Savannah/Charleston

Last week, we made the drive over to the coast for a short vacation.  We spent 2 days in Savannah, GA, and 2 days in Charleston, SC, before driving back.  We had a great trip - the weather was great, but on the cool side, and Colt had LOADS of fun.

Day 1:  The Midnight Trek to Savannah

We were a little concerned about how Colt would do with the 6+ hour drive to Savannah.  He's generally pretty good in the car, but 6 hours is a long time, even for me.  So, we decided to leave after work/school hoping Colt may sleep a good bit of the trip.  We headed out from Birmingham just after 5p and made it almost all the way to Savannah.  We stopped about an hour out near Statesboro.  Colt did really well on the ride, but we were glad to have our iPad to keep him entertained.

Day 2:  Downtown Savannah

We'd heard one of the best ways to see Savannah was via trolley.  We bought an all day pass from Old Town Trolley that allowed us to hop on and off the trolley and see the city at our own pace.  When you're on board, the trolley's tour guide gives a great background on the history of the sites.  Some highlights:

River Street
Georgia State Railroad Museum
Chippewa Square (the setting for the bench scenes in Forrest Gump)

Day 3:  Bonaventure Cemetery, Wormsloe Historic Site, & Tybee Island

Yes, we went to a cemetery.  Bonaventure Cemetery, which you may recognize from Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil, is one of the most photogenic I've seen.  After our cemetery photo shoot, we went to Wormsloe Historic Site, home to one of Georgia's colonial founders, and one of the prettiest driveways we've seen - the Oaks were amazing.  We hiked around the site and visited some of the colonial-era buildings before driving over to Tybee Island.

On Tybee Island, we stopped at Lighthouse Pizza for some of the BEST pizza we've had in a while, then headed over to see the historic Tybee Island Lighthouse, which has been guiding ships into the Savannah River since 1732.  We then paid a visit to Fort Pulaski National Monument.  Fort Pulaski was thought to be an inpenetrable Confederate Fort, and it was until the Union acquired rifled cannons.  It quickly fell, and marked the end of brick forts.  Colt and I had a great time exploring the tunnels and the forts many cannons.

Day 4: Savannah Wildlife Refuge & the Children's Museum of Low Country

On Day 4, it was time to leave Savannah, but we made one last stop on the way to Charleston to visit the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.  Normally, it's a great place to see alligators...LOTS of alligators.  Unfortunately we got there pretty early before the sun came out.  The gators were still nestled in their beds and didn't come out for us.  We still had fun looking.

It was on to Charleston, where our first stop was the Children's Museum of the Low Country.  We felt like we owed Colt some fun time for all the site-seeing we were putting him through. We let him play until they closed the doors on us.

Day 5: USS Yorktown, USS Clamagore, and Fort Sumter

This was my favorite day of the trip.  We started out visiting the USS Yorktown, which played an important role in the Pacific in WWII.  Colt and I both had a blast as we explored every corner of the aircraft carrier, as well as the neighboring submarine, the USS Clamagore, and the Vietnam Army Base replica that was on exhibit.  I'm pretty sure Colt and I officially wore Mom out!

After the Yorktown, we took the ferry over to Fort Sumter.  Being the "Civil War" buff that I am, it was a special visit for me.  I was a little disappointed our tour only allowed us an hour inside the fort (I could've stayed 3!), but it was really an awesome moment.

Day 6: The Hunley

This is the one thing on our trip I was most looking forward to: The Hunley.  The first submarine to ever sink an enemy ship belonged to the Confederacy, but was lost moments after that famous sinking of the Housatonic.  It was only recently recovered (2000) and it is still unknown what caused the submarine to be lost.  When they found it, all the occupants were seated as they would have been back in 1864.  They even recovered the gold coin Lt. George Dixon was rumored to possess - a coin he carried at the Battle of Shiloh.  Legend had it Dixon was shot, but the bullet struck the gold coin and saved his life.  When they recovered the Hunley, they found the gold coin, dented, and inscribed with "My Life Preserver".

It was awesome, though Colt had ZERO interest in it, but did enjoy playing inside the Hunley replica.

Click the pic above to see all our pics!

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