Savannah
We arrived in Savannah Saturday night around 5:00. We stayed here, which wasn't the greatest in the world (regardless of the lovely pictures!) - but most B&B type places require a two or three night minimum. We had a great, cheap dinner at one of our favorite places, Vinnie Van Go-Gos. We got up early to go to 8:00 Mass Sunday morning, and it was the most beautiful walk I think we've ever had in Savannah. The city was nearly deserted except for church-goers and, sadly, the homeless. This shot is of Congress Street, Sunday morning on the way to Mass.
Broughton Street, Savannah, Sunday morning
Here's a shot of the interior of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Savannah, after Mass. It is a beautiful place we'd only ducked in before, so to worship and really check it out afterward was a real privilege.
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Savannah
A shot of the Cathedral Rectory, Savannah. I love the gate's ironwork. We had our "fancy vacation meal" just down from here, brunch at a place called Firefly. It was delicious!
One of our favorite houses in Savannah, on Monterey Square
Paul's old haunt, Poetter Hall of SCAD
Sunday morning on Bull Street
Of course, no Downey family vacation is complete without a trip to a cemetery (or pictures with cannons, or wild animals waking us up... but that comes later). This is Bonaventure Cemetery, a wonderful old cemetery in Savannah. It's a must-see even if your family doesn't typically brake for cemeteries.
Bonaventure Cemetery
Bonaventure Cemetery
Fort McAllister
We visited Fort McAllister Sunday on the way to Sapelo. The fascinating history of this fort, which ended Sherman's March to the Sea, can be read here. As the crow flies (over the water!), it's very close to Savannah - but was over an hour's drive from Bonaventure.
the fort walls
Paul posing with a cannon - what's a vacation without cannons?
Paul posing with another cannon. Sadly, these were models. They still count, though.
the western wall of the fort, moat with palisades
Ferry to Sapelo
To arrive on Sapelo, you must board a ferry in Meridian, GA. On Sapelo, there's only a dry goods store (which also sells beer, so it's called the only bar on the island) so you have to bring in all your stuff. We had a cooler packed with food from home and the Savannah Kroger, so we were set.
Sapelo in the distance. Our ferry, the Katie Underwood (ostensibly named for Sapelo's last midwife!), is 4.5 miles away, the white blob on the left part of the horizon. It moved very quickly, though - Paul's GPS clocked it at about 22 MPH on our way over.
the dock in Meridian, Georgia
our ferry approaching
Liza on the top deck of the ferry. As I edit this blog post (Paul did the pictures and I'm narrating, somewhat) I am realizing how ridiculous my sunglasses-over-glasses look truly is. Not to mention the pregnancy double-chin (I'm just going to pretend like that's new).
leaving the mainland
Sapelo Island
We decided to go to Sapelo because Paul'd always heard about it while he was in Savannah but was never able to visit. It's one of the barrier islands, similar to Cumberland or St. Simon's, but has a few neat characteristics. A surviving population of descendants of slaves - the Gullah, or as they prefer, the Geechee, inhabit the island and number around 40. Their community, on the north end of the island, is called Hog Hammock (home of Chiefs player Allen Bailey), and is where we stayed. The other residents of the island are University of Georgia students who study the island's ecosystem.
The Sapelo Island "airport." The hangar looks like it hasn't been used in decades.
The Behavior Cemetery. Razor wire and a locked gate surrounded this cemetery, so we didn't visit it fully.
Feral cow, in a field near our cottage. We saw her (I'd think?) a few times over the course of a couple days.
Cabretta Beach (the northernmost beach on Sapelo Island)
The "road" to Cabretta Beach. Our house was supplied with bikes, which went unused - because this was seriously the best part (only non-bumpy part?) of the road. There's one real paved road on the island (called the "autobahn") and then this is as good as it gets. The beach was about two miles away but took nearly 15 minutes by Ford Explorer.
The bridge across Cabretta Creek, leading to Cabretta Beach. Cabretta is also called Cabretta Island, which I guess is fairly accurate given the bridge.
A scarecrow on the back dunes of Cabretta Beach. We figured that it was assembled to mark the path in case you lose your bearings on the beach, which would have been pretty easy since there aren't any buildings or other permanent markers.
a sandpiper on the back dunes of Cabretta Beach
An Immigration & Border Protection helicopter flying over the beach. Paul's new lens with the great zoom is really fun to stalk aircraft with. I think stalking aircraft will be added to cemeteries, cannons, and ornery animals as a recurring theme distinguishing a Downey vacation.
This looks like a shelter, but we think it was made by recent tropical storm Beryl.
Paul on a tree, Cabretta Beach
The same tree, Cabretta Beach. I (Liza) was quite proud of this artsy shot.
