Savannah Bound-- Part 27: The Mighty 8th Air Force and Home

April 9, Tuesday

Last day in Savannah, but I didn't leave until late in the afternoon so we took a ride over to the nearby National Museum of the Mighty 8th in Pooler, Georgia.

This museum tells the story of this Army Air Force group which had a major role in the downfall of Germany through its bombing missions during World War II.

This is a museum you could spend days in (planning on a return to it next trip to Savannah).  Lots of interactive exhibits and movies.  At one point you actually get to experience a bombing mission.

This is especially poignant now as we commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

We met Julie there and had lunch at Miss Sophie's, located on premises. Great food at very reasonable prices.

As we neared my return flight I was sure hoping things would not go like my trip to Savannah and I'm happy to report that everything went smoothly and we got to Milwaukee.

I'll definitely fly again.

--RoadSky

Savannah Bound-- Part 26: Savannah's History

MONDAY, APRIL 8

Next, we walked across the yard to the Savannah History Museum which showcases the city's history from1733 to the present.

It is located in the old Central of Georgia passenger shed whose construction began in the 1850s and was completed in the 1870s.  It is home to more than 10,000artifacts including Johnny Mercer's Oscar and Grammy awards and the bench made famous by Forrest Gump sitting on it in the movie of the same name.

Of course, there is a lot to do with Savannah during the American Revolution and the Battle of Savannah in which the British defeated attacking American/French forces and resulted in the death of Casimir Pulaski.   And, of course, Savannah's role in the Civil War.

Also on the grounds is the rebuilt British fortifications at Spring Hill.

After leaving Savannah, I went with Julie as she made her rounds feeding various feral cat colonies around Pooler.

--RoadDog

Savannah Bound-- Part 25: The Cat and the Trains

Daisy them kitten was doing much better this morning.  Only she didn't look much like a Daisy.  She looked more like something else.  Julie said she looked like one of hose little creatures in the "Star Wars" movie and she sure did look like an Ewok.  That became her new name.

Today was our trip to Savannah to see some of Julie's favorite stuff.  History.  Well, Ed and I liked it anyway.

First stop was the Georgia State Railroad Museum.  It was formerly called the Roundhouse Railroad Museum and still called that by many, including Ed.  It is located at the Central of Georgia Railway site and is the most complete antebellum train site.

Probably the most striking aspect of the place is the partial round house and operating turntable, machine shop as well as all sorts of other railroad related things. Also lots of engines and railroad cars.

--RoadTrain

Savannah Bound-- Part 21: Fort McAllister

SATURDAY, APRIL 6

Olaf (the kitten) somehow ended up sleeping with me.  Went to Julie's Cat House, Pooler Paws, and did some cleanup work.

Then, Ed and I got away and headed to Richmond Hill, Georgia, which is south of Savannah.

Our aim today was to visit Confederate Fort McAllister which is now under the direction of the Georgia Sate Parks and has a good museum with a very informative short film about the fort.  The fort itself is an earthen fort much like Fort Fisher but much smaller.

Fort McAllister is the southern-most of the forts that guarded Savannah during the war.  It was attacked by Union ships seven different times during the war, with several of the attacks being from Union monitors.  Every time there were minimal casualties and damage done to it.

The fort finally fell when General Sherman arrived culminating his famed March to the sea.

--RoadDog

Savannah Bound-- Part 20: Records, Huc-A-Poos and a Steak

FRIDAY, APRIL 5

Yesterday was Ed and my history day.  Today was our music day.  Like I said, a brother from another mother.  Thanks Julie.

We drove into Savannah, listening to an oldies station and quizzing each other on song names and performers.  First stop was sat a mom and pop style record/CD store called  Rody's.  I bought two CDs, one by Delbert McClinton and one by James Hunter Six.

Then, we drove out to Wilmington Island, near Tybee Island and went to Coastal Records where Ed bought an old Beatles LP.

When I found out we were near Tybee Island, I mentioned it and wanted to know if a great dive diner called Huc-A-Poos was still there and the owner said it sure was and was as good as ever.  Liz and I had finally found it after looking all over Tybee and it was worth the search.  They feature extremely rustic seating and some of the best giant slices of ubique pizza I'd ever had.

Ed had never been there before but will definitely come back.

Returned home and Julie introduced me to a tabby kitten named Olaf who was quite a character.  I believe one of her goals was to get me to go home with a kitten.  Tempted.

