#7 From Jax to Savannah to ......

When we arrived in Jacksonville, we checked the Roadside America app for things to do here. The first thing that came up is to see a big dinosaur at a mini golf course 10 miles away. And then there was a giant coke can 14 miles away and an alligator statue, also 14 miles away. That kind of set the tone for our four day stay in Jacksonville where we found a nice city park to stay at, Katherine Abby Hanna Park, with a great beach ….. but not a whole bunch more!

Not all beaches permit pets, so this one was nice for Duffy

One day we found the tide had left a nice bunch of shells on the beach.

And here was a perfect whelk that Anne found.

The ferry across the St. Johns River leads to a scenic ride along the coast and to a small resort town with the interesting name Fernandina.

We found a state park along the water’s edge where you could drive your car along the water and a Farmer’s market with an all-olive stand. Their Muffalatta mix was scrumptious! 

Before leaving Jax, we found time to take care of some of the necessaries and to spend some time watching the water fowl at the fresh water lake in the park.

With nearly a million people Jacksonville has the distinction of being  the most populous city in Florida as well as the city in the Continental US with the largest area. The sunny mild weather we experienced here gives us positive memories of the city, and was a big contrast to what greeted us at our last stop on the trip, Savannah Georgia.

Savannah has a long and rich history. Settled in 1733 by James Oglethorpe who was  seeking to establish a colony where people of modest background could build a prosperous life for their families. Unfortunately, sickness plagued the group and the lack of some of the required skills to build a successful community resulted in many of the original colonists leaving for other settlements in the new world. But because it was a strategic location where it  buffered the northern colonies against the Spanish in St. Augustine, Georgia became a colony of Crown in 1751.

We started our visit at the Visitor Center, which is housed in the building where the Savannah Museum of History is located and that also happens to be the oldest original standing train station in the US.

The cotton gin was invented by northerner, Eli Whitney, who was living in Savannah at the time.

When the weather cleared, we took a drive to scenic oceanfront Tybee Island.

We took one of many bus tours around Savannah. There is much to see in the historic center of town, which boasts one of the largest National Historic Districts in the US. The tour highlighted many of the historic homes, including that of the founder of the Girl Scouts of America, Juliette Gordon Low. With over 400 antebellum (pre Civil War) homes still standing, its no wonder that Savannah is such a treasure trove of American architectural history.

We ended our bus ride at the River Street (above) and enjoyed a shrimp boil lunch at the Shrimp Factory on River Street.

We can’t forget the Oatland Wildlife Center where we saw some wolves in their natural habitat as well as a number of other animals and the Civil War era Fort Pulaski, that offered a great tour with many interesting exhibits.

Our last stop in Savannah was the plantation estate, Wormsloe, of Noble Jones, one of the original Oglethorpe colonists. We walked the grounds and stopped for a long while gazing at the ruins of his home and thinking about this multi talented colonist who in so many ways embodied the enterpreneurial spirit of our great country.

Thanks for reading our Blog!