Savannah, Georgia

We spent the week at the Red Gate RV Park. It is the closest RV park to downtown Savannah, about 8 miles away. There were between 3 and 6 motor homes here at any one time during the week.

No one was anywhere near us all week.

Savannah is everything one imagines it to be. If you want to go back in time, this is the place you must visit. On top of that, it is a beautiful city with over 20 town squares, each a separate small park in and of itself.

A typical town square.

Walkway along the Savannah River

Lots of vendors were creating a "Savannah Rose" from

palm trees that grow around here.

We visited the Colonial Park Cemetery, a historic burial ground. Very interesting walking around the place and reading the inscriptions on the tombstones.

Colonial Park Cemetery

Do you really think she was the 11-year 9-month-old "wife"

of this lawyer when she died? If so, it's no wonder she

died at such a young age.

Another picture of the Colonial

Park Cemetery.

We also drove out to Tybee Island to check out the Tybee Lighthouse.

Tybee Lighthouse

Tybee Lighthouse with sun

behind it.

We took another day to visit the Wormsloe Plantation and learn about the early settlers in this area (1733).  We took Chanti with us and she absolutely loved running all over the place, pulling on her leash. We think she was picking up the scents of the ghost dogs.

Entrance into the Wormsloe Plantation. It is very interesting

how these oak trees reach out to each other 

to form an arched way.

More trees on one of the path on the Plantation.

Walking on this trail on the Plantation, we realized

that we were walking on the same trail that the

settlers walked on in the early 1700s.

Of the 33 families that originally settled on this Plantation,

only one family survived (others died or decided to leave

because the living conditions were too harsh).

Inside the house.

And then we also visited the Bonaventure Cemetery. This cemetery is much larger than the other one and is still taking on new residents today.

This is a famous statute of a six-year old child named Gracie Watson 

sculpted by Savannah's pre-eminent sculptor, John Walz. 

She died in 1889. This is the cemetery's most visited gravesite.

Angel on a tombstone.

Today, we visited three historic homes that have been preserved and are now tourist attractions: the birthplace of Juliet Gordon Low, Founder of the Girl Scouts (hey, I was one), the Davenport House (a middle class home in the late 1700s), and the Andrew Low House, a high end house built by Mr. Low, a multi-millionaire, in the mid-1800s. (He made his money exporting cotton.) We were not allowed to take pictures for "security reasons." The last house, in particular, has very expensive furnishings and antiques.

We also just had to visit the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

Tourists in horse-pulled carriage in front of the Cathedral.

Wide angle view of the front of the Cathedral.

Inside of the Cathedral.

Close-up of the windows of the Cathedral.

Needless to say, we loved Savannah. But, it is time to move on. So tomorrow we will drive 200 miles to Daytona Beach, Florida, hoping to beat the storm that is coming into Daytona in the afternoon.

Have a great week everyone!

Charleston, SC

We've always wanted to go to Charleston, SC because we heard stories about how much history lives in this place. We arrived at the Old Plantation Campground (even the name of this place says something about its history) four days ago and tried to take in as much as we could in so short a period of time.

 Parked at the Old Plantation Campground

(about 10 miles from downtown Charleston)

We visited downtown Charleston where we toured The Market that runs on for blocks with hundreds of small vendors selling everything imaginable. Yes, the downtown is old, but well kept. The streets are somewhat narrow.  

United States Custom House

(took this picture because the

building looked impressive)

We walked along the pier next to the place where the cruise ships come into port.

Waterfall on the pier walkway

On the pier looking back towards Charleston

We looked across the water to Cooper River Bridge.

The next day we drove across the Cooper

River Bridge. (See the truck in the 

bottom of the picture to get a 

feel for the size of this bridge.

This is Spanish Moss on the tree. It is all 

over the trees around here. 

Spanish moss is a plant that does not rely on the tree for nutrients. It also spreads its seeds by the winds and birds. We don't know if this moss is the culprit or if the Pampas grass plant (picture below) is the one causing Chanti to have her allergies back. We started giving her an anti-histamine again that is helping her.

Pampas Grass

One more picture looking towards downtown

Charleston from the pier.

Tomorrow we will drive 108 miles to Savannah, Georgia where we will stay for a week. Really looking forward to spending some time there as we have heard nothing but good things about Savannah.

Have a great week ahead, everyone.

Cumming, Georgia

We spent 8 days in Cumming, Georgia. Cumming is about 25 miles north of Atlanta.

Took this out of the window of the motorhome

as we drove by. Wish we were here in the summer time

so that we could eat some of Georgia's peaches.

Parked on the water in Cumming, Georgia

If we couldn't spend the Thanksgiving holiday with our immediate family in Los Angeles, we were blessed to be able to spend it with our other "family" -- Donna and Stu. We also spent time with Donna's sister, Joanne, and her husband, Jack, and Donna's niece, Tracy, all of whom we knew from back in the 70s. It's been five years since we saw them last and it was good catching up with them again.

I've already posted this picture on Facebook, but am also posting it here for those of you who are not on Facebook. The picture was taken in 1977 when Donna, Stu, Jerry and I (together with Tom and Susan) celebrated our first year of living together.

It's a long story about two couples thinking they could buy a "fixer-upper house" in Playa del Rey, CA, fix it up quickly and sell it for a profit. The house had an unobstructed view of the marina in Marina del Rey, views from Malibu to the Hollywood sign and an in-door swimming pool. They figured that they could give up their privacy for a short period of time in order to turn a quick buck. Unable to relinquish the thought of having to leave the house so soon after moving in, they took their sweet time fixing it up and ended up by staying together for over nine years.

