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Published: September 28th 2020
Back at the tropical ranch, our routine is beginning to settle in somewhat. Still lots of chores to do but we can take our time. We have lots of that. The best part of the day is morning coffee time when Art comes up to join us for a cup of joe. It is so good to be back with our friend again. Art was the overseer of our RV while we were with our family up North. He did a super job....just like everything he does to help all of us out. “We are all family”....that’s what Art always says. We say he’s The Godfather to us all. He took a picture of one of the empty sites in the Sandcastle area. You can get an idea as to what it looks like now. Rumor has it that they are bringing in new cottages to fill in the empty sites. Time will tell.
Another special treat at our morning coffee was when Ray joined us. He has been through a lot of health issues this past year. He has rallied around proving “you can’t keep a good man down.” He walked from his Sandcastle over to our RV site.
He does better than me....remember I can only manage about 9 yards! It was wonderful to have him join the 4 (Lulu was there, too) of us. Just like old times. He told us how The Golden Corral (the trough) is handling Covid and social distancing. Glad it is open. Ray and Sara are faithful attendees at this restaurant. Hip-Hip-Hooray. We love seeing Ray....and Sara, too.
Cory is a happy guy. Nicki Jo advertised she was selling her small Blackstone griddle and Cory raced over and bought it. Let the grilling begin. He has wanted to buy one so this is perfect. Thank you, Nicki Jo. Gather around for breakfast everyone...
after we go out and buy some food.
Now, as promised, this blog is following on the heels of the one I just published. If I included them all together, you would be reading for a week straight. Thus, I am spreading them out for your comfort. So begin scrutinizing the next episode of our travels south.....
Start! Our third mini vacation stop was in Savannah, Georgia. We had never been here before. It was a challenge driving through this new city but Driver Cory
got us to the Riverfront area. Here we rented a room at the Cotton Sail Hotel for 2 nights. And then the fun began. It was a great hotel....we were on the 4th floor but ground level to the front street. We took an elevator down to the bottom level where we found the river walk street. So many restaurants and shops to check out. Lulu rode in her carry bag with her head poked out so as not to miss anything. By now, both my knees were squealing in pain. You would have thought I had a ventriloquist dummy hooked to my legs from the screams and shrieks coming from my knees. People looked in awe! I used my cane but even then it was not pretty. We ate in a delightful restaurant at their outside seating. We looked at all passer-byers and they looked at us. Lulu gave a few fellows one of her winks.....she can be trashy sometimes. We do have to rein her in. We came upon a fellow offering free tickets to the trolley and big paddle boat. Yeah....right! There’s nothing free in the world anymore. But we listened to his spiel. Sure enough, if
we go to a 45 minute presentation in the morning, we get these tickets free.....saving $140. What the hell....we’re retired....lots of time to do nothing. Before turning in, Cory and “Screaming Knees(me)” and Lulu go to the Top Level Bar at our hotel. Great view! Nice, very nice.
