Wandering a bit off the beaten path so to speak, we decided to take a detour off the ICW up the Medway River to Sunbury, GA, having heard about a small marina there with an interesting restaurant… since we’re all about the food. The Sunbury Crab Company Marina and Restaurant turned out to be not so much marina, a very tasty restaurant and not much else. We arrived mid-day, took on some fuel, got Cheshire secured at the dock and went for a walk. We found an interesting old cemetery, but not much else. Turns out the marina has fine docks, power as expected, but no showers, laundry, etc. Hmm, not quite as advertised. Actually we were told that the pool house showers could be made available… apparently the owners’ son, also an employee, is living there currently. Don’t get me wrong… very nice people, they just need to review their advertising as a marina. The seafood however, is every bit as tasty as advertised, a seafood feast!
Having spent most of our 3 weeks of meandering up the Georgia coast on the hook or at free docks, we decided to splurge on a few marina days in Thunderbolt, which is about as close as the ICW comes to Savannah. We opted for Morningstar Bahia Bleu Marina, which despite its proximity to Savannah, was not much more expensive than Sunbury had been, plus had great showers, free laundry and lots to explore. Just after Cheshire touched the dock, while I was topside, literally with my arms full of power cord, a most impressive yacht motored up the river past the marina. Alas, not enough time to grab a camera. A quick internet search provided the details on the famous and recently restored Honey Fitz. Turns out she was in Savannah for a few days on a fund-raising gig before continuing up the coast doing more of the same. Presidential yacht to several presidents, most notably JFK, she’s recently been restored to her previous grandeur and has a new life, on a goodwill tour to raise awareness and funds for a variety of charitable organizations. Very cool; I think JFK would approve. Heads up to our friends in North Carolina, she’s scheduled to be in Beaufort, NC the end of this month.
The afternoon of our arrival, in addition to laundry, we grabbed a bite of lunch at a nearby spot called Tortuga’s Island Grille, very tasty, then headed off on bikes to scout the area and find Bonaventure Cemetery. OK, so it sounds like we have an obsession with cemeteries lately. They are just often such scenic, peaceful places, and full of history. In the case of Bonaventure, it was also a location from one of my favorite books, (the movie’s not bad either), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon we had.
Though originally we’d thought we’d bike into Savannah for the day, after scouting the route, we decided that while the distance would be doable, the route was not very bike-friendly, particularly on what Mike refers to as our “circus-bear bikes”. There’s also apparently a bus that runs to/from Savannah from Thunderbolt, but only into the mid-to-late afternoon which is not conducive to dinner plans in the city, so we decided to splurge on a cab. As Mike so eloquently put it, it’s cheaper than our hospital ER co-pays would have been. We had breakfast at an OK little diner called Henry’s and met our group for a walking tour I’d booked with Savannah Dan. Turns out Dan is quite the character and provided us with a wonderful overview of Savannah. We’d been here before, 17 years ago, but were overdue for a return trip, and it was just as delightful as I remembered. After the tour, we had an ice cream at the famous Leopold’s and continued exploring on our own. Savannah’s cobblestoned Riverfront has some cool old buildings that have been refurbished, but frankly I found the buildings more interesting than the content of most of the shops, “t-shirt shops” as Mike refers to them, selling tours and tourist junk. After getting caught in a heavy but brief downpour of rain, we decided to check out some more of the squares, only a few of which had been part of the walking tour.
Savannah’s squares are quite lovely, bits of green space scattered about what is now the historic district. Originally numbering 24, 22 of the original remain (including a couple that were lost and later restored), as do many of the buildings that surrounded each of the squares. When Savannah was founded by James Oglethorpe, the squares were intended to be places for military practice, as well as to serve as fire breaks. Today they are amazing green spaces, graced by the most stately live oaks, dripping with spanish moss and covered with resurrection ferns, and are full of history. Wikipedia has a nice piece on the history of the design and layout, as well as the squares themselves. I especially love the combination of residential and public buildings, such a far cry from so much of today’s development via suburban sprawl. For those who might share my obsession, check out this site for some photo/essays of all of the squares. There are plenty of “indoor sights” in Savannah as well, including tours of many of the historic mansions, some of which we visited on our first trip. This visit though, was all about the squares. My thanks to the Captain for indulging me.
And lastly, we indulged the Captain his obsession with chicken wings and other misc “bar food”. Ordinarily we’ll plan a “splurge dinner” when visiting a place as restaurant-rich as Savannah, but after a long day of walking, getting rained on, drying out, and more walking, a more casual meal was on our horizon. Crystal Beer Parlor was Mike’s pick; a fine ending to a fine day, complete with some very tasty beers on tap.
We spent one more day in the Thunderbolt area, taking care of business so to speak, with visits to the Kroger, Home Depot, Target, and a marine supply place, as well as time for a haircut (mine, obviously) and an oil change (Cheshire’s of course). And now, running out of Georgia coastline and barrier islands to explore, and finding ourselves in need of some “stay put time”, we’ve made plans to spend the month of June in Georgetown, SC where we’ll relax a bit and tend to a long list of boat chores in need of attention. We’ll take a leisurely week or so to get there, hopefully avoiding some of the holiday weekend on the water craziness, and then settle in for a bit. Until next time…
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