They grilled a steak and we watched the Iowa women's basketball game in the Final Four of that tournament and they will go to the championship game against South Carolina.

These days, everywhere you go it's Caitlyn Clarke.

--RoadRecords

Savannah Bound-- Part 12: Finally Get to Savannah

WEDNESDAY APRIL 3

And, this flight left on time for a short hop of about 45 minutes to Savannah.  I figured since it was s late, almost 11 p.m., that there would be plenty of room on the plane. Wrong again.  Just about every seat was taken.  Now, I began to wonder if my wayward carry-on piece of luggage would also arrive in Savannah when I did.  

Regardless, I am finally on my way.

Called my sister who would be meeting me in Savannah and she was already aware of it as she was tracking my progress.  Apologized for being so late.  At least she lives close to the airport, several miles away.

We boarded.  Once again I had that neat video screen in front of me (remember the one on the plane from Milwaukee to Atlanta didn't work after they got a computer glitch fixed) and I had a set of earpieces to listen to t now (free of charge).  I saw that they had the movie "Cool Hand Luke" on it so watched 45 minutes of it before we landed.

Touchdown in Savannah just after midnight and walked through an empty airport, except for those of us  getting off.  And, glory be, my luggage was at the carousel.

Walked outside and within a minute, Julie pulled up and I was on my way to her place.

A Real Long Day.  What We Had Here Was Failure To Communicate.  --RoadTired

Savannah Bound-- Part 10: Gate, What Gate?

These escalators took me up to Terminal A.  I was finally there.  

My flight from Milwaukee had arrived at 7 p.m., and the flight to Savannah wasn't leaving until 10:54.  I figured I had plenty of time to get to my next gate, but as it was turning out, I was going to need a whole lot of it finding it.

Oh where oh where can my gate be?

Compounding the problem was the fact that all arrival/departure boards were up high.  As I age, reading signs with small print that are up high has become very difficult.  I first started noticing it at fast food places with their high menus.  I have to put on my glasses.  (And, of course, those high fast food menus now keep changing, so about the time I figure out what I want to order, I have to wait and start all over again.)

And, guess what.  My eyeglasses were in my carry on bag which was elsewhere.  No glasses.

The nearest I could make out from the Atlanta boards was that I was leaving from Gate A-21.  

Just having a Time Today.  --RoadHuh?

Savannah Bound-- Part 9: Hiding Terminals On Me

APRIL 3, 2024

Well, I'm finally in Atlanta.  Just 40 minutes by air away from my final destination, Savannah.  Lots of fun and games in Milwaukee.  Now I just have to find my next gate.  How hard can that be?  Even so, I expected it to be at the opposite end of the terminal where we landed.  My gates are always as far as you can get away from each other.

Buy, wait, they don't call Atlanta's airport the busiest people-wise in the U.S..  Atlanta is the exact reason I chose not to fly out of O'Hare serving Chicago. That would have made my choices much larger in flights and times.

But, Atlanta is exactly what I hate about O'Hare.  Way too many people.  If you stopped to try to figure out something, you took your life in your own hands.  I got bumped into and had many close calls walking those corridors.

And, even better, my next gate wasn't even in the same corridor.  It was in a Concourse A.  So, I started walking and signs were confusing, but eventually I got to a place where I saw an arrow pointing to Concourse A.  I followed it and saw that evidently there was also a Concourse T located somewhere near A.

I went down a really long escalator and there was a sign down there saying to take the train to A and T.  I got onboard and had to hold on for dear life as there were no seats.  I got off when an announcement said we were at Concourse A.  Finally, getting somewhere.

I started walking and kept a-walking until I see a sign saying I was at Terminal T.  What happened to Terminal A?  Shouldn't I have seen A at some point in my walk?  I finally found someone to ask and was told I had to get back on the train and go back to Terminal A.  How did I miss Terminal A?

Plus, about now I was feeling the need to go to the bathroom and I sure wasn't seeing any of them wherever it was that I was now.  I got off at Terminal A and this time saw escalators going way up. Was this how I missed Terminal A?  Did they hide it upstairs?

Tune In Tomorrow for More of My Atlanta Adventure.  --RoadLost

Savannah Bound: Back on the Plane

From April 3 to April 9 I visited my sister and her boyfriend in Pooler, Georgia, outside Savannah not too far from the Savannah International Airport.

