Tar heelin'

Even in a king bed I had no room last night. Here's why:

We caught the 8:30 ferry from Southport to Fort Fisher on the Cape Fear River.  This is Southport:

And the ferry:

By the way, the ferry cost only $5, way cheaper than a Washington state ferry, and there was no long ferry line.

Our first stop was Wilmington, another delightful town with much history. 

We stopped for a coffee at the most dog friendly coffee shop ever.  The owner and patrons couldn't have been nicer. 

This guy brings his dog to the shop every day.

They were filming the movie "Max Steel" around the corner from the coffee shop, so we snuck a couple of pics. 

They film lots of movies and tv shows in Wilmington due to its beauty and generous North Carolina tax breaks.  We were told it is the "Hollywood of the East".  "Three Tree Hill" and ""Under the Dome" are filmed there now.  They just wrapped up some Robert Downey Jr. movie too.

Continuing on route 17 we passed Camp Lejeune.  I felt right at home when I saw a P.E.T.A. bumper sticker.

Oops, wrong P.E.T.A.

Next stop was New Bern, famous for two things:

Tyron Palace, the Colonial Governor's palace.  Spectacular.

And even better, New Bern is the birthplace of Pepsi!

From New Bern we detoured off hwy 17 to Bath, the oldest town in North Carolina.  It's in the middle of nowhere, but definitely worth seeing.

Final stop was Edenton.  I had been to Edenton 35 years ago for a long weekend after graduating from college and wanted to see if it is still as beautiful as I had remembered.  It is.

We hit significant rain outside Elizabeth City.  We kept Vanna under the carport in Florida, and we had not encountered real rain on either of our trips until today so we didn't know if Vanna leaks. She does.  Like a faucet.  Paper towels now hang from her skylight to soak up the water. I'm mopping up the rest of the water that doesn't drip on poor Daisy.  Oh well.  At least her windshield wipers are working, for now.

Tonight we are staying with our good friends and Florida neighbors Angelo and George in Virginia Beach.

We walked the beach at Angelo's house and saw dolphins. This is the sunset over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Carolina on my mind

John and I had two choices for a route out of Savannah this morning: northwest to Asheville and Blue Ridge Parkway or stay along coastal route. Because a severe storm system is heading our way and Asheville was under a tornado watch, we decided to stay east.

We enjoyed a quiet breakfast on the veranda of our hotel overlooking Forsyth Park.

We drove over the bridge out of Savannah and into South Carolina.  What were the first three things we saw in South Carolina? (and I'm not making this up)

1. A fireworks superstore

2. A "gentlemen's club" 

3. A giant billboard advertising an indoor shooting range where one could fire a fully automatic machine gun. (I wanted to stop here but John said I would shoot my foot off).

I love the south.

We drove hwy 17 thru the "low country".  We passed cypress swamps and pine forests.

We detoured up to hwy 61 to follow the Ashley river road into a Charleston.  Along the way we saw three plantations: Drayton Hall, Middleton Place, and Magnolia.  Magnolia Plantation was very pet friendly.  One could even take dogs into the plantation house (but we didn't).  We did tour the amazing gardens, and Poppy was itching to chase the birds.

We headed into Charleston, another beautiful city.  John and I had both been to Charleston before so we spent only a couple of hours there this time.

 I love both Savannah and Charlston, but I'd say Savannah feels more "gothic" and Charleston more "genteel".  I much prefer Savannah, but both are lovely.

We took hwy 17 out of Charleston thru more pine forests until we came to the sprawl called Myrtle Beach.  I think Myrtle Beach must be a "sister city" to Daytona Beach and will say no more.

We detoured down to Cape Fear but missed the last ferry crossing so tonight we stay in a Comfort Suites in Southport before crossing via ferry in the morning and heading into Wilmington.  The good news is we finally have a king bed so all four of us will be together.

p.s.  I almost forgot the best news. We are trading in Vanna for an upgraded bitchin' ride I saw. SahWeet!  

Ladies be lovin this. 

Um, on second thought, maybe we will stick with Vanna.

I love the south.

"Hiding my candy"

John and I play a game when we travel called "could we live here?".  Until today we've answered that question "yes" in only one city, New Orleans.  Today we also said "yes" in Savannah.  It's a beautiful, fascinating, walkable city.   How could one not love a town that is home to Flannery O'Connor and the setting for "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"?  

Two reasons not to live here?  It's in Georgia, the most gun-happy state in the union, and it's HOT!  It was 88 degrees today and it's only April.

We started out the day driving to St. Simons Island and Fort Frederica.  We were eaten alive by black flies so we didn't stay long. 

We then drove to the gate at Sea Island but were turned back after being informed that only registered guests of The Cloister were allowed on the island, and nobody driving a 30 year old vw van could possibly be a guest of The Cloister.

So back on highway 17 to Savannah.    We noticed they love their American flags BIG here.  I saw a couple flags flying on poles at least 40 feet high and the flags would have covered half a football field.  Size does matter in Georgia, at least for flags, and it's always helpful to be reminded which country one is in.

Savannah is an absolute delight.  

We started our tour of Savannah at Mercer House, setting for "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil".  Sadly Lady Chablis did not greet us.

We saw lots of the squares Savannah is famous for, and they are beautiful.  Oglethorpe planned the city around the squares- public spaces. Today's cities, sadly, are planned around private spaces (gated developments).  I'll take Oglethorpe's plan any day.

Here is our new vet clinic.  Check out the sign.

Our hotel is on Forsyth Park, the largest of Oglethorpe's squares.  

First the fountain in the park:

And then our hotel:

There was a sidewalk chalk art contest in the park. This one was my favorite, but it didn't win a prize. I call it "Hiding My Candy".

Small private gardens are everywhere. 

The architecture is stunning...

as is the history. ..

And we stopped by Flannery O'Connors house too. 

Tonight we are having dinner at The Firefly Cafe (appropriate after last night) on Troup Square, a lovely walk from the hotel. 

We love Savannah.  This is one of their tour buses:

What's not to love?