July 19 - Ocean voyage, well a very short ocean voyage

Bill and our boat pilot Jason beside
our boat

As soon as I got up this morning I called in to the Bar Pilot office the make sure we were on time for our boat.  He said to call back about 10 as we were still scheduled for 10:30 but it could change.  He called later and said we needed to leave 10 minutes early, so we got ready and left to walk over to the Pilot house at 10:10.  Today was a shift change so we waited a little bit and signed waivers in case the boat sunk or something.  We rode out with the little boat pilot, 2 workers and a ship pilot.  It was pretty choppy going out so I was really glad I took my motion sickness pill before we left.  We drove out in a boat that’s at least 40 feet.  We sat in the cabin with the pilot and there are 4 more seats in the back and there’s a galley below. 

The ship pilot is climbing up the rope
ladder

The ships meet the pilot boats about 12 miles out, which is about 8 miles from the shore.  We leave from the Savannah River.  The pilot boat goes behind the ship and comes up along the side and they both move at the same speed and the ship pilot we are carrying climbs up a rope ladder to the ship.  Then he advises the ship’s captain of the sand bars, etc along the river channel.  It was so fast, I hope we got good video and pictures.  Then on the way back we picked up another pilot from off a ship he was on going back to sea.   The boat pilot did a couple of tricks for us with the boat, which was fun and then we headed back to the pilot house dock.  The ride back was much smoother since we were going with the tide.  The guys that work there have different schedules depending on their time with the company.  New guys work 4 weeks on and one off, then some are 2 one and 1 off put the pilots are 1 on and 1 off.  They have a really nice house when they’re working.  And I managed not to get sick!!!

We got back in time to go see the 2:00 3D Harry Potter movie.  Actually we had time to walk Xena and to have lunch at Wendy’s and stop at Staples.  The movie was good and it was sad that Harry is now over and gone.  It wasn’t busy at all.  On the way home we stopped at Wal-Mart, Dollar Tree and Krogers.  We were down to nothing for breakfast or lunch except cereal.  For dinner I made pork chops in the toaster oven and couscous with feta and a salad.  Bill said it was the most tender and moistest pork chop he’s had in a very long time.

 

After dinner we loaded two of the tires in the truck and drove them to the dumpster.  Xena got to ride along and then Bill walked her back while I stopped at the VIP room to put some of the groceries in the fridge and get the couch throw out of the dryer.  We’ll take the other 2 tires up tomorrow night.  Then I put bird seed in my feeder.  I put a batch of meatballs in the toaster oven and Bill did the dishes while I showered so I could do my little bit of ironing after my shower.

 

Kerry called to tell me about her yummy dinner that our apartment guests invited her to.  He’s a chef so she said she had a really nice meal and he gave her the leftovers.  I think she’s hoping for another invite. 

 

Blog typed, now to work on photos.

July 18 - Back to Playing Tourists

We really slept in today. It was well after 9 when we got up. Once we had breakfast Bill did some repairs to my bike, raised the seat, put on a new inner tube on the other tire and adjusted my handlebars. While he cleaned some nasty stuff coming off the roof of the RV I took the couch cover up to the VIP room to wash so I could hang it out while we went to town later.

Molly enjoying outdoor life

I took Molly out on the leash for the first time in ages and she really enjoyed being outside. She would take a few steps then lie and roll in the dirt. She nipped at some vegetation. Finally I put her in the pen that we have for Xena and left the leash on and she never tried to jump over, just eventually laid down and just rested. She needed brushing as she was pretty dirty. Bill brushed her while I got my shower and he showered and we finally got ready to go.

We stopped at the post office, then a little restaurant we have always seen packed when we have gone by, Basil’s Deli and Pizza. Bill had a huge pepperoni calzone and he said it was really good except it didn’t have any ricotta on it. They had quite a selection of Greek food so I had a combo of dolmades and spanikopita with a Greek salad. The salad was excellent with lots of feta cheese and calamata olives. The meal had a side of orzo with feta and fresh diced tomato. Yummy. I will have to make that at home. The spanikopita was excellent but the dolmades tasted tinny like they came from a can and the lemon sauce had no zip to it at all.

