Isle of Hope Marina, Savannah, GA

Date            April 11 - 13, 2012                            
Day             288 - 290
Departure   No Travel

Arrival        Isle of Hope Marina, Savannah, GA                   

Miles               0.0

Cumulative   4577.1

When we left Brunswick, we decided to leave the ICW and travel on the outside in the Atlantic Ocean.  We decided this for two reasons (1) to avoid the very shallow portions of the ICW and (2) we wanted to travel a longer distance and thought that we would be able to do so by going "outside".  As it turned out, we made a great decision.  The seas were a light chop of 1-2 feet, we had deep water and a great ride.  We were able to travel a distance of over 80 miles in less time than it would have taken if we had stayed on the ICW.
A few miles before we arrived at Isle of Hope Marina on the 11th we went through the Skidaway Narrows Bridge.  This bridge crosses the ICW at Mile 592.  When closed, the vertical clearance is 22 feet.  A new, much higher bridge is currently under construction.

We spent four days here and met some wonderful people.  Thanks to Dan and Patricia and their dog Jingles on Ironhore and Dave and Pamela and their dogs Ruby and Chevy on Drift Away for their kindness and sympathy in the recent loss of our dogs, Tucker and Willow. 
On Thursday we rode the city bus into Savannah for some sightseeing. Savannah is Georgia's fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area.  Savannah's downtown area, which includes the Savannah Historic District, the Savannah Victorian Historic District and 22 park like squares, is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States

One of the historic buildings along River Street.  Just above the windows on the fourth floor (above the lamppost), in the center of the picture, you can still see "Grain"  and "Feed".

A memorial to the ships of Savannah

Looking up the Savannah River to the commercial port

One of Savannah's favorite stories involves the life of Florence Martus (1868 - 1943), who was known well by Savannahians and sailors of the sea as the Waving Girl. The daughter of a sergeant stationed at Fort Pulaski, Florence later moved to a cottage along the river near the entrance of the harbor with her brother George, the Cockspur Island Lighthouse keeper.  As the story goes, life at the remote cottage was lonely for Florence whose closest companion was her devoted collie. At an early age, she developed a close affinity with the passing ships and welcomed each one with a wave of her handkerchief. Sailors began returning her greeting by waving back or with a blast of the ship's horn. Eventually Florence started greeting the ships arriving in the dark by waving a lantern.  Florence Martus continued her waving tradition for 44 years and it is estimated that she welcomed more than 50,000 ships during her lifetime.

Imprinted on the base of this statue "Her immortality stems from her friendly greeting to passing ships, a welcome to strangers entering the port and a farewell to wave them safely onward."

This old bridge provides a pedestrian walkway over the cobblestone street .

A place to voice what is important to you, what you want to do before you die, or what is on your bucket list.

St. John the Baptist Cathedral

Horse and carriage tours are a popular way of seeing the historic sights of old Savannah.

A breathtaking avenue sheltered by live oaks and Spanish moss leads to the tabby ruins of Wormsloe, the colonial estate of Noble Jones (1702-1775).  Jones was a humble carpenter who arrived in Georgia in 1733 with James Oglethorpe and the first group of settlers from England. Wormsloe's tabby ruins are the oldest standing structures in Savannah.

This crab pot was snagged by a boat that came into Isle of Hope Marina.  Fortunately, it had a very long line on it and it didn't hit the bottom of the boat.  The metal frame that the line is tied to sure would have done some damage to the boat's bottom if it had.  I guess the bonus of this pot was that there were six rather large blue crabs in the trap. You can see one of them in the trap, right at the water line.  What do you think they had for dinner??

Tomorrow, April 14th, we will head off to Hilton Head Harbor.