Savannah

Had some internet issues here at the beach house the last couple of days, so haven't been able to keep up with the blogging. It seems to be working again. Tuesday was a rain off-and-on-again kind of day, so instead of going to the beach we decided to drive to Savannah for the day (about an hour from here). We went to a wildlife preserve, where we had to shelter under a convenient awning during a brief but prolific downpour, which seemed to drive most of the animals into hiding. Ben complained bitterly about not seeing the cougar or the alligator that were supposed to be there. It was hot and there was about a thousand percent humidity, AND we were in the wetlands, so everything was, well, very muggy and sticky. After that we drove into downtown Savannah and had lunch at the Pirate House restaurant, which was built in the 1750s and allegedly was the home of real pirates at some point. The kids seemed to enjoy that, though Becca complained that there were not real pirates there (apparently she was expecting some). After that we attempted to walk along River Street, where the old city is and all the tourist shops are now, but the kids would have none of it and eventually mutinied - Joel had to go get the car and pick us up after the kids parked themselves on a bench and would not move an inch further. We managed to bribe them with some ice cream from Leopold's, an apparently well-known ice cream shop, and then since it started raining again we drove around the historic sections of Savannah in the car while they ate their ice cream, so we at least got to see a little bit of the city that way. Joel has added this trip to the List Of Reasons Not to Leave Hilton Head when we come on vacation.

Some pictures: