Jekyll Island & Savannah early April

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Dear Readers ~

Profuse apologies for "dropping the ball" concerning keeping you up-to-date on our journeys in the last two and a half months! I'm either "on a roll" with writing this blog, or I'm not! And really, I HAVE to be on a roll to make it happen! But, truth be known, there have been many occasions when we either had no internet connection, or else we were too busy to be blogging. And, admittedly there have also been those occasions when I had computer time but did not make the blog a priority (so not on a roll)! But, William has done his part putting up the photos and I wouldn't let him publish only those because I wanted to tell the stories too. However, there are a few places we visited in April where there will be mostly photos.

The Lovely Jekyll Island

We entered Georgia on April 2nd and spent our first night in the Crooked River state park which is in the southern eastern part. This is absolutely the perfect time to be in these parts of the South! While the weather in Florida starts to get quite warm in April and many snow birds head back north, the temperatures in Georgia were perfectly comfortable in early April. They might have even been too cool for some people, but we liked it. Jekyll Island had great weather, but when we arrived in the Savannah area the afternoon was a bit chilly, and most people were wearing their jackets.

We stayed on Jekyll Island for three nights, enjoying the beach, walking to the pier and a bike ride to the old wealthy resort section through some neighborhoods of lovely homes where apparently, some full time islanders reside. Actually, come to think of it - there was rain on our last night on the island. At this point in time we still only had the one bicycle we had picked up as a give-away from some folks in Arizona. It was a mountain type bike that with only a basic seat height adjustment William and I could both ride (but not at the same time!). William being the early riser of the family was often out before I ever woke up for a dawn ride. But, our second day on the island we rented a bike for an afternoon so we could ride together to the historic and touristy area. It was not that far from the camp ground we parked in but there were many lovely streets and areas to cruise around. We stopped for a look around the old hotel you see in the photos.

As a native Californian I had little knowledge of the very interesting coastline of the south-eastern states of the U.S. and before about ten years ago I had never even heard of Jekyll Island. To Easterners of course it is well known as a warm winter vacation spot, and was a resort for the wealthy a hundred years ago. But, I first learned about it almost a decade ago as the site where some very wealthy bankers set out on an alleged hunting trip by private rail car. With great caution to keep their identities a mystery to all on the island, they set out to accomplish their secret mission. This is all known history (to some) now, but these less than 10 very wealthy men met in secret in 1913 to plan & scheme the design & details of stealthily getting once again, another central bank into operation in the United States. Stealthily because the previous year the citizens had firmly said no to having yet another central bank controlling the money supply of the country.

And once again, it's all history, as we have been stuck with the (not) 'Federal' (not) 'Reserve' "system" since it was sneakily passed through the Congress in a hurry just before the holiday break ...hum we've seen that trick used since then too, haven't we? Thankfully, many more people are once again savvy to the truth about central banks and how they work. (What to do about IT, is another matter!) But, the story of how the Fed Reserve was created and the events leading up to it and the workings of the economy since it's creation is quite the tale - one which is most skillfully and fascinatingly told by the author and historian G. Edward Griffin in his thoroughly researched and documented book: The Creature from Jekyll Island ~ A Second Look at the Federal Reserve. For years I had this 600 page tombe on my book shelf and was too intimidated by the subject and number of pages to even open it. Then one day in 2004 I did, and found it to be a very compelling read & one I have recommended since that every American read! Your can order the latest edition at: www.RealityZone.com Truly friends, I say: you DON'T KNOW what's been going on in your country for decades, and even the last several hundred years till you read this book (so 'sanitized' and slanted the teaching of history in public schools has become).

The Beautiful & Gracious Old Savannah

Driving north along the coastal area of Georgia we passed plantations that were still alive through the venue of tourism, but we did not stop to tour these - it was enough to pass by them, and see they were there! We were able to drive in to the city of Savannah and park the motor home close to the historic district for an afternoon/evening 'walk about'. Savannah as much or more than any other city was a delight to walk and boasts the largest & oldest preserved historical district of any city in the U.S. It is a massive two and a half square miles! And, what beauty! Amazingly well preserved right down to the perfect arbor care of every tree in every little park square! I really don't consider myself a city girl in any way, but if I were to choose one city to live in for a while (in this country) it could well be this one - excluding any hot humid summer months! As the story goes, Savannah was mercifully spared during the Civil War from being burned to the ground like other southern cities, because it was (and remains) such a beautiful city. We are so lucky they did!
We learned of some of it's interesting history going back to the 1600's and the slave trade days, walking along the water front. We stopped in at Huey's on River St. overlooking the harbor for some authentic southern/New Orleans cuisine. William wanted to try the shrimp and grits - famous in those parts but we ended up not having the shrimp, just the grits, which were pretty good. The brick streets and buildings in this area seriously reminded me of foreign cities we've been in such as Budapest! Walking away from the waterfront, we wandered back toward some downtown boulevards and found some live music being played outside in a walking only section. A little later we were lured into a frozen yogurt store. We sampled all the flavors and then didn't order any - it was all we needed! That must have been Friday night.
The next night, William was scheduled to do a little show at the pretty country estate where a small section had been made into an RV park. They had agreed to have him perform in exchange for 3 nights stay. The great thing was, this old family estate was only 10 minutes by cab from historic Savannah. We spent Saturday however, enjoying the pleasant country surrounds and perfect weather. The next day was Easter Sunday and we went back into the city for more exploring. The temperature was once again that of a perfect spring day. Tourists and Savannans alike were out socializing, walking and admiring the many old buildings and the old world ambiance of the place.

