars that Best Friend, Germaphobe, and I met last August. We hung out with him and his friend that night. He was a really nice guy, except that he stole my cup from Wet Willy’s! I really wanted that cup, too, as a memoir of another crazy night down on the river and City Market. Before leaving Savannah that weekend in August, we left that thief a note with the bartender the next day demanding the safe return of the cup. I was willing to talk ransom. Alas, that cup is lost forever. My cup thief didn’t show up last night so I enjoyed my Amaretto Sour (but only one and with food, since I knew I must drive) at Moon River and we slowly walked through some more of the squares toward the gate of Colonial Park Cemetery, where I parked my car. We walked slowly, knowing that when we reached my car, we would have to leave.



Sunrise by the Tybee Island pier on a cold morning.





Entrance to The Crab Shack...where the elite eat in their bare feet! Man, I'm hungry!







A part of Jimmy Buffett's world...the awsome atmosphere of The Crab Shack!









Bonaventure Cemetery shaded with Spanish Moss.










One of the angels of Bonaventure. The last time I saw her, her wing was not broken.









Reflections in the marshes of Skidaway Island. The glowing palms pic. at the top of post was also taken here.







Late evening sun streaming through the oaks to highlight the blooming azaleas in Reynolds Square.







Best Friend can show you the way to Moon River.









A walk down on River Street, the Savannah River to the left and historic buildings on the right. (Home to pubs, restaurants, and gift shops nowadays.)