Heat Wave Part Two, Along with an Injury Report!

I had every intention of writing this yesterday afternoon, but the truth is, I was nursing my wounds instead.

Almost like a movie, while Bruce was spray painting a new batch of frames, I stepped backward to dodge the overspray, and by golly, I tripped over some tools, falling straight back onto the concrete, hitting not only my head, my, (thankfully), padded backside, my heel, elbow, and my back as well. Poor Bruce watching it happen, immediately threw down his can to come to my aide. Although I was momentarily stunned, I began laughing at what a klutz I am. Minor scrapes on my back, elbow, and ankle, along with some soreness plagued me yesterday afternoon, however, I am happy to report that today I'm mostly "good as new." We even rode our bikes to our polling place to vote, so you know I can't be too bad!

Well, now, let's get back to Savannah, shall we? Please be advised, this will be, perhaps, longer than your attention span!

I woke before sunrise, taking my camera out for a stroll to see what I could see. And then, of course, show YOU what I saw! The port of Savannah, pictured above, is a busy one. So busy in fact, it has become the fourth largest "container terminal in the United States. We can attest to seeing some huge, and I mean huge, vessels stacked high with containers as they made their way along the river out to sea. Below, is the Savannah City Hall with a gorgeous dome covered in paper thin 23 carat gold leaf. Stunning in the pre dawn light, or so it was in person!

I should have used my trusty phone compass to tell me which way the sun would rise. I was thinking it would light up the bridge, however, I was thinking wrong. Duh, it rises over the Atlantic Ocean!

Before leaving on our trip, Bruce begged me not to work too hard at being a tourist, to which I grudgingly agreed. Instead of booking the tickets beforehand for the dolphin tour I was dying to take from Tybee Island, just outside of Savannah, I decided if we found a seat on the boat while we were there, so be it. Taking off fairly early to Tybee, which is only a short drive on a road we'd taken the day before, it was lovely, but HOT, as the dickens. Rarely have I seen anything aside from Florida beaches, and although it was not too different, instead of daisies growing in the dunes, there were Morning Glories!

I vacillated between a close up, and the above landscape; as is quite evident, the landscape won--the bright little dots in the dune are the flowers. Lovely, lovely.

Additionally they have a fantastic pier which I'd seen in the advertisements. It was finely built which Bruce appreciated.

We were way out at the end in the picture above,

but behind me there are similar much larger arches made of wood. So big in fact that the pavillion is used for dancing! This link gives you more details about the area; I wish there were more in that article describing how the previous pier and pavilion were a major stop on all the Big Band tours in the '20's. Actually this is a new one, the former burned down in 1967, which is probably accounts for all the concrete below.

Isn't that such a fun picture? As you can probably tell from the photograph of the father and son walking on the pier, the sky was mostly cloudless, with the sun already burning us up by 9 in the morning! The high for the day was 97 degrees!! I told you it was hot, which is relevant to this part of the story. After checking out, from the car, (too hot to climb up) the Tybee Island lighthouse,

which was a shame because if the inside is half as good as the outside, it would have been wonderful. Nonetheless, we skipped it in favor of finding the dolphin tours, located of the main highway. Well, that didn't work. One never answered my call, the other had a little ticket booth, unmanned, which apparently surprised the owner when Bruce mentioned it on the phone trying to purchase tickets. After straightening that out, or so I imagine, she called back with the news that they were canceling all tours because of the HEAT! You heard that right. Bruce suspects they didn't have enough takers, because Lord knows, the dolphins are probably still swimming despite her claim of a heat index of 106. I was so dying to get out on some water, but it was not to be, so instead we went somewhere else. where we sweat like pigs!

That's right, we stopped at Ft. Pulaski just down the road. Oops, before I forget, here's a baby lighthouse on Cockspur Island, that is so darn cute!

The fort was highly interesting if history is your thing. I love history, although I'm the first to tell you that I forget most of it until reminded....

Bruce is roaming atop the fort, a part I was kind of hoping we would skip as I was melting. Below, though, as we roamed the rooms and walkways between the pictured arches, the heavy walls lowered the temperature by a bunch.

Here's your major take-away from the fort--it took 18 years to build, and about a day to render it useless for defense. During the Civil War, the Union Army defeated the Confederates in a day-long battle resulting in surrender. In the ensuing years, the occupying battalion from New York state entertained themselves with various music and games, one of which is the earliest recorded photograph of men playing baseball!

After a serious dose of automobile air conditioning, Bruce took me to Bonaventure Cemetery. If you are one of the millions who read, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, you already feel like you know the place. No, I did not see the bird girl statue, but I did see this one:

If there is a date on this I did not see it. What kind of man has a headstone built for both of his wives???
Although there are loads of big trees with kind shade, it was still dreadfully hot and sunny, the very worst for picture taking! Nonetheless, while Bruce rested in the shade of a tree, I roamed a bit coming across Conrad Aiken's grave, along with his parents headstone, which puzzled me greatly until I solved the mystery of both parents dying on the same day using our handy iPad.

Of all things, it was a homicide committed by his father! And we think this kind of thing is new....

There are some massive headstones and well, arches, if you will....

I found this one amusing, if you can find a headstone amusing, and I certainly can.

Hard to read in the light--Father and Mother Grimm, which may or may not have something to do with Grimm's Fairy Tales. I guess when I saw it I was still fixed on CA's parents, a very sad story if ever there were one.

This headstone has sparked all sorts of internet rumors, which according to some, are all false.

A person could go on and on if they so chose, however, this person was sweltering so she quit. On our drive back into town we came across Price Street!

So what Gail? My maiden name, that's what!

If you've seen any guides about Savannah, surely you've seen their most famous fountain in Forsyth Park.

And rightly so, it's beautiful! As are the homes surrounding the park. The chandelier alone, on this porch, was to die for.

Well, let's be honest, the whole thing is to die for!

Hot and miserable, we popped into a little bar on Bay Street, meeting Julie, and only slightly cooling off as their air conditioner was on the fritz!

The owner, she apologized for the heat, putting lots of ice in my glass. To say she was entertaining is putting it mildly. The fried pickles were yummy too!

Are you worn out yet? I mostly was, but we still had dinner to attend to. Strolling along River Street, this World War II memorial was striking.

If you look hard, you will see Bruce chatting with a Ukrainian man--you guessed it, they were talking about the conflict in his country.

Dinner was fine, nothing memorable at a place called "Cotton something or other." Bruce is not home or I'd ask him, making it seem more professional. In fact, I'm struggling to remember the FANTASTIC place we had breakfast before leaving Savannah. I've got it....Goose Feathers Cafe. Scrumptious food, with good service. How do you suppose this dog liked it?

As if it weren't hot enough without a dress!!!!!

Pretty straightforward drive home, with no exciting stops to report, and it's a darn good thing or you'd never get through this post!!

Where to next?