Hardeeville/Savannah Recap: Part 2

Tuesday 1/8/2013

Walkabout Camp & RV Park

Woodbine, GA

 

This is “Part 2” of our Hardeeville/Savannah Recap.  Click here if you’d like to read “Part 1.”

After our previous, somewhat brief visits to a couple of cemeteries the last few days, we decided to go back and revisit them.  Saturday, 1/5/13, was a much nicer, clearer, sunny day!  First we returned to Colonial Park Cemetery.  This is the main entrance into the cemetery.

This cemetery was the burial ground for the city of Savannah from about 1750 until 1853.  It became a city park in 1896.

There are many historical marker signs placed throughout the park which are very interesting and informative.  This picture has two signs in the shot.

After spending quite a bit of time here, we left Colonial Park Cemetery and walked around the historic district.  Savannah has 22 scenic squares.  Time only allowed us to visit 2 of them.  The first one was Oglethorpe Square,

and the second was Columbia Square.

The squares are beautifully landscaped.  Some have fountains and others have playgrounds.  We saw some very interesting buildings while walking.

There were many horse-drawn carriages out on the street on this beautiful Saturday in January.

  

We really enjoyed our much too short walk around the historic district.  Some day maybe we can come back and visit all 22 squares.  Our next stop was a return to Bonaventure Cemetery in Thunderbolt, GA.  The famous “Bird Girl” statue was located here until it was moved to the Telfair Museum of Art.  A photographic image of the statue appeared on the cover of the  book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil written by John Berendt.  The statue was moved due to the amount of traffic, as well as vandalism, at the gravesite.  Even without that particular statue, there is much to see here.

We enjoyed exploring this cemetery, but due to it’s size we weren’t able to see it all.  Again, maybe some day we can return for another visit.  On our way home we went back and drove the Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive on the Savannah NWR.  We slowly took our time and enjoyed the loop.

Watching the sunset over the marshes was a great way to end an enjoyable day.

On our final day out, Monday, 1/7/13, we went back to the Savannah NWR and stopped in to check out the Visitor Center.  They had some very nice exhibits and a 10-minute video.  They also had a white board listing more than 25 specie sightings already during just the first 6 days of the year!

Then we again went back to the Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive.  We specifically planned to get there late in the afternoon near dusk for a short walk.  The day started out clear and sunny, but by late afternoon it became cloudy with a strong chilly breeze.  We went for our walk anyway atop a levy out into the marsh area.  The drop in temperature persuaded us to shorten our walk, but it was still enjoyable.  Unfortunately we didn’t see too much wildlife.

We enjoyed our time in the Savannah/Hardeeville area, but it was time to move on.  We’ll be at Walkabout Camp and RV Park
 

in site #B7 for two nights.  This is our first visit to Walkabout.  We have full hookups, and I was able to get the satellite dish set up.  I was NOT able to get any of the networks on the antenna however.    We got the Passport America rate of $16/night.  Tomorrow is laundry, groceries, and some exploring of the area.

       

Hardeeville/Savannah Recap: Part 1

Monday 1/7/2013

Hardeeville RV

Hardeeville, SC

As I mentioned in our last blog entry, Hardeeville RV is located very close to Savannah, GA, and also the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.  We stayed a total of 10 nights at Hardeeville RV.  As is our nature, we spent a few days just relaxing around the RV with a few errands thrown in.  The weather during our visit was a bit chilly with many overcast days and some rain.  However, we did get some sightseeing days in too.

Our first day out, Wednesday, 1/2/13, we drove in to Savannah.  First stop was the historic Forsyth Park with beautiful walkways and landscaping, a fountain, and the Confederate Memorial Statue.

Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy with intermittent sprinkles, but that didn’t stop us from continuing onward and enjoying the day.  Our next stop was the Colonial Park Cemetery located in the Historic District-North area.  We parked on a side street across from the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department which is located right next to the cemetery.  There were a couple of old police cars sitting out front.

Located in the center of the boulevard in front of the police station is the Chatham County Police Memorial dedicated to those lost in the line of duty in Chatham County.  The names are inscribed down the sides and date back as far as 200 years ago.

We walked next door and into the cemetery.

 

There was quite a bit more we wanted to see here at this cemetery but we also wanted to go down to River Street along the Savannah River, so we decided to come back another day.  We drove down to River Street and happily found a FREE parking place on a side street.  There are many shops and restaurants along the riverfront.

We stopped in and saw this delicious looking “pie” for sale at a candy shop.

We chose to pass that one up!  In fact, our only purchase was a postcard.  We enjoyed our day in Savannah, but we had one more stop before leaving town…

the Great Dane Dog Statue in front of the Great Dane Trailer Company at the intersection of Bay Street and Lathrop Avenue.  As you can see from the pictures, he was still decorated for Christmas.  On our way home we swung by the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and drove the 4+ mile Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive.

We didn't spend too much time on the drive, but we knew we would be going back another day.

Our next day out, Friday, 1/4/13, we drove out to Tybee Island east of Savannah.  We walked the beach,

and we saw this sign at the dangerous jetty.

If you look closely, you can see “Dad and his daughters” climbing on the jetty with “Mom” looking on.    We also took in some great views of the Tybee Lighthouse.

Fort Screven is all but gone

except for a couple of batteries (a fortified emplacement for heavy guns) that are still present.  One of them,

Battery Garland, has been converted into the Tybee Island Museum.  We elected to pass on touring the museum as well as the lighthouse for now.  We left Tybee Island and went to the Bonaventure Cemetery in Thunderbolt, GA, just east of Savannah.  We were specifically looking for the gravesite of Johnny Mercer, who was a singer/songwriter and co-founder of Capitol Records.  The cemetery has directional signs leading to his gravesite, so it was quite easy to find.  There is a memorial bench nearby with a reproduction of a self-portrait.

Bonaventure Cemetery is a very historic and beautiful place.

We decided we would have to return to spend more time here exploring.

Stay tuned for Part 2…