Savannah, GA

We made it to Savannah in time for Thanksgiving. Parked out behind Keller's Flea Market, we had a covered pavillion for our Thanksgiving feast. I cooked the turkey and stuffing and everyone else provided the rest of the meal.

Our banquet table.

Enjoying the meal.

While in the area we visited several forts. But on the way we stopped to have lunch. Someone recommended The Crab Shack..

 

It also has an alligator lagoon. These are real.

Oh No, I think one got loose. (Just kidding, it's stuffed)

We weren't in our bare feet, but they served us anyway.

They said there are approximately 11 cats which they feed everyday.

The Tybee Island Lighthouse. Although this lighthouse is the 3rd edition, built in 1773, the original Tybee Lighthouse, built in 1736, was one of the first public structures in Georgia. It is still operational today.

Across the street from the lighthouse is Fort Screven, built in 1898. It saw continuous use through the Spanish-American War and both World Wars. It was primarily a coastal artillery fort, it was also used a school for deep sea diving.

Tybee Island is best known for its beaches.

Fort Pulaski is located on Cockspur Island, across from Tybee Island.

It is most known for the place the Union Army first tested the rifled cannon in 1862. The rifled cannon could shoot with more force and rendered the exisiting brick forts obsolete. Here are some of the shell marks still left in the remaining walls. But much of the wall was breached completely and has since been rebuilt. The fort was built in 1833 by a young lieutenent not long out of West Point, Lieutenent Robert E. Lee.

Fort James Jackson, restored as it looked when built in 1808, served until 1905.

All three of these forts were built to provide security for Savannah's harbor.

Another interesting place nearby was the Wormsloe Plantation. These pillars were built at the gate of the plantation.

You then travel down a tree lined road for almost a mile before coming to the plantation itself. The original plantation buildings were built in 1736 out of Tabby, by one of Georgia's colonial founders, Noble Jones. Tabby, a mixture of limestone and shells, was a common building material in the 18th century on the east coast.

This is all that is left of the original buildings. It was a fortress home, 1.5 stories with 5 rooms, walled with bastions on the corner. In 1828, Noble's grandson, U.S. Senator George Jones, built a new, more elaborate home on the property. The original fortress home was left to decay.

Another type of home built during this time was called, wattle and daub, was also used.

It consisted of a woven lattice of wooden strips which are then daubed with mud or mud and limestone. This form of construction has been used for over 6000 years and again is becoming popular as a low impact, sustainable building technique.

Across the river from Savannah, actually located in South Carolina, is the Savannah Wildlife Refuge. In what used to be rice patties from a long ago plantation, is now a popular spot with birds and alligators.

This cistern is about all that is left of the servants quarters who farmed the rice patties.

My next blog will be on downtown Savannah.