Savannah Road Trip: Sunday, May 30, 2011

We headed out to breakfast around 8 am, and found the Cobblestone Restaurant in an old building just west of the Hyatt. You had to walk up the alley, and enter through a door that reminded me of something from the 1800’s, and looked to be about that old. The booths along the outside wall sloped inwards; the ones on the inside wall did not, though not as much. The food was good, the coffee just passable, but it got us ready for the day. Back to the hotel to pack.

I went looking for a cart, and I was told that the bell hops would come and bring our stuff down. I’m not crazy about being forced to accept their services, and it wasn’t that much luggage, so we carried it down ourselves.

At the desk, the clerk asked how we enjoyed our stay, and I told her about the same as I mentioned in the Saturday blog: the location was the best, the room was fine, but I could get a room equal to or better than the one we had for better than half the price just about anywhere. Even that wasn’t too big a deal, as we knew what the cost of the room would be when we reserved it. What I wasn’t happy about were the extra charges for the “nothings.” They charged us $10 a night per motorcycle per day ($40 if you don’t want to do the math), and we had to park our own, and we parked them in one space! I told her that, anywhere else (except the Hilton), Internet access was included. While the concierge was helpful, I could have walked out to the girl at the curb and signed up for the carriage tour; the concierge actually made a call to talk to someone less than 100 feet away.

I told her that I wasn’t as much complaining as wanting to get my misgivings on the record. Companies should know that their customers resent the hidden charges and such. I wasn’t angry, I was just giving her my opinion. The next thing I knew, she had whacked $100 from the bill, leaving it cheaper than the original daily charge. I tried to explain that it wasn’t my intent to get her to do that, but she insisted that she wanted to be sure I was satisfied with our stay, and would come back.

We got on the road for home around 10:15, and were quickly in South Carolina, where the first things I saw were a fireworks stand and a nudie bar – great gateway sites for our state! We had plenty of time, nowhere to be, so we agreed to stay off the Interstate if we could. What a great decision that was!

The skies were a bit overcast in the morning, but quickly gave way to white fluffy clouds and beautiful blue sky before noon. We cruised along, traveling up Highway 17, the miles rolling under our wheels smoothly. We crossed over I-95 once, then had to get on it for a few miles, then got back off and headed towards Charleston.

Traffic was light as we passed through The Holy City (Charleston – named for the many church steeples visible in the skyline), and we were soon crossing the tall bridge into Mount Pleasant, The USS Yorktown standing proudly at Patriot Point.

Mount Pleasant was the most un-pleasant part of the ride, as it had the trifecta of items to ruin a road trip: traffic, construction and lots of red lights. I think we hit one green light for every 4 red lights through there. Finally we turned onto Highway 41 and headed towards Andrews. I didn’t realize just how far it was up that highway, but there was no traffic, and we had beautiful scenery to keep us interested. We stopped for gas in Jamestown, where we found some older (older than us!) bikers that were interested in our bikes. We chatted with them as we had something to drink, then it was back on the road.

The towns flew by: Andrews, Hemingway, Johnsonville, Kingsburg, and we were on Old River Road, the last leg of the journey. Nice curvy road, sun filtered through the trees, speed limit 55, and no traffic. It doesn’t get much better!

We were hungry by then, so we turned up on 327 and headed toward Red Bone Alley for an early dinner before heading home and jumping in the pool to try and cool off the sunburn.

All in all, the ride home was an additional 50 miles, and about 2 extra hours. But it was a much better ride, on a much better day, and truly worth the detour.

Our next scheduled adventure is over the 4^th of July weekend, when we’re riding to Charlotte for the weekend, where we’ll go to the Verizon Amphitheater to see Zac Brown. Can’t wait!

Savannah Road Trip: Saturday, May 27, 2011

The Hyatt Regency Hotel has one thing that makes it worth staying there – the location. Little else is included. There is a concierge, and she can help get things going, but it’s nothing you can’t do for yourself. The rooms are about the same as any other hotel we’ve stayed at (some for half the price have been much better), the bathroom is smaller than most, parking is extra, Internet access is extra, and no refrigerator in the room. But being right downtown on River Walk has been really nice.

