HAVING FUN AT AMELIA ISLAND

Tuesday, August 24 – We went to the beach for some sun and relaxation. Notice how many people are on the beach. Yep, we had it all to ourselves.

Picture of the group minus Marsha. John, Michael, Pennie, Paul

While at the beach we quite a few dolphins and even saw what we believe were sand sharks feeding on bate size fish. It was really weird. You'd see 100's of fish jump out of the water and then the shark would be jumping and flopping as he fed. Tried to get Marsha to wade out for a good picture, but this is the best she could get...lol

Dark skies chased us off the beach.

We found this fellow by the pool. John said there a few of them that sun themselves each day.

After cleaning up and picking up Bella (our cat), we returned to “the beach house” for dinner and drinks. Had a great time sharing stories and of course Michael broke out his cigars. Michael is quite the purveyor of good cigars. They even got Paul to have one....eeek!

The ride on the island is gorgeous.

Cigar smokers…notice no women.

Doesn’t John look important.

Wednesday, August 25 – Got the Jeep AC blower switch replaced. We've been living with just the two highest speeds, which usually means Marsha is freezing. So we decided to get the switch replaced since there is a Jeep dealer just across the street from our campground.

Paul then took care of the monthly MH servicing, and Marsha ran to the grocery store in preparation for treating the gang to supper tomorrow night.

We rode to Fort Clinch State Park on Amelia Island to check it out for a future campground. We had called them but they said 36' was the largest RV they could accommodate. Driving through the park, we discovered they can handle just about any size RV. It appears very nice and HUGE.

We then went to the house for more visiting and of course a few adult beverages. We want to share with you all John’s “beach house”. This house belongs on a golf course. It is so spacious and lovely. While on the beach a neighbor came over to us. The affectionately call him the “Mayor”. We talked to him about the housing market. He has an empty lot next to him that is for sale for a mere 3 million. Marsha just about feel off her chair. She said really loud, “No way!” But he said, “Absolutely.” The house one down from him is for sale for 6M. He said that is a deal because it cost 8 million to build. Guess we won’t be John’s neighbor anytime soon.

That is Cooper, John’s dog.

We had dinner at the Cafe Karibo…excellent food!!! Back to John’s for more bonding time, and home by 10:00. Another super day with Paul’s bro.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all soon.

From Savannah to Amelia Island, Florida

Sunday, August 22- Went to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension today in downtown Savannah. The church was organized in 1734. In 1741 The congregation was founded, but the building wasn't built until 1844.

 

After the installation of the magnificent Ascension window in 1879, the congregation’s name was used for the first time. Between 1921 and 1936, six windows depicting the life of Christ were given as memorials.

On the front of the marble altar you'll find a copy of DaVinci's Last Supper;

Ceiling

above the altar is an open Bible and a chalice which reminds us that the basis of the Lutheran Church is word and sacrament. The window on the back wall shows Martin Luther before the Diet of Worms.

 

The organ in the balcony was dedicated in 1983.

The windows on the sides of the sanctuary present the life of Christ in stained glass.

Interestingly, the sanctuary is on the second floor.

As you enter the church, you arrive at the lower narthex and the Crumley Hall auditorium. You walk up either spiral staircase or ride the elevator to reach the sanctuary.

The service was very traditional and very well attended by local parishioners. I believe we were the only tourists at the 10:00 service. Pastor Roen greeted us and thanked us for visiting.

After church we visited a couple more historical homes in the downtown area then drove out to Bonaventure Cemetery. Bonaventure means "good fortune" in French. It was a family cemetery on the plantation that formed the nucleus of the present-day Bonaventure Cemetery. In 1848, roughly 70 acres were set aside for the cemetery. This cemetery is still being used for burials.

The roads are sand and lined with Live Oak trees.

The cemetery was made famous after John Berendt's book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was published. Marsha loved seeing where these literary characters are buried.

Johnny Mercer was born in 1909 and died in 1976 and was buried in Bonaventure Cemetery at his family plot near the Savannah River, the same river that inspired the lyrics to his song Moon River. Mercer was a cofounder of Capital Records. was the setting for the murder in the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil book and movie.

Conrad Aiken was born in Savannah in 1889 and at age ten his father killed his mother and then committed suicide. After that Aiken was raised by family and later became a famous writer of poetry, short fiction, and novels.

Aiken's tombstone is a bench. He wanted this so that visitors could stop by and enjoy a drink of Madeira at his grave. The bench is inscribed with, "Give my love to the world," and "Cosmos Mariner—Destination Unknown." His story is also told in the book.

