Savannah Trip light text and Gallery 1 - exploring an old fortress and a huge cemetery

Fort Jackson was a very cool place to check out. On our last vacation, in St. Augustine, Florida, we visited an old Spanish fortress and saw a restored Spanish Galleon from the dock. It turns out she's into seeing really old stuff, especially when its dilapidated. That's kinda cool, right?

So checking out Fort Jackson was an obvious thing to do for us.  This fort was much larger than the Spanish fort we visited  last time. I really should have gotten a better picture of the moat. It was super windy and cold, so the pictures are fairly few in number. 

Here's Fort Jackson from the entrance to the property. The structure is entirely brick and timber, with an earth filled wall protecting the fort from the cannon fire of naval gunships. Inside, several covered pavilions give an idea of where barracks would have been located. Behind the heavily reinforced, earth-filled wall, and underneath the huge wooden deck that held the anti-ship cannons, there was a honeycomb of painted brick rooms that must have shook violently with the firing of munitions. 

We were so cold that we sprinted through the top deck fortifications and I didn't get any pictures of the larger cannons.  The smaller bronze cannon on display inside the fort, where it was much warmer, was fired by the fort's resident historian to produce a satisfying boom. 

Here are some more pictures of the cannons and items of interest inside the fortress.  If you scroll down  you'll find the pictures of the beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery.

Bonaventure Cemetery was absolutely covered in Spanish Moss (Old Man's Beard). We roamed for hours among the rows of burial plots looking for the best and most impressive of the artwork. Some of the artwork and structures here are just incredible.

Conrad Aiken and Johnny Mercer are two of the more famous people buried here. It was interesting to learn about these famous Georgia residents as we cruised the grounds.

 

 After our explorations we drove into Savannah and spent about a half an hour trying to figure out where to park. We lucked out, finding a free place just a few blocks from River Street. We found an awesome restaurant and I had a mind-blowingly good bowl of shrimp and grits that I may have to go get again before we head back to Chattanooga. We hustled around on the streets in the wind and cold as we took in River Street at a dash. Pictures were not a priority down town. It looks like today and tomorrow will be much warmer and decently sunny instead of all overcast and gross. I'll try to get more pictures of the city streets when we get down there again.

Today we are going to check out a nearby wildlife center. They have a wolf, Georgia Predators, and a bunch of cute, fuzzy and feathered things Hadlea wants to see. For five bucks it sounds like great entertainment!

After the nature center I am going to drive us out to Tybee Island. A friend of mine told me that there's a crab shack restaurant I 100% need to stop to eat at. Afterwards, I figure we will either use that canoe to paddle around the tidal creeks and do some fishing or we can drive to the lighthouse on Tybee Island and walk the beach. Apparently there are beautiful glass eggs hidden in different spots on the beach that you can find. Hadlea is always up for a scavenger hunt.

Off we go!

I'll come back later and post pictures for you. Have a great day!