Greetings…you may call me…Keeper, for I am the keeper of theme park tales. I love theme parks. But what I love even more than theme parks are small attractions. The phrase “tourist trap” comes to mind but that has negative connotations. When I say tourist trap it’s only with love and affection. I’m the Goof in The Goofy Movie dragging the Mrs and daughter from Chester’s Possum Park to the biggest ball of string while they pretend to be interested. Myrtle Beach, SC…4 hours closer, less country music, and the same type of collection of attractions. In some cases different branches of the same very attractions in Pigeon Forge.The Mrs. agreed and we find ourselves ready to head out for our first out of state family adventure in over 20 years. We further decided that to counter the long drive after a grueling vacation schedule we will make a stop off in Savannah, GA for a night on the way home and possibly squeeze in some southern cookin’ and historical touring to cap off our adventure. The challenges for our adventure…the drive, a very short stay, no fully developed goals, and the biggest going to a beach town in peak season when I’m not even a beach goer. I suspect the girls may take a beach detour at some point while I chase down the biggest glob of silly putty or longest railroad spike or some other perceived treasure to add to my journey of adventure. The fun part on this journey is, you get to tag along too. Although reporting on everything will be impossible due to time constraints I plan on sending “postcards” of my mini-adventures so you can enjoy and discover along with us. As always, I will call em as I see em, the good and the bad along the way to give a flavor of an “away from the big boys” kinda trip. Whether the trip succeeds or fails remains to be seen but I imagine we have many adventures awaiting us, and as you know the journey to adventure is part of the fun cause….
Every Day’s An Adventure. Because we squeezed in another visit with the Ghost and Legaends gang before leaving Myrtle Beach we rolling into Savannah about 30 minutes before our schedule nighttime ghost tour. As Marty said to Doc Brown “why do we have to cut these things so close?” We had time to check into our hotel, change and catch the pick up out front from Old Savannah Tours. We knew our time in Savannah was limited so decided after researching that we would put our trust in this locally run company as opposed to the bigger chains for our touring because of the two tours that suited our touring needs. The evening tour was the Historic Haunts tour which included dinner at the Pirates House. The trolley picked us up right at our hotel and we completed a group of 12 that rolled around the historic district listening to our amusing guise while she told us about the spookier side of Savannah for about 90 minutes. Ghosts, hauntings, murder and all kind of things from the dark side of the forest city. We even got a glimpse of a house that was said to be an inspiration for Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. We then pulled up at the Pirate’s House. This is one of the oldest restaurants in town that was featured in a key scene in Robert Lewis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. I had looked at the menu online and felt it would be a good representation of southern cooking for our brief visit in town, I was disappointed that because we were in a tour group for ease of operation we got to pick from a limited menu of about 6 items. It was quality higher-end food but not what I had my palette prepared for. I was able to sample the very potent artillery punch which has deep roots in Savannah’s history. The story says that it started as a innkeepers table drink, a mixture of wine and strong tea with fruit in it, not unlike our sangria today. The military leaders the met there weren’t satisfied with the drink and started bringing bottles with them when they took their meetings. Each officer would bring whatever booze they could find and add it to the punch. The modern day version had wine, rye, rum, benedictine (a Cognac-based liquor), gin and brandy in addition to a drop or two of some non-alcoholic tea. It backed a powerful punch. After we finished our meal our tour guide brought us down to the depth of the building where we were able to explore an area off-limits to the rest of the guests where we heard some spooky history by candlelight. Another 30 minutes of stories and we were dropped off at our hotel for a well-needed rest.
Morning brought us the daily tour of historic Savannah by out friends at Old Savannah Tours. They have a unique addition that really sold me on their company. At some stops, instead of the driver explaining the history an actor in character stepped on our trolley and told us about the history of the location, It was a real way to connect with the story and bring the history to life. A good chunk of the history revolves around the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” or as it’s referred to in town as “the book”. We saw many locations from the movie and many of the houses that featured in the story of a gruesome murder. Savannah has some neat architecture too and along with its colorful history there was a lot to digest.
After some souvenir shopping and a lunch with no punch we hit the road back to O-town. We bought REAL Georgia peaches from a roadside vendor that were unlike any peaches I’ve ever had that were called Georgia peaches. The fruit almost melted off the pit. The Mrs. laughed when I insisted we needed to stop in to the Florida welcome center for our glass of OJ. Hey, when playing tourist, why not go all out! All in all a grand adventure, we got in cheesy tourist traps, quality attractions, fun shopping, good eats, and some history to boot..that’s what I call a success in my book. So I raise a shot glass of orange juice to you, my friends, and thank you for sharing the adventures and till next time…
Every Day’s An Adventure
Keeper
