Savannah, Georgia, March 23, 24.

We stayed for two nights at a KOA near Savannah. We had read about the area in many books and wanted to see it.
Paul has just finished reading The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant and was keen on visiting Fort McAllister, an earthen fort built during the Civil War to protect Savannah. It defended the area well for two years against shelling by several warships until Dec.13, 1864 when General Sherman attacked from the land side. All the defences were pointed out across the Ogeechee River. Still, the Confederate soldiers put up a gallant defence before being overwhelmed by General Sherman's army. The fort lay in ruins until Henry Ford bought the land it stood on and began restoration. It is also the site where, on Feb.28,1863, the iron clad Montauk destroyed the Privateer Nashville {renamed The Rattlesnake during the Civil War} Americans do a wonderful job at keeping their history alive and present.
Our next stop was Savannah. After finding a parking spot along Bay St. we stepped down a stone stairwell to River Street paved with ballast stones from the days of sailing ships. These stones were also used to build homes and fences. The land side of the street is lined with buildings that had once served as the Cotton Exchange. Savannah was an important cotton port. These have been converted into restaurants, taverns, and numerous kinds of shops. The walk along the river is lined with benches and a saxophone player fills the air with sweet music. It is a lovely, relaxing place. We took an hour sail up and down the Savannah River on the Georgia Queen, a paddle wheeler, which is a replica, before going to see Market Square. Although we didn’t see all the sites we had picked out in the tourist brochure, we were tired and were happy to get back to our trailer. While Paul cooked, Faye did the laundry and then we prepared for our next stretch to Fayetteville, North Carolina.