Savannah GA; Tybee Island, Ft. Pulaski, and Family Arrives

As we are into our second week at our Savannah, Georgia location, we are excited about a visit from family and to see the many things we missed in our first trip here.  You really need two weeks or longer to enjoy the many features of this historic city.  In this post, I will review our trips to Tybee Island and to the Fort Pulaski.  We have two more weeks here before moving northward again.

Tybee Island

Tybee Island is the beach area for Savannah.  This quaint little barrier island is a short 30 minute drive from the Savannah Historic District (HD) along hwy 80.  The island is a very popular vacation spot with many condos and tourist stops.  The condos are all limited to three stories and are very well done.

The history of the island goes back to 1520 when the Spanish laid claim to it.  At that time it was a haven for pirates.  In the 1950’s the name was changed to Savannah Beach, but after the locals threatened to secede, it was reverted back to Tybee Island.  Another interesting fact is that the US Air Force dropped an atomic bomb on the island by accident.  Oops!  It was a good thing that it was a dud and did not explode.  The bomb was never found.  Hmmm…

We ate lunch on both visits at the Sundae Cafe, a popular locals place with some great food.  It is located in an unpretentious plain looking strip mall and I would not have stopped except the tip from some folks we met at church last week.

Tybee Island Lighthouse

We always enjoy touring lighthouses as we have journeyed along the coast of the U.S.  They will always have an interesting story to tell of its history.  From Tybee Island.com: “Ordered by General James Oglethorpe, Governor of the 13th colony, in 1732, the Tybee Lighthouse has been guiding mariners safe entrance into the Savannah River for over 270 years. The Tybee Island Light Station is one of America’s most intact having all of its historic support buildings on its five-acre site. Rebuilt several times the current lightstation displays its 1916 day mark with 178 stairs and a First Order Fresnel lens (nine feet tall).”

In the early days, the lighthouse was in a very remote area and may have taken several days to make the trip back to Savannah for supplies.  The lighthouse keeper and family would have to be very self-sufficient to manage.

Fort Pulaski

Fort Pulaski is a brick fort from 1829 and is in very good shape, built following the War of 1812 based on an order from president James Madison to prevent against foreign invasion.  There are literally hundreds of forts across America that were built in the early years to protect the country.  Sounds like today’s order to build The Wall.  Interesting how history can repeat itself.

Also, Ft. Pulaski became obsolete with the invention of the rifled cannon during the Civil War.  The rifled cannon proved to be much more accurate and with a higher velocity could penetrate the brick walls of these forts.

Robert E. Lee, just having graduated from West Point, was one of the people who were directing the building of this fort.  The fort also played a large role in the Civil War with cannon damage still visible along one wall.

In the photo above, you can see the slots in floor allow an updraft to carry the cannon smoke out the chimney at the top of the room.

Family Visit

We have been blessed to be traveling and seeing this great country of ours.  To make the memories even sweeter has been to meet with family and share experiences with them.  This last Friday we had the pleasure of a visit from Pat’s brother and his wife from Plano Texas.  Mike and Lorna drove the 1,000 miles to meet us in Savannah and joined us in a five day intensive tour.  More on our visit in the next post.

Savannah and St. Patrick’s Day

This city has one of the largest parades and celebrations for St. Patrick’s Day in the world.  Some claim the largest.  Many Irish came to the city to earn wages as laborers on the shipping docks and other places.  It had a large Irish population at one time.  The city has 22 beautiful parks laid out in a grid throughout the Historic District and all of the water fountains are flowing with vivid green water for this week.

We are enjoying some cooler weather as the Nor’easter moved across the eastern half of the country.  Thankfully, no snow down here!

Take care and God Bless.