We are in Georgia now.
I think of GA as “so far away” that I am amazed we are here, especially
by boat! From childhood drives to FL, I know that GA is a very long state to
drive through. To sail through, however, it’s not as long, since its coastal
area begins more than halfway down the length of the state. Coastal GA begins
at Savannah, and we had a wonderful stop there.
11/19/14
On Wednesday, November 19, we tied up at the Delegal Creek Marina,
which is located on Savannah's Skidaway Island, within the community of The Landings.
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| Delegal Creek Marina |
Delegal Creek Marina
We contacted our Shennecossett friends, Peter and Kay
Hering, who took fabulous care of us. Since they live nearby within The
Landings, they had easy access to the marina. They brought us to their
beautiful home for cocktails and a chance to do our laundry,
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| Peter and Kay's kitchen |
and then we all went
to dinner at a lovely nearby restaurant.
At Dinner, Chuck, Sandy, Kay, Peter, Sharon
They lent us a car so we could explore Savannah on our
own and also get to the grocery store.
11/20/14
On Thursday, we drove into Savannah. We stopped first at the
tourist bureau for intel, then hopped on a free tourist bus for a mini-overview,
and then started walking.
We stopped at the “Marche de Macarons,” a little bakery that
sells only macaroons, in about 20 different amazing flavors. Yum!
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| Marche de Macarons, Savannah, GA |
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| Chuck and Sandy at Marche de Macarons, Savannah, GA |
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| Chuck and Sharon at Marche de Macarons, Savannah, GA |
We then walked around the town and the “squares.”
Chuck walking through one of the "Squares" of Savannah
Squares look like parks (to us) but they are smaller, square
shaped, and they each have historical significance. It was fun to wander
through Reynolds Square, where a chili cook-off was taking place. Chuck heard the music and started dancing
through the park. Well, that got the local ladies all going and he had a blast dancing
with them!
"Square" Dancing
We went to The Olde Pink House for lunch, and toured
that lovely, historic house, and the 9 dining rooms that are filled every
night.
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| At "The Olde Pink House" Restaurant |
At "The Olde Pink House" Restaurant
At "The Olde Pink House" Restaurant
At "The Olde Pink House" Restaurant
At "The Olde Pink House" Restaurant
At "The Olde Pink House" Restaurant
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the river area
and loading up on pralines from River Street Sweets.
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| River Street Sweets Candy Store |
We had dinner with Peter and Kay at the Plantation Club
within The Landings (wonderful), and decided to spend another day seeing more
of Savannah.
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| Sharon, Sandy, Kay, Chuck, Peter at the Plantation Club |
Kay and Chuck both had the Seared Salmon on Small Plates Night
11/21/14
On Friday, Chuck and I went downtown in the car, and Sharon stayed at the boat to catch up on things. We went to the City Market area, where we couldn’t resist stopping at the “Pie Society,” a British pie shop, for lunch of chicken and thyme pie. Unfortunately the person in front of me in line got the last Cornish pasty, or I would have tried that too!
Cold offerings at the "Pie Society"
Hot offerings at the "Pie Society"
We visited a lot of artist galleries within the City Market.
The artists and their work are both in the galleries, and we enjoyed talking
with them and learning about their work. My favorite was the Gullah artist,
Sabree, who paints scenes from Gullah life and culture. The Gullah people were
brought from rice producing areas in west and central Africa to the area stretching
from NC to FL, where they were enslaved for generations to work the rice
plantations. Their artwork is characterized by vibrant colors and paintings
that each tell a story.
Gullah Artist, Sabree
Of course we had to also try the homemade coconut ice cream,
and we popped into Byrds to get a few bags of delightful little cookies to bring back to the boat. On the way
home, we stopped at the biggest Walmart we’ve ever seen for motor oil and a
few other things, and then we had one more errand to do, pick up a bottle of
gin for someone at the marina. Chuck asked a local man in the Walmart for
directions to the packy, which was not far away. To our amazement, it was a building
that looked like a house, with a DRIVE THROUGH WINDOW on the side! No kidding,
we went inside, and saw the clerk serving people through the window. He said he
does about 80% of his business through the drive through! (Container laws are a
lot more user-friendly here. They ARE allowed to take drinks out of
restaurants, and sip on the street.)
Drive through package store
Drive through window, inside the package store
11/22/14
On Saturday, we finally got up and out early, with the high
tide. Did I mention that Georgia has a 9 foot tidal range? That is amazing to
us New Englanders, who are accustomed to nothing more than 3 feet of difference
in the water depth. We needed to enter and leave the marina at mid stage tide
or higher, otherwise it would be too shallow for us to pass.
Luckily, Summer Wind is a not-too-big, not-too-small, just-right “Goldilocks” boat, with only a 60 foot mast (height) and a 5 ft draft (depth).
As a result, we don’t have any trouble with the fixed bridges that are almost
always 65 ft high, and we don’t have nearly as much trouble as many boats with
the shallow or shoaled in waters of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). The ICW in Georgia is beautiful, marsh lined, and it winds
back and forth. It is also very shallow in places. We saw some scary numbers on
our depth gauge today, but fortunately, we didn’t get stuck.
Shallow spot just outside the channel, along the ICW in GA
We traveled about 62 miles today, which is very good. And
fortunately for us, the weather is a little warmer now, but a large or small amount
of rain is predicted for most of the next few days. Our plan is to reach St.
Mary’s Georgia, about 50 miles away, near the southern border, by Thanksgiving,
this Thursday.
We hope to participate in the “Cruisers Thanksgiving” that St.
Mary’s has been holding for over 15 years now. Townspeople prepare turkeys and
hams (difficult to make on a boat!), and cruisers bring the side dishes. I’ll miss our family get-togethers and my brother-in-law’s
stuffing, but I’m looking forward to this adventure! And the weather is
supposed to be beautiful on Thanksgiving Day!
Sandy & Chuck
on s/v Summer Wind
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