Sea Island via the ICW to Savannah, Georgia

April 20 - 22, 2002 - Sea Island via the ICW to Savannah, Georgia

The trip from Brunswick to Savannah was almost 100 miles. After we looked at the charts, we decided it would be the same distance to stay on the ICW as going out into the Ocean, and the Ocean might still be rolly like it was the other day. Plus, one of the boaters along the dock told us it is a very pretty trip. The ICW is surrounded by marshes on both sides as the tide can rise and fall as much as 6 to 9 feet depending on the moon. Because the water is deeper along here, we don't have to worry about running aground, at least for now. It can be very narrow and curvy, and then go into a large lake. Today we are being followed by BIG nasty black flies. These are the first insects that we've seen on the trip.

After arriving at Palmer Johnson's Marina in Thunderbolt, right on schedule (5:00 pm) we get ourselves organized and called a taxi to take us into Savannah, which is about 15 minutes away. There weren't any marinas right in town except for the Hyatt Hotel or the Westin across the river and both were VERY pricey, so we decided to stay a few miles out of town. Our taxi driver took us the long way in order to give us a tour and some local history. He took us to River Street where we walked around the shops and restaurants, and there were musicians playing and mimes performing. It was a Saturday night and the town was crowded and busy with families and tourists enjoying the very warm night along the river. We had dinner at Huey's Restaurant and visited with a couple waiting for a table from Seattle.

Sunday we went back into town and took a trolley tour of Historic Savannah on which we saw the splendid mansions, the row houses, the beautiful squares, the restored waterfront, the cotton exchange and many historic churches. The weather was HOT, in fact, it set an all time record for April of 92 degrees. It was way too hot for me, as I 'm not a fan of hot weather. They are working hard to restore this very old, historic town. There is tons of history here and people from all over the world come to see it. After the tour we walked around the City Market, had lunch ( in air conditioning) and toured the Juliette Gordon Lows home - she was the founder of the Girl Scouts. Very lovely. Then back to River Street ,got ice cream cones, and came back to the boat to get cool.

Our last night in Savannah we went to town again, had dinner at a delightful spot and then walked River Street. A new Ben and Jerry's ice cream shop had just opened and they were giving away free cones, so, of course we went there and got a cone of Charlie's favorite, New York Chocolate Fudge. Delicious, as usual. It is still very warm, but it should get cooler tomorrow when we travel to Harbor Town at Hilton Head.