Like a Lighthouse!

Day two of Savannah sightseeing was a lot of fun. This morning breakfast was at a drive-thru (I will vote differently for tomorrow. We headed first to Wormsloe Plantation. This was a a fun experience. The road heading out there was beautiful - driving through trees. We drove past a Piggly Wiggly and we all started laughing. We had to stop! Nicole went in because she wanted to see if the store looked like the one in "How to Win a Date with Tad Hamilton". She found shirts with a pig on the front and the back says "I Am Big on the Pig". We laughed so hard we all got one (for night time use of course)! We also took a picture of the sign which said "1/2 off sale at the pig". We thought it was so funny.

Anyway, Wormsloe has a large stone arch entrance. We stopped and paid as we got in the gate. The lady who was at the house working had her 17 month old son there with her. His name was Jacoby and he was such a cute kid. We had so much fun playing with him. The drive from the entrance to the museum is 1.5 miles and it is absolutely gorgeous and it is lined with 400 oak trees. It was beautiful. We watched a film about the area and the plantation which at home time had a large dairy farm. We took at nature walk (about one mile) around to see the remains of the original house and the family burial spot. We saw the most interesting palm trees there as well as a fun red bird and a hawk. Nicole and Melinda were both hilarious. We were walking on a marked trail and anytime the brush moved, etc they got so freaked out! I was laughing so hard! Nicole really wanted to see a plantation but it wasn't quite like we thought. We expected it to be many homes with guides dressed up in period costumes, etc. Apparently there are several of those in Charleston. Oh, well - another place to go on vacation!

After the plantation we headed to Tybee Island. We went straight to the lighthouse and braved the wind and the 175 stairs to the top. Melinda went out on the balcony long enough for me to take a picture of her and that was enough. I struggled for the first 'lap' around and followed Nicole. It was easier that way. This was Nicole's first experience with a lighthouse and I think we have her hooked. After we toured the other buildings around the lighthouse we drove into 'town' and found lunch at Lighthouse Pizza. We then walked out and saw the ocean. One thing to note -- the water here is brown! It is so weird. No one we have asked really has an answer but we are assuming the sand in the water stirs up differently.

Our next stop was Fort Pulaski and this was fantastic. We had no idea we planned our arrival so well. We got there just before 3:00 pm and it was right as one of two (for the day) guided tours was started. This is a National Park and so the guide was from the NPS. He did a fantastic job and it was so cool to hear the history of the Fort. We were able to go all the way up and walk around the top (Corrine, the architect was from Europe and it resembles a European Castle with a mote, draw bridge and everything). After the tour there was a demonstration of a musket firing. Once again the tour guide was fantastic. He had the greatest Southern accent! He gave us history off the Fort as well as of the Civil War. He then demonstrated the musket. In conclusion he gave a 'speech' about patriotism and being proud to be an American. I wanted to stand up and shout "God Bless the USA" when he was done. It was wonderful. Since they only do these a few times a day we were grateful we saw both. One funny thing happened here. The mote around the Fort has wildlife living in it including three alligators. As we approached the entrance we could see one of the alligators out sunning. Nicole and I walked up closer to it. Melinda wanted nothing to do with it! I was able to get a really good picture of it was the long lens.

Our next location was the Corkspur Lighthouse. This one was located out in the marsh (one thing I didn't mention - all the land around there including the plantation is marsh land). There was a nature trail from Fort Pulaski that was 1.5 mile round trip walk that took you up to about 50 yard away. Unfortunately, the gates closed and we were not able to go out. I then had Melinda take us out to a private dock so we good get just about it as close so I could get a picture. The museum store had 'minis' so Melinda and I got ours.

After leaving Tybee Island and heading back to Savannah we decided to go 'car' sightseeing and we drove down streets looking at the old homes, etc. There are some really 'trashy' areas here but there are some really beautiful homes and mansion. We came back to the hotel and relaxed for our 45 minutes and then changed for dinner.

Tonight we had a 8:45 pm reservation for dinner at The Olde Pink House which was once a haunted mansion known for ghosts! Nicole had seen this on the Internet and we were not disappointed. Melinda and I had Filet and Nicole had pecan crusted chicken. We all really enjoyed the food! We were glad to find it. We once again have a late night but more importantly we have had a fun day!

PS - my camera has most of the pictures but I can't get them off the camera now. I am posting a few pictures from Nicole's camera so you can see a few things.