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We took a couple of hours today to explore Tybee Island which sits about 20 miles east of Savannah. While the island has historical significance, I must admit I was also hoping for a quaint beach town. The historical areas were interesting, but unfortunately there was no "quaintness" to be found. The island is just another beach town, with lots of hotels, motels and tourist traps. A little disappointing, but that's okay, we can still say we've been there (and done that).
Tybee Island Light Station continues to function today, its light reaching almost 18 miles out to sea. It is Georgia's oldest and tallest lighthouse, dating from 1773. The most significant fact about this light station is that it sits on its original site with all of the original support buildings.
Just across the road from the Light Station sits the remainder of Fort Screven which was built in 1885 as part of the coastal defense system. It was the site of troop training during the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II. Part of it now houses the Tybee Museum.
Cockspur Lighthouse sits just off of Cockspur Island which is just west of Tybee Island and can be seen from US 80 or Fort Pulaski. It marks the South Channel of Savannah River. The lighthouse was built in 1854 and survived the bombardment of Fort Pulaski. Damaged in an 1881 storm which destroyed the keeper's residence, it continued to shine until 1909. It was relit this year.
Fort Pulaski sits on Cockspur Island and faces Savannah River. It was built between 1829 & 1844; one of the engineers was Robert E. Lee. It is the last of the forts built that are known as the Third System of coastal fortifications developed during the first half of the 19th century. These forts were of greater structural durability than earlier ones. Most of the 30 Third System forts built after 1816 still exist. Our Fort McHenry is a First System fort. Sorry, I got carried away. Anyway, Fort Pulaski gets its name from Count Casimir Pulaski, a Polish hero of the American Revolution who died in the unsuccessful siege of Savannah.
Just to show you how deep I am, two of the neatest things to me about the fort are the moat and the drawbridge! I guess it makes me think of all those fairy tales and how the princess is always safe inside the castle when there's a moat and a drawbridge. Goofy, huh? Still, it's pretty daunting to stand in the same place that those who fought for our freedoms stood almost 200 years ago. Not much has changed in all this time, has it? We're still fighting.
Well, that's it for our time here in Savannah. We leave Monday for Charleston. We'll spend the weekend recuperating from the hard work of sightseeing. :) I also need to get rid of a nasty cold. Pray for us as we travel on Monday. It's going to be SUCH an easy trip!! Only a couple of hours up the road. Nice.
Enjoy the pictures. As always, there are more on the web. Take care of each. Keep in touch. We love to hear from you. Until the next time . . .
We continued our exploration of Savannah today in some ugly, hot weather. It was 90 degrees today before noon!! Whew! I am NOT ready for that kind of weather yet. But, we persevered and enjoyed ourselves anyway.
Before I share today's sights, I need to tell you what I forgot yesterday. Apparently, Savannah is very popular with the movie-making crowd. Forrest Gump, Something to Talk About, The Legend of Bagger Vance, the original Cape Fear, and of course, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil are just a scant few of the movies shot here. We got to see the park where Forrest sat as he told his life story, the pub where Julia Roberts saw her husband cheating on her in Something to Talk About and the bed & breakfast inn where Matt Damon and Kevin Spacey stayed while shooting their respective movies. Pretty neat, huh? Okay, on to today's fun. We started at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, a gorgeous Catholic church that was built in 1873. It is still very much in use today. From there, Randy & I walked to one of the colonial cemeteries in Savannah where many of its heroes are buried. It was used from 1750 to 1853, becoming a city park in 1896. Unfortunately, many of the graves were disturbed during the Civil War and the gravestones broken or defiled in some way. Because of this, it is difficult to ascertain exactly where some folks are buried and how old they were when they died.
We picked the trolley back up and rode to River Street. To me, this is the heart of Savannah. After all, it is a port city and all of its historical industry centered on the river. There are all kinds of boutiques, open air markets, restaurants, bars, and souvenir shops. If you want it, you can probably find it on River Street. We got off the trolley at the west end of River Street and decided we'd walk to the other end and pick up the trolley there. There are several monuments along the riverwalk, but the best is at the east end of the street. Florence Martus was known as the Waving Girl. She lived in Savannah from 1869 to 1943 and for 44 years of her life she came down to the river twice a day to wave to the incoming and outgoing ships. The story goes that at 19 she was engaged to a sailor who left for a 7 day cruise, but never returned. She never married; for the rest of her life, Florence came to the river each morning to wave off the ships as they left port. Each evening, using a lantern, she would welcome the ships back to port. Many sailors felt that Florence was good luck for them. It is said that when she died, there were over 3000 in attendance to pay honor to her memory. What a great story!
