At first, we weren't sure if we wanted to go to Savannah. It was 16 miles out of our way - that's 3 hours since we motor 5 miles an hour! We tried to get into a marina along the way, so we could take a taxi or bus there, but it was booked for 3 days. Finally, I said to Lou, it was crazy to be so close and not go, so off we went. After traveling under cloudy, cold and drizzly skies, we were lucky enough to get space at the municipal dock right in the heart of town. We thought we would have to tie up on our own, but were greeted by the skippers of 3 other sailboats who promptly invited us to join them at lunch! We had just eaten, so we ended up taking a trolley tour of the city and learned some fascinating things: In the 70s, Savannah was a ghetto with no money and interest in restoration. Then, the book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil came out followed by the movie (the picture above is the home of the main character who is tried for murder); that changed everything. People became interested in the city, began buying up cheap property, and kindled interest in restoring the beautiful buildings. Here is the restored reform Jewish temple (yes, that's right!) which was established back in the 1700s by a small group of Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain, although it was not originally reform. We toured the sanctuary with a former president of the congregation hailing from Brooklyn, NY several decades ago. We loved this town. It was originally planned as a grid system centuries ago is very easy to get around, and every few blocks opens onto a square park. The fountain here is in the largest, Forsyth Park. It's very cosmopolitan, and, as you can see, lush everywhere you look, but still a little rough around the edges. Charleston was gorgeous, but manicured, and perhaps in Lou's words, 'self-conscious'. Savannah's historic district, in contrast, felt comfortable and easy going. The next day after returning to the boat from our exploration of the town, we discovered Jim and Beth of Madcap (cruisers always refer to boat names when mentioning people) who we had previously met in Beaufort. They were standing next to another couple who we assumed they knew. We invited them all for drinks, and it turned out that they didn't know each other after all, but were sailors, too! While we were chatting, Margaret and Phil received a call from Dan and Marjorie, native Savannians to join them for dinner at a local Japanese restaurant, and invited us to go along! A delightful evening of serendipity, don't you think?

Next day, we left the sanctuary of Savannah for the peaceful beauty of the Georgia salt marshes along the ICW.