SAVANNAH – PART 1

After traversing Hell’s Gate and continuing along the ICW, we (Cheri, Pete and me – Spring Fling) ended up docked at the IGY Harbor right across from Savannah. Did you know that Savannah is the second – largest container port on the US East Coast and the 3rd busiest container gateway in the United States?? It’s one of the best connected ports in the US to World Markets. It specializes in cargo containers with ~ 40 ships entering the harbor each week, an on site terminal rail facility with ~ 42 Double stack trains, and ~ 14,000 trucks all with easy access to move the cargo via I-16 and I-95. We were all fascinated by the sight of these huge container ships!! It was like – LOOK 🙂 There’s another one! Wow, it’s going under the bridge. Some of them are stacked 9 high! One of those individual containers goes on the back of a truck. Amazing!

Cheri’s cousin Jim’s daughter Maria and her husband Etienne and their 2 little munchkins came over to visit the boat. Etienne had lots of questions for Pete and we totally enjoyed their visit. After they left, Cheri and Pete walked around the marina to the Westin Hotel where they picked up a water taxi to go to the other side of the river. They found Savannah to be a very lovely old southern town. They walked by the many shops along River Road down to the Marriott Riverside. Some parts of it were like a museum and decorated and adorned with some prehistoric limestone pieces. On the way back, they stopped at a shop for free samples of yummy Peach Cheddar Cookies.

On Monday, April 20th they left me in the marina by myself and once again took the water taxi over to the other side of the river. When they returned I heard them talk all about their fun Hop On, Hop Off Bus Tour of historic Savannah.

That night they had their first docktails since we got started and left Jacksonville. Cheri was so happy. The next day she and Pete left me again and went to breakfast at Toast All Day. When they returned, they started cleaning me up and packing up their clothes. They seemed sad and I was unsure what was happening. On Thursday they left me all alone in Savannah.

It seems as if Spring Fling has commandeered this Blog. Sadly, Pete’s sweet mom had passed away. We packed up our stuff and headed home in a rental car to Ohio to pick up our car. We rearranged things and packed up our things for Massachusetts and headed there a few days later. We settled into Summer Camp and honored Pete’s mom later in the week with a beautiful ceremony.

After getting things settled, we rented a car and headed back to Spring Fling and Savannah. One of the more interesting things about the loop has been learning about the geography of the Eastern part of the US as we have traveled along the lakes, rivers, gulf, and the ICW. This probably relates more to Cheri than Pete. But the driving from Savannah to Ohio to Massachusetts to Savannah once again has really increased the geography lesson for Cheri. And with us doing segments, we’ve had the opportunity to visit and connect with friends and other loopers. On the trip south, Cheri was amazed at the number of states (~12) that she and Pete traversed to get back to Georgia. But on the way, a mixed blessing occurred. Pete’s sister Debby had flown south to visit her daughter who hadn’t been able to come to the funeral. It just happened that we were going to pass a few miles from where Danielle lives. We called and managed to connect with Pete’s sister, his niece, and his nephew’s wife and brand new baby. We think his mom helped to coordinate this rendezvous!

PART TWO

Spring Fling here again. LOL (: Before Pete and Cheri left me alone in Savannah, Pete did his usual checks and one of them was to check my batteries. The water level was low in one battery and he filled it up with distilled water. When they returned, he checked my batteries and the water level was low again. It was time to replace my battery as we have had them for 4 years already. I guess when you change one, it’s always best to change both. Thankfully they still had their rental car and were able to drive to Auto Zone to pick up my batteries but they only had one so they drove to a different one to pick up the other battery. Did you know my batteries weigh 60 pounds each? I was putting Pete through a workout as he had to put them in a dock cart and bring them down to me. Then he lifted them up one by one and took them up my stairs and down my stairs. But first he needed to take the old batteries out of my engine room and lift them up about 4 feet to remove them. Next he slowly lowered one battery into my compartment and hooked it up. Phew. Next he lowered the other battery and hooked it up. But it wasn’t connecting! So then he had to lift that one out of the compartment, up the stairs, down the stairs, and into the dock cart and back to the store. Oh that one was dead! Seriously? So off to a third Auto Zone to get a new battery. They brought it back and went through the whole procedure – well Pete did. Cheri was just our support person. “We get to do this” I heard her say quite a lot! That battery worked – yes! By the way, if you bring back the old battery the store will give you a refund. So they returned that battery as well.

After all that hoopla, they decided to go into town and went to a Tea House that used to be an apothecary for a little peace and calm atmosphere. Little did they know what else I had in store for them. LOL I loved Savannah so much, I decided to break some more things. The next day Pete thought he might change my oil on Frick and Frack and went to start the engines to warm the oil up but the engines wouldn’t start! I was absolutely giving them fits. With a little exploring, Pete found a relay that was old and deteriorating so he ordered a new relay. It was a rainy dreary day so they left me alone again and went to see Project Hail Mary. On Sunday, they took the water taxi back into town and visited the Savannah History Museum and the Railroad Museum.

I really wanted to stay in Savannah so Monday morning my AC Unit popped the circuit breaker. So no AC in the forward unit, they can’t start my engines to change the oil due to the faulty relay switch and I was giving them fits! “We really would like to leave Savannah Spring Fling”. “Yes, but I love this Savannah Marina and I want to stay”. So off they went back into town to check out the church and pray that I would stop throwing tantrums. On the water taxi they met a couple from Hilton Head who gave them the name of a guy who could check out my AC Unit if we were to ever make it to HH. When they arrived on the other side of the river, the Coast Guard ship was getting ready to leave so they stopped to watch how the big ships leave the dock. Afterwards they walked to Toast All Day for brunch, and then they walked through many of the individual parks as they headed to St. John the Baptist’s Church.

The next day the relay arrived, Pete put it in, and my engines started up. Darn because I heard them say – hallelujah. We’re leaving tomorrow Spring Fling whether you want to or not! Fine, I’m done talking!

When Pete and I arrived in Savannah, we had plans to stay about a week. Life being what it is and Spring Fling too, said take a breath and explore this beautiful town. The extra time gave us such a good perspective of the beauty and charm of Savannah. It’s a very easy town to walk around in. It has 22 small parks and lots of Spanish Moss Trees. It’s an old southern town with cobblestone streets everywhere. The river side of the town is flat but to get up to the next level, you must walk up some steep stairs or wind around the cobblestones to reach the upper level which is pretty flat at that point. It has lots of great restaurants and food. Savannah College of Art and Design/SCAD is known for integrating its campus into the historic city and using renovated buildings.

And we saw the marina gator before we left!