Telfair House

My favorite piece

Bird Girl when it was in
the Bonaventure Cemetery

We drove into Savannah to Telfair Square to the former Telfair home that was donated to the Georgia Historical Society who later turned it into the Telfair Academy which now has several area buildings that are art museums of sorts. This one leaves some of the rooms decorated as they were in the period it was built or last lived in. The larger entertainment rooms were art galleries. One was contemporary crafts that I enjoyed. One of the main pieces in the museum is the “Bird Girl” bronze statue that was in the Bonaventure Cemetery from 1936 until it was the cover picture of the famous book, In the Garden of Good and Evil. The family put it on loan to the museum to keep people from destroying it at the cemetery. They don’t allow photos but everyone who knows me knows I will sneak one if I can. They have a lady standing right by that statue but I got a side view from one of the galleries to the side of it. Had to use the video camera so doubt the resolution will be good enough to print.

Kelly under the portico at the
Owens Thomas House

From there we went to the Owens-Thomas House on Oglethorpe Square. It was a tour but since it was late in the day we were the only 2 on the tour. This house was completed in 1819. It passed through several owners and was at one time an apartment building. Then it was eventually turned over to the Telfair Academy. The house was used in the movie “ TheConspirators” produced by Robert Redford. It was about the people involved in the killing of President Lincoln. The main focus of the movie was on Mary Suratt and her lawyer. It was out in theaters sometime last spring. It dealt with whether or not she was guilty and if the government had the legal right to try her. Bill has talked to many people that have seen it and they have all said it was really good. Some of the movie was also filmed at Ft. Pulaski.  The house had running water and flush toilets before the White House due to its installation of several cisterns. The rooms were furnished with period pieces, some original to the house. One of the house’s claim to fame was a visit from the Marquis de Lafayette who stayed there 2 nights as a guest of the City of Savannah and gave a speech in English, then in French from the balcony along the side of the house in 1824 or 25. Later his son, George Washington Lafayette stayed there but in a different room.

Time to go to the mall. I had gotten a voice mail from the Bar Pilot guy I spoke to earlier and we got OK’d to go out on the boat tomorrow to meet one of the ships. We have to call in when we get up to verify the time but if nothing changes we will meet the ship at noon but have to be at the Bar Pilot at about 10:30. I must remember to take my motion sickness pill for sure as the water has been pretty choppy this week and I don’t want to embarrass myself or make a nasty mess for Bill to clean up. I was so thirsty by the time we got to the mall that I headed straight to Star Bucks for a mocha coconut frappucinno. Oh, it was so good. I did manage to give Bill a couple of sips. He went to the ATT kiosk about his phone, then to several places about a replacement watch band for his watch while I went in Bath and Body Works. Then he tried Sears and I found they had a big sale on Lands End clothing so I left with 2 things and he left without a watch band. They wanted $35 for the band and to put it on so he will wait til he gets home to our regular jeweler.

Buck taken from about 20 ft with video camera

The plan was to stop at the grocery but since it was 6:30 when we left the mall we just went home. I really was not hungry due to the big late lunch and knew we could manage til Tuesday for more groceries. When we pulled in there was a 4 point buck and a doe right by our RV that we videoed and took some photos of. We will have 100 deer pictures by the time we leave here. Then I made cookies to take to the admin office, the maintenance office and the fort in the morning. Everyone has really been nice to us, well, except for one ranger, that I wanted to thank them before we leave. Once the cookies were done, Bill wanted some grub so I fixed him a Lean Cuisine and he was happy. I had a banana with PB2 on it and we both had a couple of cookies.

We got a call from our friends, the Bostons and they are coming up on Saturday so we will plan some fun activities for next week’s days off. I know we will have a great time with them, as we always do. They will stay over in Tybee at the beach. Time now to download and resize some photos and watch our TV show.