Donna, Stu, Mary and Jerry with

Susan and Tom in front (1977)

Jack, Jerry and Stu (in back)

Mary, Tracy, Joanne and Donna (in front)

Chanti and Nikki (dogs - both Coton de Tulear)

In addition to the usual Thanksgiving dinner at their place, we went out to eat a couple of times and also were guests at Joanne and Jack's place for a wonderful meal.

Donna and Stu's home (Stu is a 

collector of contemporary art)

Donna and Stu's back yard on Lake Lanier

We had good intentions to see some of the sites in Atlanta but were lucky to get to the Jimmy Carter Museum. We saw that yesterday. Actually, it is one of the nicer presidential museums that we have visited.

Carter Presidential Center

View from the other side of the pool.

This a very unique portrait of Jimmy Carter 

done by Octavio Ocampo (1979)

Jimmy Carter's Nobel Peace Prize (2002)

Oval Office as it was for President Carter

Other views inside the Museum

Then last night, we met up with Kathy, my secretary/paralegal, who I hired in 1978 when I worked for Western Airlines. When I first interviewed her back then, she made the comment "I don't take crap from anyone!" Now, anyone who knows me knows that I don't handle conflict all that well.  So I planned to continue interviewing others. But my boss at the time (Tom, a wonderful man who is no longer with us) said to me: "Don't you think you owe her an opportunity to explain herself?" Okay -- so I interviewed her again and I really don't remember what she said to me, but I hired her. I'm so glad that I did. She's intelligent, loves learning new things, is adventurous, and loves to travel. We've been friends all these years. And, yes, she still doesn't take crap from anyone. Sorry, Kathy -- I had to say that!

Mary and Kathy

One more picture taken from the front of our motorhome.

Today we drove a couple hundred miles and am spending just one night here east of Augusta, Georgia. Tomorrow we will drive to Charleston, about 100 miles from here.

Stay healthy and happy, everyone!

Fort Mills, South Carolina

We have been at the Fort Mills KOA in South Carolina since Thursday, November 15. This KOA park is about 10 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. Our primary reason for coming to this area was to visit Marlene and Paul. Jerry has known Marlene since she was 18 years old. I won't say how many years ago that was out of respect for the parties involved.

On Friday and Saturday, we drove around Charlotte to see why Charlotte is rated the number one city in the America. I told Jerry that the curved streets and city hills certainly help to make it a beautiful place, but I'm sure that it received the distinction for other reasons, too.

On Sunday, the plan was for Marlene to purchase the rack of lamb (thank you, Marlene) and for Jerry to  prepare the meal for them at their house. Marlene invited her daughter, Bree, and husband, Chris, to join us. Jerry cherishes the times he can cook for others since he is getting a little bored just cooking for me, especially since I am now a vegan and he is not. In addition to the rack of lamb (made with goat's cheese), he made oven roasted potatoes, and cream corn. Marlene made the desserts -- delicious lemon tarts, cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies. I brought my own meal and filled up on the desserts.

 Jerry, the chef

Paul and Marlene

Chris and Bree

Today, we thought we would try to catch some of the sites in and around Charlotte before we leave this area. Top on our list was the Charlotte Museum of History. Oh no! Luckily, we called ahead only to find out that it is undergoing renovation and won't be open for a few months.  We tried to visit another site, but couldn't get in to that one either. Well, let's try the President James K. Polk State Historical Site. What? It's closed on Mondays.

Marlene had suggested that we visit the Billy Graham Museum and we found that it was open. (Lavern, you have got to visit this place the next time you come to Charlotte.) The house is the original Billy Graham residence that was moved to this location from a mile away, after having been moved on at least one prior occasion. The docent told us that it was taken apart "brick by brick and board by board -- numbered and put back together again." 

 The Billy Graham Residence

Part of the Graham property

What you see when you walk inside the barn.

This was a bit confusing. It is a 10 foot tall structure consisting 

of six layers of plexi-glass and unless you stand back from it, 

you don't realize that it forms a cross.

"Appreciation Walkway" leading down to the 

grave site of Billy Graham's wife, Ruth.

As you can see, lots of the leaves have already fallen 

from the trees.

We also took pictures at the Calvary Baptist Church properties in Charlotte, primarily because the architecture caught our attention.

Calvary Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC

Inside the Calvary Baptist Church

There are signs that we are definitely in the "south." The other day we stopped at a Subway. Jerry ordered the "veggie patty" sandwich. The girl behind the counter said that they don't sell veggie patties. "You are not from around here, are you?" she said to him. Jerry said that he was not from here. He then ordered a "veggie delight" and asked if she could put avocado on it. That was too much for her. She looked at him and said: "where ARE you from???" 

One last thing. We are parked under a few trees that drop acorns on our coach at night when the wind comes up. Our poor Chanti is going to have a heart attack. I hope that tonight will be better because we have had very little sleep with her panting, whining and pacing nearly all night long for the last two nights. Jerry bought a night light for the bathroom (where she likes to sleep on a rug) so maybe that might help her.

We leave tomorrow and head on south to Georgia where we will be spending Thanksgiving with long-time friends and house-mates for nearly 10 years, Donna and Stu.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Don't forget to be grateful, and to exercise.