We headed down for breakfast Saturday morning, and decided against the 18.95 breakfast buffet at the hotel, so we headed out to the walk, finding Huey’s, a small restaurant not far from the hotel. Linen tablecloths, quiet atmosphere, good coffee and a delicious breakfast.

Darlington had thunderstorms the night before, and there were some problems with the systems at work, so I had to connect to the Internet after all. We worked out the issues in about an hour, and headed down to the concierge to ask about the carriage rides that stopped out front. She arranged everything and called to reserve our seats on the 11 o’clock tour. We could have stepped out front and spoke to the girl that she had called, but I guess everybody needs a job, right?w

The weather on Saturday was much better than Friday, and it was sunny and warm for our carriage ride. Our tour guide gave us a history lesson as we rode.

Our Carriage

We had another couple take our picture, and we took theirs.

Our Guide.

Savannah is an interesting town, with a mix of architectures from the 1830’s on up. Several huge fires over the last 150 years have destroyed parts of the city, and the rebuilds after each changed the look of the city. Now there are groups trying to restore some of the grandeur that Georgia’s oldest city once had. In order to build or rebuild here you have to have your plans approved, and they won’t be unless you are going to have your designs complement the area. It’s working, as we saw a building that was put up in the 1990’s that looked the same as the one next door from the 1830’s!

The first of many houses that were saved from demolition and restored.

There are 22 squares in the town out of the original 24 that General Oglethorpe laid out. Apparently, his plan for defending against an attack by the Spanish back then was to bring the outlying farmers and their livestock inside the city walls. The livestock could be kept in the squares during the siege. Afterwards, the farmers could return their livestock to their farms and rebuild. Savannah was never actually attacked, but it seems like a good plan. The squares now contain monuments and plaques to the various famous people in the area, including Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts.

One of the squares around town.

The tour was slow moving, and fun. It lasted almost an hour, and we arrived back at the hotel for lunch. Across the street, we discovered the Moon River Brewing Company, a microbrewery using the old City Hotel. We stopped in and had a couple of their own beers and appetizers (we have reservations for the dinner cruise, and didn’t need to fill up) before heading back to the room for naps.

By the time we got up and dressed we had about an hour to spare before boarding, so we sat on the patio overlooking the River Walk and enjoyed the breezes coming off the river. The river traffic was heavy, and several large container ships came through on their way to the harbor. These giants dwarfed the two tour boats as they lumbered slowly by.

Showdown on the river.

We were the first ones to board the River Queen, and were shown to our table by the windows. The couples on either side of us were friendly, and we passed the time while we waited for dinner with drinks and conversation, while listening to a “lounge singer” type croon out old tunes, styling them in ways you may never have heard (and in some cases, never wanted to, either!).



The food was served buffet style, and they came to each table to let you get in line. It kept the line shorter, and you didn’t have to stand there as long. There were large shrimp, pork and beef roasts, and potatoes and vegetables. The desserts were varied and sweet, and we enjoyed everything. John, our waiter, reminded me of Larry from the “Larry, Darryl and my other brother Darryl” fame from the old Newhart show. He was attentive and friendly, and apologized profusely when he knocked over a beer on his tray, splashing Linda. She kept her good graces though, and used the dryer in the ladies room to dry her blouse.

After dinner, our entertainer pulled people from the audience to participate, and I was chosen to come up and don a sombrero and shake a maraca (along with 5 other guys) to the tune “Under The Boardwalk” with a bit of Jimmy Buffet style. Once you’re up there, you might as well go with the flow, so I danced and shook my maracas with the best of ‘em, and tried to encourage the others to let go and have some fun. Later, I had several ladies come up to me and tell me I was a “good sport.”

Shaking our maracas!

Next, Linda got up and did the twist, and the girl next to us declared that she should go up alone and joined her. That started more of the ladies to go up and dance, until there were ten or more.

We danced a slow dance together (something we don’t do too often), and enjoyed being with each other. After our entertainer did the basic line dance numbers we headed to the bow of the ship to watch the lights of Savannah as we returned to the dock, around 9 o’clock. One quick drink at the hotel, and it was back up to the room for bed.

