USA Road Trip Day 4 (Atlanta, Georgia to Savannah, Georgia)

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Up nice and early around 7.30am and got the bags all packed up again, and headed downstairs for breakfast before we made the walk up Peachtree Street to the Hertz Depot to pick up our hire car. I had charged Mr. Tom Tom that Bruce had kindly lent me but I was getting concerned as I could not switch it over to US Maps (it was still on Australian maps). I figured it was because we were indoors so I took it with me as we walked to the Hertz depot hoping it would spring to life. It did not ! OMG how am I going to find my way around now ? Anyway we got to the Hertz depot and I showed him the printout of my reservation and I could not believe it but the guy at the counter did not ask me for any identification at all. He just gave me the keys (I’m glad I did not drop the paper on the street somewhere !). We were supposed to be in a Kia car but there was some confusion about accessing satellite radio channels so he decided to upgrade us to a Nissan Rogue AWB Station Wagon. It is a nice car comfortable and roomy for just 2 of us. I jumped in to try and get used to the car, and plugged in Mr. Tom Tom for USB power and suddenly he came to life with US maps (in future try giving it power before changing maps). Anyway quick drive back to Best Western and loaded luggage and we are on our way. Road trip # 1 begins ! At first Mr. Tom Tom seemed to be going OK but a few times he kept getting speed zones wrong so I kept getting warnings I was speeding but surely not me ? In fact when I was doing 70 mph (110kph) I felt like I was in 3^rd gear as I was getting swamped by cars doing 20-30 mph faster. Weather today started cool around 13 degrees and is predicted to be cloudy with a few showers and chance of a thunderstorm. The drive to Savannah was on the Interstate all the way. The first part was on I75 South and then we merged on to I16 East. At about midday we decided to try and look for a Cracker Barrell store for lunch but Kerry’s new smart phone said that we had already past the last one about 30 minutes ago so we kept driving and then we spotted a sign saying there was one at the next exit so we pulled off and the store was right at the exit ramp. How easy and google was wrong ! Kerry was so excited as she loves Cracker Barrell and as soon as we opened the door to go inside you would not believe it but they were playing her favourite artist on the speakers. That’s right Zac Brown ! Who would believe it. We needed a visit to the rest rooms and yes Zac Brown was in there too! In what is becoming a familiar theme on this trip we had to wait for a table, but no problems here as you get time to explore the delightful things they sell in the store. About 15 minutes later we heard those magic words “party of 2 for Kerry, party of 2 for Kerry”. Yippee. We sat down and as usual they had the wooden puzzle on the table to keep you amused. Our waitress was Kimberley and she was a local from Dublin, Georgia and she not only was one of the rare waitresses to carry 3 stars on her apron but he also had the most southern Georgian accent you can imagine and he started by saying “thanks y’all for coming”. We only wanted soup for lunch so I had Vegetable Soup with Corn Bread and Kerry had Turkey & Noodles. It should be called Turkey & Fettuccine as you can’t call that noodles as they were huge ! Kerry ordered a sprite whilst I had just water. Kerry had a bare sip and then Kimberley brought out a replacement glass of sprite. They just won’t let you finish a glass of soft drink here. It must be a sackable offence ! Soon we were back on the road and after a short while we had a problem with Mr. Tom Tom. The road was splitting into two and he said two lanes were going left so I was in the middle lane of 3 feeling OK, but two lanes went right as did I and we had to take next exit and do a loop round which to be fair Mr. Tom Tom handed with much professionalism. We only lost about 5 minutes of time at the most so no harm done. Next time it might be a good idea to read the road signs ! The total distance from Atlanta to Savannah is 400km and we arrived at 3.30pm. Managed to get a parking space right out front of our B & B called Park Avenue Manor. Greeted by Sabrina who showed us around the building. Very old built around 1889 and styled in Civil War memorabilia. We are staying in the Robert E Lee room. He was a general for the South Army I think. For anyone who has been to Savannah it is located at the end of Forsyth Park on the edge of