Where we're heading next:
Home Sweet Home
Quote of the Day
Peanut, "Wow, mom, now we can say we've been to all 50 states! What are we gonna do next?"
It's raining BUCKETS again and we've just had a terrible disappointment. In fact, it's the unrivaled error of the entire trip, and utterly upsetting to me.
Following the signs to Cumberland Island National Seashore and the little town of St. Mary's to catch our ferry, everything seemed eerily quiet. I finally slopped through a parking lot to ask some fisherman where the ferry dock was. As it turns out, to travel to Cumberland Island, you have to take the Fernandina ferry, which just happens to be in ANOTHER STATE... 45 minutes away in FLORIDA!!
Tomcat did his best to get us back on the highway, but traffic was horrendous due to the rain. There were spin-outs e v e r y w h e r e. Trying to remain calm, my eyes welled up because I knew we'd never make it to the ferry in time -- and to think we'd just crossed the border an hour before only to U-turn back into Georgia! Arrrrgh.
Just to paint a clear picture of how much tension there was in the car, Grandma puked in the middle of this. Not that she was so terribly upset about missing Cumberland, but rather her allergies got the best of her -- this dry cough has been her constant companion since arriving in Mississippi; the Southeast is experiencing one of its worst allergy seasons in years. We rolled down the windows, handed her a trash bag and wondered what had suddenly gone awry with this trip?
Grandma pulled it together. I pulled it together. Tomcat shook his head and made the call to the Greyfield Inn for me. We decided to forfeit our exorbitant deposit and move on to Plan B. Trying to tell the kids, I was too choked up. Tomcat took over and explained that in this storm we'd miss seeing the wildlife anyway -- yes, even the wild ponies as they'd almost certainly be taking shelter inside the forests. And we wouldn't be able to run in the grass or ride bikes either.
I was simply aching inside and questioning how I could have possibly missed the fact that this island was in Florida, not Georgia. (We'd spoken about coming here to many people along the way, and the mixed up location never once came up!)
Well, I was a wreck and Peanut showed a wee bit of disappointment, but Little Man simply wanted to know when and where we were going to have dinner now that the plans had changed. Typical, huh? And Doodle said it was good it was raining so the flowers could bloom.
Doing our best to be optimistic, I said, "Well, instead of thinking of all the money we wasted, look at how much money I saved us by not having to pay the other half of the bill! Hell, let's get to Florida and go shopping!"
Our Georgia picture was another miss because Georgia borders South Carolina on a river. Now, I've stopped on dangerous bridges before for a picture with the welcome sign, but this one was simply impossible. We do actually want to make it to our 50th state alive after all.
Today we left for possibly our most anticipated destination of this entire trip: Cumberland Island. It's only a few miles from Florida, so we quickly crossed over the line (without mentioning it to the kids) and did a U-turn for yet another welcome sign shot in the pouring rain!
In case you're unfamiliar with Cumberland, it's a small island -- almost pure nature -- with only one fancy-schmancy all-inclusive hotel, The Greyfield Inn. I'm a bit terrified about this because it'll end up being our priciest stop on the entire 50 states road trip and the dinner requires men to wear a jacket. Do you get the picture? Honeymooners come here. JFK Jr. was married here.
Kids under 5 aren't normally allowed, and they're making an exception for Doodle which I'm uncertain is warranted. How will the kids handle this? They've sworn to be calm and nearly silent during dinner this one night and to say "thank you" for whatever gets put on their plate. This potentially torturous evening will allow them to enjoy all that the island has to offer: sand, bikes, places to run free, hiking trails, very wild ponies, alligators and countless birds.
Focused on catching our ferry, we had just enough time to pop over for a quick visit to the Tybee Island lighthouse before leaving Savannah. It happens to be every bit as stunning as those we saw in North Carolina, but unfortunately, it's closed on Tuesdays!
Atlanta has so much to offer its visitors and R.E.M. is from Athens, but we're continuing down the coast on this trip, starting with Savannah. It's a sister city to Charleston, SC and we expected them to be alike, but there's a very unique history here and it feels special somehow.
First of all, it simply looks more like a modern city
with its wide sidewalks and busy streets. And
it's a bit run-down; River Street is especially in need of some TLC; the 21 manicured, grassy squares, however, with their 200 year old trees dripping with Spanish Moss make the city seem velvety green and lush.
The biggest difference, however, is that Savannah boasts a really fun and interesting
history, full of multi-cultural arrivals, famous speeches, battles and ghosts.
More recently, it's famous for its authors, musicians and movie-making.
We walked River Street from the beginning, all the way to the Waving Girl Statue, then took an evening carriage ride through the historic district, buried under blankets. Mother Nature continues to driiiizzle, and chill us to the bone.
Our guide was a good story teller, casually mentioning the local ghost sightings without scaring the kids. For example she explained Sherman's time in Savannah like this:
"They heard he was coming to raid all of the goods from the warehouses, so the people of Savannah set fire to them -- just so he couldn't get them! Then they blamed him for the fires because if he hadn't come to town they wouldn't have burned them down. But Sherman actually never set a fire in Savannah. He stayed in town and everyone wanted him OUT. Well, the good church ladies next door to where he lived, started ringing the bells (over 100) attempting to make him go crazy. It worked, and Sherman was mad so he took the bells! Well, some of the ladies were friends with Mrs. Lincoln up North, and they sent her a letter pleading with her to get Sherman to give them their bells back. He did give them back, but he hung the bells upside down!"
Peanut just died laughing at all the cleverness...
Prior to coming here I'd read that the most important thing to do in Savannah -- and the thing most people forget to do -- is to wander. We decided to take a morning trolley and meander as best we could while shivering to death.
Created to act as a buffer for Charleston, SC from the Spanish down in St. Augustine, FL, lovely Savannah has endured a lot. Still, it remains a truly pretty, well-designed 1st city in America and we appreciated it. Voting to get off the trolley at the Forsyth Park fountain, the kids got to play chase in the grass and we got to peek into numerous hidden gardens along the street. What treasures!
We also saw the house where colonists used to come out at night just to stare into the windows -- it was the first house lit by electricity! Then the beaming cathedral kept us warm for a bit before going to have lunch at the oldest structure in Georgia: the Pirate's House. It's a Haunted House and still has visible tunnels below ground that connect it to the river. Apparently, people who passed out from too much drinking were dragged to the river to be shanghaied.
And we think the world has become more dangerous! Ha!
We were also told that South Carolina produces more peaches than Georgia; they just think theirs are sweeter. It was fun being a Georgia Peach for a day...
