Our primary reason for visiting Savannah was to visit a former cook of Jay's when he chartered his sailboat in the Virgin Islands. Rubi McGrory, and her husband Bill, live in the historic district of the city in a wonderful old home which, like we all do with our homes, they are in the process of renovating. Rubi's artistic talents have the perfect playground of 10' high ceilings, spacious rooms and elevated patio to transform it into a fun, functional abode.
Jay’s Comments:
For those of you that know Rubi from my chartering days, no explanation is needed. For all the rest of you I must take a moment to introduce my “Gem of the Caribbean” who came to me in my hour of need. I had just fired the very worst cook in the Virgin Islands with no replacement in sight. Meanwhile Rubi had come to the islands, straight out of college, to cook on a competitor’s boat which turned out to be a sham. The befugalties of life brought us together and we found we were made for each other. Her warped sense of humor dovetailed with mine and we spend the next year and a half laughing our way through a multitude of adventures and many wonderful charters. I adopted her as my 2nd daughter and we’ve been best buddies ever since. Video available upon request.
Rubi has a whimsical artistic talent and is currently working on a Masters degree in art. Our arrival in Savannah coincided with final preparations for a textile art exhibit, that was organized by Rubi and her classmate Karin, which had blossomed beyond their wildest expectations. With our experience at hanging Chris’ fine art photography shows we were able to give her some helping hands.
In typical Rubi fashion she rewarded our efforts with an original creation of a pillow complete with truck and trailer appliqué.Chris is a lover of architecture in general, and especially of old homes. Savannah is an architectural photographer's dream. Breaking her vow to not photograph for at least the first month of the trip, she could not restrain herself from leaving the camera behind when we toured the city on the second day of our stay.
In keeping with our goal of sharing our travels on an educational level, Chris has photographed the informational signs which describe events and features of the city throughout its history as well as city sights. A gallery of the images is here - www.imagesbychristine.com/Odyssey/Savannah/index.htm. Photos that relate to the sign's subject matter appear next in the gallery.
Please keep in mind that these are "snapshots", i.e. taken on the fly and not representative of Chris' best work.
Because the gallery images may not be large enough to actually read the content of the signs, a slide show, which enables one to view the signs large enough to read, has also been created. The drawback is that you need to download the entire 16MB file in order to view it. If you are so inclined, the link is here - www.imagesbychristine.com/Odyssey/Savannah/savannah.exe.
See below for an explanation of some of the photos.
Slide Show Notes:
Each slide stays visible for about 3 seconds before it transitions to the next one. If you want to play each slide for a longer or shorter time, use the instructions below. You will need to halt each slide if you want to read the information on the signs.
Savannah slide show instructions:
Pause – hit space bar
Resume – hit space bar again
Next Slide – page down key
Previous Slide – page up key
Close the show - escape
Slide Show Notes:
Each slide stays visible for about 3 seconds before it transitions to the next one. If you want to play each slide for a longer or shorter time, use the instructions below. You will need to halt each slide if you want to read the information on the signs.
Savannah slide show instructions:
Pause – hit space bar
Resume – hit space bar again
Next Slide – page down key
Previous Slide – page up key
Close the show - escape
Explanation of photos:
We started at the Savannah Waterfront. It is a relatively small city, by east coast standards, and has a rich history of Native American, Revolutionary War, slave trade and Civil War events and of course, the king of southern commodities, cotton as explained in the signs.
The statue of the waving girl is of Florence Martus who used to wave to the ships as they came into the harbor. The story about her goes that she was in love with a sailor that sailed away and she faithfully returned to the quay hoping for his return. Of course the alternate version of her story is that she was a little daft in the head.
Forsyth Park is a huge rambling park in the center of the historic district. It's pathways are sheltered by ancient Live Oak dripping with Spanish Moss and its 100 plus acres is surrounded by magnificent mansions and precious Victorian dwellings. One imagines they are strolling amongst the gentry in pre-Civil War spendor.
Savannah's cemeteries are as intriguing as it's homes. We visited the Bonaventure Cemetery, which lies outside the city on one of the many water channels in the delta. Contained in family plots surrounded by low, weathered, concrete walls, headstones carried names like Toloula. They were embelished with flowers, angels and crosses, with the ever-present Live Oaks standing silent watch.
We started at the Savannah Waterfront. It is a relatively small city, by east coast standards, and has a rich history of Native American, Revolutionary War, slave trade and Civil War events and of course, the king of southern commodities, cotton as explained in the signs.
The statue of the waving girl is of Florence Martus who used to wave to the ships as they came into the harbor. The story about her goes that she was in love with a sailor that sailed away and she faithfully returned to the quay hoping for his return. Of course the alternate version of her story is that she was a little daft in the head.
Forsyth Park is a huge rambling park in the center of the historic district. It's pathways are sheltered by ancient Live Oak dripping with Spanish Moss and its 100 plus acres is surrounded by magnificent mansions and precious Victorian dwellings. One imagines they are strolling amongst the gentry in pre-Civil War spendor.
Savannah's cemeteries are as intriguing as it's homes. We visited the Bonaventure Cemetery, which lies outside the city on one of the many water channels in the delta. Contained in family plots surrounded by low, weathered, concrete walls, headstones carried names like Toloula. They were embelished with flowers, angels and crosses, with the ever-present Live Oaks standing silent watch.
The Stitch Spectacular show: Karin is shown with the show sign, then a couple of pics of the show itself, and the last one shows Rubi (on left) and Karin with one of the show pieces.
The final photo shows the wonderfully wooded, spacious campsite we had at Skidaway State Park. The best yet!!
Chris loved the historic homes and southern ambiance of Savannah and was reluctant to leave. But knowing that we would return for a longer stay, in warmer weather, we departed for Tallahassee and a visit with Jay’s daughter, Lori.
Chris loved the historic homes and southern ambiance of Savannah and was reluctant to leave. But knowing that we would return for a longer stay, in warmer weather, we departed for Tallahassee and a visit with Jay’s daughter, Lori.
