The Season for Savannah

Tybee Island Time for Christmas seemed to be a great idea this year. We found River’s End RV park to be perfectly placed away from Savannah out on Tybee Island. The trip there takes you through a series of small towns and salt marshes out to the tip of the island where the Savannah River enters the Atlantic. The Tybee lighthouse is the oldest and tallest lighthouse in Georgia. In 1773, the 100-ft lighthouse tower was erected to aid ship traffic along the eastern seaboard and especially the vulnerable Savannah River. Tybee Island, it’s forts and it’s lighthouse have been the guardians of the Savannah River since 1736.

The sunsets on Tybee are really spectacular as they concentrate colors and textures with the changing light. The salt marshes offer viewing opportunities for great senic walks, water birds and wildlife.


Savannah is one of the oldest cities in America -- a site of many famous Revolutionary & Civil War Battles and an key hub of commercial trade. Take a Historic Savannah Carriage Tour--this is the best way to see all the major highlights or historic Savannah has to offer. Tour guides are well versed in the city history and personalities, Tours are usually about an hour long. Hundreds of interesting sites to see including more than twenty city squares, monuments, parks, historic homes, churches & forts and the largest national historic landmark district can keep you busy and intrigued.
Founded by General James Oglethorpe in 1733, Georgia's colonial capital now encompasses six historic neighborhoods with buildings nestled under giant live oaks hung with Spanish moss. General James Edward Oglethorpe came here to protect Savannah from invasion by the Spanish in Florida. Kay’s ancestors served Savannah well.

Savannah Cotton Exchange--Built in 1887, this building was the center of commercial activity when Savannah was the world's foremost cotton port. Cotton prices world-wide were set in the halls of the exchange.

Savannah Yummmmm!

The Lady and Sons
Paula Deen does know how to cook! Located at 102 West Congress Street, the Lady and Sons restaurant is just one block east of City Market in the heart of historic Savannah. Southern Buffet or Menu—there is genuine Southern cuisine found here from fried green tomatoes and fried chicken to shrimp and grits and pecan pie. Biscuits and hoecake wander about on platters to accompany any dish or desire. Butter and seasoning bacon flow here. The buffet is a really great deal, too. But be prepared to wait your turn, as it is first come first served and the line forms early and persists through lunch and dinner.

Cafe at City Market
We had lunch here after our carriage tour. Meals are served in delightful American bistro atmosphere. Lunch menu offers soup, sandwiches, unique pizzas or interesting appetizers. If the weather is nice, you candine outside and watch the world go by. Reservations are suggested for dinner, especially on the weekends.

The Crab Shack
Low Country Cuisine a must. Being a coastal city, Savannah specializes in all sorts of treats from the sea. The best part about the atmosphere at the Crab Shack is walking through the huge canopy of live oak trees with the view of the marsh. The Low Country Boil, a mixture of shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes, is easily the best and most popular. Everything is steamed or boiled and accompanied by lemon wedges, melted butter and cocktail sauce. You can mix and match and your server will be glad to guide your dinner development. "Dining in the rough" is accommodated by a hole in the center of the table for shell and trash disposal and your own individual roll of paper towels is always at the ready right next to the spicy sauces. Fingers are welcome here to peel the shrimp, but the sausage, corn and potatoes give you a seafood break. The beer is always ice cold here.

Getting things together

Travels and interests are forthcoming..... meanwhile we are dodging the winds and storm tracks.

Off to Atlanta and the Smokies

Atlanta
We tried to get all of the transactional RV-related business taken care of for a trip to the Canadian Maritimes but things just didn't work out so we thought a trip to Atlanta and Chattanooga might be possible. We had plans to spend some time with friends camping in Smoky Mountain Nat. Park. We took off for Atlanta to visit Stone Mountain for the Yellow Daisy festival and to stock up on provisions for the trip. Of course, this was right after the gasoline crunch post-Katrina. Thanks to Sonny Purdue- Gov. of GA, gas taxes were off and supplies still plentiful for the trip to Atlanta and beyond. We stayed at Stone Mt. Park where it was hot and muggy but cooler in the evenings. Shopping is always fun in Atlanta for us on anyday. Whole Foods Market and a visit to the Dekalb International Market is always included.

Atlanta Favorites:






Chattanooga and Smoky Mt. Nat Park
We staged our arrival to the Smoky Mt. park with a few days in Chattanooga. The Aquarium was really wonderful with one building dedicated to freshwater and the other for saltwater. It was a great way to escape the heat. What would a visit be without going to Lookout Mountain and Rock City? We did it all... then it was off to the Smokies.

Terra Nostra
Our search for dinner one evening led us across the river to Terra Nostra, a tapas restaurant serving international cuisine dishes from Spain, Italy, France, North & South America, Asia, and the Caribbean with either indoor or outdoor seating. Our selections were quite good including Smoked Gouda Ravioli with Ratatouille, Crab Springroll, Andouille Crawfish Ravioli with three Sauces, Mussels in a Saffron Cream Sauce, Several wines were tasted including Dyed in the Wool, Cline Viogner, Casa Lapostole Sav. BL., Navarro Correa Chard. A fine and fun experience!


Townsend
We arrived at our new home in Townsend where we found out that or friends couldn't make it for the weekend. Too bad, since Townsend was going to be having their Old Timer's Weekend bash this very weekend. No problems for us since we like Blugrass just fine. Stella loved the river that ran by the RV park and pranced through the water with glee. The leash was a real drag for her and she spent time arguing with it on her truns through the water. Strange she doesn't do this when she's home for some reason.

The cooler weather held beautifully as we drove through the park several times and through Dollywood and those touristy areas. Go figure why they built that place and all that stuff in Gatlinburg.

Maryville TN We found a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Maryville in Brown's Creek Shopping Center. El Jimador has the typical menu of very fresh and tasty Mex fare served in a very unique setting. The salsa was great and a good sign for more goodness to come. Each table or booth is painted with Mexican themes and colors. Niches have colorful "frescoes" hand-painted to match the theme of the table and seating. The owner said that they have been in Maryville for 3 years and we are sure they will continue to draw a crowd. We also found out that El Jimador is the name for the worker who cuts the blue agave plants for making tequilla.

There is also a great little Wine & Spirits shop in the same area a few doors down. They met our needs and were able to impress with their great selections and reasonable prices on wines we really like these days. It was a real find in this semi-wilderness area for wines... Lots of beer and fine whiskey is easy to get I heard.

Homeward bound Before we knew it it was time to get on the road for home. Here's where the weather turned on us and rain stayed with us until we got back to Atlanta. We drove to Commerce to tour The Pottery for baskets and such and included a trip through the outlet malls close by. Tired and weary we drove back to the RV Park and collapsed. The next day we made another trip to Whole Foods to stock up the home larders with goodies and then we left for the road to Dunellon.

Our weary traveler----
Stella turned out to be a good RV dog. Herding us around the RV and keeping us aware of her needs was a hard job and she took it very seriously. We arrived home and were sure that she kissed the ground when she came down the last step and smelled the driveway.