Slow Day

Today we just stayed at the RV Park. Mark and Jim did a little cleaning and waxing and made a run to the grocery store. Ellie did some paper work today. I did a little cleaning and sorting. Later this afternoon the guys grilled some pork and some steak. Ellie made a veggie casserole, and I put together a salad. For dessert, we finished off the pineapple cake and topped it with some caramel swirl vanilla ice cream.

We visited a little about a plan for tomorrow, but came up with no real decision. I guess we will all sleep on it and see what comes together in the morning. There are a couple of possibilities and then again we might just have another campground day. You will just have to stay tuned to find out.

Eating, Walking, Touring, and Shopping

Today we went to Mrs. Wilkes House for lunch. We were parked around 10:30 so we could be in line for the 11:00 seating. We parked about a block or so down the street. Mark and Jim walked on to Mrs. Wilkes so Ellie and I could walk slower and take pictures.

This was one of the houses we saw along the way

This is the garden beside the house. We peeked through the gate, hope they don't mind us taking pictures

We finally arrived at 107 Jones Street at Mrs. Wilkes House

Every well-informed visitor to Savannah sooner or later finds his way to Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House for a hearty, family-style country lunch.

You will find Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House and Dining Room just off Whitaker and you will recognize it by the line that forms out front and the aroma of fried chicken coming from inside. You can enjoy lunch every Monday-Friday from 11:00 - 3:00.

This is where we caught up with Mark and Jim. They are holding our place in line. And have heart you will get inside soon and there is plenty to go around.

We were soon welcomed in the side door

We were seated at this large table with 2 other couples. Lunch commenced at 11:30 with grace and then everyone started passing the food that was in front of them. By the time it had made it all around the table, your plate had helpings of fried chicken, barbecued pork, meat loaf, beef stew, turnips, green beans, squash, lima beans, cabbage, rice and gravy, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, carrot salad, okra and tomatoes, and hot biscuits or cornbread. And when you thought you couldn't eat anymore came the banana pudding and blueberry cobbler.

Now, all I can say about the point value of this lunch today is that I used everything I had today and had to borrow a few from the bank.

This is definitely one place to come back to on the next visit to Savannah. In fact, the couple that sit next to Ellie, was back today after just eating there yesterday. I don't know that I could eat like that 2 days in a row, but I will plan to visit Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room again. That is when I have saved up plenty of weight watcher points.

After lunch we had planned to take a carriage ride, but the cool and cloudy weather was still with us, so we decided just to take a walk. That's great...we can earn some walking points. We found ourselves outside the Mercer House which was also on our list of things to see. So, we just decided to take the tour while we were there.

The Mercer House

Sorry, no photos allowed!

After the house tour we continued on our walk. These are a few of the pictures of the old houses and some of the gardens we saw. Enjoy...

If I lived in Savannah, I would want to live in a house like the ones we saw today.

Now, we are off to find Walmart and the Mall before heading back to the RV Park. See you tomorrow for another adventure from Savannah!

The Lighthouse

I love lighthouses and we have visited several while we have been here in Savannah. Each time I visit one of them, I can't help but think about the important role they played over the years to the ships and their captains to keep them safe. And each time, I also think about a favorite song of mine, "The Lighthouse". Today, as we visited the lighthouse on Hunting Island. I climbed the 175 steps to the top and as I looked out across the foggy waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the words to that song came back to me. And as the captains of the ships looked for guidance from the light of the lighthouse, I too am so glad to know that I have a lighthouse to guide my way.

Need I Say More?

Yesterday we had planned to go to the Seafood Festival in Savannah. However, the new hot water heater switch had been delivered from Tiffin and Mark decided he would quickly unplug the old one and plug in the new one before we left. Oh, no, that is not the way it worked. When he started to replace the old with the new, all sorts of wires came out and apart. First he and Jim tried a couple of things, but nothing happened. Then Mark tried a few more things, nothing happened. Need I say more?

At this point, I decided it would be best to call the Low Country RV Repairman to come and fix the mess. He was working over on Hilton Head, so it would be later in the day before he could come. So, we told Ellie and Jim to go on and enjoy the day. In Mark's frustration, he went outside to wax the motor home and in my frustration with the situation, I stayed inside and cleaned cabinets and rearranged the pantry. Need I say more?

