Charleston & Savannah

Charleston and Savannah were some of our favorite stops along the Intracoastal Waterway. We visited them many times both by water and sometimes by car.  Savannah is our favorite of the two - one of our fun memories of cruising the coast was tying up at the town dock there over the Halloween holiday - what a blast.  But Charleston also contains some great moments, Scott's brother Brent got married there to our wonderful sister-in-law Wilma.

We woke up this morning to sunshine and 63 degrees. It was an easy drive into the city and after parking in the city garage we checked in at the Tourist office for maps (and a spacious spotless bathroom - with COVID this is a treat).  It is 1.3 miles down to the tip of the peninsula, which was our goal, but we wandered around admiring the waterfront, parks, and gorgeous homes so we got lots of exercise. Most people were wearing masks but there was a nice breeze and everyone stayed a respectful distance. I had a list of good restaurants that had outside dining. When we came to the first of them, the Oyster House Seafood Restaurant near the Marketplace, we were ready for lunch. And the outside deck was almost empty. Perfect. As were the fried shrimp plate with grits/grilled asparagus for me and fried seafood with crispy Brussel sprouts/roasted potatoes for Scott. This wasn't the end of our pampering. After 2 hours of walking after lunch, we sat in the elegant outside "living room" at a huge hotel and had coffee and shared a dish of profiteroles.  

Now we're back in our cozy RV enjoying a glass of wine after a delightful Zoom chat with our sons James & Sean (and their families), daughter Zoe and Brent & Wilma. A fresh salad I made earlier is waiting for dinner. We certainly feel lucky and hope it stays that way.

The next day we had an easy trip down to the Red Gate RV Park near Savannah. After getting hooked up, we drove into the city and walked up and down several series of squares that define this beautiful city, ending up in the City Market. Belford's Restaurant caught Scott's eye with a sign for Happy Hour. He can't resist a bargain. The drinks were wonderful and we had the place to ourselves. Our waitress Camille spent quite a bit of time chatting with us. She brought free garlic bread, winning Scott's heart. The next day we made an earlier start and explored another section of the city. We have learned to eat early to get an empty outdoor spot so were at Vic's on the River at 11:30 and again were alone. Our waiter Brian was equally free to talk and the food, sublime. Everything was so good, we had to top it off with dessert and coffee - two of them! The peach trio and the pecan pie were worth the calories. We'll have a salad tonight for dinner. Tomorrow we're off early for Harpal Dhama's house in Winter Park, FL.

We came back to this "outdoor living room" to have coffee and dessert at the end of our day.

Here's the start of the Market area - like Quincy
Market in Boston. We don't go into any stores or
restaurants so we just walked along the side to the
 Oyster House where we had lunch on the deck.

Loved this pineapple-shaped fountain on the 
waterfront!

I'm a sucker for shaded walks along the ocean - who isn't?

We saw a cruise ship leave the dock and head out
to sea and a freighter at anchor. This white heron
seems to be enjoying the view.

A Biden/Harris sign was a sight for sore eyes on 
this house - the only political sign we saw during 
our walk.

Not the traditional house designs here but I love
the colors and feeling of the Bahamas.

Here's the famous design and a beautiful example.

And finally our comfortable spot for dessert!

The last time we were in Savannah we had a
wonderful dinner here at the Pink House.

As you can see, it was rather cool sitting around.

We were the only people sitting outside but it 
was pretty early. 

I had the Honey Bee and Scott the Soutern Dew,
but the second (and last) round, Scott joined me
with a Honey Bee - it was great!

As you can see, we had lovely sunny weather for
our stay here, probably mid 60's.

We passed this polling site and Scott peeked in to
thank everyone - no one was voting at that time.
This was the big 2 Senate seat election day!

There are tons of squares in the city, all beautiful and each with a distinctive look.

There is a great deal of ornamental wrought 
iron work.

Scott admired this piece showing the Zodiak
signs all balanced on turtle backs.

And I oohed and aahed over the flowers, here
Camillas!

Vic's Restaurant on the River, all to ourselves.

Shrimp & Grits with Bacon & BBQ Sauce

Scott tucks into the amazing desserts.

The Wiley House at the Red Gate RV Park was
once the plantation house and now is an event
location. It's now also an equestrian center with
lots of horses.