Sunday we’ll be heading back to Florence, and I’m looking forward to the ride, as it’s supposed to hit about 90 degrees and mostly sunny. Should be a great ride to top off a great weekend.

Savannah Road Trip: Friday, May 26, 2011

Linda and I have finally made our plans to visit Savannah. We had wanted to see this old city each time we passed on our way back from Daytona, but by the time we got this close to home, we just wanted to continue. This time, Savannah would be our destination, and Memorial Day weekend seemed like the perfect time.

The weather man hasn’t been cooperating. While it had been hot and mostly sunny all week, there was a “thirty percent chance of isolated thunderstorms.” Normally this translates to “normal summer weather” around here, as the heat and humidity work to cook up the afternoon showers.
We woke this morning to scuddy clouds and brief bursts of sunshine, and checked the weather again. No change in the precipitation percentages, at least in Savannah, and it was finally agreed that we would take the bikes. We packed and loaded up, and we were headed out at 10 am.

Our route was another decision that took some doing. While I-95 is the fastest way to get there, it’s by no means the most pleasant ride, and I wanted to take the side roads as much as possible. This would have meant driving down Highway 52 towards Charleston, then working our way around through Summerville, and only taking the Interstate for a short jaunt before getting back on Highway 321 to take us to Bay Street, where we have reservations at the Hyatt-Regency.

Linda reminded me that Spoleto, Charleston’s Arts program, was starting up this weekend, which would greatly add to the traffic. Sitting still on a motorcycle on a crowded road is even less fun than the Interstate. With the slight chance of rain and the congestion issues, we decided on the I-95 route.

At the last instant I decided to at least add some side-road travel, and we headed down Highway 301 through Effingham, Olanta and Turbeville, picking up I-95 some 30 miles further down the road. It’s not well travelled anymore, so we made good time.

Just north of Olanta I looked in the mirror and realized that I couldn’t see Linda’s headlights. Her fog lights were bright, but the normal headlamps (which are on when the bike is running and to my knowledge can’t be turned off) were dark. When we were able we pulled in to an abandoned Exxon station.

Before I could get off the bike, Linda had shut hers off. When she restarted it, the lights came on, making me wonder if it had been my imagination, or glare from the sun, or some other such phenomenon. Getting back on the road, when I looked back at her, I could see the lights clearly; they had definitely been out earlier. My guess is that there was an electronic glitch that turned them off, and restarting the bike had reset the glitch – rebooting always seems to help! I resolved to keep a close watch on them the rest of the trip, but they never went out again.
As we rode out of Turbeville towards I-95, drops of rain began to cling to the windshields, and the road was wet. It wasn’t too much, and we rode out of it before we turned on the ramp to the Interstate, so we kept going. Within 20 miles it was a different story. The ran began to come down in earnest, and just above Manning the visibility became poor enough that we pulled under an overpass to wait it out a bit.

As I’m trying to dry the windshields, the trucks roaring past were throwing enough spray to coat the insides of the shields! In about ten minutes the rain slacked off and I hurriedly wiped the water from both the inside and outside of the shields, from the dashboards and the seats. We took off again, and were soon back on dry road, where we began to dry as well.

As we crossed the bridge over Lake Marion, I looked east across the water. It looked like the rain was coming down about a mile from us, over the lake. We’ve been out there in a storm before – not a good thing.

For the rest of the ride, we rode in and out of smaller rain showers, but it was never bad enough to pull over again. They say that with a Goldwing, as long as you’re moving forward your not getting wet. Well, that’s not quite true, but we didn’t get soaked, and we dried quickly once the rain quit. That 30 percent chance of rain translated to us getting rained on for thirty percent of the ride.

I have to say that Linda is the best ride partner I can imagine. With the CB’s keeping us in contact, we work together to negotiate the traffic, and she is an expert at opening the left lane so I can move over to pass the slowpoke in the right lane. During the rain showers she pulled back a bit for safety, but not enough so that another car would pull between us. She’s a safe rider, experienced and cautious, alert and prepared for anything. That makes the trip even better. While I’ll always worry about her, I really don’t have to, so I can relax and enjoy the ride.