Well, the afternoon wore on and no service tech. Mark's impatience led to another call to the tech. He was still in Hilton Head on a big job and wasn't sure if he would make it or not. Late afternoon arrived, Ellie and Jim returned, no tech, and still no hot water. Need I say more?

We did sit outside and enjoy the warm sunshine for awhile and then Ellie graciously offered her kitchen for dinner since I had no hot water to wash dishes. We both dug in the fridge and came up with stuff to make fajitas. They were yummy. Night was approaching quickly, and no service tech had shown up or called. Mark called him one more time and this time he got the answering service. So, at this point we knew there would be no hot water for showers. Need I say more?

So, we said our good nights, went home, watched some TV, chatted, turned back the clocks, and went to bed. Maybe, just maybe the service tech would call in the morning since his card indicated that he was on call 24/7. In the meantime, we discussed the possibility of going to a service center in Jacksonville, Florida or even going back to Red Bay. But, we decided to sleep on the options and see how things looked in the morning. These are things that you have to consider when you full time or even travel in RV's. Need I say more?

Well, after an hours extra sleep, we awoke this morning early to what sounded like an air compressor. Our first thought was Jim was out airing up the tires. Mark looked out the window, but no Jim. The noise just keep on. It was making our motor home vibrate. We knew it wasn't us, but couldn't determine where the sound was coming from. However, it soon stopped. After a while Mark met Jim outside to find out that it was Jim's motor home making all that noise. He indicated that the heater blower on the furnace must have gone out. Well, at this point, they have their heads together with a plan that we will just leave in the morning and head to Jacksonville to the service center. Now, they are both bummed. Need I say more?

Jim leaves to go do the laundry and think through his situation and in the meantime our service tech shows up, apologized for not getting here last night, and for not even calling, but he left his cell phone at the RV that he had been working on yesterday. Okay, he is ready to get to the task of replacing the hot water heater switch. He finds some blown fuses, fixes the disconnected wires, found and fixed a few we didn't even know we had, and yeah, I have hot water!

Jim has now returned and is telling the RV tech of his situation. He told Jim that it was probably just an adjustment. So, Jim and Mark take the panel off of the heater in the outside compartment. Mark says, Jim, there is your problem, see that brown wire hanging down. Now, after Mark's problem with all the wires, Jim tells Mark, don't touch my wires! So, Jim gets his flashlight to further assess the loose wire. Well, the loose wire turns out to be a little brown mouse that tried to make a home in the heater. Need I say more?

I will finish with this. We have hot water, Jim's heater is working, we both now have mouse traps set, we had a great lunch of homemade hamburgers, the guys are watching football, we don't have to leave and go to Jacksonville, Ellie and I get to stay in Savannah for Mrs. Wilkes and the carriage ride, and all is well. Need I say more?

Food and Fun At Tybee Island

Once again we woke up to chilly temperatures and a little frost. However, it was to warm up and be a nice day. Our plans for the day started out by going to pick up Jim's hubcap at the Saturn dealership and to find the bank. Mission accomplished, now we tuned Flo in for Tybee Island and we were off.

The time is around noon, so of course, Mark and Jim want to know what the lunch plans are. In reality what they were wanting to hear was that this was the day they could go to "Uncle Bubba's Oyster House" for lunch. We were in total agreement with them and they were happy campers. However, we had a little miss communication with Flo and she took us to the wrong side of the road. But a quick turn around and Mark got us to the right location. I guess anything computerized can be mistaken sometimes. Well, we all forgave Flo and all was well.

Lunch was grilled shrimp, grilled oysters, fried fish, fried oysters, fried shrimp, collard greens, french fries, corn on the cob and mini corn muffins with honey butter. We thought there could be no more. That was until the waitress offered us dessert of southern pecan pie. We decided that we would take one piece of pie with four forks. It was delivered to the table on a large plate topped with ice cream and whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Thanks goodness we only ordered one piece! Now, to know exactly how much this dessert was enjoyed you will have to take a look at Ellie's blog for the day at http://www.justravelin.blogspot.com/.

The four of us have decided that so far Uncle Bubba's is at the top of our list. The guys are trying to figure out how they can go back there before we leave Savannah.

Now, it's time to find the lighthouse and beach...

This is the house where the main light keeper lived

This is the kitchen...how would you like to have cooked on that stove or used that iron?

