Well, this is it! This is the last post regarding our “road trip”. At the present moment we are driving through the Ocala National Forest (very nice) on our way to The Villages. And it is still hot! Maybe the Lord has been preparing us for this ever since the Outer Banks because it has been nothing but HOT since then. Hang on! Cindy just spotted a “Bear Crossing” sign and I don’t want to miss photographing another bear crossing the street. Okay, I’m back. Anyway, as I was saying, we are heading towards my brothers place in The Villages. The last three days were spent in Savannah, GA.
Day 23
After spending the morning of the 11th at Fort Sumter (Charleston, SC) we arrived in Savannah in the afternoon in time to have some dinner and relax in the room. We wanted to see “historic” Savannah, but we also wanted a chance to just begin to “unwind” a little from a long trip; so we decided to spend three nights here. The first night was a casual dinner downtown, average Mexican and then homemade ice cream, and then back to the room to continue relaxing. The next day would be spent on Tybee Island.
Day 24 Tybee Island (Savannah, GA)
Since we didn’t get to enjoy much of the beaches on the Outer Banks, we decided to spend the day on Tybee Island. This is not a “tourist trap” place by any means and we enjoyed the more casual beach scene here as opposed to Ocean City, MD. I didn’t see any “adventure” booths on the main beach (parasailing, body-boarding, etc); only families laying and playing on the beach and people fishing from the pier. I (Jason) wore my swim trunks and decided to wade into the ocean for the first time. I wasn’t in the water more than two minutes (up to my waist) before being stung on my foot by a jellyfish! Can you believe it?! I just this minute get in the water already containing a bunch of other people and a jellyfish decides to single me out! Well, I probably just happened to have walked into it; but still! Can you believe it?! After getting out and going to the lifeguard to spray some vinegar on it, we spent some more time on the pier before getting in again.
After having lunch (seafood, of course), we went to another part of the island to see the lighthouse and the wildlife bird sanctuary. It seemed even hotter on this part of the island than the main beach. There were far fewer people on this, the north side, and I decided to get in the water again. The parking lot was much further away from the bird sanctuary than we had anticipated and even though we walked a long ways, we decided to turn back because it looked like there was some rain heading our way. On our way back up the beach we noticed a huge cargo ship from Italy making its way to the Port of Savannah. Where we were at is the main passage way for the cargo ships and we enjoyed watching this one. I was surprised by how massive this thing was! Anyway, it was time to go back to the hotel and take another shower! We are getting tired of this two-shower a day thing! We decided to stay close to the hotel for dinner and do the “historic downtown” thing tomorrow.
Day 25 Historic Downtown Savannah
Last day of our vacation drive before heading to The Villages. We parked in a garage near the Savannah River in Historic Downtown Savannah at around 11:00am and were already burning up before reaching the restaurant we had chosen to eat at. I had a huge fish sandwich and fries. Mmm…good! After lunch we started our walking tour. We started by going down to the waterfront. They have various sets of stone stairways leading down to the riverfront street (I forgot the name of it). The area is really cool: old brick and cobblestone streets, a trolley line that automobiles must navigate around, suspended walkways, and lots and lots of shops lining up and down the street overlooking the river. Even as hot as it was, I thought the scene was really cool. We walked down the riverfront enjoying the people and the shops but also looking for the famous “Waving Girl” monument…never found it. Oh well. We were too hot to continue looking for it, so we walked back up to continue our tour.
Savannah is well-known, we were told, for its “grid” layout with its specifically planned “city parks” interspersed symmetrically throughout historic downtown. And we definitely made use of these parks! We suppose that this is how people can live in this heat! We made our way every two blocks to sit on one of the many benches under the equally as many huge (old) shade trees that filled each park. The parks are called the “jewels of the city” and we can see why. They are like little oasis’ to enjoy major relief from the heat. We needed them! Even though we were once again drenched from the heat, we enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells in Savannah’s Historic Downtown.
So, today (Day 26) finds us arriving at The Villages tired from all the driving and the packing/unpacking at numerous hotels/motels along the way, but also a bit sad that our long journey across country has come to an end. We hope you have enjoyed spending a little time with us on our journey; we’ve enjoyed “bringing you along”, so-to-speak.
We will still be in “vacation” mode for some time; my brother and his wife have given us the keys to their house for a couple of months while they are away (thanks again Jeff and Linda!) and I plan on spending a lot of time in the pool! And of course, we will be enjoying spending a lot of time with our families. We will also be excited to visit with Paul and Marsha occasionally while here. But we also ask that you all continue to keep us in your prayers as we continue to seek our Lord’s guidance for our future. We want to be open to anything that our Father would have for us and we will need much prayer so that we are sensitive to His voice by His Spirit. So again, thank you for your prayers and keep them up.
Also, thanks for the many comments and emails along the way. For those of you who sent personal emails, thank you. We haven’t been able to respond directly while on our trip because time (and energy) has escaped us so often; but know that we appreciate your words and we will be going through them and responding shortly.
Thanks again and God bless.
jj & cj
p.s. Well, we didn’t get around to posting this yesterday and today we already played shuffleboard for 2 ½ hours this morning; and our week is already filling up with activities. This vacation thing is going to wear us out! And yes, I know I need to work on my tan! And I plan on doing that right now! J
p.p.s. We look forward to going through 1Cor. with you all and continuing to grow together (though from a distance) in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
