What??? How did we get to Georgia already? I can’t believe this is Day 8. We had another long day of driving but we broke it up a bit. Here is what our day looked like.
Tavis and I got up just after 7:00 this morning. I got some work done before getting the kids up at 8:30. We had breakfast (leftover bananas and pop tarts). While Tavis made sandwiches and the kids got ready, I stripped the beds, put all the linens in the tub, emptied the garbage, and turned on the dishwasher. We locked the doors at 9:30am and our 6 hour drive had begun.
At 11:00am we drove through Myrtle Beach. I understand why it is a destination for many vacationers. We passed several amusement parks, resorts, and malls. We didn’t have time to stop but I imagine the beaches were just as nice as Outer Banks and Wilmington. As we crossed the border into South Carolina we all got a kick out of the sign that informed drivers, “No handheld devices starting Sep 1”.
At 11:30am we stopped at an Exxon to stretch our legs and pee. We also topped up the vehicle since gas was 2.69/gal. The car only took 6 gallons. I also got my computer out to respond to an email and get a bit of work done that needed to be done today.
We arrived in Charleston, Georgia just before 1:15pm. Grok suggested we park at the Cumberland Street Parking Garage. It was $1 for every 30 minutes which was nice because most lots were by the hour and we had no idea how long we would be. It was also nice to park in the cool, shaded parking garage with facilities.
What an old city! We took in the history as we walked down the historic district, past Rainbow Row and to a very narrow alley. Along the way, we walked into an old hotel that was converted to a theatre. The guy at the door was very nice and invited us in to have a look while it was under renovation.
We walked passed several houses and buildings that had ties back to the 1800s with plaques that told their story. We walked for over an hour and really enjoyed the walk and reading the interesting historical plaques around Charleston. What stood out to me besides the architecture of the buildings were the true cobblestone roads, gas lanterns, and arbutus trees that lined the streets.
We also had an alternative motive… we are also nearing the end of our road trip and the kids are determined to find license plates from every state in the US. Along our walk in Charleston I think we found over 10 that we were missing!
Just after 2:30pm we were on our way again. It was a fairly uneventful drive. We arrived at our next Airbnb just after 4:30pm. The house was cute and we had quite the welcome party😂.
We parked just outside and it was hot and humid so we all fell into our regular routine of getting bags into the front entrance, then bring everything to the bedrooms. Well… not sure who did it but someone managed to set their bag on the hugest cockroach ever and smooshed it into the floor. The kids didn’t believe me when I started laughing and blamed them for killing the welcome wagon. Their reaction once they saw it was quite humorous. After everyone brought their bags up I swept up the remanence of the little critter (which was still quite fresh) along with a buddy of his which was belly up and looked like he went some time earlier.
So first impressions are unfortunate because the house itself was quite impressive. It was located in the historic district and had a cobblestone road out front. We were in the upper unit so as soon as we entered we went up the stairs. The ceilings were 10-12 ft. There were 2 large bedrooms with king beds, a large room with a queen, and the last room was an average size with a queen bed. It also had a living groom with 2 couches and a tv, a well stocked kitchen, and 2 full bathrooms (with a huge washer and dryer). It really was a nice historic house with wooden floors throughout and fireplaces in each room. I loved the character!
As soon as we arrived, everyone picked their rooms and had an hour of downtime to relax.
At 5:30pm we tried to get everyone out to explore. It took 20 minutes to get out of the house. We began our walk through the historic district toward the river. Our house was just off Whitaker Street, which Tavis and I found interesting.
After 5 minutes we arrived at Forsyth Park which was a huge green space with a playground, basketball courts, monuments, paths, and a fountain that wasn’t working. This is where Forrest Gump sat when he completed how life is like a box of chocolates. We were there!! I almost wanted to sit on every bench so I could say I sat where Tom Hanks sat but I figure that might have been a bit over the top so I will settle with the fact that we were in the same park and walked past the same bench.😝
After the park, there was a square commemorating someone at each block all the way to the river. We took photos of Madison square which also had art buildings across the street. There was also Lafayette Square and Chippewa Square.
We were getting hungry so Tavis spotted B & D Burgers which looked decent so we went in. The hostess and server were both very nice and they brought us an entire jug of ice cold water. Addison ordered gator sliders, Tavis got the Savannah Fire burger, and the rest of us ordered regular menu items. Our food came quick and it was quite good. Addison said that gator tasted like meat… whatever that means🤷♀️.
It was 7:30pm by the time we finished dinner. We walked along River Street. It was very historic. To get down we had to go down a very narrow historic staircase with short steps. I have determined after extensive research (2 staircases) that people of historic Savannah had small feet.
The road along River Street was large cobblestone with railroad tracks. There was even a tunnel. We walked through quaint touristy shops and watched some large ships come under the bridge and along the river. We also kept a lookout for license plates. After our walk, we only 8 left to find!
We discovered there was a free trolley that runs from River Street almost to our Airbnb. Unfortunately it only runs between 10am-7pm so we had to walk the 30 minutes back. It was a beautiful walk through. By the time we started back it was dark but we passed some ghost tour ground and there weren’t any areas that felt all that unsafe.
We arrived back at the house around 8:45pm. We took turns showering. I was impressed with the water pressure in the showers. Also the fridge had a water and ice dispenser which aren’t bad. After my shower I worked on my blog post while everyone relaxed and got ready for bed.
We were all quite tired from another very long day. We had walked nearly 13 km and drove over 300 miles. We turned off the lights at 10:30pm. Good night 🥱