May 18 – “Day fifteen: Getting’ historicalized”

We woke up in Savannah.  We’re not in Florida anymore, Toto.  Yep.  That’s the Savannah that is in Georgia, not Florida.  Sorry, but Florida just ran out of lighthouses in our path, so we kept going. 

 

We decided to extend our stay here so we could take in their historic downtown area as well as Tybee Island and a fort or historical site here and there.  Tybee.  No idea how to pronounce that.  My guess is tib-bee.  May be tie-bee.  Of course it could be tee-bow.  I heard he got a job the other day.

 

First we hit Fort Pulaski.  Very cool Civil War site.  Pretty well-restored, and you can see from the embankments and slits in the walls just what the Rebs saw when the Yanks started bombing them from a mile and a half away.  That would be from none other than Tybee Island.  More about that later.  The Rebs had to surrender when the cannon fire was getting too close to the ammunition and gun powder stores. 

 

Also nearby was a monument of a different kind.  This one marked the site where John Wesley landed and preached his first sermon in America.  Guess we missed that sermon.  We didn’t arrive until Monday.

 

Then it was across the river to … yup.  A lighthouse.  The Tybee Lighthouse, to be exact.  176 steps.  Done.  Check.  Somewhere on those steps we met a firefighter from Philly (that’s how he introduced himself).  He and some buddies were among those from his area deployed to Texas after one of the hurricanes.  Thanks for your service, my friend.

 

For lunch we went to the North Beach Bar and Grill.  It was some local cuisine recommended by the lighthouse clerk.  I had a crab cake sandwich.  Chris ordered grilled fish tacos.  She couldn’t eat the tacos.  They were covered in salt along with the other spices.  I gave her my crab cake and I ate the fish.  Not what I expected.  We asked what kind of fish it was.  “Swai, a kind of basa.”  Of course.  We looked it up.  It’s some kind of a Vietnamese catfish.  Did I mention that I ordered crab cakes?

 

Next we were going to go to another fort, but found out that it is only open Wednesday through Sunday.  So we switched to a historic area on the western outskirts of town called Wormsloe State Historic Site.  Honestly, there really wasn’t all that much history, but they had set up some very nice hiking trails.  It is the site of the most famous pictures of Georgia when they want to boost tourism.  A mile long roadway with monstrous oak trees forming a canopy.  It is really pretty.  Oh, and on one of the hiking trails we met a couple from Burleson, Texas.  Small world. 

 

We closed out with supper at Cracker Barrel.  Chicken and dumplings for me.  Veggie soup for Chris.  Then we spent the evening charting out plans for the next few days before we meet up with Josh and Christi in Alabama.  Well, trying to.  Here we go …

 

Nahum 1:7 says, “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble.  He cares for those who trust in him.”

 

Father, thank you for the folks we met from Texas.  Always a welcome feeling to know we aren’t the only ones venturing out.  Amen.