Hilton Head, SC and Savannah, GA

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April 5, 6 &7 - Hilton Head, South Carolina --- The RV parks we choose keep getting better - the Hilton Head RV Resort in South Carolina is phenomenal. The azaleas are in bloom and our site has a hedge of them. Great pool, hot tub, etc. Beautiful landscaping. Snack bar until early afternoon. The only thing that might be missing is the nice Tikki Bar and pub food we enjoyed at the RV Park we stayed at in Sarasota.

April 7 to Savannah from Hilton Head via water taxi. Signed up for a historic tour via trolley. Good narrators - riders can hop on, hop off at some 15 stops. Nice way to get a quick (90 min.) orientation. Lunch at the Pirates’ House southern style buffet for him; shrimp and oysters for me, a glass of a local brew for both - great lunch. Walked back to River St. to meet the water taxi for the return to HH. Strolled along Factor St. which had interesting pedestrian bridges, shops and restaurants, and passes by great architecture (Savannah is very well preserved). We went down a level to River St. which was a bit touristy; but lively with restaurants and tee shirt shops. Loved the gelato from the candy store. The outdoor market on the River Walk is a nice concept and well designed; but the “mix” is odd and didn’t appeal to us. We will return to Savannah on Friday to get closer to some of the high light “gems” that we picked out from the trolley tour.

The water taxi ride took about 90 minutes each way. Interesting view of “industrial Savannah” very active seaport. Gas storage, pipelines, HUGE container boats. We traveled through what seemed like a delta. There were several rather isolated plantation looking houses on Haig Island ??- reachable only by boat. They all had long docks with little gazebos on the end and then “floating” docks down to their boats to accommodate quite an extreme tidal difference.

Enjoyed Harbor Town, part of Sea Pines Plantation after the boat docked. Nice restaurants, toney shopping, wonderful marina. This is where a major PGA tourney takes place after the Masters. They are already getting the 18th hole ready for media and spectators.

Bob Cudmore, a radio personality from WVTL in Amsterdam, called for a live spot on his show as we were on our way to Savannah. We’ll chat again about our travels next week.

Friday was another great day. We picked up a rental car at the HH airport. Parked and walked along a wonderful soft sand beach at Fields Folly. The sand is so compact that people ride their bikes along the ocean at low tide.

We parked at Madison Square in Savannah. Toured the Sorrel Weed “Pumpkin House,” which is a restoration work in progress. Fascinating history, including that it was once totally surrounded by urban blight (literally a shopping mall surrounded the old mansion 0 the owner didn’t even know about the carriage house until he began taking the added structure apart. Had lunch at the Gryphon Tea Room, a former apothecary which has been restored by SCAD - Savannah College of Arts and Design. A SCAD gallery selling student art work is across the street. We walked to the Cathedral and Colonial Cemetery, taking in the architecture, gardens, ironwork and other accoutrements of Savannah along the way.

We found Oglethorpe St. and headed for the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum, located in the gorgeous Scarborough House on MLK Jr. Blvd. What a treat, you enter through a lovely walled garden. The collection includes meticulously crafted replicas of sailing and steam ships, exciting paintings of sea disasters and rescues, scrimshaw, and other artifacts related to the shipping industry. This museum is a “gem” and deserves to be added to the next edition of the AAA book as such.

We had dinner at the Sunset Café at the Outdoor RV Park & Yacht Club just after the bridge upon returning to HH. Wonderful meal - he scallops, me oysters - us bottle of white wine. Nice sunset. Perfect ending to a perfect day.

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