A weekend on the coast

Sometimes I do appreciate my job (at least what I do, if not who I do it with). During the past 2 years, I have gotten to travel a good bit more, and to places I'd never have seen otherwise. This time, we had a job site down in Savannah. Trying to arrange the site visit with my travel time (4.5-5 hrs 1 way) and the client's moving office schedule, it worked out really well to meet Saturday morning. Fine with me, since I just picked up Zach on the way and we stayed down there an extra day to see the coast! Sometimes things do work out nicely :)

So, Savannah and Tybee Island - consider it another check off on the bucket list!

Saturday we went over to Tybee Island after my site visit was done. Little town on the coast about 20 minutes east of Savannah. "Savannah's beach." Was a great time to be over there, since (being February) there were no tourists (although the Tybee Marathon/Half Marathon/5K was this past weekend too, but it's only a small group of races). Totally lucked out in the weather all weekend - it was breezy and early-springtime, but still mostly sunny and in the 60s to low 70s. Even Zach was in his T-shirt at some points! Didn't feel like the beginning of February at all!!

On Tybee Island we went for a dolphin tour. Third times the charm! We tried to go whale watching in Monterey when I visited him out there, and then again in VB at New Year's, but both times the weather foiled our plans. Not this time! And the dolphins were out too! The guide on the boat said that we had a great turn-out for a winter tour. In the summer, the dolphins come to Tybee and Savannah for the fishing season, and they can have 2-300 hanging out in the area. In the winter, the number's a little closer to 30-35 in the area. Still, the few that were there on Saturday wanted to play! The tour guide was laughing that they must be enjoying the good weather too. There was even one jumping in the distance! We actually got a few good pictures, though there were also a lot of shots of water that I had to clean off my camera too :)

I was just happy to get out on the water, honestly. Zach doesn't care as much, as he's never spent as much time on the water, but growing up on the coast in VA and FL, I'll miss the water when we move. Heck, I miss it here in Greenville, and we've got creeks all over the place, and a river running right through downtown. It's a different type of water though; the big rivers, calm and smooth and steady, are very peaceful and calming for me. Not something I'm going to have much of in Death Valley, CA come March, so I'm just trying to get my fill now. :)

We went to the Tybee lighthouse, too, as we were on the island, and climbed all the way to the top (of course) to enjoy the view. Can see quite a ways from up there, and we caught it at the end of the day as there were some great shots with the late-day lighting. The Tybee lighthouse was home to the local museum, too. The pirates and colonizers, the military history of the area (used to be home to a small fort), and the tourist history (Savannah folk coming over for the beach). They even had an old wool bathing suit on display among the tourist displays!

On Sunday we went to Ft Pulaski, which lies between Tybee and Savannah. Pre-Civil War fort (built in the same time period as Alcatraz and Ft Monroe, if you're interested), but it's really known for the site of a Civil War battle. First use of rifled cannons in warfare - huge technological advance. Kind of the same type of change as the Monitor-Merrimack battle. The rifled cannons could shoot further and with greater accuracy than previous cannons, and effectively changed the way forts had to be designed. Pretty interesting. The tour guide was great - very low-key, but you could tell he loves what he does. He's worked at 6 (I think) other National Park forts, and was full of interesting little stories. Like the first baseball game played in the state of GA was played at Ft Pulaski by the NY regiment stationed there. Gotta do something to keep busy, right?

Sunday afternoon was Savannah itself. We walked along the Riverwalk, saw all the little kitsch-y tourist shops. I had to get my pressed pennies, y'know. Zach's very good at supporting my expensive souvenir habit, as it seems I never have the right type of change - I'll have to be more conscious of that in CA :)

Went to the Juliette Low Birthplace, too. (For those who don't know, she's the founder of Girl Scouting in the States) I know I went in middle school with my troop, but I honestly don't remember tons, so I figured it'd be good to stop by again before moving cross-country, especially since I was in town, and all. :) My favorite story from the tour guide was that apparently Juliette's mother was fond of sliding down bannisters. That's actually how she met her husband (Juliette's father), by crashing into him as she slid down the bannister at a library. He said that 'she kept him off balance ever since.' It's interesting to see what I did remember, and what was new to me going as an adult. Like the giant hair combs Zach noticed in one of the bedrooms. Apparently that's the size comb that you use to create hairpieces for formal wear. They were huge! I'd never thought about it, looking at Victorian formalwear, the type of 'equipment' you'd need to keep those giant 'dos together. Interesting...

I know this has rambled on a good ways, but we had a very busy weekend and I just had to share! It was a really good weekend, too. Perfect weather, plenty of good pictures to remember it by, and lots of interesting stuff to see and learn. Zach and I are realizing that though we don't necessarily have similar tastes in history and museums, we both enjoy them, so it's easy to get the other to tag along. Works out nicely that way!