Walterboro marked the first hundred miles, and following our normal policy, took a break for lunch at a Zaxby’s just around noon. In thirty minutes we were back on the road, with only thirty miles of I-95 to go. We did see lightning off to the east, but we didn’t get much more than a sprinkling. At Ridgeland the Garmin directed us to exit to Highway 17 South, and we paralleled the Interstate for about twenty miles, mostly on two-lane blacktop, at 55 mph. This is more what we had in mind, and the ride was easy and traffic was light.

At Highway 321 we headed towards downtown Savannah, the rain threatening again. We crossed the bridge over the Savannah River, and exited to the “25 Connector” that would bring us to Bay Street. One funny note: on the maps, the road is listed as “25 Conn.” so the Garmin kept telling me to exit to the “25 Connecticut.”

We pulled up at the Hyatt and asked the valet parking attendant where we could park while we checked in. He directed us to follow him and he led us to the underground parking garage, where we were assigned to a “Compact Cars” space. We have a cone to use when we go out to reserve the space for us. The bikes are protected from the weather in a well-lighted area, and we took the elevator up to the front desk for checkin. As it was, we got them parked before the rain started up again.

Robert, our bell hop, brought us to our room, and brought in the bags. The room is nice enough. It faces the front of the building, and we can see that the carriage tours stop here. We hope to take one on Saturday, and as I’m finding out, we just need to check with the concierge to get things done.

At a friend’s suggestion, we wanted to go to the Crab Shack on Tybee Island for dinner tonight, and we knew we wanted to take the dinner cruise Saturday night on the paddle boat that docked just next to the hotel. The concierge suggested that we take a cab to the Crab Shack, and had a business card for “Big Mike’s Taxi” that would take us there. He made the arrangements for the dinner cruise, and we headed out to River Walk for a stroll in the light drizzle that stayed with us until about 5:30.
We actually walked to the end of River Walk and back, with a stop at The Warehouse for a beer. The Hyatt is actually built over Bay Street, and we passed it to take a free tour of an old, but working sailing ship. It’s in beautiful shape, and by this time the sun had come out, the cool breeze keeping the heat at bay. A beautiful afternoon.

We found this memorial near the ship. It honored the veterans from Chatham County that gave their lives in World War II. I thought it was a fitting reminder of what Memorial Day is all about, and I was amazed at the number of names that were inscribed in the bricks surrounding the memorial itself.

The doors we used to leave the hotel indicated that they couldn’t be used to get back in, so I wasn’t sure if there was another way from the back. As we were headed back, I recognized our bell hop, Robert. He took us to the door that, with our key card, got us back in to the hotel, and to what I think is the fourth bank of elevators in the hotel. This one takes you up to the lobby, where you transfer to the main glass elevators. You have to use your key card to go up to your floor on this one.

We were ready for dinner so we called Big Mike for a taxi, and he (not Big Mike) showed up within ten minutes. We made the thirty minute ride out to Tybee Island. The view across the marshes is beautiful, and  in no time he dropped us at the Crab Shack. He suggested we give them a call about 25 minutes before we were ready to leave, and someone would come back and get us.

The Crab Shack was a good choice. There are several areas you can choose from to eat: inside (all screen-in so you still get the breeze), or outside by the water. There’s a separate bar and gift shop, as well as an alligator pond with small (three feet long) gators. We both got the Shrimp and Crab Leg combo. The tables have a hole in the center with a trash can below so you can through the peelings in. The food was delicious, and there was plenty of it.

We called Big Mike and then strolled around, the constant breeze refreshing. When we finally sat down to wait, it was only a few minutes before our same driver showed up and took us back to the Hyatt. The ride back is certainly different in the dark, as there are no streetlights out there. It was really the best way to get there and back, and while I wouldn’t call it cheap, I would call it reasonable.

We stopped in at the bar off the lobby, and sat overlooking Bay Street, listening to the street musician blowing his trumpet below us. He would play a few bars from some song, then move on to another. We heard “When the Saints Go Marching In,” the theme songs from “The Munsters” and “The Brady Bunch,” and as one girl walked past him, a bit of the old stripper music. Funny!

All in all, a really great day. Looking forward to Saturday as we try to pack in as much tourist-type adventure as we can.