Despite the tranquility of being on an untouched beach, it was nevertheless one of the only places to get cell reception. This is Paul returning an email. This shot may also give you an idea of how dramatic the tides are.
a trotting egret
pelicans and gulls on the sandbar off Cabretta Beach
an uprooted tree, and a pregnant lady, Cabretta Beach
another uprooted tree, with the same lady, Cabretta Beach
looking through an uprooted tree
Hundreds of birds in flight in the distance. Across this inlet is Blackbeard Island.
pelicans on Blackbeard Island
Looking south back towards Nannygoat Beach (the beach at the south end of the island). The beach pavilion is 3.5 miles away.
a sandpiper in flight, back dunes of Cabretta Beach
the bridge across Cabretta Creek, on the way back
Nature Trail, south part of the island
The Nature Trail promised a walk that was "about a mile", but I think it was longer. Maybe it had to do with all the mosquitoes, spiders and other unfun creepy-crawlies we had to dodge. Luckily, we re-upped with bug spray before venturing out. It was a great trail, taking us through the Maritime Forest, different eras of dunes and other groves and generally cool areas. These pictures don't do the whole walk justice - it was definitely a neat walk with a varied landscape. Several signposts along the way showed animals we could expect to see (such as alligators and whitetail deer, and rattlesnakes!) but we didn't see those. The walk terminated at the beach, about a mile (a real one) from Nannygoat beach. From there, another half mile walk down the paved road returned us to the car.
thousands of fiddler crabs. It was so neat to see them moving around all at once, and just so many of them!
shellfish on the marsh grass
an egret
Nannygoat Beach (southernmost beach on the island)
Nannygoat Beach at high tide
Liza on Nannygoat Beach at high tide
Nannygoat Beach at low tide. You can see why "dramatic" is a great way to describe the tides. High tide was around 5:30 PM (Sunday), and low around 3:00 PM on Monday.
Nannygoat Beach
the road leading away from Nannygoat Beach
Sapelo is also home to an historic lighthouse. This is the front range beacon. Ships would line this one up with the lighthouse light to find the safe channel.
the Sapelo Island Lighthouse, southern end of the island
A fishing boat in the Doboy Sound, heading out to the Atlantic. Again, a great shot courtesy of a nice zoom lens.
The road away from Nannygoat Beach, towards the Reynolds Mansion
Reynolds Mansion
Tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds plays a major role in the history of Sapelo Island, having bought the island in 1933. An aside - the island has a pretty unique history that you should check out. Lots of cultures and peoples have laid claim to this place. This mansion is still in use as a retreat center and groups can tour it. We didn't go inside, but did check out the grounds.
the mansion pool
A decrepit complex of greenhouses behind the Reynolds Mansion. We were glad to see there were signs posted that pointed to restoration of this facility, which looked pretty impressive "in its day."
other parts of Sapelo
our friend, again
She was shy and quickly moved on this time.
We managed to move a little into the interior of the island without disobeying any no trespassing signs, which were prevalent. It was funny to learn "DNR" as an acronym for Department of Natural Resources and not "Do Not Resuscitate." That was quite a funny thing to hear a Georgia student mention on the ferry - "yeah, he'll be with our group, he's DNR, so we can..."
Anyway, the no trespassing signs. I was all for breaking the rules, especially since the Chocolate Plantation and Shell Ring Complex lurked somewhere behind them, but cooler heads prevailed (and I never saw the sites)(But...) We just kept going and going where there weren't signs, but somehow happened into the R.J. Reynolds wildlife refuge. Oops.
We saw a blue heron, though! So that was pretty amazing.
the same heron
We saw this tiny white deer in the woods on the road back to our cottage. It was about the size of a labrador retriever and just hopped around so cutely. It has quite a tail for a deer, but the ears are right. Just adorable.
"Hettie's Cottage" (our lodgings): the double-wide on the right is the home of the guy we rented from. He left for Savannah our first morning on the island. He was a really nice guy, having grown up on Sapelo and in Savannah. Hettie, we believe, was his Mother's name.
Hettie's Cottage by night.
Not pictured: Gibb's cousin's rooster, who lived behind us and woke us up each morning. He was reminiscent of our whining, hungry greyhounds and the peacocks in Selcuk, Turkey. He didn't bother me - I thought it was kind of pastoral and romantic - but then again, I could sleep through an air raid. As I made sausage and eggs at 5:30 Tuesday morning, Paul asked whether rooster was on the menu.
Ferry back to the mainland
We got an early start for the 7 a.m. ferry back to the mainland. The next ferry was in the afternoon, and with a 9+ hour drive back home, we didn't want to delay.
The Duplin River on the back side of Sapelo Island. These early morning pictures have such great color - they almost don't even look real.
the Duplin River on the back side of Sapelo Island
Liza boarding the ferry. So chipper!
fishing boats heading out to the ocean
Paul on the ferry heading back. Not quite as chipper! Thanks, rooster!
the lighthouse
the dock back on the mainland
beautiful, calm waters at the dock
looking back towards Sapelo from the mainland dock
a tugboat
Macon
We hit Macon just before 11 and I was in need of a break from the car, so we explored some.
We'd seen pics of this church (St. Joseph's) before, so we stopped in Macon for a look around. Unfortunately, it was locked up tight, so the beautiful stained glass and marble altar will have to wait for another trip.
St. Joseph's, Macon
St. Joseph's, Macon
View from Rose Hill Cemetery towards downtown Macon. We'd always seen this cemetery on a hill above the Ocmulgee River from I-16, and talked about stopping "one day." Tuesday was the perfect opportunity.
Rose Hill Cemetery, turns out Duane Allman is buried here although we didn't know it at the time. We did see more of the Allmans - at least, a ton of memorabilia - at our fantastic lunch stop, the H&H.
And that's where the pictures end! Hope you were able to stick through to the end.
