Charleston, South Carolina to Savannah, Georgia

Before I post about today, I would like to mention the fine meal we had yesterday evening at Husk, a restaurant in the centre of Charleston. We had been recommended to go there by a friend of our daughter-in-law. It certainly lived up to the recommendation.

Turning now to today. Why is it that, whenever we are away, it seems that the UK has fine weather? When we did our Baltic drive in May, there was a heatwave in the UK and now we hear that the UK is having record temperatures! We checked the forecast for when we go home next week and the weather is returning to October norms with temperatures in the low teens. I might have guessed it!!

Good news on the rugby front, with England beating Scotland and going through to a quarter-final clash with the French. Having yesterday read the plaque under the George Washington statue that mentioned the French naval blockade that effectively sealed the defeat of the British at Yorktown, it's time for a gentler form of revenge on the rugby pitch!

Our last day of driving has arrived, with a short drive down the coast to Savannah. Bob and Thelma will be delivering their car to the shippers today, as they won't have time on Monday because they are leaving early to get their flight to Washington. From there they will take the evening flight to London. We, on the other hand, can keep our car till Monday, as our flight to the UK doesn't go until 9.15pm. We are flying out from Atlanta and have arranged a hire car for a one-way rental from Savannah.

We had a good breakfast and then walked down to The Battery, which is at the southern tip of Old Charleston, where there are plenty of reminders of the War of Independence, as well as the Civil War. There were four giant 13 inch mortars, with their cannonballs placed beside them, that were used in the attack on Fort Sumter during the Civil War in 1863.


Nearby was the memorial to the Confederate soldiers who died in the attack on Fort Sumter.


We then walked back towards our hotel and went past a woman selling sweetgrass basketware. We had seen it at the market place yesterday but, as it was very expensive, we didn't buy any. I saw a small basket which I bought for $20 and the woman, Ruth, posed with me holding the basket.


Just before we reached our hotel, we went past Husk, where we had eaten yesterday evening and Wendy took this photo as a reminder of a very enjoyable evening. We ate our dinner on the outside porch on the second floor, or first floor for the English readers of the blog.


We returned to the hotel and checked out. We loaded up our car and started the drive to Savannah. We took Highway 17 which went close to the coast, though we never actually saw the sea.

The road went through some lovely tree-lined countryside and then wetland areas with egrets and water fowl. It was a cloudless day with the temperature in the mid-twenties.


The journey was only about 150 kms and, just before we reached the bridge that crosses the Savannah River, we entered our fifteenth and final state of the tour, Georgia.

 

Once over the bridge, it was a short ride to the auto-shippers where we had agreed to meet Bob & Thelma.


Bob and Thelma loaded their bags into our car and we went in to see Raymond, who was organising the shipping to California for us. Raymond told us he was Lithuanian and, when we said we had been there in May, he told us he came from Klaipeda. When we said we had stayed at the Navalis Hotel in Klaipeda, he said his mother worked there!! What a small world it is.

We then drove the short distance into Savannah and our hotel, The Bohemian.


The hotel is located on the riverfront and our rooms have wonderful views across the river and towards the cable-stayed bridge we had just driven across.


We had made it all the way from St. John's in Newfoundland to Savannah, Georgia. We have driven 6,200kms, nearly 4,000 miles, in three weeks. It has been the most wonderful fun and it was completed without any major problem, which in itself, I think, is quite an achievement.

We all went up to the rooftop bar to have a celebratory drink. We asked our waiter to take a photo of us enjoying the moment.


Later on, we went for walk along the riverfront, which was crowded with people, as Savannah is having its annual Oktoberfest.

We have a final rest day tomorrow when we will be able to enjoy the sights of this lovely city, which we last visited more than ten years ago. I'll post more photos then.

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