Red Gate

Currently In: St. Augustine, FL
Will be in Florida through mid January

We pulled into Red Gate campground which is 10 minutes from Savannah and look what we found:

The Barn

Horses and Goats

The Chicken Coop

The RV park is a small farm where they set up part of the pasture with hook ups for RVs. It was kind of fun!  Beautiful property with horse trails and a nice pond.

We spent a couple of days exploring Historic Savannah.  It is definitely a tourist town! I love the way the whole city is set up around town squares.  It seems there are memorials, plaques, historic homes and buildings everywhere!  It is one mile north to south and one mile east to west, so a great walking town.  As usual, here are some of the highlights of our time in Savannah.

Forsyth Park had folks walking, running, playing soccer and having lunch.  The trees with the Spanish Moss were lovely.

I finally took a tour of Savannah's many churches, since Savannah is also known for religious tolerance.  Here are four of the more famous ones:

St. John the Baptist Cathedral

We attended Mass here Sunday morning.  As beautiful inside as it is outside.  The church was first dedicated in 1876, rebuilt after a fire in 1898 and restored in 2000.  There is an interesting history of Catholics in Savannah.

First African Baptist Church
Although the building dates back to 1860, the congregation originated in 1774.  The building was built by slaves and hid runaway slaves until the Civil War.

Mickve Israel

This Jewish congregation is the 3rd oldest in the United States, although this building is from 1878. It was founded by mostly Sephardic Jews from Spain in 1735.  Interestingly, we were there on a Sunday as a number of people were leaving.  One man told us that the Lutheran Church was being renovated and they were holding services in the temple!

Independent Presbyterian Church

This conjuration was founded in 1755.  My photo doesn't really show it, but this building is HUGE!  Most of the churches were closed when we were visiting so we couldn't go inside.  

Another highlight of our tour was the Central Georgia Railroad museum.  There is just half of the roundhouse left standing.

The railroad was created in the mid 1800s and was the largest employer in Savannah in the 1920s.  When diesel engines were developed, the need for this repair shop was gone and the complex closed in the 1960s.  

We took a short ride on a working steam locomotive and learned more about the history of the railroad.

Johnny loved the tour!

So, Savannah has to-go cups.  Anyone can walk around with alcohol as long as it is in the plastic cup.  We took our to-go cups to the City Market and listened to some music.  Good people watching here.

Two other parts of Savannah that captivated us.  First, the River Walk.  

Ship sculpture on the River Walk

Given Savannah's geography, it was the perfect location to ship cotton from the south.  These old buildings used to house the cotton.  Did you notice the Irish flags?  Savannah has a huge Irish population brought here by work on the railroad.  It has the second largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world! 

There are lots of Irish bars, too.  We stopped in one that used to be part of the cotton industry.  The bartender told us that the building dates from the 1700s and the brick was still original, although the wood floor was only 200 years old.  

I found a lighthouse in this area too!  The Old Harbor Light might look like a street lamp, but was used to help boats navigate the Savannah River.

Finally, outside of the historic downtown is the Bonaventure Cemetery.  The trees along with the unusual headstones give this public cemetery an ethereal feel.  Here are a couple of interesting sculptures.

We have been to several cemeteries since that start of this journey - Johnny thinks I am a bit obsessed!  There is so much historical significance that I find fascinating.