This was the first time I had been on a plane since at least 2011, nor had I been on them much before that.  However, in the 70s, 80s and 90s Liz and I often flew to destinations.  Liz became uncomfortable flying and stopped and I later joined her when it seemed to me that the airlines had stopped being nice to their customers and, of course, the obstacle course you had to go through to get out to the gate going through the TSA checkpoints. 

Kind of made me feel like the folks going through the Nazi checkpoints in the WW II movies.  Plus, you had that full body scan and almost had to disrobe.  No shoes, no belts, no keys, no wallets.  A regular no shirt, no shoes, no service thing.

Plus there was the the extra charge for luggage enacted as well as all the food you get in regular seats.

I hate lines and crowds.  I avoid them as much as I can.  And then there is the question of what you can have in your luggage, especially in the pills and toiletries department.  Also, a whole lot of it is done via smart phones, something I am learning but not good at.

Scared at the Airport.  --RoadDog

In Search of Tybee Island's "Local Character"

The last two days I have been writing about searching for one John Potter of Savannah, Georgia, at one of his local hangouts on Tybee Island called Huck-A-Poos.  This is in my Running the Blockade blog.  I came across his name and Huck-A-Poos  while writing about the man who has recently come forward to admit that the supposed photograph of the Confederate ironclad CSS Georgia was his hoax.

After I found that he had a picture of himself on a wanted poster at the bar with something about a record for drinking PBR beer in one night, I knew I had to check this place out.

It starts with a trip out to Savannah's dive bar, Pinkie Master's (and I have no doubt he used to go there as well) and eventually leads to a traffic jam going to Tybee Island and a trip to Fort Pulaski.  Well, it is a Civil war blog after all.

But, this could also be considered a road blog, so give it a read.  Just click on the Running the Blockade Blog to the right of this entry.

Love Those Local Characters.  --RoadDog

Just Watched the NYK Remus Cruise By

From the sixth floor of the Holiday Inn Express here in Savannah, we just saw the NYK Remus going down the Savannah River heading for the Atlantic Ocean.  It was huge.  Rated as a container ship, it was built in 2009, Panamanian flagged and 286 meters long and 32 meters wide.  It was loaded with railroad containers stacked almost as high as the top of the superstructure.

Looking up information, it arrived here in Savannah yesterday at 1:30 p.m. and left dock today at 9 a.m..

It is owned by the Nippon Yusen Kaisha Corporation, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, based in Tokyo.

Kind of neat to see it and then look it up.

--RoadDog

Me and the Luggage Cart, or, the Luggage Cart and I?

I got to know this luggage rack at the Holiday Inn Express in Savannah quite well yesterday.  The hotel is located right downtown by the river and had valet parking, so we had to unload the things we needed to bring in so used the cart as otherwise it would have been several trips.

We  checked in and got our room on the 7th floor.  So up the elevator we went. This was slow because one of the two elevators was broken.  It was supposed to have a balcony room, but this one didn't have one.  We mentioned the lack of a balcony on our way out and they put us one floor lower (which had a balcony).

So, I had to get the cart again and go up the elevator (another long wait).  Only we accidentally got off on the sixth floor, walked into the room and saw  someone must have stolen our luggage.  But then we remembered we had to go to the 7th floor.  Another really long wait to go up that floor.

Loaded the cart and then had another really long wait to go down to the 6th floor.  We were finally in the correct room, but then there was another long wait to take the luggage cart back down to the lobby.

I saw the cart later and it sat there mocking me.

My New Best Friend, That Hard to Move Luggage Cart.  --RoadDog

America's Best Burger Cities-- Part 3

8. MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL-- Juicy Lucy-- Burger with cheese melted inside the patty. (I'd go here just for the name.) Also, Matt's Bar and 5-8.

9. NEW YORK CITY-- Four Seasons features a 10-ounceNunan Randi Burger for $30. (Is tthis where the Four Seasons got their start? Music and an expensive burger.) Also, Danny Meyer's Shake Shack.

10. SAVANNAH-- B&D Burger-- Fresh Angus and home-baked beans. 33 different burgers. One of these is the Tattnall (named after the commander of the Confederate Navy Squadron at Savannah during the Civil War?) which has cheddar, pineapple, terriyaki sauce and onion rings on top.

Oh Boy To That. --RoadDog