Morning came and we trotted ( I dragged) off to the presentation a few blocks away. Wait! One block away, I noticed I didn’t have my mask. Healthy Cory ran back to the hotel. Lulu and I sat on the park bench with the rest of the homeless people. We fit in nicely. My knees throbbed and Lulu stared at everyone. We finally reached our destination and entered the big waiting room. There we sat on the big red couch....past the time we were supposed to suffer through the 45 minute talk. Of course, I spoke up and questioned the guy behind the desk why we had to wait. “Don’t worry”.....it has actually started while you are sitting there. Whaaat?? Something’s screwy. Another couple is waiting with us. I tap my fingers and toes loudly. Soon, the guy says “You are lucky (remember Mr.Lucky)....the presenter isn’t coming in today and you
get your tickets anyway!!”. WOW! Hooray! Yippee. Best news yet! We grabbed our envelope and head out to the trolley stop. Oh, God.....how far is it my hollering knees want to know. One trolley goes by.....Cory hails it down. I bumble along to catch up wishing I could ride my cane like a broomstick. He allows us to board. He said he’s not supposed to do that but he has in the past and saw my debilitating ailment. Kind man. Cory gave him a hefty tip once we got to the correct trolley boarding area. He liked that. Ok....now we are on board and ready to go. Lulu has her seat. Yippee! Our driver has the voice of Mel Tormé....the velvet fog. He takes us to another landing spot where the girl took our free tickets. Hey...what’s happening? Look who just got on our trolley! Forrest, Forrest Gump himself! Suitcase and candy box in hand. Lulu wasted not a minute introducing herself to this wonderful man. He loved her....just like the rest of us. He related to her because of his friendship with Lieutenant Dan.....remember he lost his legs. Just as they were getting acquainted, Forrest jumped up and took
off....running wildly across the parking lot. Run, Forrest, Run! Our guide drove us throughout this gorgeous city founded by James Oglethorpe (who founded Georgia). So much history, so much beauty. As we traveled up and down some narrow streets with lots of traffic, our driver would stop for a minute to pick up an extra passenger. First, there was a whiskey runner/boot legger. Next stop, Forrest Gump jumped aboard again! At an old school stop, a black lady came on and told us all about the Gullah culture. At The Pirates Restaurant, Robert Louis Stevenson came on and told us about writing Treasure Island in this restaurant so many years ago. This was a very well done tour. It had sixteen stops and took 90 minutes. We got off at Stop 12 (Riverside) because our next excursion was happening in an hour and we didn’t want to be late. We grabbed a drink at a delightful Greek restaurant. I got a banana smoothie and Cory got an Irish coffee....yes, at a Greek restaurant. We sat for a minute enjoying them until we saw folks getting on board our next form of transportation: The Georgia Queen: a riverboat Cruise. Free tickets
once again. We grabbed our drinks and Cory sped across the road while I hobbled behind. One look at me and the crew showed me where to get the elevator. We sat on the open top floor. Excellent choice until the rain came. We huddled under a ledge until it stopped .... it was just a brief shower. The cruise was relaxing and interesting. We were sailing along on the Savannah River. The Port of Savannah is the third largest port in the USA....after Los Angeles and New York. We passed a fort just as a man set off a cannon! Yikes...it was so loud! Cory actually ducked. Lulu fell over in her seat. I am using an ear horn now. Nearing the end, we went below and sat in the attractive dining room and had another drink. My cane allowed us to get to the front of the line to debark. Okay....that works. What to do now? Still a little life in this old girl......my preference was to ride the trolley again. Our free tickets were for all day. We retraced our steps to the trolley stop. I promptly plunked down on a bench next to a Bohemian looking
guy while waiting for our ride. His beard was even a huge dreadlock...one big long one...nasty looking. He was smoking a funny cigarette. I was just glad to rest my legs. We climbed aboard the trolley and off we went.....back to the beginning again. We had to switch trolleys here. Our driver was a big, black guy who called himself Mr.Comedy. He was a character. He was a far cry from The Velvet Fog. He was funny....what we could understand. He drove much faster than the other drivers. He repeated most everything we had heard the first time around. This time we got off at The Market Square (Stop 14). Here is where many tourists gather to drink and eat. Paula Deene had her restaurant at one far end.....too far for me to crawl. We walked through the busy area and stopped for a few photo shots for Lulu. Bought cookies at Byrd’s. Tasty, pricey morsels....small but very yummy. We strolled onward (best I could) and made our way back to our hotel. My knees called out like sirens. We went to a restaurant close to the hotel. We sat on their upper balcony and enjoyed the view down below
of all the folks coming and going. This ended our fun day in Savannah.....hope you had as much fun as we did.
So now you can take a break. We’ll keep you posted as to what’s going on in this heated retreat. Right now it’s raining! We’ve been running our a/c on a regular basis....what a change from what we left in NY: freeze warnings! I always say it’s like living in 2 different parts of the world. Wherever you are, we hope you stay well and stick with us. We have places to go and things to do before I end up as an invalid on October 26th. Owwwweeeeeee. 37 photos to check out, folks.
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Melba Diaz
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I really travel a lot with you without be present. HA HA HA