June 21 Charleston South Carolina

Continuing with our southeast Atlantic tourist towns, we drove up to Charleston, taking the scenic US17 rather than the interstate.  Once again our hotel was at the edge of the historic district, so we checked in and headed out.

 The AAA guide had a couple of walking tours, so on Wednesday afternoon we headed down Meeting St. toward the Battery.  Lots of horse drawn tours to choose from, but once again we went with the walking tour.

 This is the Calhoun Mansion but not THE John C Calhoun's.  Later we did visit  his grave.  JCC was a strong Southern defender and a VP of the USA.

 From the Battery, a view of Castle Pinckney.  It's more famous brother, Fort Sumter, is closer to the mouth of the harbor.

 The Civil War seen as the Lost Cause.  A couple asked us to take their picture in front of this statue.  I didn't ask their reasons, just pushed the button.

 Many of the homes in the historic district had been refurbished and were quite beautiful.  The thicker the rope detail around the door, the richer the merchant.

 Where we ate on Wednesday evening.  Aptly named.  In the lower right window of the restaurant are two pictures.  On the right is George W. Bush with takeout from Sticky Fingers. On the left is Stephen Colbert congratulating the restaurant as "the best thing to come out of Charleston since Stephen Colbert."

On Thursday morning, a first for this trip -- blue skies!  Walking tour #2 through historic Charleston.
This is St. Philip's Church, THE Charleston church to belong to.  In the attached cemetery is the grave of John C. Calhoun.

 Original cobblestone street- stones often came from ships that used them as ballast

 The serendipity of travel.  We were walking south along E Bay St. (which used to be the shoreline before two blocks of fill went in) when the guidebook mentioned restrooms available two blocks east.  We walked to Waterfront Park and saw...

 ...a pier with a water taxi service.  A quick read of the sign showed that it taxied over to Patriots' Point, where we had intended to drive later in the day.  Quick change of plans.  Onto the taxi and we floated over to....

...the aircraft carrier Yorktown.  After visiting the USS Midway in San Diego during our Around The World voyage, I found the Yorktown to be nicely done but not as well done as the Midway.  Not as much was open, fewer exhibits, and no docents around explaining the various items.  If you can visit only one aircraft carrier, pick the Midway.  But it was an interesting visit.

 Cynthia skipped some of the interior routes, and took this picture from the hangar deck outside bench.

 After our Patriots' Point visit, we water taxied back to the Battery.  Here are a couple of other boats we shared the harbor with.

 Back at Waterfront Park, a splashy fountain.

A late lunch at the Toast of Charleston.

A trip through the City Market shopping area.  We bought nothing.

  

We ended our tour through Charleston with a visit to the Mother Emanuel AME Church, the site of the horrific killings two years ago.

June 21 Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum

In our many drives up and down I95 we've seen the 8th Air Force Museum from the interstate.  This time we decided to stop in.  We left Savannah after breakfasting with the Girl Scouts and National Guard and drove the 20 minutes out to the interstate and the museum.

 The WW2 B-17 City of Savannah is the primary display item in the museum.  They are actively restoring the plane, for display and not for flight.  We were lucky visiting on a Wednesday since that's the day that the restorers, all volunteers and good old boys, are at the museum.  Attendance was light.

 I got a personal tour of the B-17 interior from one of the restorers, and later a tour of the machine shop where they do their restoration work.  The guys who flew the B17 had to be much younger and thinner than I am.  The bomber is cramped, crowded and filled with sharp angles and protrusions.

 This B-47 is visible from the interstate.  That's why we visited.

The museum has a few other planes, and lots of storytelling exhibits.

Worth the stop.  Particularly when the restorers are around to give you the inside tour.

June 19-20 Savannah Georgia

After the morning in St. Augustine we took the short drive up I95 to Savannah, stopping at a Sonny's BBQ in west St. Augustine on the way.  Like our drive on Sunday, there was rain along the way.  We were lucky that all of the rain we saw during our trip occurred when we were driving between locations.  Never had to put our ponchos on.

We arrived in Savannah, checked into the Fairfield Inn Historic District hotel, and walked down to the river.  Savannah is famous for its squares, and this was the first we hit in our wanderings around the old city.  Franklin Square and the Haitian Monument, memorializing the black soldiers who fought for independence from the British.

Down to the river

 We ate here both nights in Savannah.  Really liked it.

 Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts, has a big presence in Savannah.  This is one of the more mobile monuments.

 River traffic

 Waving girl statue

 Girl scouts were everywhere in the city.  Several groups stayed at our hotel, and filled the breakfast area both mornings.  Also in uniform at our hotel -- a group of National Guard soldiers, some in standard battle dress camouflage, others in flight jumpsuits.  The scout group below was doing their pilgrimage to the birthplace of the Scouts.

 The defining image of Savannah -- open square filled with live oaks dripping with Spanish moss

 Forsyth Fountain in Forsyth Park

 The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.  A docent gave a very informative 12-minute talk about the building and its furnishings. 

 Colonial Park Cemetery

 We ate lunch at the Pirate's House.  A very reasonable buffet lunch, and we weren't drugged and carried off through the tunnel to find ourselves on a ship bound for China.
While we were eating it poured down rain.  Yet as we finished it had stopped.  We still needed to cover the cameras while walking around for the next half-hour or so, but didn't need to put the ponchos on.  We were quite lucky with the weather.

 Factors Walk

 City Hall

 Steps down to the River -- pretty steep

 

Chippewa Square: This is where Forest Gump's bench was located for the filming  of the movie.  The bench was strictly a prop, and now located in the Savannah museum.

Next stop: Charleston SC