Savannah, GA

We had read that some cruisers don't care for the coastal landscape of Georgia, but we have found it to be quite enjoyable. Alot of small rivers and creeks flow into the ICW and many of them provide fine places to anchor for the night. Much of the scenery looks like this, with the salt marshes coming right down to the edge of the water and the trees in the background.

The marshes look like this up close.

We left Jekyll Island and met up with Jack and Nan on Eschaton. You might remember them from back on the Florida panhandle and yes, they are still cruising the Loop in their Gibson houseboat and doing fine. Here they are coming over to our boat for dinner at one of the two anchorages we shared on our cruise to Savannah.

As we move further north, the trees are starting to increase slightly, here's the view we had leaving our second anchorage.

We're getting into a bit of a rhythm of anchoring for a couple of days followed by a marina stay in order to tour the historic cities. When we got to Isle of Hope Marina, we took the bikes for a ride through this small peaceful town near Savannah. This is the road that runs right by the marina and we found every street looked like this with huge live oak trees and lush foliage. Spring has come to this part of the country.

We biked out to the historic site called Wormsloe, where we pedaled down a 1.5 mile "oak alley". At the end of the road is the ruins of a house within a small fort built by Georgia's first settlers.

The next day we took a city bus into Savannah. We hopped on the Old Town Trolley to get an overview of this remarkable city. The city is jam packed with beautifully preserved historic homes. I took pictures of some of them out the trolley window as the driver narrated stories of how their builders and originals owners fit into Georgia's history. No two are alike.

The historic district is up on a bluff high above the Savannah River a few miles off the ICW. It was laid out in squares with 24 of the squares made into parks. The parks are full of ancient live oaks draped in spanish moss and are absolutely beautiful. Every two blocks another park appears with the houses built all around them. On the trolley tour, you can get off to walk around, and then jump back on the next trolley as they come by every 15 minutes. We loved walking through these amazing landscapes.

Each park square has a historically significant monument or a fountain in its center. This one had a beautiful fountain.

Then back on the trolley for more house and more history.

We lunched at the Pirate House Restaurant, where I had to have a picture of this Jack Sparrow wannabe. He actually looked quite like him.

The final part of the Trolley Tour took us down the hill to River Street. This part of Savannah is the most recent part of town to be renovated. All the old warehouses, many of which had been abandoned for years, have been revitalized and turned into shoppes and eateries.

The weather continues to be warm and sunny, the seas have been smooth, and we've really enjoyed cruising and site seeing with Jack and Nan.