We stopped at a funky, living room comfortable coffe/tea house. While in line for a second 'snack' we got into a conversation with a couple our age who lived and worked in the city. They were not natives being originally from the north east, but lived there long enough to convey a picture of how it was living there. We had a good time sitting outside on the sidewalk having drinks, learning about them and relaying some of our travel stories. After that refreshment we walked some more, took more photos and marvelled at the little parks we came across nearly every other intersection.

After a while, heading toward the river we came across a major downtown boulevard and saw on the corner a small independant bike shop next to an ice cream shop. Now, once in a while when we run across a bike shop we go in and look at the bikes because we had planned on buying some new ones while on this trip. In fact, we had already gone far too long without having the ability to ride in so many great places for either pleasure or practical purposes. So, serendipitously, magically, on this brilliant, perfect day we were lured into this little bike shop that happened to be open on Easter Sunday! Within a short time William identified one that he liked, and was what he was looking for. Now mind you this bike store wasn't that big, but it had a pretty good selection of bikes of the type we were interested in. Inspite of this, I pulled out and tried many of the bikes yet did not feel quite comfortable on any of them. Wouldn't you know we spent hours that afternoon trying out bikes in the alley behind the store, testing, testing. It's not that we were going to spend a fortune on them. It's not that they were the priciest bikes, but I wanted to be sure I could live with the purchase and enjoy the new bike for a long time to come. It had been over 20 years since I had saved up money to purchase one when my kids were little, and several years since that one had 'disappeared' at Burning Man. I was looking for another 'hybrid' as good at that one had been.

Don't you know (and I knew) the owner of the store really wanted us to buy two bikes, and they soon let us know the great deal we would get from them for buying two together. So, the pressure was on, but for a while I really didn't know if I would find one that worked for me. After trying all the proper sized ones that had more than one gear (very popular around these more or less flat city streets), I inquired about a bike that I saw that was too small for me (the frame) but looked like what I wanted. They (the Chinese couple who owned the store), well, the man, said he had a beautiful raspberry colored one that was my size in their other shop. While he went to get it we took an ice cream break (finally!) Oh yes, and it was VERY GOOD ice cream!

Upon bringing the raspberry colored 24 speed hybrid bike over I rode it a while and decided we could make that deal on buying both bikes. These people were VERY GOOD to us, and totally took care of us. We picked baskets and a few other accessories to have installed, and the owner tuned up the bikes while we went to have dinner a block or so away.... by that time it was around 8 p.m. and we had gotten very hungry. I don't remember how we heard about this restaurant - maybe from the couple at the coffee house - because William will often ask people/locals where is a good place to eat. The place we went to was called the "Pink House" and it was indeed a restaurant that had it's seating spread out through the many rooms on several stories of the house. It was charming and also homey. It was so popular that we could not even get a table that night but there was some seating downstairs in a cozy sort of basement area where there was a bar, a big fireplace and a musician playing tunes on a grand piano. We were able to sit at the bar and order drinks and eat dinner too. It was perfect!.. even the music played by a jolly round gentelman who played beautifully, just the right kind of music with no distracting song accompaniment. And the food and service were excellent! After the meal we got to tour the many dining rooms and another indoor-outdoor bar area along the side street of the building. It was a fun place! Don't miss it (or the bike shop) if you happen to visit Savannah!

We left the Pink House around 10:00 for the short walk back to the bike store to meet the store owners and pick up our new bikes. We had to immortalize this moment with them in front of their shop. They were even so gracious as to give us a ride with our bikes back to our campground! Wow! Savannah is permanentenly emblazoned in our memory banks and we enjoy almost daily breezing around on our bikes. Mine especially, is a delight as it is super light weight and gets me up even steep long hills with little effort, not to mention it is pretty and all around easy to ride. To date we have even cruised around some good size cities with relative ease.

The next day, Monday, we drove out of the Savannah area and headed into South Carolina. We weren't in Georgia that long because we decided not to take a trip west into the Okimuskogee Swamp... it was already starting to get too humid and warm for that (or so we thought), and the coastal area of Georgia is relatively small - compared to South Carolina's that is. We were learning that coastal Georgia and especially S. Carolina consist of many interesting small islands or what the locals refer to as: the 'low lands'. Our next stop was going to be Charleston S. Carolina, less than a hundred miles up the coast, and another old historical city.

More about that in the next entry!....



(Be sure and see the rest of the photos past this text).

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Photos

Road between campground
pier and beach. We walked this pretty tree lined road once or twice each day to get to the waterfront where people fished off the pier.

The Door into THE ROOM...
where the conspiracy to create the 'Fed Reserve' was planned by a small group of wealthy bankers.

On the wall in THE ROOM
where the bankers worked, & schemed on their plan to control the money supply.

A photo of a photo...
along the waterfront depicting buildings there in the very early slave trade days of the 17th or 18th century.

Comments

[Junee]

lovely
It is so lovely to get your blogs and to see your faces in my mind's eye while I read these colorful descriptions of your adventures. I love you guys sooooo much and look forward to seeing you in Portland real soon. (I liked that you put in info on some of darker history of Jekyll Island). Love, Junee