There is probably so much more to Savannah; we barely scratched the surface. But, we enjoyed our sightseeing here. In addition to the pictures posted here, there are more at our Webshots site: http://community.webshots.com/user/guiler85/0 . Please be sure to check them out!
We are going to Tybee Island tomorrow. It is east of Savannah and has more history to explore. Hopefully, I'll have more to share with you!
Yes, part 1. We spent the day traveling around the city on a trolley, but only saw half of what there is to see! The trolley tour is fantastic, but very exhausting. There are 17 stops and you can get off and on at each one if you wish. Well, of course, that's what we did. By stop #7, I was done. There is SO much to see in this city. The history is phenomenal. Luckily, we could get a 2nd day pass on the trolley so we can finish the tour tomorrow. Isn't that just so nice of the tour company to let us do that? :)
One of the first things I learned is that downtown Savannah is built around a series of Squares, or parks. And quite beautiful parks they are. Each one is nicely landscaped and is home to at least one historical monument or marker. Did you know there is a meaning behind how the riders on horses are displayed on monuments? Well, I sure didn't, but I do now. If the monument has the horse with the front hooves in the air, it means that the rider was killed in the line of duty or action. If all four hooves are on the ground, then the rider died of natural causes. Lastly, if one hoof is up, the rider was wounded in battle, but subsequently died of natural causes. Interesting, huh?
Our first stop was City Market. This area has several boutiques and is home to Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady & Sons. For those of you not familiar with Paula Deen, she has a show on Food Network and many, many cookbooks. I know, I know. You're thinking, how the heck does TERRY know who Paula Deen is????? It certainly is not because of the cookbooks or the show, as most of you realize. I've just seen her on talk shows and such. And our good friends, Ray & Judy Powers, love her restaurant.
Next stop was the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low. Okay, who is she? All right, I'll tell you. She was the founder of the Girl Scouts of America! Her birthplace now serves as the Girl Scouts National Center. Did you know that Juliette started the Girl Scouts at the suggestion of her friend, Lord Baden-Powell? Lord Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts. Well, now you know the rest of the story. (My imitation of Paul Harvey.)
We learned that a Creek Indian, Tomo Chi Chi, is considered the co-founder of Savannah, alongside James Edward Oglethorpe. Apparently, Tomo Chi Chi was vital to establishing the city as a military outpost against the invasion of the Spanish. Although he died in his village, at his request, he was brought to Savannah to be buried among his English friends. He was buried with military honors and rests in Wright Square. There is a monument to him there as well.
Another cool place we saw is the house where the movie, "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil," was filmed. It is officially the Mercer Williams House Museum. I cannot remember whether I've seen this movie or not, so it's now on our Netflix list!
We will finish our tour of downtown Savannah and the Riverwalk area tomorrow. The trolley is the way to go - no worries about parking! And if you get off to look around, there's another trolley every 20 minutes! We are looking forward to spending some time on the river. We were there a few years ago with Lee & Cheri and enjoyed it. We're also looking forward to eating in one of the many great restaurants down there!
There will be more pictures tomorrow! Until then, take care of one another. Keep in touch!!
Well, the party's over! Not really. We had a wonderful weekend with Kevin and saying good-bye was not as hard as all of us anticipated. We will see him again in just five weeks at graduation! We didn't do a lot of special things this weekend, other than eating out a lot. But, it was kinda nice how we settled back into the family atmosphere very quickly. I have to admit, it was pretty nice waking up this morning with Kevin sleeping on the couch! Just like old times, but better . . . I didn't have to wake him up to get him to go to work!! :) We also got to spend quite a bit of time with Kev's best buddy, Ted, and his parents. I am so grateful for Ted. When Kevin went to boot camp, I asked God to provide him with one guy with whom he could bond and hang with. I also asked our friends to pray that for Kevin, too. God provided abundantly in the person of Ted. How great is God!