This is the living room

These flowers were blooming all around the house


Time to climb the 178 steps to the top

yes, it was 178 steps to the top

thank goodness for those landings every 25 steps


We have made it to the top!


What a view...

The importance of a lighthouse on Tybee Island was understood from the earliest days of establishing the British Colony of Georgia in 1733. Founder of the colony, General James Oglethorpe realized that ships bringing settlers and supplies to Savannah were dependent upon safe and well marked waterways and ordered that the lighthouse be built on Tybee Island to mark the entrance to the Savannah River and warn the ships of the shallow waters along the Georgia coastline.

This is the fourth lighthouse to be built on Tybee Island since the first one in 1733. It was built in 1866, with the lower sixty feet of the 1773 lighthouse being used as the foundation. Ninety four feet was added making it one hundred and fifty four feet tall and it was reclassified at a major aid to navigation and required three keepers to man the light station. The new light was displayed for the first time on October 1, 1867 and could be seen for over 18 miles at sea.

Washing and Waxing

It was already decided that today was going to be a down day at the RV Park. Now you have to understand that a down day at the RV Park means that the guys want to wash and wax cars and motor homes or clean out and rearrange compartments. The morning started out cool so we were slow to get out and about.

When it warmed up a little, Mark took the jeep down the road to the 25 cent car wash. Okay, a down day means to me that I can opt to stay in my jammies and play on the computer. I needed to clean up my emails. I also wanted to catch up on blogs. I also needed to make my grocery list.

By the time Mark got back from the car wash, Jim was off to the store to pick up a few things before he started washing the motor home. Mark had finished the car and was starting on the motor home when Jim returned and got started with his blue jobs.

Well, they both washed and cleaned, and polished and cleaned some more. Around 1:00, they decided it was lunch time and they wanted to go just down the road to The Pink Pig, another place on their list of things to do in Savannah.

So, we were off.




The Pink Pig is a must for everyone visiting the Savannah area. It has been named one of the best places to eat by Southern Living Magazines. Everyone had bbq but me. I had the Brunswick Stew. Everything was really good!



Well, it was time to get back to the chores. We got back to the RV Park, Mark was on the roof, Jim and Ellie were washing the rest of their motor home and I headed off to Wal-Mart. By the time I returned from my grocery shopping, they were all finished for the day and about ready to start dinner. Tonight we grilled out, bacon wrapped turkey fillets, mixed veggies with pasta, and strawberry shortcake was the menu for tonight. After dinner, the guys made a fire and we set out for awhile until the fire didn't even keep us warm.

Tomorrow we are planning to go to Tybee Island for the day. Hope you will join us there.

Flu Shots Today

Today is the day Mark and I planned to get our flu shots. We have been trying to do so ever since Chattanooga, but keep missing the dates by a day or two. So, we knew that today CVS at Hilton Head was the spot to be.

They were scheduled to be there from 3 - 7 pm this afternoon. We made our plans to go over to Hilton Head in time to look around for a little while and then be at CVS by 3:00. We ask Jim and Ellie if they would like to go with us and they agreed. So, after lunch we headed that way.

I was anxious to try out our new GPS system, which has been named "Flo" for go with the flow. Well, she did great. It is amazing how a little piece of equipment like that knows exactly where you are and can direct you where you want to go.

Well, we arrived at Hilton Head Island...paid $1.25 to take the toll road and then paid $5.00 per car to get into the community where the light house stands by the Harbor Yacht Club.

Welcome to Hilton Head

where you can enjoy the beach and water


or hang out like these guys

or live on one of these "RV's"

you can even have a Paula Deen dinner cruise
or

take a sail boat ride with these guys

this is the number to call for your reservation

And, let's not forget the guys keeping our shores safe

Thanks, US Coast Guard for the job you do!

We looked around there for a little while, purchased a shirt and a hat. By this time it was time for us to get to CVS for our flu shots. What a trip that was...we were there for over an hour as there was only one nurse there giving the shots. Well, that is done for another year.


We then told "Flo" to get us back to the RV Park. After we made our back through the $1.25 toll booth, she took us a different direction than the route to Hilton Head. At one point we questioned her decision, but we made it back just fine. We were all ready for dinner by this time so Mark and Jim grilled some chicken, Ellie made some potatoes, salad, and acorn squash and I made dessert. Dinner was great and I might add a whole lot less points than our dinner last evening.


Tomorrow we are planning for a down day here at the RV park. See you then.