Tue 9 Apr - Savannah, GA

We wake up at Red Roof Inn, Charleston, the motel providing no breakfast, no fridge, no microwave oven and no coffee maker, but with plenty of dust as they are renovating the whole complex. On the plus side, nice setting with the pond just opposite and very cheap price.

Anyway, we had booked a cruise from 10.45am just down the road at Patriot Point so before that we decided to roadtest Tripadvisor's rated number 1 of things to do in Charleston, walking across the Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge. The bridge spans downtown and the historical centre with east Charleston / Mount Pleasant, which is where stayed the night.

The Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge is relatively new from 2005 and is about 2.5 miles / 4 km long. Hans noticed that the Swedish construction firm Skanska was part of the joint venture building the bridge.
Here is Di checking out the views from the bridge. Yes, there are similarities with Anzac Bridge in Sydney.
And here is Hans, doing his Hans the Hiker routine.
A couple of location shots of Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge in Charleston.

 

While Di did about half of the hike, Hans walked to the downtown side and then back to Mount Pleasant. Runkeeper said that the length was about 8.3km in total.
View from Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge of downtown Charleston.
And view of USS Yorktown, a WWII ship anchored at Patriot Point and now a tourist attraction.
This is our cruise boat. Spirit of Charleston, which will take us to Fort Sumter and back, anchored next to USS Yorktown.
Impressive, isn't it?
Approaching Fort Sumter out from Charleston into the Atlantic.
We have landed...
So, what's the big deal with Fort Sumter that makes it desirable to see?
Well, the American Civil War started just here. When a mortar was fired upon Fort Sumter from nearby Fort Johnson as a signal for other confederate batteries to open fire on it. A short summary below.
Fort Sumter, then and now.
And Fort Sumter as it really is today.
There were a variety of flags at Fort Sumter. Some not so well known, but explanation below.
Various location shots around the island.
Yep, that is remnant of a mortar.
We finish off our visit to Fort Sumter and to Charleston with the mandatory self portrait from the island.
We get back to shore around 1pm and start driving south. We haven't seen downtown or the historical Charleston on the ground, but that will now have to be another time. We have a quick bite in yet another chicken fast food joint south of Charleston before we head to today's destination Savannah, GA.
 
Busy place Savannah, even our motel Best Western was very busy when we arrived. Apparently, it has been voted the most beautiful town in America. We will see if we agree with that from what we have seen so far.
 
We check in, have a break, change our clothes and wander out to Corleone's Italian Restaurant a couple of small blocks away for a feed. Middle of the road stock standard pasta dishes, but not too bad. Nice interior. Here is Di waiting for her feed.
After our dinner, we decide to wander around in Savannah's historical district for a little while.
 
We liked this notice outside a building.
Very close to our motel, we found this little restaurant strip called Market Place that looked very busy. Dinner for another night perhaps...
Of course, Forrest Gump is partly filmed in Savannah. This diner is apparently where Jenny worked in the movie.
And are they not milking the Gump connection for what it's worth?
Almost opposite that diner above is Wright Park. One of many many green squares and parks that are dotted around in the historical district.
We wondered whether Forrest's bench scenes, when he is waiting for the bus, may have been filmed here. It sort of looked familiar.
We were not sure what this guy was waiting for though.
We wandered down towards the Savannah River and encounter the old Cotton Exchange, now reborn in a new life as trendy restaurants and bars...
This is Savannah's River Walk at dusk. We crossed that bridge, Talmadge Memorial Bridge, and Savannah River on the way here. Yep, the bridge in Charleston was nicer.
There was a gigantic candy store down by the River Walk. Yes, we had to go in and have a look. Heaven for sweet tooths (or is that sweet teeth?).
After that, we wander back to our motel which is very close. We are just on the northwestern corner of Savannah's historical district so downtown is all very walkable.
 
That will do for today. Another big day, but there will be no driving tomorrow. Walking the streets of Savannah is on the menu then. For now, good night.

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