Savannah, Georgia

Today, we bought a tour on the Old Town Trolley Tour in Savannah, Georgia. And what a nice tour it was! Our tour director for the first part was a man named Jack, and he told us much about the town. We had a get-on-get-off tour, which was a good thing. We got off at stop 13 -- the City Market. We had pizza slices at VinnieVanGoGo's, pictured just above. This was a delicious slice, with a nice crispy crust and plenty of tasty toppings.

After a bit of shop prowling, we stopped for ice cream at Leopold's, also pictured above. I randomly chose the Tutti Frutti ice cream, and, as luck would have it, this is THE store for which the song "Tutti Frutti" was written by Johnny Mercer, a Savannah favorite son. And it was great! Jack enjoyed his Rum Raisin, too.

We shot a few more photos, and then found the Owen Thomas house, which we toured. It was a neat tour, and gave us some insight into how the people lived in the early 1800's. We caught our bus back to our car and then went off in search of.. dinner!

We decided to explore Tybee Island a little, but were dismayed to discover that we couldn't find anyplace to park free to eat at a restaurant that looked good. (We have a problem with having to pay to park, in order to pay to eat!) So we ended up at a sort of dirty diner, where we dined on burgers, fries, and salads. Not bad. Hey.. we can't have ALL good food, can we? ;)

We returned to our RV, and then ran right back out to capture the sunset over the river. Look for those photos in this space in days to come!

We're in Savannah!

We drove southward today, landing, after about 5 hours, on Tybee Island, south of Savannah. This seems like a beautiful part of the world, though we arrived too late to see much. Along our way, we stopped just three times: the South Carolina Welcome Station, Cracker Barrel, and BP. The drive was pretty easy, though we did come through some quite narrow streets on our way out here to this island.

I was sure that, with all this eating, I had put on a few pounds, and, having bought that new scale yesterday in Raleigh, I was able to confirm my fears this morning. 145.4 is where I am now. I'm still wearing my size 8's, but they are a bit tight. So I'm ready to see if I can bring that number down again. Gadz.. I'd really like to keep it down, too, this time.

This photo, by the way, is from Mystic Seaport. This is another one of the ship called Australia, which is being restored.

Jack's Birthday

We had a good day today today in Raleigh, NC! We began with some shopping. I wanted to get a scale for the RV, so that the weight watching can continue while we travel. Makes sense to me! I found a nice one and ... you'll see the results over to the right. It's not going to be a pretty number for a few weeks!

Then we went to Best Buy so that I could upgrade my Garmin. To just get maps for my very old one would be $70, so I decided to spring for the extra $200 and get a new one. This is the 1450T which includes lifetime maps and free lifetime traffic updates. It also has junction view and lane assist. Sweetness! We started using it right away and I really like it!

We went next to the Statehouse to get some photos. The building is not in use anymore as an actual legislative building, but it's still standing, at least, and they're using it for a museum. The interesting thing was the placards on the walls, depicting and describing some of the important legal doings that have happened here. Most of it concerned the role of slavery and the secession decision for North Carolina.

We both found it interesting that, as a state, it seems that North Carolina is somewhat apologetic about their role in the secession, like they didn't *really* want to do it. At the time of the Civil War's beginning, fully 1/3 of the residents of NC were slaves. Zow.

We got a few groceries, took them back here, and then went off to get some dinner. Tonight we did Texas Steakhouse. We got the appetizer plate, Jack got a Caesar salad, and I had the chili. It was very good, but we had to beg for more water. Jack was happy with his birthday dinner, and with the free ice cream that they brought afterwards!

Near Raleigh, NC

This photo is from Mystic Seaport, in Mystic, Connecticut. I love taking photos of rage and ruin!

Last evening, Jack made us a wonderful dessert! It's Betty Crocker's Reeses Dessert Bars from an easily-done no-bake (microwave) mix. And how delicious they are! You do have to cut far smaller pieces than you want, though, in order to get just the 150 calories per serving. ;)

This afternoon finds us relaxing in the RV after a relatively easy driving day. We got a late start and drove just 3 hours, punctuated by lunch at a very accessible Cracker Barrel and a fuel stop at the ideal place: a Pilot which had clearly labeled an island just for diesel RV's. Easy!

The weather has warmed considerably getting up to 89° today. So we went from jackets and heaters to shorts and A/C in just a couple of days!

This is a pleasant KOA campground located south of Raleigh about 40 minutes in a community called Smithfield. It has everything we need, and soon we'll head off in search of some food.

Near Norfolk

This is a photo from the Wadsworth Athenean.


Today was another splendid day. We got started at the crack of 10:30 and drove down through Delaware, Maryland, and a little bit of Virginia before reaching the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. What a cool feat of engineering this was! We enjoyed the pretty drive, and went to the little island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay for lunch. I had delicious chicken salad in a hollowed out tomato with clam chowder. Jack had the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich.


Then we found the Chesapeake Campground at Chesapeake, VA. While it's a nice enough campground, it has gotten sort of run-down, and is now largely used by working folks who live in their RV's full-time. But it  is the least expensive campground we've visited this trip, at $25/night.


Jack and I decided to take a little drive this evening around the Norfolk, VA area, so we unhooked the car, and off we went! We set the GPS before we left, so we'd find the campground again. Around and around we went, exploring all the nooks and crannies and finding some .. uh... interesting areas! Then, as the sun was setting, and we were set to go back, we asked the GPS to return us to the campground.


We followed its directions with no problems, till it said, "Drive 147 miles."
"What?" we both asked it in unison. What had happened is that the GPS didn't quite know yet where we WERE when we told it that this was the campground. So it still thought that we were at our LAST campground and it was directing us THERE!
Jack remembered that we'd stopped at an auto supply store just up the street from the campground to get a new headlight for the RV (finally!), I found the receipt with the address, and we put that in. Whew! So now we're tucked back into our cozy little home away from home!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a great birthday today! :) We are in Lincoln, Delaware, where we've enjoyed a couple of days. We're close to Dover, so, yes, we DID get up to photograph the Statehouse! We also made it to Slaughter Beach and to Rehoboth Beach, where we took photos.


Food was the focus of the day. Breakfast was bacon and scrambled eggs, which Jack made. Lunch? Buffalo Wild Wings appetizer sampler, which we got in Dover.


Dinner was extra-special. We drove down to Rehoboth where we parked, walked around a bit, and then found the Rehoboth Ale House. They feature 140 beers and ales, many of which are on tap. We each had a glass and asked the barkeep for a dinner recommendation.


He sent us on to the Salt Air Restaurant. Click Food to see their menu. We started with a basket of their homemade crackers with special cheese spread and a glass of wine. Then we got the quail appetizer (with figs!) and it was delicious! Then Jack got the Ahi tuna and I had the scallops. Oh, my! We finished the meal with my brownie sundae topped with pumpkin creme fraiche, caramel, and malt chips.. and Jack's fruit crisp with apples and pears. This was a very special meal to end a very special day!


And here's my gift to you -- some photos! These were taken in Hartford and the swan was in Rhode Island: