From Rainy Savannah!

The pictures from the top down are as follow:

1. Spanish moss covering the trees

2. One of many mansions which are open to the public

3. Intricate iron work

4. Dolphin downspouts

5. A pirate's tavern

The drive here from Charleston was about 2 hours under drizzly skies. But thank goodness nothing like the downpour we encountered a couple of days ago. We arrived here before noon and stopped at the visitor's center which is just across the street from our hotel. It was too early to check in so we hopped on a city tour and were driven around the city. Savannah is very compact and built around a number of squares. This is from the original design of the colonial settler, John Oglethorpe. The mansions are beautiful, the iron work incredible and the Spanish moss hanging off the trees is spooky! It was a very interesting tour and we got off at City Market. It is nothing as vast as Charleston's and after we had meandered down the block in the rain and stopped in the Savannah Candy Kitchen, owned by a friend of Paula Deen's, we decided to come to the hotel, do some laundry and go to the Pirate's House for dinner.

Reading about the Pirate's House in the guide books we probably would have passed it over as being too hokey but the woman at the visitor's center raved about it. Goes there herself and thought the food was excellent. She was right! Lee and I had grouper, an Atlantic fish, and Judi had fried shrimp and oysters. Another Yum-o experience. Tonight we passed on dessert and I think that was a good idea. Perhaps the pralines (notice the plural) I had this afternoon should count as dessert.

The Pirate's House is really an old tavern built in the 1700's and Blackbeard is suppsed to have been there. Robert Louis Stevenson based some of his story, Treasure Island, on this location and it is where Billy Budd drank himself to death.

Tomorrow will be a walking day and we are going to try to get in to Paula Deen's restaurant for lunch. Whatever happens I know we will have some good food. Good night from three little porkers!