We left Montgomery at around midday and drove east towards Savannah and the Atlantic Ocean.
It was a long but pleasant drive though rolling forest cut by rivers and small towns. Upon crossing the state line in Georgia we crossed the into the final time zone and lost another hour. This was disappointing, as always, because it made the long drive seem that much longer.
Our stop for the night was not Savannah itself but rather Tybee Island, located to the east of the city. Tybee is a sort of resort town, with mostly beach house type properties. We were staying at a campsite a few minutes walk from the beach. Tybee is accessed via a road that winds through swamp and marshland and crosses many bridges. It was hard to tell at what point we had actually reached the Atlantic.
Because of the lost hour and the long drive it was late when we arrived. After setting up camp we split up with two staying behind to do laundry (it had been a while) while the rest of us went to get groceries. The only supermarket on the island was small and sadly lacking in many ingredients. We returned to camp to find that there had been a power cut meaning that our laundry was still only half dry. Thankfully it eventually came back on but it meant that our already late night was made later still as we sat and waited for the clothes to finish drying.
The next morning we went to the beach for a bit and swam and lay in the sun. The beach was nice enough but nothing amazing. I went back to camp a little earlier than the others and managed to miss out on some dolphins that swam right in to shore. It was a blazingly hot day and we all swam in the pool at the campsite after packing up our tents.
We wanted to see downtown Savannah before moving on so we headed back towards the mainland. On the way we stopped off at Fort Pulaski, an historic fort that was involved in the Civil War. The fort was built by the federal government to protect the nation's coastline. It was not garrisoned when South Caroline seceded from the Union and was thus captured by Confederate forces. Due to advances in cannon technology the fort was already obsolete by the time it saw its first action. Union forces bombarded the walls and in less than two days had managed to breach a hole and were threatening the fort's gunpowder supply thus forcing the Confederate garrison to surrender. No lives were lost. The fort was repaired by the Union and was garrisoned for the remainder of the war but did not see further action.
The fort is well preserved and easily accessible. There is an entry fee but luckily this was included in our National Park Pass. It was still incredibly hot so we could only walk the walls for so longer before moving on. The ice cold water fountain in the men's bathroom was a lifesaver.
We didn't really know anything about Savannah and were all surprised by just how beautiful the city was. The downtown is full of historic buildings and was full of life. We visited the famous riverfront which has been recently improved and is full of restaurants and bars and interesting shops. It's a long way below the main street level of the city with tight cobbled streets for access.
An art gallery by the river front had a series of paintings like this. I would have bought one if I had been able to carry it.
The famous "life is like a box of chocolates" scene from Forrest Gump was filmed in a park called Chippewa Square in Savannah which we hoped to find. As we walked towards it the daily thunderstorm rolled in and within seconds we were all soaked. We had become so used to this by now that no one seemed particularly bothered. We visited an old cemetery where many of the headstones had worn away over time. There were many famous Georgians buried there with information panels explaining their lives.
Rain pours off a building
We managed to find our way to the park and much to our disappointment the bench that Forrest had sat on was nowhere to be found. There were plenty of benches around but none that were positioned correctly.
Our visit to Savannah ended up being short and sharp. We were wet but had a great time exploring the city. As with Montgomery we had gone in without much expectation and with very little idea of what to expect, and again had been pleasantly surprised. We left the city and drove north, soon leaving the peach state behind and entering South Carolina, towards our next destination; Charleston.