Savannah Retreat - Day 3

We were very disappointed when we woke up to a steady rain. We thought about taking a trolley tour but thought better of it. Instead we decided to ride out to Tybee Island.

We went by K-Mart so I could get an umbrella (since I didn't bring any) and I bought a scratch-off lottery ticket and won $150 !! Whoo hoo !! Yeah me !!

Along the way to Tybee, I asked if she had read "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and she had and asked if she had ever been to Bonaventure Cemetary (often mentioned in the book) and she never had - so since it was on the way, we decided to stop by.

Now, I love cemetaries, love walking around them and the older they are, the better. So of course I love Bonaventure. I'm glad she wanted to stop too. I have 2 must stop places. The first is usually to see Gracie.

Gracie was an adorable and much loved little girl, who contracted pnemonia and died suddenly in 1890. A sculptor made this statue of her from a photo and apparently it is an exact image of little Gracie.

I always leave Gracie a penny when I visit her. When I went to leave it, I could see that I was apparently not the only one who leaves them for her.

The other one I must visit is the one below. I don't know why I love her so. I think it is just her simple elegance - she looks so serene and peaceful yet strong and protective.

We spent quite a bit of time at Bonaventure - there is just so much to see

After getting stopping by to give Johnny Mercer a bit of a hello and getting soaking wet, we found our way out and headed to Ft. Pulaski, which was our next stop along the way to Tybee Island.

By the time we got to Ft. Pulaski, the rain had stopped (thank goodness). It was extremly windy. I had never been to Ft. Pulaski before - it was so peaceful and calm out there. We stayed several hours. Also, it was pretty cool that it was National Park Week (all National Parks were free so we didn't even have to pay to get in)

It makes me sad to think that for many years, this place was overgrown by weeds. Thank goodness it was rescued from that and people can now see it. It was not a very active fort except right near the beginning of the civil war when the Confederacy tried to secure it before the North could inhibit it. After a 2 day long battle, the Confderates surrendered. There was just too much damage to the fort - you can still see cannonball holes in it and they say you can see a cannonball lodged in one place (but I never found it). I had an odd feeling I had been there before - perhaps I had, as a child and just forgot. Something just seemed so familiar about it even though I don't recall ever going there before.

Just before leaving, we found the Cockspur Island lighthouse.

After spending several hours at Ft. Pulaski, we headed to Tybee, we didn't have a lot of time there because we were going to meet my friend's dad for dinner soon. We did have time to see the lighthouse and swing by my former bosses home (she has since moved though) and just drive around a bit.

We then went to Uncle Bubba's Oyster House for a very, very late lunch/early dinner - it was about 5 pm and we hadn't eaten since breakfast around 8 am so we were getting kind of hungry by now. We sat outside and were surprised most folks wanted to sit inside. Until the wind about blew us away and then we realized why they sat inside. We still enjoyed sitting out by the water though. I had a nice crab cake dinner with "Savannah" red rice (which I think they made up for the tourist because I've never heard of such a thing) and some cheese grits. We also shared this awesome crab/shrimp dip appetizer.

Teresa's dad then met up with us there and we left our car park there while he gave us the tour of Wilmington Island (where he lives) - there are some HUGE houses there. He showed us where Michael and Paula were living when they met (apparently they still live in Michael's house) and he showed us the new house that Paula and Michael are building/have built - it was unreal - beautiful and I'm happy for her - for someone to come from humble beginnings and now be able to have this kind of money. He showed us his favorite hangouts and then we stopped to visit with his cousin and his wife and their mirage of pets - they had a yorkie that sat in my lap the whole time we were there - I loved it!

It was getting late and we knew her dad had a long work day and we wanted to get back and look up some info on Sapelo Island before we left so we headed back - after researching, we decided to go ahead with our plans to see Sapelo Island (although it was 1 1/2 hours away - the wrong way from where we needed to be headed back home) - I said as long as we could make the noon ferry back, then I'd go. She agreed and we soon drifted off in to sandman land after a very busy but enjoyable day.