25 years since I was in Savannah GA, the "new" bridge was a windfall sight coming across from South Carolina
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Continuing
a long tradition begun by my Father when I was a toddler, we (the Children
of Bob Jones that could manage it) departed for a rendezvous"away"
from home for a Family Christmas Celebration.
This time we were on our way to Lakeland, Florida to visit Disney, Bush Gardens, the Beach and my Mom's winter abode nearby. The trip lasted from December 25 through January 2. The camera stayed "put away" most of the time, but we still grabbed these passing moments and thoughts. |
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Looking up the river from the bridge was the same old town I used to know...
as was the view into the old part of town and the riverfront downstream ..
From River Street the bridge looks just fine ...
and the old buildings fronting the historic street look the same as they did
back then ...
we went on out to the beach expecting to find the spread of high rise mania
to have found its way there ...
and were pleasantly surprised
the dunes are still surviving,
and a small town atmosphere rules ...
the Tybee Island light still stands proud...
and we traveled on the Fort Pulaski.
My "first" fort, this one I visited when I was a lad with Dad, and
have returned five times with this visit ...
The fort marked one of those 'turning points" in history.
Built by Robert E Lee before the Civil War, it fell to the
Confederates to defend it when the war came.
In 1863 new rifled cannon were used by Union Forces to crush the wall and
bring about the surrender of the fort in a matter of hours.
Concern for the safety of the powder stored in this magazine prompted the early
capitulation.
We had the place to ourselves ...
but the wind was bitter cold ...
it whistled about the empty parade ground ...
and Robin captured me with one of those infamous rifles used to pierce the fort's
wall.
after the capture of the fort, the Union forces rebuilt the destroyed wall and
turned the fort into a prison for Rebels.
but much of the damage remains from the attack.
The flag flies ...
somewhere south of Savannah we decided to leave the interstate and bypass Jacksonville
on the back roads.
This lead us to the St Johns River south of Jacksonville, at Potapka. A nice
spot, and an unlikely place for
Jacksonville to get its power from.
from Potapka we headed south into the Ocala Forest.
we tried out a bit of the Trans Florida Trail during a "rest" stop.
much of this area north of Howey In The Hills was lake covered and beautiful
we came upon the Aviation Museum by accident, and seeing the old Constellation
we just had to stop.
this was a fine collection of old planes ...
after a few days in Lakeland we went seeking the beach, and came to the Gulf
at the Florida Skyway
a bridge that has changed alot since I was here 30 years ago...
we picked up a picnic at a local Subway
and found our way to Fort DeSoto Beach
for December 28 it wasn't too bad ...
Simon "dug it"
and the Birds "dug" Simon
and gave us "the evil eye"
the fort was an 1898 Endicott installation
with some of the very few coastal mortors that have survived
and had it been ten degrees warmer the site would have been pure paradise...
The Family (with just a few missing)