On the road through Florida, Georgia & SC

Before I forget which meal we had where, let me tell you about our trip to visit Harris in Hinesville, GA, at Fort Stewart.

On Thursday we flew from San Antonio, via Nashville, to Jacksonville, FL. (referred to as JAX) where we stayed the night and left early

On Friday to drive to Ft. Stewart. It was not a direct drive. We drove over to the ocean and up the coast to a lovely beach at a state park where we were the only visitors. The scenery was breathtaking and photographable, so we took some pictures and stuck our feet in the Atlantic. Laura did not remember being in the Atlantic in Delaware some 40+ years ago, so thought it was a first. We also looked at Amelia Island, not much to see, but the bottled water was a bargain.
Next stop, after missing the Georgia welcome station ... ask me about the e-mail that will address the whys of that one.

Found we were only a few miles from St. Simons Island, GA., so went right over. What a delightful place. First we found the crab cakes at Barbara Jeans cool restaurant to be worthy of the fame they have acquired. Then there is the Lighthouse and attendant facilities, park, views of water, birds and boats, and a fair number of charming shops. We'll go there again sometime.

Then we headed on up to Ft. Stewart, a large and impressive US Army base. It is, in fact, the largest in area of any US base in the eastern half of the US. The particular soldier we were looking for, who had been up all night on guard, had dozed off with his phone in the non-ring capacity, so we opted to head for Savannah and our hotel room. Checked in and said soldier woke up and headed to town for our beginning tour of Savannah. We had heard about the "squares" and SCAD, and had recommendations for several restaurants. Nothing had prepared us for the beauty of the town. The largest historic district in the US and it was preserved for lots of very good reasons. We truly enjoyed every minute spent visiting the more than 20 squares and their surroundings. Harris was especially pleased to learn about Savannah. The biggest thrill was undoubtedly going inside the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, easily one of the most beautiful churches in the US.

Supper on Friday was at the Pirate's House ... very old, very kitschy. Food was good as was the service. Our server, Elijah, grew up in Southeast San Antonio, not far from Wooldridges! We continued touring until every last bit of sunlight was gone from the squares and the drive along the river. A quick dessert and goodnight.

On Saturday Harris met us for a few more square moments and then we headed to Tybee Island, the nearest beach for Savannahians. Bad news, they were all there and there was only parking for a third of them. We on the big Texas coast are very spoiled in the parking department. There was nowhere to park ... an hour or more of driving around in circles might have resulted in one, but we (Laura and I) gave up and headed off the island. On the way we spotted the signs for "The Crab Shack" ... highly recommended, so we went there. It was wonderful. Great food, shrimp, crab and crab stew, and more atmosphere than can be described. It was funny old shacky, with lots of space, excellent service and top notch seafood. Laura says we alternated every day between shrimp and crabmeat. This was my turn for shrimp, but I had crab stew too. Oh, and key lime pie! Live alligators, tons of people, waterfront (bay) views. Good place to go. Then we went to Fort Pulaski. A pre Civil War fort of some considerable fame well preserved by the US Park Service. An excellent volunteer provided not only a wealth of information but he and four other vols demonstrated firing of muskets and two cannons. From the top of the fort you could see not only the Tybee Island lighthouse but another less known one. Hundreds more pictures!

A brief respite followed by another food adventure, also highly recommended, at Love's on the Ogeechee River, about halfway between Savannah and Ft. Stewart. My gosh, it was great too. I had Scored Flounder with Apricot preserves, preceded by a Amaretto Sour. Those other two ate shrimp. Scenery was lovely and service charming. Another worthy rec. Then we went to the mall !! You know who needed to go to "Build a You Know What". So she did.

Sunday morning we treated ourselves to breakfast on the river at "Huey's". Great view, great coffee and good food. Harris slept in at home. Then we drove to South Carolina, just to say we had, stopping at the SC Visitor Center and the Georgia Visitor Center, checked out of the room and went to see Harris' digs at Ft. Stewart. The military has come a long way in housing since I was a Navy wife in the dark ages. Big attractive barracks with individual sleeping rooms and shared kitchen and bath. Not spacious nor gracious, but certainly adequate. We bought some goodies at the PX and told our soldier goodby. He had duty on Sunday night.

So, we drove to JAX, checked in, went to the beach, swam and found shells, dried off and drove down the coast to St. Augustine for supper. That's another interesting little burg. Wildly Spanish in extreme architecture. Very hard to find parking and somewhat tourist trappy. But we managed to find another good spot for food! A1A, fusion grille featuring many specialties. Ours were delicious, Laura had lime shrimp over pasta and I had some shrimp, crab and tuna! Our fusion dessert was Fried Custard !!! It was excellent, came with Sweet Rum Sauce.

Early, 7 am, flight back through Nashville and home to San Antonio before lunch time on Monday and I drove home to Navasota before 3.

What an adventure. Came away with a whole new appreciate for the Southeast Coast and its beauty and food!