I've posted a couple of pictures here, but all the rest are on our Webshots site at http://community.webshots.com/user/guiler85/0. Please go there and take a look at the Fort Benning folder. There are just too many to share here.
As we drove away, leaving Kevin on base, I turned to Randy and said that it seemed our son was growing into the man we always knew he could be. What a blessing. You know, the last couple of years were tough with Kevin, but I truly believe he (we?) had to go through them to be where he is now. He truly appreciates the opportunities being offered him in the Army. He's a Team Leader in his platoon!! He certainly seems to appreciate us and the rest of his family. I thank God every day for getting us through the tough times and giving us this gift of our son. I am proud of my Soldier son.
Tomorrow we are back on the road. We will be spending the next week in Savannah. Really looking forward to that. There are supposed to be lots of neat things to see & do there. I'm sure I'll have adventures to share with you.
We had a good week visiting with Randy's sister, Missy and her kids, MacKenzie & Patrick. We were able to spend last weekend together as well as a couple of nights during this week. MacKenzie had a band concert at her high school and we attended that. Last night we ended our week at their home, having dinner. Patrick also taught his uncle how to play the Wii game system. That is one cool system; interactive sports. Amazing. I told Randy he'd be sore today after playing golf, baseball and bowling in one night! :) It's always hard to leave family to go back on the road, but we were excited because our next stop was to Fort Benning to see Kevin! Here's a picture of Missy and the kids.
We arrived at Fort Benning early this afternoon. Their campground is rather nice. After dinner we had several deer show up in the field just opposite our site. They seemed very much at home. It was great. Blackie even got off the couch to watch them! Tomorrow is the day! We have a briefing at 10am and Kevin's company is to be in formation at 11am. I can't wait to see my Soldier!!! We'll have lots of pictures to share later this weekend.
After a pretty long day (for us), we arrived at our campground yesterday sometime after 5pm. We left Summerdale, AL a few minutes before 8am and, as most of you know, we only like to travel about 5 hours a day. However, it was 6 hours driving time from Summerdale to Cumming, GA. We figured that it would be 7 to 7.5 hour day. That was fine, we planned on it. And the day actually went quite fast. I looked at the clock at one point and realized we'd been on the road for almost 5 hours and it didn't seem like it at all. Of course, crossing the AL/GA state line we "lost" an hour because we passed into Eastern time.
We were rolling along quite nicely until we hit Atlanta. We had hoped to get to the campground around 4pm, missing most of the horrid Atlanta rush hour. Not to be, unfortunately. We got around their "Beltway" without much problem, but when we were about 10 miles from the campground we found the traffic. UGH! And the best part was that we got to merge off of one highway onto another right onto the FAST lane! Who the heck designed that!! It took us about an hour to go that 10 miles. By the time we got to the campground, Randy was pretty fried. Maneuvering that rig in all the traffic can be pretty harrowing.
But, we're here and safe. Once again God blessed us with safe travel. I'm always grateful for that. We've already seen Missy and the kids - we had breakfast with Missy and Patrick this morning. We'll be going back to their house for dinner tonight. It's good to be with them.
We are going to be boring this week; making up for the all the running we did over the past few weeks. Need to clean the RV!! And I'm looking forward to sitting outside, enjoying the lakes and playing my dulcimer. Gotta keep up the practice.
Take care of each. Keep in touch. Until the next time . . .
Yesterday promised to be a beautiful day, so we finally took to the Mobile Bay Ferry and spent the day on Dauphin Island. Dauphin Island is a barrier island that sits at the junction of Mobile Bay, Mississippi Sound and the Gulf of Mexico.
The ferry runs between Fort Morgan which is just west of Gulf Shores and Dauphin Island which is south of Mobile. It is a 30 minute ride and it sure beat driving all the way around the bay to the island. If we drove from our campground to the Island, it would be a 65.5 mile drive, one way.
Upon arriving on the island, we tried to find the Visitors Center. We did find it, but unfortunately, it was closed. I couldn't believe it - it is only open Wednesday through Saturday. But, the island is small, so we figured we could find our way around easily. There were really only two things we wanted to see; the Estuarium and Fort Gaines.