July 17 - Work and Play

Ah to sleep in! Poor Bill was up twice to take Xena out so he really was not ready to get up this morning. Then just after 8 there was a banging on our door and a coast guard guy said we were not to use the water as they had to prime the pump on the island and someone would be back over to let us know once it was OK to use. No big deal. We had our Sunday breakfast and Bill was going to do some things outside using water but decided he couldn’t so it was a good morning to do some serious cleaning. Bill used Orange Glo on all wood in the RV and cleaned the tops of the slides inside which were pretty dirty. I did a very thorough vacuum job and used the attachment to clean the furniture also. There was so much cat hair everywhere.

We took Xena and made a quick run to Tybee Island to get a Sunday paper and after lunch we still had not heard back about the water, so I turned our pump on and we used the water from our fresh water tank to take showers. We left about 3:30 to go to the movies. First we stopped at Target which is in the same plaza and I got a new mouse to use with the netbook. We went to see “Horrible Bosses” and it was so funny. The sad thing is there really are bosses out there like that. Then we headed into downtown Savannah for our 6:30 dinner reservation at The Olde Pink House.

The Olde Pink House

Dessert

The house was built in 1771 as the Habersham House and became called the Old Pink House as the brick began to bleed through the plaster changing the color to a Jamaican Pink. It sits on Reynold’s Square and was the property of a wealthy planter. Later it was the Planters Bank, the first bank of Georgia. The old vaults are now used as wine cellars. During the Civil War General York set up shop in the mansion. Over the years the mansion was a bookstore, attorney office, and a tea room until in 1992 it was restored to its original elegance. Everyone says it has ghosts especially in the handicapped restroom. The room we ate it was upstairs and was set up for all couples. Each table had a single white taper lit. It was a bit dark at our table to read the menu by. Would have been better to have gotten a window table. The food was excellent. I started off with a peach martini, yummy! The bread basket contained mini corn muffins, biscuits and herbed yeast rolls. We shared a salad called a BLT. It had fried green tomatoes with sweet bacon and a black pepper thyme buttermilk dressing over a bed of spring greens. For dinner Bill had a filet with twice baked potato and asparagus. I had Crispy Scored Flounder with Apricot Shallot Sauce with grits and collard greens. It was a whole flounder without the head that was cut in diamonds on each side then a crust and was flash fried. The meat came off the bone in sections due to the diamond scoring. I only managed to eat one side and brought the other side home for leftovers. We were going to pass on dessert but then relented and shared the house specialty, Praline Dessert Cup, which was a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream topped with fresh fruit served in a waffle cone type cup of almond praline. . It was the perfect finish to such a fine meal.

Huge Tanker

We thought about driving around a bit since it was so nice out but figured we had left Xena long enough so headed home. As we came down the highway we could see a huge boat headed up our side of the island. From the end it looked like 2 boats side by side or that they were not moving and one was off loading from the other. We hurried home to maybe catch was what going on. As we drove further we could see the boat was barely moving. Once in the park and on the road to our RV we could see it and pulled over to the river side to watch. It was just one boat, a tanker, and it was being towed by a tugboat, explaining why it was going to slow. There were 2 more tugs following behind. It was the biggest we’ve seen on the river by far.

We did manage to count 20 deer on the way in but might have missed some in our haste to catch up to the boat. Bill did up the day’s dishes and we read and watched a show at 10. I read for as long as my eyes would stay open, which was not long.  No one ever got back to us on the water so we just started using it again.

July 13, 14, 15 & 16 Another week at work

July 13 – Ron was back from being out with bronchitis for 2 weeks.  I did the morning and he did the afternoon in the entrance station.  The morning was kinda slow so I got caught up on downloading photos and then doing my blog.  Made a couple of phone calls and paid some bills on line.  So I had a productive morning.

We stopped at the Admin office at lunchtime to pick up our mail packet.  Nothing of major interest there either.  The afternoon was better and went faster as Ron had Bill come out and get his keys so he could empty the donations from the canon in the VC and a box down at the Fort.  Then it was Bill’s and my job to sort count and roll all the money.  We ran out of penny wrappers but got the rest done.  I felt like I was back at the bank.  It was only about $800 but it was all folded and crumpled.  What a mess.

