The Traveling 3some - Day 21 - From Savannah, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida

October 27

 Drove 150 miles - 36mpg

Dawdled a bit on getting started today but sill made it to a free, mastication-worthy buffet breakfast. Our goal is to kick back and spend the day checking out the historic section of Savannah. It comes highly recommended. We shall see. The visitor center is always a good start.

A real footsie saver! No need to spend $50 for hop on- hop off bus tickets. Savannah provides a free equivalent to those buses with lots of stops, service every 20 minutes. For some reason the brochure mentions 12 stops, but there are many more. Hats off to the city fathers.

All of the green squares on the map are really town squares, typically with a monument of some type, Lots of landscaping and benches on which to sit while resting footsies. We actually only took the free bus twice, once to go from the visitor center to the St. John the Baptist church and the other to return to the visitor center from the waterfront.

A must-see and first on our list is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. As usual, taking a "pan" shot causes some distortion while allowing everything to fit in the frame.

This saves some typing.

The interior of this cathedral is absolutely splendid. We now see clearly that the Washington Cathedral is simply too bland by being in a sense "all purpose" to many faiths. Compared to this cathedral it is gloomy Gus. If you are going to glorify a deity, do it with vibrant gusto - put the "P" in "panache". The 2000 restoration was worth every penny. This place looks brand new. It is a deeply satisfying sensation to just sit in a pew and look around, just soaking in the work of art, which this is.

The detailing, the colors, the artistry!

Turning around from the view ahead and there's a spectacular set of pipes anchored by an intricate, circular stained glass window. Very effective that the ceiling in this area is not the blue over the alter.

This is the Mother Church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah. Yet it shows a strong Moorish stylistic influence that we've seen in cathedrals in the south of Spain.  

Signs such as this are liberally sprinkled all around and put what is being viewed in context.

The last burial in what is now Colonial Park was in 1853. So many modest, weathered headstones serenely partipating in the historical message of Savannah.

Wish we had this in Sacramento: Then again, in California may simply invite a lawsuit as not PC.

 City Hall and great timing for Pam's once in a lifetime photo. 

The monument in this, Johnson Square, honors Nathanael Greene, a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War who, during the Southern Campaign, forced the British to abandon the Carolinas. Although many cities are named after him and others have statues of him and monuments to him, he is buried at the base of this monument in Savannah.

An example of one of the squares, Wright Square, in all its glory. See plaque below.

Savannah has a wonderful riverfront along which restored cotton exchange buildings from the old days of "King Cotton" have shops and restaurants of all types. But Sacramento has Golden 1 arena. 

We got through 20 and had to call it quits from overload.

This and the following signs that provide interest and color along the walk.

Cricket's ready to poop - a BEAR! Why, Ma, why??

Whew! Now this is better if I don't look at that big dog staring at us and sitting way too close.

We have a metal cat made by the same Australian artist who made this dog house. Only $500 and, says Cricket, I would never, ever want anything new ever again - or was it Pam saying that?

We arrived at our hotel in Jacksonville, Florida at 6:15pm in 81 degree weather.  Should have brought shorts!