Tag Archives: Tybee Island

Back to Georgia — Rincon, Savannah & Atlanta; October 27 – November 6, 2017

Rincon

We flew from Phoenix AZ  into Atlanta, where we rented a car and drove to the Savannah area.  Our initial stay was in a motel near the Savannah airport, since that afforded relatively easy access to Rincon, where daughter Danielle and her daughter Abigail live.  We were joined for most of our socializing by Danielle’s older daughter Kristen, who lives south of Savannah but is pursuing an MBA at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.  We all enjoyed several rousing games of Kings Cross at Danielle’s, and we all patronized a number of local restaurants.

On October 28 we all went to a local corn maze, where we saw dramatic evidence of the ill effects of too much rain for too much of the summer.

Savannah

We subsequently moved to a motel within Savannah in order to be closer to our various doctors and to the Savannah College of Art & Design annual film festival.  We had scheduled our visit to correspond to the festival, but alas, we had waited too long to secure our tickets and consequently saw many fewer than we wished.

One that we DID see, however, we enjoyed immensely.  “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, stars Frances McDormand, in a role written just for her.  I understand it opened initially in just a few markets, so we were doubly pleased to be able to see it before its official opening.

On an off day, one without doctor appointments or movie tickets, we drove out to Tybee Island. Very quiet place, this time of year.

And we found time to visit the Miwa Sushi Restaurant in Pooler, not once, but twice during our stay.  We think it is the best Sushi restaurant in Savannah, and we always try to drop in at least once when we are in the Savannah area.

And while I am praising Savannah restaurants, I must mention  Joe’s Homemade Cafe, Catering & Bakery.  We discovered it last year, and had to go back.  It is a tiny place with only a few tables, but the staff is super friendly and the offerings — salads, sandwiches, panini, and desserts — are extraordinary.   By the way, as you pay at the register, ask “which one is Joe?”

Atlanta

On Friday,  November 3, we drove our rental back up to Atlanta in order to spend the weekend with daughter Nellie, her husband Michael, and their two sons Michael and Connor.  It was a very good visit.  On Nov. 4 we all took a nice long walk (20,000 steps on my Fitbit) along the nearby Beltway, ending up at Piedmont Park, where we entered the Botanical Gardens.  Lovely place.  I took a gazillion pictures, with special emphasis on the orchids and on the colorful pitcher plants.  Also a few of Venus fly traps.  With enormous misgivings I include only one of each here.

On Sunday, another nice walk, but perhaps only half as long.  They live in a very interesting part of Atlanta, very near the Carter Center.

Early Monday morning we took our rental car back to the Atlanta airport and hopped a plane to Curacao, via Miami.  But Curacao is another topic for another post.

Homecoming — Savannah, Georgia; October 20-31, 2016

Our last stop in the USA was to Savannah, where we maintained our tradition of visiting relatives, friends, and doctors, not necessarily in that order.

Early on, we drove out to the vicinity of our former home on the Ogeechee River, in order to access the effects of the Matthew Hurricane. Although we arrived some 11 days after the storm had passed, there was still a tremendous amount of debris. The roads were clear, but the lawns and ditches were still littered with branches and cut-up logs. We saw some big trees that had fallen in yards, narrowly missing homes, trees that were still not sectioned for removal. We saw lots of blue tarp on roofs that had been damaged. Surprisingly, the private docks along the river seemed largely intact.

We spent a fair amount of time with Barb’s daughter Danielle and Danielle’s daughters Kristen and Abigail. One afternoon, Barb took Kristen and Danielle on a shopping expedition.

We had deliberately timed our visit to Savannah to coincide with the annual Savannah Film Festival, hosted each year by the Savannah School of Art and Design (SCAD). All told, we saw about ten films, all relatively new and all yet unrated. After many of the films there were Q&A sessions with some of the film actors and/or directors. Some of the films were surprisingly risqué for a conservative Southern city. On the last day we took Abigail with us; on one film Barb and Abigail had to beat a hasty exit. I stayed. 🙂

Barb and I took Abigail out to Tybee Island, where we walked the beach, had breakfast at the world-famous Breakfast Club, and climbed up to the top of the Tybee Island Lighthouse, located at the north end of the island. When we tried to access the North Beach, we found it was closed because the large parking lot was being used to temporarily store storm debris. The magnitude of the collection was amazing.