Jan. 24, 2011

We are still in Savannah. Hayden is in Mexico with One Van der Wal on a photoshoot for Dockwise Shipping. We expect him back in 2-3 days. Once he returns we will leave for the Caribbean on the next weather window. The trip should take 7-8 days. We are heading for St. Thomas.

Since I last made an entry we have spent a few more days exploring Beaufort SC. We actually made an offer on a beautiful piece of property on one of the tidal creeks with a beautiful view of the marshland and a rundown crica 1960's house. We didn't get it. It was in forclosure and we were one of at least 3 bidders. Oh well. It was another huge project so I am just as relieved not to take on another enormous job.

We haven't given up on the idea of buying in Beaufort but may have to leave it for awhile.

We have also made contact with my Mother's cousin Eugene Buttle who lives in Savannah with his wife Anne. He is a volunteer guide at the 8th Airforce Museum so we met up there and he gave us a fantastic tour. If you ever have an opportunity to visit this museum (Just off I-95 as it passes through Savannah) it is well worth a visit! It describes the events leading up to WWII and the creation of the 8th Airforce. It is filled with amazing artifacts including a B-17 bomber.

We finished off the day with Gene (Eugene) sharing dinner at a local café. We really enjoyed meeting him and hope to have a visit again before we leave.

While we were at the airport dropping Hayden off for his flight to Mexico I picked up a flyer about Cumberland Island, GA. It is Georgia's largest barrier Island at 18 miles long. It is also the ancestral home of the famous Carnegie family who built 5 impressive homes on the island (only 2 remain intact) at the turn of the century. They lived extravagant and idyllic lives on the island. There are still a few distant ancestors living on the island but it is now almost completely a National Park. There are also a large number of feral horses living on the island that were either released from the Carnegie estate when Lucy, the Matriarch, died (her request) or released there as part of a breeding project she started to breed a strain of hardy all-purpose horses to sell that were nicknamed 'Island Tackies" or something like that. Not sure what the breed was that she brought over to cross with her full blooded Tennessee Walkers and other fancy breeds.

Anyway, now the island supports approx. 130 of these horses that wander at will. They look a bit scruffy as you might imagine. There are also armadillos, raccoons, coyotes, deer, numerous birds, and the island is one of the many spots were loggerhead turtles come to nest each spring. Brian and I spent the entire day walking the beach and the paths through the marine forest. The trees, predominantly Live Oak, are sculpted by the prevailing winds and have resulted in the most amazing graceful canopy overhead. The undergrowth is all young palms which create a very tropical feel.

We shared the returning Ferry trip with a load of young Boy Scouts who had camped there over the weekend and had obviously thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It gave us fond memories of our boys at that age and the camping/outings with their troop.

Famished after a full day out of doors and walking, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant and demolished a heaping plate of Fajitas! I never thought we would finish it off but our appetites were bigger than our eyes in this case.

Let's see, what else..... Oh, I came down the dock to the boat the other day and disturbed an Otter who was swimming around the dock landing next to our boat. That was pretty cool.