Dauphin Island was first mapped by Spanish explorers in 1513, but the first French settlers gave it its name after the heir of Louis XIV. In 1718 the island was the capitol of the Louisiana Territory. Both the Spanish and the French manned forts that guarded the bay, but it was the Americans who captured it in 1813 and made the first attempt to construct a permanent fort here.
Fort Gaines was established in 1821, but construction wasn't completed until the beginning of the Civil War. It is the site of the Battle of Mobile Bay and was named in honor of General Edmund Pendleton Gaines. One of General Gaines' claims to fame is that he helped capture Aaron Burr in 1807. It was during the Battle of Mobile that the oft-quoted "Damn the torpedoes - full speed ahead" was given by Admiral David Farragut. That battle resulted in the capture of the fort as well as two other forts and the Confederate Fleet by Union forces.
The site of the Estuarium is the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. The Estuarium allows you to "walk through" the various water worlds of the Mobile Bay area. Mobile Bay is an estuary, which is a body of water where fresh and salt waters meet. We were able to see typical sea life such as fish, turtles, crabs, snakes, etc., as well as sea life you don't usually get to see - especially this side of a dinner plate! I got pictures of a shrimp, octopus (they are actually very small creatures, nothing like the cartoons at all!), moon fish, crawfish, starfish, and a green moray (very ugly). You can see all of their pictures at our Webshots site. It is amazing how many different creatures live in the waters around us. It was a very interesting exhibition.
All in all, a pretty good day. We ended it by having dinner at an all-you-can eat shrimp place! Yes, it was quite easy to eat shrimp after taking a picture of one.
This day also pretty much ends our time here in southern Alabama as we are leaving on Friday. It has been a wonderful winter here and we have made some very good friends. We are looking forward to the next leg of our trip. The next six weeks will find us in Atlanta, Fort Benning (YAY!!!!!), Savannah, Charleston, Williamsburg, Ocean City, MD, and finally, York, PA on June 1.
We hope to have more adventures to share over the next few weeks. Please keep in touch. Until the next time . . .
Well, it seemed as though this time wouldn't come, but here we are; just six days shy of leaving Summerdale, AL. This has turned out to be a wonderful winter. We've made some lifelong friends, seen some neat things, and enjoyed being together. Even though this was not our plan for this winter, God had other ideas. As usual, He was right!
One of the places we wanted to do before leaving, but really needed a sunny day to do, was eat at LuLu's Restaurant in Gulf Shores. This restaurant is owned by Jimmy Buffett's sister, LuLu. It's very open and beachy. It even has its own "beach" where folks come on Saturday nights with their beach blankets and have a huge bonfire. We went there yesterday for a late lunch and the food was fantastic! For once the atmosphere and the food both were good. So often, that doesn't happen. We sat out on the deck; the restaurant sits on the Intracoastal Waterway the runs through Gulf Shores. Boats park at the restaurant's dock and come in to eat. Pretty cool.
We plan to explore Dauphin Island on Monday. It's just south of Mobile, but we're going to take the ferry across the bay from Fort Morgan. Hopefully, we'll get some good pics for you!
I got to go home for a week last week! Jason & Lindsay have moved into their new home (it's beautiful!) and I went back to be on "Reagan duty." Such a sacrifice. :) I got there the evening of March 27 and left them on April 3 to spend the night at Paula's so I could catch a morning flight on April 4 out of BWI.
Either my kids weren't that active or I am getting old! I prefer to think it's the former rather than the latter! Reagan never stopped unless she was in bed. It was "C'mon, Nana!" any time I wasn't right behind her! And as you can imagine, she is just more beautiful each and every day! I would get into bed sore in every muscle (I do have those, they are just buried) and wonder how Lindsay does it every day.
I've posted some pictures of my precious girl so you can see how cute she is. And we had a great time. I gave Reagan some Mardi Gras "finery" to play with and she loved it. The kids are all moved in and loving the space they have in the new house. I'm grateful I was able to get back to help and see family. I was also able to meet Sara, Kevin's girlfriend, for the first time. She goes to college near Lindsay's new house, so I picked her up and brought her back one afternoon. She is a lovely young woman. The only down side was that Randy wasn't with me. But, it was wonderful to see him pull up to the airport to pick me up! It's nice that after more than 20 years together my heart still leaps when I see him. I know, I know - too mushy, but that's tough! It's my blog and I can write whatever I want! hahaha
Enjoy the pictures. We have two more weeks here in southern AL and plan to do a couple of sightseeing adventures, so hopefully I'll have more to tell you soon.
