Historic Savannah

After taking a month to rest and recharge, we picked up camp and moved to a little town called Rincon, Georgia, just outside of Savannah. We seem to have fallen into a campground theme with surrounding lakes, this was another beautiful one.

And another one of Rufus's favorites since there were several hiking trails, and plenty of off leash opportunity all around the campground.

The big moss tree on the right above was the infamous "squirrel tree". This park was loaded with them. In fact, owners of the park would be more than happy if every camper would enjoy a squirrel dinner during their stay (I'm not kidding). Rufus would go crazy chasing them around and up this tree. Quite funny to watch as well.

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The whole reason for staying here was of course for it's proximity to downtown Savannah. We ended up visiting the historic city three times in all, and we still left many stones unturned.

Where to begin? On our first visit, we took the local trolley tour. This seemed to be the fastest way to get our bearings and actually learn about the cities history. The fact it took over 100 years to complete the original town design was fascinating. It was all based on the "squares" (Oglethorpe Plan). When all was said and done - 118 years later - there were 24 squares in all in a nice, neat grid system. The squares are named in honor or in memory of a person or historical event. Many contain monuments, markers, memorials, statues, plaques, and other tributes.

 The next trip in, we had a pretty good idea of the layout, and with map in hand, set out on foot to explore.

 We learned about the city being based on the cotton exchange and shipping ports, which today is one the busiest ports in the country. Savannah is one of the fastest growing, and most visited cities in the U.S. IN the old days, "cotton factors" would walk these bridges above the passing wagons to evaluate  and set the market value of their cotton.

It was suggested by many to visit the Pirate House, which is the oldest house in Georgia (est. 1837). We stopped for lunch and marveled at the small rooms and aging structure.

Because of how long it took to complete the entire grid, the architecture is very diverse. The range of architectural styles from one corner of the city to the next was fascinating.

We wandered about the cities squares all day.

During our daytime walking tour we stumbled upon an Irish Pub and agreed to return for our final evening in Savannah. The food and atmosphere did not disappoint. It was also fun to see the city at night.

Savannah was yet another city on our very long list of places that we would like to revisit.

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I'm going to close this entry here and actually post/publish the last seven blog entries I've just finished writing. I never realized what it would take to keep up with our travels through a blog. We've already moved clear down to Beaumont, Texas and I'm just finishing here Savannah. Next stop is Key West.

I'll leave you with this some mall art, which was the largest indoor Christmas display I've ever seen.

Thanks for reading!