We drove 335 miles today to Tampa and arrived around 4:00.  82 degrees!! :-)  We've settled in and are sitting on the patio having a  cold drink.  We both had to change from our jeans into light shorts... much better now!  We will be here until 12/22, when we head to Sarasota.  Ryan, Janelle, Thomas, Jess, and Michael are all flying in on 12/26 for a slightly belated Christmas.  By the way, this blog has generated a whopping TWO comments, and one was from Janice!  C'mon guys!  Let us know what you think or what you'd like to hear about (if anything).  C U L8TR!

OK, the views on our blog have really dropped off, and we don't blame you.  We've been in Savannah, GA for a week without a blog post. And you know why?  Because this town is SO awesome, that's why!  Seriously, if you're any kind of Civil War buff... or any other kind of history buff... this place is nirvana!  (btw, if you come to Savannah, it is not "the civil war;" it is "the war of Northern aggression")  Just yesterday, I took over 500 photos walking around Savannah.  We leave here tomorrow for Tampa, and hopefully I'll have some free time there to arrange my photos and share some with you.  In the meantime, I offer the following for you fans of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  As you know, the book and subsequent movie revolve around Savannahian Jim Williams' killing of his male lover, and Williams' subsequent death in the same room of his home in which the killing occurred. 

Williams-Mercer House

 This is the residence known today as the "Williams-Mercer House."  You will remember that Kevin Spacey explains in the movie that the house was previously owned by the grandfather of another famous Savannahian, songwriter Johnny Mercer.  And remember the lovely "Lady Chablis?"  She played herself/himself in the movie and is still performing at Savannah's Club One today... tonight, actually!

 Finally for tonight, I bring you the Savannah City Hall

 A beautiful old building that still displays

HUZZAH!  Yep... they defy political correctness by still proudly flying the "stars and bars" of the Confederacy.  Save your Confederate money, boys, the South will rise again!  See y'all from Florida!

Well, tomorrow we bid farewell to Charleston and head to Savannah, GA.  We'll be there a week and then headed into Florida.  Today we ate lunch at the Tomato Shed Restaurant, a little market restaurant run by farmers who use all fresh ingredients.  We had tomato pie.. a first for both of us and VERY delicious.  We also had GREAT crab cakes (repeatedly voted the best in Charleston).  It was sunny and mid 70's today.  We've been walking a lot, checking out the historic district.  Since we didn't get a house in Springfield, we thought one of these quaint little historic Charleston houses might work.  Tell us our choice!

In addition to houses, Charleston also has beautiful, old historic churches.  The Episcopal church of St. Michael is one of those.

St. Michael's Exterior

St. Michael's Interior

Gorgeous old numbered family pews

See ya'll from Savannah!!

This post is actually a continuation of the revious post.  So, if you have not read the previous post, please do so now.  I'll wait.

OK, the last ship we visited was the USS Clamagore, SS-343.  The ship provided a great insight into the conditions under which submariners lived and worked. 

And those conditions are illustrated in this photo of the aft torpedo room.

You can see a green torpedo on the lower torpedo rack.  The upper rack is empty.  But notice above that empty torpedo rack.. the light green colored items are mattresses on the crew bunks.  Yep, you got to sleep right above the torpedoes.  Sweet dreams!

Control Station, USS Clamagore

A BLESSED THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!

A busy day today, as we visited Patriot's Point and the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, the destroyer USS Laffey, and the submarine USS Clamagore.  The Yorktown was the tenth aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy.  During WWII, she displaced 27,100 tons and carried a crew of 380 officers; 3,088 enlisted men; and an air group of 90 planes.  She also saw service in Vietnam and recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts.  By way of trivia, she portrayed the aircraft carrier Akagi in the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!

Captain Wray extends his compliments from the Captain's Chair on the bridge of the USS Yorktown

 

Flight Deck, USS Yorktown

Also moored at Patriot's Point, the USS Laffey, DD-724, was a Sumner Class destroyer, very similar to the Gleaves Class USS Swanson, DD-443, on which my dad served during WWII.

Helm, USS Laffey

Running out of room on this post, so the submarine Clamagore will have to wait.

Snowed here today... NOT!

For our family and friends battling the snow in the midwest, we want you to know that we suffer with you.! We went to Kiawah Island today and I have to tell you, I was wearing a t-shirt and was a little chilled walking on the beach today!  Temp with the wind was only 66!  After the beach, we went to see the famous Angel Oak.

The Angel Oak

Following is some information on the Angel Oak:

If you ever have an opportunity to see the Angel Oak, don't pass it up.  I guarantee you will be in awe of what God has made!  We are staying in Charleston until the 29th, then heading to Savannah.  That is, if this frigid weather allows travel!  ;-)

Another beautiful day in Charleston

Another great day!  Perfectly clear and 70 degrees.  We began the day at a small restaurant called the Early Bird.  The Early Bird has actually been featured on the Food Network for the dish we tried today... chicken and waffles.  Yep, you read right.

Chicken & Waffles.  Breakfast of Champions!

The combination didn't really make it, as far as we are concerned.  The chicken was, however, out of this world delicious.

After breakfast, we traveled back to the historic district to take a carriage tour.

The company we used, Old South Carriage Tours, was highly rated and rightfully so.  We learned a lot on our one-hour tour.  For example, in the Old South, the kitchen was separated from the main house due to fire hazard.  This picture is a good example:

Brick building in lower left was the kitchen for the main house on the right

Well, the slaves who carried the food from the detached kitchen to the main house were known to occasionally help themselves to a sample.  To remedy this practice, the owners required the slaves to whistle while bringing food in... you can't eat if your whistling!  This lead to the phrase "whistle while you work."  I looked it up and it's actually true.  Though less certain, one explanation for the word "hushpuppy" is that these corn treats were used to silence the dogs that naturally came running when the slaves were whistling while carrying tasty delights.

Many other interesting stories and photos, but they'll have to wait.  Below is a photo of Janice saying goodbye to our carriage horse, Amos.  Why use draft horses?  The law requires the weight of the animal(s) pulling the carriage to be at least 1,800 pounds.  The weight isn't really needed to pull the carriage... it's needed to stop it!  That's why you see only one draft horse pulling some carriages, while it takes two mules or quarter horses to make the weight limit.

You oughta see Amos parallel park!  He's awesome!