Take care of each other. Until the next time . . .
Today's activities were organized around eating - what else? Actually, the Lutheran church in Fairhope was hosting a German Sausage Dinner, complete with sauerkraut and German potato salad. Randy saw the flier up at the clubhouse and that was it; we had to go. Fairhope's annual (55th, mind you!) Arts & Crafts Festival was also in full swing, so we took a look around after we ate.
Earlier this week while in Fairhope for dulcimer practice, Pat and I had seen some of the art that was going to be displayed around town. We were particularly drawn to the various pelicans that had been painted and mounted on what was supposed to be pier pylons. They were as varied as your imagination can wonder. I love pelicans! I fell in love with them when we were in Florida a couple of years ago. I just think they are the coolest. Anyway, that's where I was headed today - to find some of the pelicans.
You have to understand - this festival is a major deal in Fairhope. It's a juried event, so you have big deal artists, sculptors, crafters, etc., participating. And it takes up the entire downtown area. We're talking a two mile square of nothing but booths! So, we walked around a little, but after yesterday's hike, Dick & Pat weren't as into walking around town. Well, I just wanted to get pictures of a few pelicans and I would be happy. There were several more that I didn't get. So, that's what we did. Here are my two favorite pelicans. The other ones are on our Webshots site. Have fun!
Next week looks to be another quiet week. Not much planned. I'll be continuing with my dulcimer lesson and practices and I'm sure Randy will be at washing the rig, if the weather permits.
Take care of one another. Until the next time . . .
Okay, so you need a little money to live in one of these homes, what's the big deal??? :) Yesterday, with Dick & Pat, we toured 8 homes and 3 churches in one of the historic districts of Mobile. One of the neat things on the tour was that at each of the homes there were young women, seniors from local high schools, dressed in period costumes, to greet us.
Most of the homes were just gorgeous, decorated by interior designers and lived in by some "beautiful people." Actually, many of the owners were at home during our tour, and that was kinda cool to meet them. I was certainly impressed that they would agree to have so many strangers tromping through their home. I had not realized that these homes would be lived in; I guess I figured they were museums or something. Shows what I know. Anyway, here are the pictures of the houses and churches, with many more pictures of their interiors and gardens on our Webshots website. Enjoy!
Before we began the actual home tour, we went to the Oakleigh, home of the Historic Mobile Preservation Society. Oakleigh was founded in 1833 by James Roper with a Spanish land grant. Its name comes from the magnificent trees are the property. The home's style, decor, and gardens reflect the antebellum life in Mobile.
Our first stop on the home tour was 159 Michigan Avenue, which was built in 1907. It is currently owned by a professional photographer and ballerina. Both were at home and very gracious. This house had been built in one location and moved to its present location in 1956.
Next, we went to the first church on our tour, St. Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Church. It was built in 1925. However, the parish had been established in 1920, just a few months after the Catholic Church had declared Joan of Arc a saint. As with most older churches, the sanctuary was just beautiful, with many stained glass windows.
Our next home was one of the smaller ones on the tour, but no less impressive. It was built in 1915. We met one of the owners and she seemed so thrilled to have us all in her home. It was very inviting and warm. One of its neat characteristics was that its staircase went up one flight to a platform, then you could either turn to the left (if coming from the foyer) to go up stairs or go straight through and down to the back of the house. Kinda neat.
Just a block down from our third stop, was the next home which was built in 1905. This house was just gorgeous and its gardens were, too. It has a huge wraparound porch where you could just move around during the day to stay in the shade. Again, the owners were home and welcomed us as if we were old friends. How nice!
Our last stop for the morning was the second church on the tour. All Saints Episcopal Church was founded in 1909, having evolved from a union of 26 members from 3 different 19th century churches. Again, walking into the sanctuary was a retreat from the noise of the world outside. This church had a double pipe organ - at least that's what it looked like to me as there were pipes on either side of the altar area. More stained glass windows lined both sides of the sanctuary, depicting the life of Christ. Why is it we feel the presence of God so much inside a church? He's everywhere we are, right? Gotta work on that.