Little Gracie Watson was born in 1883, the only child of her parents. Her father was manager of the Pulaski Hotels, where the beautiful and charming little girl was a favorite with the guests. Two days before Easter, in April 1889, Gracie died of pneumonia at the age of six. People from all over the world stop by to honor her story and memory. Many count her as a kind of unofficial dignitary for all of Savannah and she appeals to the child in all of us.

Additionally, a small section of the cemetery is designated as a veteran's cemetery.

We then returned home to do various chores in preparation for tomorrow's travel.

Monday, August 23- Arrived at Lofton Creek CG with no problems....the MH rode very nice! Since our Freightliner service, our MPG has increased too!!!

Lofton Creek CG is a little shaky but we're only going to be here a week. The price is right and it's only minutes to my brother's place.....we'll survive!

Many permanent residents. The fellow next to us (Martin) used to live on a boat in Hawaii. He came to the CG to visit his daughter for a couple weeks. That was a year and a half ago and he's still here.....LOL He's got a few possessions tucked under his awning and a few beer cans saved up.

It is raining here. We hope to get to the beach today. Hopefully, we will have some beach pictures in the next blog.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you back real soon.

HISTORICAL SAVANNAH, GA

Saturday, August 21 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY Carrie!!!! Our youngest is 25 today.....JEESH! She's a wonderful young lady and we wish her the best.....Love you!!

Before we tell you about Savannah, let me go back to Friday night. We knew it was going to rain so we drove to the River Street area. We walked around for a while and then it began to rain.  We jumped in the car and were following the GPS suggested way back to the motor home. Now in my defense (Paul), it was dark and raining. All of sudden we found ourselves on this road.

That wasn’t the way we were going. The road was very rough-COBBLESTONES…..Yikes!

The next day this is how it looked.

 

Bridge to Savannah

Savannah is the 4th largest cargo port in the U.S. and is 1st in growing port.

We went on the Oglethorpe Trolley Tour of Savannah this morning. It was a 90 minute tour and was excellent....only $14 with a dollar off coupon from a tourist book.

James Edward Oglethorpe founded Savannah in 1733. He was meticulous when he drew the plans for Savannah. He designed 24 squares with 40 families around each square with a plot of land 60 x 90. Twenty-two of the original squares stand today. The first four squares began in 1733 are the Franklin, Ellis, Johnson and Ellis

This is from Franklin Square

 

Such is the beauty of Savannah that General Sherman spared her the torch during his March to the Sea. Instead, he presented her to an enthusiastic President Abraham Lincoln as a Christmas gift.

Following the tour, you can use the trolleys like a regular bus-on and off at will-all day long! We walked all over Savannah returning to many areas we saw on the tour. Savannah is a fairly compact city so the walking was easy......nothing like the marathons Marsha had me do in Washington, DC.

Marsha read the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt many years ago and always wanted to go to Savannah to see some of the places mentioned in the book. Well, her was her chance. She just loved the book and was very excited to see the sites. She says if you haven’t read it…do!

The action that serves as a catalyst in the book is the killing of Danny Hansford, a local male prostitute (characterized as "a good time not yet had by all" by respected antique dealer Jim Williams). Four murder trials resulted, with the final one ending in acquittal after the judge finally agreed to move the case away from the Savannah jury pool. The book characterizes the killing as the result of a lover's quarrel, not a pre-meditated murder. The death took place in Williams' home, originally built by an ancestor of songwriter and Savannah native Johnny Mercer.

Mercer house

Johnny Mercer was the cofounder of Capitol Records. Along with names like Hoagy Carmichael, Mercer penned the likes of “Skylark”, “Hooray For Hollywood,” “Moon River,” “Accentuate The Positive,” “Lazy Bones,” “Jeepers Creepers,” “I’m An Old Cowhand” and thousands of favorites that have since become universal standards. Buried near him is his lovely wife Ginger and her epitaph harks of yet another tune he penned, “You must’ve been a beautiful baby.”

Of course there are carriage tours going on all lover the city.

Remember the movie Forest Gump. It was shot in Savannah. This where the famous bench sat. It has been moved to the Museum. This is Chippewa Square.

The famous Live Oak trees are everywhere. They are so big and beautiful.

One of the brick streets that still remain in the city.

We stopped a couple times to enjoy a couple of ice cold beers in air conditioned bars. Ten Pence Pub was famous from the movie “Something About Nothing” with Julia Roberts. A neat place to rest and enjoy the atmosphere.

We stopped at an outdoor bar in the Market Place to rest, drink a beer, and listen to an excellent country band (Charlie and Uncle Buck).....unfortunately it was an outdoor venue and fairly warm.

We had a great day, a very informative tour at a fairly reasonable pace, and saw all of Savannah. We returned to the MH by early evening to rest for tomorrow.

We also visited two cemeteries and several churches. We will cover these in later blogs. Too much to put into one blog.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all again.