A Touch of the South



Sometimes it's hard to leave a place your fond of but you know in the back of your mind there's a new adventure waiting. We have always wanted to stop in Savannah, GA so this trip south we decided that 2 days should do it. Well that was our first mistake. Our second was turning too soon and driving through downtown Savannah. All I could say to Susan was if we lose our air conditioner on the large overhanging trees I'm not going back to pick it up. Anyone that drives an RV, can relate.

Being girls we're not afraid to ask for directions. However next time it won't be at the local liquor store. That's all I will say about that. Let your imagination go wild. Finally after an hour we found the campground pulled in and got set up.


Skidaway Island State Park - Site # 6

We decided to do a one day blitz of downtown Savannah so we started at the tourist information place which seemed logical. Wrong again. Are you seeing a pattern forming here!!!!! We informed the wonderful lady that helped us that we only had one day and wanted to see the highlights. An hour later we were still there and so confused as to what to see we just drove around seeing the some sights. We were so mentally exhausted we had lunch and decided on a hike leaving downtown Savannah for another trip.

The hike we decided on turned out to be quite a history lesson as well. The day was cool with no bugs, thank God since Susan hates mosquitoes. The trail started on an old historic road leading us through tall pines and old oak trees.

Old Historic Road leading into the forest

The beauty of the water and fallen trees

Trees with exposed roots and Spanish Moss

As we continued down the trail the first historic site we came across was an area of discarded oyster shells. Beginning in the late Archaic Period(4500-3000 BP), Native Americans consumed coastal shellfish in great amounts. Over the years, huge mounds of discarded shells accumulated near villages and campsites. These sites are called “middens” by archaeologists. Since the shells decompose very slowly, these sites are still visible today. Because of the accumulated shells, these areas are very rich in calcium and tend to be much less acidic than surrounding soils. As a result, many plants that are scare elsewhere on the coast can be common on the shell mounds. One such tree is the Southern Red Cedar.

"Shell Middens"

As we moved further down the trail we came across what looked like old river beds. These formations I found out are called “earthworks”. They were built as part of a large system of coastal fortification along Georgia’s coast during the Civil War. While the main entrance to Savannah’s harbour was protected by the massive brick structure at Fort Pulaski, many creeks and rivers south of Savannah provided a back door route for smaller ships. The smaller earthen fortifications made it difficult to move equipment and supplies.

Earthworks

In the early 20^th century, remote Skidaway Island was nearly uninhabited and only reachable by boat. Because of it’s remoteness Skidaway became a preferred hideout for moonshiners. Business peaked during prohibition but illegal liquor production continued until the late 1960’s. Moonshine was made by heating corn mash to release alcohol valors, which were condensed through metal coils and collected into barrels for distribution. Many stills fell victim to police raids note the axe marks on the barrels.

Old barrels with axe marks

One aspect of RVing is meeting new people with amazing stories. One such couple is Justin & Karli Mosey. They are newlyweds who left their jobs behind, bought an RV and a kitten, and decided to travel America. Karli is a semi-pro log roller who travels to different venues demonstrating the technique of log rolling using a manufactured log. This log was a real conversation piece, no one knew what it was until they explained it.

New friends Karli, Justin, and their kitten

Their ?1976 GMC motorhome

The red, yellow, and blue manufactured log is at the back of their motorhome. Resistance is increased by adding or subtracting the yellow fins. Pretty cool.

A neat turtle I found at the visitor center