 

I made tri-color tortellini with a chicken pasta sauce and salad for dinner.  Then we kinda layed around reading the mail for a while.  When we walked Xena I took the movie camera in case we had a boat come in or saw any animals.  I was doing a panorama of the area of the park we live in and it included the mama and baby deer, and a raccoon.  From a distance I thought it was the armadillo we sometimes see in the same area and it disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the road.  There was a culvert there and then he was back on the other side and all that I could see what his head.  Then as we got closer with the dog he took off for the woods but I got him on video.

I made a strawberry weight watchers pie for tomorrow.  Bill’s watch band broke today so he’s going to take me to my meeting and go get a new watch band and then we’ll stop at Krogers on the way home.  Watched some TV and wrote some postcards.

July 14 – I worked the entrance booth for half the day today.   I get aggravated when the visitors interrupt me when I’m trying to do stuff on the computer!  Working the booth and using the internet there keeps me from having to go to the library and to McDonald’s, but sometimes I like to just work along with no interruptions and get done.

It was getting windy and looking bad out by the time we finished lunch so we put the awning in.  At first the awning would not come in but I shook the arm and then tried again.  We were a little concerned that it was time to head back and we might have a problem.  We were both in the VC for the afternoon and it was pretty boring.  When the ranger in charge doesn’t have anything to do they help run the register or want to chat and I can’t even take time to read when there are no visitors without being rude. 

 

We had leftovers for dinner so I could go to Weight Watchers and Bill wanted to get a watch band.  His broke yesterday at work.  It was starting to rain and looked really nasty out.  Since we got a late start Bill waited for me to go weigh in and then he dropped me at Krogers for a few things while he went to Wal-Mart.  He didn’t have any luck with his watch band so he got back just as I was filling our water jugs.  I called Cheryl Boston on the way home to see if she and John came up with dates to come for a visit.  They want to come the end of the month since John changed his Sunday work with someone, but it’s really better for us if they come the weekend before that.  They are going to see if John can change back.  We talked about what activities we will all do while they are here.  Bill and I talked about what restaurants we want to take them to.

I made a batch of coconut macaroons for the rangers.  Bill says they will really miss me when I am gone.  It got pretty ugly out with rain and some lightning by the time we got to bed.

July 15 -  What a nasty night.  We lost power for 5 hours.  I woke Bill and told him to set his watch alarm.  The lightning was terrible and the rain was noisy and it was hot and I didn’t sleep too well.  Xena chose to sleep right up beside me and that made me even hotter.  We had a time getting up since it seemed like a really short night.  I made fried grits for me and scrambled eggs for Bill with turkey bacon and toast. 

I was in the entrance station this morning but it still looked like rain any minute and was so windy.  I drove the enclosed little golf truck but geez, I could probably crawl faster.  At least I knew I wouldn’t get blown to bits or wet when my shift ended.  I was whipped when it was time to go to lunch.  I was so tired of opening the window and having my hair slapping my face over and over.  I did catch up on a bunch of email but that is about it.

It was a cooler but windy day all day.  We were glad we had our awning in.  It was a slow afternoon in the VC.  It’s strange how the crowds come and go and you have absolutely no one in there.  That’s when it’s time to read.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the macaroons.  There was one left and we shared it on the way home today.  I promised 2 of the guys I’d made another almond cream cheese pound cake next week since they missed the first one.

I made a bag of P F Changs Orange Chicken and some brown rice for dinner.  This chicken comes with veggies, which was really good but a bit spicier than Trader Joes’s.  I will buy it again but it does have a pretty high fat count.  Later we had piece of WW pie.  Xena enjoyed a nice walk but it was getting really windy out and getting ready for another rainy night.

July 16 – It was windy the minute we got up and stayed that way all day.  I was so glad I didn’t have to work the booth today and have that wind whipping my hair in my face all day.  The volunteer who worked it said it was even raining in the window.  I’m double glad I wasn’t out there today.

