St Augustine

Today Downtown St Augustine, the first permanent Christian community of the USA
We parked at the  Mission Nombre de Dios. This statue is of Father Franciso Lopez  who celebrated the first mass  in the new colony on 8th September 1565.  The cross is made of stainless steel and is 208 feet tall

The Gates of the Old City at the north end of popular St Georges Street in the historic district. 

The Oldest Wood School House on St Georges Street

The Bridge of Lions connecting Anastasia Island, where we are staying, with Downtown St Augustine 

The Wells Fargo Bank Building, well it would be either a hotel or a bank !!

The Oldest House.....the oldest surviving Spanish Colonial dwelling in Florida

A really good day sightseeing in St Augustine, a very pretty city with plenty of history. We walked all of the historic area and just had to have a couple of pit stops for a beer or two !! Well it was very hot ! We shall return and "do" The Fort another day......

The Snow-birds Are Flying South

Camp Harris at St Augustine, Florida
We had a nice easy drive down the I-95 from Savannah to Anastasia Island at St Augustine.  A couple of pit stops at rest areas........we were just one of many motorhomes on the road......the snow-birds were certainly flying south !! We met up with one couple from Connecticut at both rest areas......

Our local beach, just a 10 min easy walk from our campsite

This nice little park is also very close to the campsite

As if we would !

Is it Nessy ????
We are so settled here that we have extended our stay until next Monday to have a well earned touch of R & R in the glorious sunshine.......temps in the 80's, beer in the fridge, wine in the cellar......Yorkie Man and Mrs Blogger are happy....
We did have a slight moment when there was mention of a hurricane but luckily it turned right and headed for the Atlantic and when the furnace fired up at 00.30 (that's what happens when you set the a/c on auto and not cool !!) and set off the smoke alarm.
Here's a thing we have 29 (yes 29) lights in our living area alone but we need a table lamp ! 

Savannah

Downtown Savannah, we made use of the local bus that stops right outside of our campsite and stops at the visitors centre in Savannah, didn't quite qualify for the seniors rate but at $1.50 each it is still great value !! It's very cold here this morning (oh dear poor you we hear folks back home say !!)  and looks like rain but that clears by lunchtime and turns into a very nice sunny afternoon

Savannah is a very attractive old city and was one of the first cities to be designed on a grid system.. There are 22 squares all very pretty and well maintained with live oaks, Spanish moss and various statues of historical figures.
In places very Gone With The Wind ! 

Colonial Park Cemetery and one of the oldest in Savannah. Quiet a few family mausoleums 

The Police Station

We walked for a couple of hours (needed the exercise) and as you do we met up with folks, one a coach driver from New York killing time while his passengers did the tours.......

Famous River Street, interesting even though very touristy.....

Hey the sun's out !

We enjoyed Savannah and learning it's history and of course our time on Daufuskie but now we must move on from Georgia. The I-95 is calling, tomorrow we are on the road to St Augustine, Florida

Fun, Food and Fellowship on Daufuskie Island

At last I am getting back on track with the blog for this trip.  I do hope you all can access it ok this time and hopefully add comments. If any problems do email me and if comments won't stick (some seem to and others not) then please do just email a little comment to me every so often that all is well and you are following our adventures, always good to know I am not lost in cyberspace !!
This pic taken on route to Savannah and is of course for Eileen......

We were invited by Michael and Lawonda with our other Georgia Friends to stay for the weekend of 5th-8th October at their house on Daufuskie Island. Daufuskie is just off of the coast of Savannah GA, about a 45 min boat ride away. How lucky to chance upon a pod of dolphins on route........

Daufuskie is very different, very interesting with mainly dirt roads and apart from a few work trucks the main mode of transport is golf carts, great fun....

Michael and Lawonda's house

The back porch, ideal for sundowners or in fact drinks at any other time of the day !!  Also  a place of much laughter and singing !! You had to be there but Bills' song "Aint Got No Home" and "It's A Great day To Whoop Somebodies Ass" are still stuck in our brains !!! Look them up on U-Tube :0)

The First Union Baptist Church built in 1884 it has stood as a center  of worship and faith on the island since that time.
It was restored in the 1990's with a replica traditional praise house located behind it

The Old Council Tree,  one of many majestic Live Oaks draped with Spanish Moss. It was in this shady spot where after Sunday church the men would gather and talk at length about island issues.......
While under British rule from the 1700's plantations were developed growing indigo and Sea Island cotton. Plantation owners and slaves fled the island at the start of the Civil War, freed slaves returning and purchasing small plots of land or working for the landowners. The boll weevil destroyed the cotton fields in the early 1900's.  Oyster canning provided jobs for the predominately Gullah population at the turn of the 20th century. Daufuskie oysters were sold world-wide but when the Savannah River became polluted in the 1950's the oyster beds were closed and most of the Gullah population left the island. The entire island is now on the National Register of Historic Places

And they are off......4 boys, 4 golf bags, 1 cooler (for the beer) 1 golf cart.
Best not to mention the Ryder Cup !!

Ummm I couldn't resist a long shot of the water-tower (thought some of you might be having withdrawal symptoms) this one is on Tybee Island

Lawonda, Janis and Myra at The Old School House now
The Jane Hamilton School Gullah Learning Centre 

Sarah Grant's Carriage.
Sarah Grant was the midwife and married to the island undertaker . When he died in 1962 she took over the role of undertaker leading to the remark "Granny bring em' 'n she take 'em away"......

3 beauties and me..........

Michael serving our Low Country Boil. Another first experience for us and delicious

Sun RISE, what a beautiful morning. Taken from Lancy and Emily's boat.
 Another first: my Michael and I were taken shrimp (prawns to us Brits) fishing by Lancy and Emily who are long term residents of Daufuskie. Alarm call at 06.10 and on the water by 7am (thank you to Michael Hill for making the coffee and getting us to the dock) but so worth it what a fabulous experience  and also the first time I have drunk beer at 08.30 !

Sadly not too many shrimps this trip but we did catch a variety of small fishes plus some Horseshoe Crabs and Sting Rays which of course were thrown back. The larger sting rays have a very very nasty sting lots of care taken by Lancy dealing with those.....

Lancy and Emily.
They have lived a very adventurous and colourful life, mostly sailing the Atlantic and the Caribbean, very interesting to talk too and very knowledgeable about Daufuskie, we had a fabulous few hours in their company 

We saw large flocks of Pelicans, Lancy was very pleased to see so many as their numbers had become quite depleted  in recent years

Back on land and later in the day while the boys were golfing again us girls took off for more sight-seeing and the beach. The beach was oh soooo crowded !!

4 bathing beauties !

Another avenue of Live Oaks and Spanish Moss

All 8 of us at Marsh-Side Mamma's for early evening cocktails and shrimps, a must do.......
Very reminiscent of our early day travels to Greece

It was sad to say farewell to everyone on Monday morning after a fun filled weekend.   The  Cornelia 4 were heading home, a 6 hour drive.  We headed back to our campsite near Savannah for another couple of days while we visited Downtown Savannah and then onto St Augustine. We had fun, food and fellowship.....what more can you need.
Thank you Michael and Lawonda for such great memories.