the Historical District. Sabrina was kind enough to book us on the 5pm Old Savannah Trolley Tour. They picked us up in a van about 4.15pm and drove us to the Visitors Centre where the tour starts. It is supposed to take 90 minutes to do a narrated full lap of the Savannah District, but he said the last tour took over 3 hours due to traffic problems. We headed off and we were amazed at the beauty of this place. You are literally transferred like a time machine to a different era. Gardens with Azaleas in bloom, Spanish Moss hanging everywhere from the old Live Oak trees. Houses built from the late 1700’s, Architecture was just amazing. Just look at the pictures. Forest Gump movie was filmed here and we went to the place where Forest Gump sat on the bench waiting for his bus ride at the start and finish of the movie. Our tour took about 2 hours but the driver took a few shortcuts to avoid the traffic and a few stops he could not get to as police had closed some of the roads. This included a slight delay for a trolley change as he blew a tyre on rounding a corner on the journey. There were people everywhere and all wearing green ? What we did not know is that Savannah hosts one of the biggest St Patrick’s Day carnivals in USA every year and today is the last day of festivities which started on Thursday. They estimated that between 250,000-300,000- people are at the riverfront tonight, and up to 500,000- visitors in total for 4 days of partying. The driver said unless you have booked a restaurant forget it ! This did not go down well as we were getting hungry when the tour finished just after 7pm. The weather turned out to be great all day with not a drop of rain and sunny for the most part too. The only time the windscreen got wet was when I tried to change lanes and forgot the blinkers were on the other side of the steering wheel. Temperature was in the high 20’s all day and even quite balmy at night so no need to even put a jacket on at night. We have been very lucky so far. We decided to walk around areas away from the riverfront and came across a deli/café but whilst it was open no-one was hardly there and when we looked at the menu it was pretty poor so kept walking and saw a crowd outside drinking beer (obviously seniors at college I guess) all dressed in green. It was the Mellow Mushroom and they had quite a few tables free so we went right in. Steve sat us down in a booth for 4 at the front window so great for people watching just like we had at Hooters in Atlanta but hopefully no police drug busts this time around. I ordered a Milers Lite and Kerry had a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (Matua from NZ which we drink at home occasionally). Actually that description is misleading. I had the beer then we shared the bottle of wine we often drink at home. That’s more accurate ! We ordered Bruschetta, and an Italian Pizza. The Bruschetta had 6 pieces and was loaded. The Pizza we ordered was a medium and it was huge and both were delicious. There was a crowd building inside and soon it was packed and most were watching Kentucky losing to Indiana in the NCAA Championships. By the time we left it was chockers and people were waiting for tables. We decided not to head down to the riverfront as it would be like Sydney on NYE so went back to B & B via the various parks and mucked around with some nighttime photography on the SLR (yes I am an amateur !). We are hear all day tomorrow so cameras will get a workout as well as the legs.

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Photos

Traffic Jam in Georgia
This chaos went on for 10 km, but gladly not the direction we were headed to.

Cracker Barrell Store in Dublin, Georgia
This just might be Kerry's favourite restaurant !

Park Avenue Manor
Our Savannah B & B for the next 2 nights.

Old Savannah Trolley Tour
Lovely journey around town for 2 hours with Chuck.

Life is like a box of chocolates !
Look mumma it's Forrest Gump ! at Chippewa Square we had this nice visitor

Horse & Carriage Tours
Looks like a fun way to enjoy this city.

The Pirate House
Now a restaurant, but very old building possibly the oldest in Georgia built in 1753.

Spanish Moss on the Live Oak trees
Lots of images like this one.

Typical Savannah Square
There are around 20 of these at least around town.

Relaxing after a busy day
Trying out some nighttime settings with the SLR

Driving along Whitaker Street
On our way to Park Avenue Manor

Forsythe Park fountain at night
Just an amateur shot with no tripod.

The Robert E Lee room
Almost need a ladder to get into this bed.