 The VC was busy on and off and I did some stocking and pricing for the bookstore.  The day went pretty fast.  The visitors all enjoyed their day since it was not hot out at all and the wind kept the sand gnats and mosquitoes off.  A big part of the afternoon Bill and I were in charge of the VC.  It was fine but we were told there is always a Ranger to be in the VC.  The one who was there doesn’t like to be there so went to the fort and never came back.

Normally on Saturday night we go out to eat but by the time we get home and change and walk Xena it’s late and the wait times are bad, so we decided this time to eat at home and go on Sunday instead.  So I made trout, corn on the cob, cauliflower and cornbread.  Bill ate all of his fish like a good boy!  He says he “forgot” the cauliflower.  Yeah, right!

After relaxing for a while we took Xena on a long walk and saw an armadillo and raccoon.  The wind was picking up so we might be getting some bad weather again tonight.

July 12 - Shopping, Lunch and a Movie

Our last day off. Since I was having the dental issues we didn’t really plan much in the name of tourism. So once we had breakfast and showered, we headed into Savannah to do some errands and see a movie. We stopped at the post office, JoAnn’s, Pet Supermarket, then we headed back to the side of town where we go to the movies and had lunch at Wendy’s.

The movie selection today was “Larry Crowne” which was a nice comedy with some real acting and a nice story line. Staples is next door so I got some things I’d seen in the ad on Sunday and we headed towards the islands. I have wanted to visit the Savannah Bee Company as I’ve seen some of their products in various shops and knew the factory and a showroom were on Wilmington Island. We stopped by and I picked up a few gift items to take home. Then we headed for the fort.

Today's big ship

On the way home we spotted a big boat that would soon be passing our campsite, so Bill let me off at the administration office to see if our mail came and I could get a better spot to take some photos and video of the boat. The admin office was closed at 4:15 and that ticked me off. They are supposed to be open til 5. I only had the still camera to use so hope the video turns out OK.

The plan was a quick dinner and go to the library to use the internet. I made some tacos with ground chicken and they were pretty good. We left about 6:30 for the library and each used one of their computers so we could print things. Then I set up our laptop to try the demo CD that came with Bill’s phone. We don’t understand providing a CD that has to have an internet connection to work. Duh! I ended up downloading the manual to a flash drive so Bill can look up stuff at home.

When we got bad to the park, traffic was backed up at the gate. Normally once the park closes an arm gate is put down and we use a key pad to get it to lift. Well, Eric our neighbor and a guy from the pilot house were stuck outside as were we. Someone had closed the swing gate and used combination locks on it. The pilot guy knew the combo but said he could not get it open. We tried calling Ron, our supervisor but he didn’t answer. Then I drove to the entrance booth and looked for a combo or info on who to contact. I called the Tybee police to see if they knew who to contact. Once I got outside I could see Bill walking in my direction and drove up and could see the other trucks going through the gate. Bill said one of the bar pilots on the other side said the combo was correct on the locks and then Bill and the guy stuck a t-shirt through the locks and pulled them open. They had been rusted shut. So we all got to go home but Bill was ticked that someone in the park locked that gate. He’s going to talk to Ron about it in the morning.

As we pulled into our spot a guy from the coast guard called. I guess he got called from the Tybee police and was going to come to our aide. I told him how we got back in and all was well. We finished off the peach crisp and Bill did dishes as I journalled and we watched some TV.

July 11 - Root Canal - Ugh!

Not a terribly exciting day. We waited to hear from the dentist about my possible appointment for today. Finally got the call around 9 that my appt with the Endodontic was at 2. So we showered and took Xena for her last trip out before leaving around 11. We went to the computer place to pick up my laptop. I spent about 30 minutes there testing it and it did fine.

I wanted to stop at Michaels and there was a Panera Bread in the same plaza so we had a good lunch there. It’s one of my favorite lunch places. We both had the ½ sandwich with a ½ salad. With the purchase we could both get any item from the bakery for .99 so we each got a breakfast bread muffin for tomorrow. I know Bill wanted a cookie or pastry but when I told him I would not share my muffin tomorrow he decided to have the same. After lunch I ran into Michaels but they didn’t have what I was looking for. Will try Joann’s tomorrow.

