DAY
11 - MONDAY 13TH AUGUST
The first really
long sleep of the holiday. I wake at 7.00am, but then go back to
sleep until 8.30am. Tam is already on the balcony reading her
book, so she and I leave the girls asleep and go to the shop to
get cereal and milk. I also buy a Disney Vacation Member shirt,
which is reduced from $49 to $24.
The girls get up and we have breakfast before leaving for
Savannah around 9.30am. So much for my happy day at the pool
drinking beer.
As we are driving off Hilton Head Island I see something
slithering across the road in front of us. ItIt ’s a shiny
black snake about 4 feet long. moves pretty quickly and just
about avoids ending up as squished snake.
It’s only about 35 miles to Savannah and we pass a Piggley
Wiggleys on the way. We’ve never shopped in one of these,
but decide we ought to at some point because it’s such a
cool name.
The girls, rather unkindly, ask Tam if she’s pregnant as her
stomach has expanded somewhat due to all the food we’ve
eaten. We decide to name the child Nolichucky Piggley Wiggley
Stringer.
We cross a large bridge into Savannah and park up by the visitors
centre. There are several different tram tours that leave from
here, so we get a map and some info from the centre before
joining one of the tours. It’s only $10 per person and the
tour lasts over an hour, you can then use the hop on/hop off
facility for the rest of the day.
To be honest much of the historic area of Savannah is accessible
by foot, but the tour is very informative and gives you a lot of
history.
There are many squares laid out in a sort of grid and these are
filled with statues, fountains and trees, many of which are
covered with Spanish moss.
Many of the houses are very beautiful with wrought iron railings
and balconies along with sweeping steps leading to the front
door.
At one point in the tour we pass the Pirates House Restaurant and
this is one of the oldest buildings in Savannah. For many years
they lured unsuspecting passers-by into the premises, plied them
with rum then bopped them on the head. An underground passage
then led to where a nearby ship was moored and the poor geezer
ended up with a sore head and a lifetime of piracy ahead of him.
This went on for many years until a local official got suspicious
and went to investigate. One head bopping later, he’s
suddenly got a new career a plunderin’ and a pillagin’.
It took him 2 years to work his way back to Savannah whereupon
the rascals doing the bopping received their comeuppance.
Savannah is a beautiful place, I could imagine spending a few
days here doing the various tours and enjoying the many bars and
restaurants. The old squares must be very pretty at night.
After the tour we walk to the riverfront and get a beer at the
Warehouse Bar and Grill. It’s a shame I’m driving,
another hour or two could have been happily spent here.
We then take a stroll through many of the squares, taking photos
and video as we go. It’s scorching hot again today, in the
high 90’s. I can’t imagine how the Southern belles
survived in their voluminous dresses and undergarments, they must
have been made of stern stuff in those days.
Back at the visitor centre they have a few old train carriages
that have been turned into a sort of diner. It’s called The
Whistle Stop Café and of course we have to try the fried green
tomatoes. These taste more like apple than tomato and come with a
sauce made from cranberry and jalapenos. We also have sandwiches
of various sorts.
The lady that serves us is very nice, in fact all the people we
have met in Savannah have been pleasant and seem to take a real
pride in their hometown.
One other thing I’ve noticed – no McDonalds –
thank goodness. Or at least, none that smack you in the face.
Maybe they’ve made a good job of hiding them away.
After lunch we drive 20 miles to the coast and Tybee Island. We
park up and walk to the beach. If I’m honest, I’m not
overwhelmed by this place. The beach is huge, but the sea is not
very clear, I guess we have been spoiled by the lovely waters of
the Gulf Coast of Florida. I really don’t think it’s
worth the extra 30-minute drive from Savannah.
We have to drive back into Savannah to pick up the road back to
Hilton Head, but somehow end back up in the historic district,
which is fine until Tam’s map reading skills are found
wanting. This place is really easy to navigate with a map in
front of you, but we somehow end up going around the same little
square 3 times. I’m nearly getting dizzy. Tam is turning the
map this way and that and I’m ashamed to admit I lose my
temper somewhat.
‘For goodness sake woman, it’s easy enough’ I
shout as I park the car and grab the map off her. Don’t
worry I’ll spank her bottom later for being naughty.
We eventually find the right road and head back to Hilton Head,
stopping to get more provisions. How come whenever we stop to buy
one or two bits and pieces the bill comes to a minimum of $50?
As we leave the supermarket at 7.00pm it’s still 92°F.
Back at the room we all shower and change. There are 4 towels on
the rack and the girls have sorted out a type of code to
determine which towel belongs to which person. The towels are on
a rack – top left, top right, bottom left and bottom right.
Ind and Georgia have decided it should be left breasty dumpling,
right breasty dumpling, left buttock and right buttock. I’m
a right buttock. Don’t even think of commenting.
It’s gone 9.00pm by the time we get to go out. At this time
we virtually have to take what we can get in terms of places to
eat as everything shuts so early in Shelter Cove.
We decide to eat just over the bridge in Scott’s Fish
Market. This works out ok as the food is pretty good. Tam and
India have the salmon, while I have tuna salad and Georgia has
chicken caesar salad. All are very nice and the bill comes to
$115. This includes drinks and tip.
The only problem I have with the meal is that we are presented
with the bill as soon as we have finished our main course. No
‘would you like a dessert Sir?’ I get the distinct
impression we are being pushed out the door, as they want to
close.
We walk around the marina at 10.15pm. Virtually everywhere,
including San Miguel where we ate last night, is closed. Good
lord, does nobody stay awake until 10.30pm in this town?
On our way back to the room we notice the bar outside the
Kingfisher Restaurant, just across the bridge from The Disney
resort, is still open. Woohoo! Ind and George decide to go back
to the room, so Tam and I sit at the bar and order a couple of
margaritas. We immediately get chatting to a couple from Blufton
(just up the road from Hilton Head) whose sister in law is
working behind the bar. It turns out the lady is a big Disney fan
and they go to WDW as often as they can.
Tam also gets chatting to a guy who used to live in New York. We
pass a fun couple of hours sat in the balmy Carolina night
chatting with some very friendly Americans. That’s the thing
about Americans; they are generally out going and friendly.
Despite my rather brash persona in my trip reports, I am British
and therefore intrinsically reserved. I (and Tam) sometimes hold
back from starting a conversation. The old yanks don’t have
that problem; they can meet people for the first time and be
chatting like old friends within the first few minutes and I love
them for it.
It turns out that the lady I am talking to owns her own company
distributing vending machines. One of the products the company I
work for manufactures, is vending machines. Life is full of fun,
isn’t it?
Anyway, I really enjoy our evening and my faith is restored in
the Shelter Cove nightlife. I guess there are many swinging
nightspots on Hilton Head Island, but I want to walk to somewhere
where I can drink. Maybe more correctly, I want to be able to
find somewhere I can stagger back from.
Whichever way you look at it, it’s been another fine day. I
cannot believe how lucky we have been with the weather. 9 days
covering New York, Tennessee and South Carolina and we
haven’t seen a drop of rain.
I was really concerned before we came that the hot weather would
be a big problem. Despite the heat wave they are having, we have
all coped with it reasonably well. The evenings are just
beautiful. Of course, air conditioning helps the whole
experience.
Perhaps I shouldn’t push my luck, we still have Florida to
come.