After walking all over Mobile - not really, but tell that to our knees - we stopped for a quick lunch and rest. Then, it was on to the afternoon part of the tour and 4 more homes and 1 more church.
The first home in the afternoon was a mansion - at least that's what its name inferred. It was the Tacon-Tissington-Barfield Mansion, built in 1901 and considered by many to be the best example of Victorian architecture in Mobile. The first thing you notice upon entering this home is the gorgeous staircase to the right. The woodwork in this home is just beautiful.
We went to the last church on the tour next. Government Street United Methodist Church, also known as "The Beehive," has a history dating back to 1819. But, the current building's construction began in 1906 and completed in 1917. It has two beyond-beautiful stained glass domed ceilings and the front of the building is ornate in its baroque details. Very impressive. Inside, it is a small sanctuary with yet another pipe organ! This church was nicknamed "The Beehive" because of its congregation's activity - swarming out into the community. Hey, I don't make this stuff up!!
Our next three stops were houses just a block away from one another - two of them across the street from each other. That was great news for our legs!
Augusta Street was built in 1872 and upon entering we were greeted by the one of owners of the house. She actually introduced herself to us, the first owner to do so, which was very nice. This house also has a beautiful front porch on, complete with a swing! When we went outside in the back of the house, we met her husband as well. This backyard, as we found in many of the homes, was so well done that it could easily have passed for part of the living space in the home.
We then went across the street to the smallest house on the tour, and my least favorite. It was built in 1869, so it was next to the oldest on the tour, and was actually a nice house, but the owner had filled it way past capacity, in my humble opinion. But, as most of you know, decorating is not my strongest suit! The cool thing at this house was that it had a koi pond in its gardens!
Lastly, we came to Twelve Oaks. Built in 1867-68, it is the oldest home on the tour and is currently undergoing a major renovation/restoration. At the moment, due to the construction, the owners are not living in it. The house as it stands today is not as large as it was originally built, having been moved to a new lot in the 1930s, so a large rear wing was removed and placed on a separate lot. Didn't see that part of the house.
That ends our tour. Hope you enjoyed it! Please be sure to take a look at the pictures on Webshots, http://community.webshots.com/user/guiler85/0. I have to say that, as gorgeous as all of these homes are, I have no desire to live in any of them. They are fun to tour, but I'll take my little trailer any day. Of course, that's easy to say since there's no way we could ever have afforded any of these homes!! But, I'm still happy as can be in our RV. Hey, that rhymes! Aren't I somethin'! :)
Take care. Going to Fairhope to the Arts Festival & the local Lutheran Church's annual German Sausage Dinner. Randy's pick, not mine! More pictures to come!
Well, we participated in our first Flatulence Fest! Actually, it was a bean recipe cook-off. Lots of us in the part cooked our favorite bean dish and then folks in the park walked around tasting all of the dishes, finally voting for their favorite one. I brought bean dip and chips. And I got 7 votes!! Granted that was half of the votes the winners got, but still . . . I was very happy about that. Many people came over to get a taste because others had told them how good it was. I know, I know, it's not a gourmet recipe, but heck, people liked it so what else matters!! It was a fun night with Red Dog JAM ending the evening with a short concert.
Here are a couple of pictures you might get a kick out of. In the chefs picture, I'm on the front row, sitting down at the far end of the row. The rest are self-explanatory, I hope.
What fun we had yesterday at the Gulf Shores Zoo. This is a very small zoo, easily walked in an hour or so. It had all the animals I like to see without having to slog through many that I don't want to see. When you first walk into the zoo, through the gift shop of course, the first thing you see is the Ring Tail Lemur Island. These are the cutest animals! And one of them had just given birth the day before to twins! I have a picture of her at our Webshots site. You can just barely see the baby sticking his head out around her belly. The mother carries the babies around as they cling to her stomach. The site address is: http://community.webshots.com/user/guiler85/0.
We were treated to a short show during which we were taught a little about the Maccaw parrot, Bearded Dragon Lizard,Albino King Snake, Albino Ferret, and a Chinchilla. We were allowed to pet or touch each of these. I was amazed at how soft the king snake was!! I would love to have skin that soft. He was very pretty, too. And, if any of you are looking for a great pet for one of your grandkids, kids or yourself, apparently the Bearded Dragon Lizard is a good one. Doesn't eat much, grow too big or bite. Just thought I'd share.
