………because you really don’t know what’s coming next!

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Having changed our plans to get us back to the space centre in time to watch the rocket launch we cut down our stay in Savannah to 2 nights, reduced our couch surf in Beaufort, South Carolina to 1 night and canned our proposed visit to Charleston.  We then had to find things to do for the 2 days after the launch and our trusty Florida guidebook bought from an English charity shop, price £1, came up Trumps (tee hee).

On the 3hr drive to Savannah on the I95 which runs the length of the east coast of the US, we had 2 unfortunate events.  The first had us worried that we had damaged the car and the second just scared the **** out of Neil who saw it coming but could very little about it. 

We were in the inside lane doing around 70mph when the breeze blew a plastic bucket into our path.  It was too late and too busy to change lane so Neil just had to go over the top.  We pulled over expecting the plastic trim at the front of the car to be in tatters……phew, no damage! 

The second event was almost game over with us either mashed up and in intensive care or in the morgue.  This time we were in the fast lane doing just over 70mph and Neil noticed a car come off the slip road, cross the nearside lane, cross the middle lane and then attempt to enter the lane we were in.  Again, we had nowhere to go so Neil swerved as far as he could go and in the side mirror he noticed that the driver of the other car, now just inches from our rear wing, swerve back into his own lane.  It was a much bigger car so if it had caught our rear wing it would have spun us around and we would have rolled for as long as it took to stop.  That’s assuming we didn’t hit anything else.  So, 2 positive results and 2 clean pairs of pants later we arrived in Savannah. 

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Established in 1733 as an English Colony, Savannah in Georgia was a bustling commercial town importing goods from all over the world and exporting goods from Georgia and The Carolina’s, especially cotton.  It was a key location for the American Revolution battles the English had in the late 1700’s with the French and Americans.  Then in the 1860’s the bitter Civil war between the north and the south dominated the scene with the town being the centre of the Confederate struggle. 

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It’s still a busy port with huge container ships passing along the river to the open sea.  They sail past the town dwarfing the buildings.  The town itself is beautifully preserved with tree lined streets intersecting numerous tree covered squares and parks.  It is quite stunning with more than 20 squares and parks including one that featured Tom Hanks playing Forest Gump sitting on a bench with his box of chocolates.    

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Next stop was a couch surf with Nancy and Timothy in another beautifully preserved small town, Beaufort South Carolina.  Nancy suggested we stop at the Port Royal Sound Maritime Centre which gave us the history of Beaufort and its crab, shrimp and oyster industries.  In its heyday around 100 years ago it employed several thousand people including children who went to morning school and then spent 4 hours oyster shucking in the afternoon.   

Nancy also suggested that we stop at the Cypress Wetlands board walk trail.  It didn’t disappoint with lots of birds and alligators.  We almost saw a crane become a meal but the gator was just a fraction too slow.  This place is surrounded by housing and it shows that the people of Florida, Georgia and The Carolinas are never far from a gator.

We took the town walking tour and looked at the historic buildings and the town centre.   A number of these have been used as film sets as they typify the Antebellum style used between the wars, Revolution and Civil.  We also drove over the bridge used in Forest Gump as he takes his run across America..   It’s a really pretty town with a waterside walk which passes by some very nice yachts.  The park had a collection of benches on swings overlooking the water – what a great idea.

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We had a lovely evening with Nancy and Tim talking about all things America and the UK.  She cooked us a delicious meal of local shrimp and followed it with her home-made brownies……very naughty but very nice!  We asked about living so close to gators and she told us that generally it’s not a problem as they are more scared of us.  However, a couple of years ago a woman was walking her dog and a gator took a fancy to it.  She tried to rescue the dog and also became gator food. 

Their garden is full of lovely trees and colourful birds which had us mesmerised with their colours and antics whilst we sat and drank beer and wine on the upper deck that Timothy had built.  Thank you guys, we really enjoyed your hospitality and we look forward to hosting you on the narrow boat and for you to experience the wonders of canal engineering. 

Davenport was to be our base for 2 nights to visit Bok Tower Gardens which Cheryl read about in our trusty charity shop book.  We would never have known about it otherwise.  Edward Bok was a Dutch immigrant who, basically, made a fortune.  He decided to create a nature sanctuary and gift it to the American people.  The 130 acre park was landscaped by the designer of New York’s Central Park and it was opened by President Calvin Coolidge in 1929 just a few months before the Wall St Crash. 

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The focal point is a 205ft Gothic Revival Tower of Georgia marble and pink Florida coquina.  It houses a carillon containing 60 bronze bells ranging in size from 16 pounds to 12 tons, all made in Loughborough. It’s called the singing tower and concerts are given twice a day by the carilloneur, who plays the instrument via a keyboard which is mechanically linked to a clapper inside each bell.   Our visit was on St Patrick’s Day and the concert featured Irish music. We sat in an area which had a live video stream so we could see the carilloneur at work up in the tower itself.   The resident player at Bok Tower is a Belgian, whose father was also a carilloneur.  He’s now married with an American wife and has taken US Citizenship.  We had never heard of a carillon before but there are hundreds all over the world, including the UK so we plan to look them up when we get back.

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