Day 96 - Where Cotton Was King

Laurie and I were out on the dock even earlier today (6:30 am) to look for critters, but we were not rewarded for our efforts.  At 7:00 am the crew walked a couple blocks to the park where a Farmer’s Market is held every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning.  We were hoping to replenish some perishables and perhaps find something yummy for breakfast, thinking back to the West Palm Beach market.  What we found was one farmer unloading potatoes, onions, green beans and a couple other things from his van.  Maybe we were confused on the start time?  When we asked the farmer what time the market started and were there others coming, his response was “Whenever they get here” and “There will be a couple of others”.   Disappointed, we went back to the boat and after fueling up and pumping out, were on our way to Savannah by 9:25 am. 

We took the ocean route again, as we can travel much faster there than on the ICW.  It was another warm, hazy day.  The Captain kept us about 5 miles offshore, away from the shallow water, so again we could not see much of the shoreline as we passed the Georgia Barrier Islands.  At Tybee Island we follow the channel to the Savannah River.  The Coast Guard has a large station here and pilot boats are ready to guide the huge shipping barges in and out of the Port of Savannah.  Fort Jackson, built to protect the city is on the west bank about 1.5 miles from the city center.

Our plan was to tie up at the City Dock and we talked to the dock master to find out where we should dock.  We were told to go behind the cruise ship American Star.  There was barely enough room behind her stern lines and the end of the dock for us, but Captain Randy got us in (at 2:30 pm).  The power post was easily visible but we didn’t see any water hook-up.  What was not visible is the office to check in.  It is located in an office in the public parking garage a couple blocks away.  They assure us that there is a water hook-up on the power post and we go back and look again.  Maybe it was there once, but the only one we can find is up on the wall at street level – about 6 feet above our heads .  We planned to connect the hose at high tide, when it should be at eye level, and fill up our water tank then.  (The tides in this area fluctuate about 8-9 feet!!!)

We were right in the middle of downtown Savannah, along busy River Street, and were excited to take a walk around.  We found the City Market, which is a pedestrian mall with shops and restaurants.  We walked into Savannah’s First Candy Kitchen and are amazed by the chocolate, popcorn, taffy, hard candies and ice cream.  Laurie’s eyes were huge!  Greg bought cheese popcorn and we planned to return later for more treats.  We chose a place along River Street called Fiddler’s, where we can eat outside on the upstairs balcony.  Laurie and I have blackened snapper salads, Captain Randy has steamed shrimp and crab legs, and Greg tries the low country boil: a tray of shrimp, potatoes, corn on the cob and a corn muffin.

As we continued to walk and shop along River, Greg and the Captain get “Travelers”, which are to-go cups with their drink of choice because it is legal to have alcoholic beverages on the streets here.  The street came to an end several blocks south of the boat.  A memorial to the 1996 Olympic Games stands near the river, as the yachting events took place in Savannah (the rest were in Atlanta).  Behind this memorial is a large statue of a “Waving Girl” and her dog.  Evidently a young girl used to spend a lot of time waving to the ships as they passed in and out of port.  We walked back to the boat, tired, but not too tired to stop in one of the two Candy Kitchen shops located along River Street for taffy and a chocolate covered rice-krispy bar.  Yum yum!

The Captain was not happy to discover a new maintenance issue on the boat that night.  The shower sump switch had gone out, so shower water was collecting in the bilge – not good.  He emptied as much as he could manually, then mopped up the rest.  Another project to tackle and yet another trip to West Marine is in our future.