Bill dropped me at the dentist while he went to gas up the truck and go to McDonald’s to use the internet while he waited for me. I didn’t get in to the chair until 2:15 and was in there until 3:45. She was really good. She found that one root of a root canal I had done 2 years ago was not done and that was causing my tooth pain. She numbed me but not so much that I was numb for hours after. I felt really fine and wasn’t drooling and unable to eat dinner.

We went to the Super Wal-Mart for some things I knew were cheaper there than the grocery and to look at bikes. They have a couple I like but I just can’t commit to buy one while mine still works, as much as I’d like a new one. We got home about 6.

Bill grilled a nice NY strip steak and I made him a white potato and me a sweet potato and salads. It was a delicious steak and he cooked it perfect. It was a one pound steak about an inch thick and was enough for both of us. I got it on mark down yesterday at Kroger.

After dinner we walked Xena and then went on a 3 mile ride on the bikes. We took a load of things to the recycle containers. The deer count tonight was 25. We each had a bowl of peach crisp and I started working on the “repaired” laptop and Bill cleaned the kitchen. The laptop is still not right. It doesn’t completely shut down but the screen goes black then comes right back on to where I was. May end up having to send it to Dell to fix.

We watched the new season opener of Rizzoli and Isles.

July 10 - Trek to the Lighthouse

AAt the top of Tybee Lighthouse

– Ah, the joy of sleeping in! I made grits for me and eggs for Bill and we had our fruit, turkey bacon and juice to get the day rolling. Once we showered we headed to Tybee Island to visit the lighthouse. We stopped at a gas/mart for a Sunday paper since we wouldn’t be making our normal Sunday trip to McDonald’s. My tooth didn’t hurt all night but I had put 2 aspirin on it before bed so was glad to get a decent night’s sleep.

Lighthouse and Keeper's
House

When I told the lighthouse people that we were volunteers at Ft. Pulaski they let us in for free. It’s not one of the places on the passes we have from the fort so that was a nice perk. Bill had not planned to go up in it with me, but I asked if he’d go to the second level and just look out. He ended up going to the top, all 178 steps but he didn’t spend much time at the top outside. He’s really not good with heights and lasted long enough for someone to take our pictures, so hope it at least turned out good. He was chatting with the guy on duty when I finally got back down. I took lots of video and photos and took my time. When I came down we toured the lighthouse keeper’s house and then spent some time in the gift shop cooling off. The keeper’s house was really nice. It’s a 2-story with two huge bedrooms upstairs and another one downstairs. They did a nice job with restoring it all.

House built on the bunker

Across the street from the lighthouse is their museum in the bunkers of Ft. Screvens that was built for the Spanish American War. The museum covered the use of the fort as well as the history of Tybee Island. It was pretty interesting. The really strange thing is the entire fort was sold to the city of Savannah Beach who sold it to various people and/or companies who continued to break it into smaller parcels. Savannah Beach later became Tybee Island. A lot of the bunkers were not torn down but now have condos built right up to them and some have been turned into houses and one had a second floor added and is now owned by the Shriners. By the time we finished there and went up and down those stairs, I had jelly legs for sure.

We went home to have lunch, rest and cool off so around 4 we headed in the other direction. We went to Wal-mart so I could get some water shoes since the ones I had and didn’t use for 3-4 years dry rotted and fell apart the first time I used them. We plan to kayak to the lighthouse and will need them then. Then we picked up more photos I had printed at Walgreens and Bill dropped me at Kroger while he took the truck and vacuumed it. It was after 6 when we got home and I did some pasta and chicken simmered in seasoned diced tomatoes and we had a squash medley again.

After dinner we walked Xena then did a 3+ miles bike ride. The deer count tonight was 25. I made a small peach crisp and Bill cleaned up the kitchen and we settled in to watch tv, journal and read some before bed.