One of the Black Leopards housed at this zoo was donated by Jack Hanna, the animal guy we all know from TV. Her name is Katrina.
One of the best scenes was in the Black Mane Lion area. There was a female and a male and they were very frisky; playing with one another, batting each other. Totally reminded me of a couple of kittens at play. So cool.
Just as we were leaving, a couple of ducks came up to a fence near the lions' cage where we were standing. All of a sudden, the duck poked his beak through the fence posts and began pecking and trying to bite Randy's leg! The duck was squawking and going after Randy's foot, leg, anything he could get close to. It was very funny. All in all, a very nice day at the zoo.
We had to say good-bye to Darrell & Judy today. They are leaving for Florida in the morning. They are going to Dade City to join in a Habitat for Humanity build. It's their first time at a build and they are pretty excited. Darrell & Judy were our next door neighbors. We have really enjoyed getting to know them and look forward to catching up with them via e-mail and on the road in the future. Darrell keeps a website of their travels. Take a look at it sometime. The site address is: http://www.wanderingamerica.com. I think you'll enjoy it.
That's about it for now. Tomorrow is going to be another fun day! We've got church in the morning, then I've got dulcimer practice in the afternoon. Tomorrow evening the park is hosting a "Flatulence Festival" at which many of us will share our various bean dishes. Everyone will pay $3/person for the privilege of tasting any and all dishes. The proceeds will go to the local volunteer fire department. Do we know how to have fun, or what!?!?!?!!
Take care of each other. Until the next time . . .
One of the big things in this park is playing the dulcimer. This instrument is the only one that originated in America - specifically in the Appalachian region. Many of the women in the park play and have corralled me into doing so as well! I must say, it is very enjoyable even though my fingers don't always do what I want them to.
Today we had a workshop led by Red Dog Jam, a couple named Jack and Mary (hence JAM) who are very skilled in this genre of music and instruments. They play festivals, hold workshops and just love playing for the pure enjoyment of it. Of course, I was totally overwhelmed by it, this being only the third time I've played with others. I've practiced a bit, but am still far from being able to keep up with a group. I am going to take a few lessons this month and join in a group once a week. Should be fun!
We're going to the Gulf Shores Zoo tomorrow with a group from the park. I believe I've told you about this zoo before - it's the one that has the distinction of being the only zoo in the nation to have had to evacuate their animals twice due to hurricanes. And they didn't lose one animal! Animal Planet did a series on the zoo a couple of years ago and called it, "The Little Zoo That Could."
We've been enjoying the beautiful, sunny, 70 degree weather this past week. It's going to be a little cooler over the next few days, only in the 60s! Poor us, I know! :) It's great to be able to get and do some things.
Take care. Please keep in touch. Until the next time . . .
Tybee Island Light Station continues to function today, its light reaching almost 18 miles out to sea. It is Georgia's oldest and tallest lighthouse, dating from 1773. The most significant fact about this light station is that it sits on its original site with all of the original support buildings.
Cockspur Lighthouse sits just off of Cockspur Island which is just west of Tybee Island and can be seen from US 80 or Fort Pulaski. It marks the South Channel of Savannah River. The lighthouse was built in 1854 and survived the bombardment of Fort Pulaski. Damaged in an 1881 storm which destroyed the keeper's residence, it continued to shine until 1909. It was relit this year.
It was built between 1829 & 1844; one of the engineers was Robert E. Lee. It is the last of the forts built that are known as the Third System of coastal fortifications developed during the first half of the 19th century. These forts were of greater structural durability than earlier ones. Most of the 30 Third System forts built after 1816 still exist.
Our Fort McHenry is a First System fort. Sorry, I got carried away. Anyway, Fort Pulaski gets its name from Count Casimir Pulaski, a Polish hero of the American Revolution who died in the unsuccessful siege of Savannah.
Goofy, huh? Still, it's pretty daunting to stand in the same place that those who fought for our freedoms stood almost 200 years ago. Not much has changed in all this time, has it? We're still fighting.
