Georgia

Saturday morning we got up super early and managed to get out of the house by 5am. We had a 14 hour drive to Port Wentworth, Georgia- a town just outside of Savannah. It was a long drive, the longest we have done with all the kids, but it went really smoothly. We stopped every 2 hours to stretch, get gas, eat food...and had no issues with kids needing breaks before the stopping time. With each stop the kids would switch from screens to listening to our Wings of Fire book so they never really got bored. We only encountered traffic once and we got to Port Wentsworth by 9pm. It definitely has given me the knowledge that our kids can do long drives now.

Basically all we did in Port Wentsworth was sleep because the next morning we checked out and headed into Savannah. We had no real agenda with Savannah, just wanted to walk the town. We had some troubles finding a parking garage with available parking spaces- it took our third try to find one. After parking we walked down to Forsyth Park. It really was beautiful with all the trees (the kids call the trees with Spanish moss, booger trees), flowers and a beautiful fountain in the middle of it. Ben of course had to pee so we had to find him a bathroom which ended up just being a porta potty nearby a Vegan Festival that was at the park (don't eat meat! all viruses come from meat!). The kids weren't too excited about the playground so we didn't stay too long. Some lady offered to take our picture as we were leaving and Tyler worried she would steal his phone, she didn't. But also there were no pics on our phone of all of us so....

After we left the park we walked by the beautiful Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist. It wasn't open due to it being Sunday and them having actual services going on so no tour of it, but still nice to look at from the outside.

Next we walked over to the Colonial Park Cementary. The kids really like to see and read old headstones but they were super squirrely (pretty much the whole time in Savannah) so we didn't stroll it for too long. Our next stop was East River Street where we found Echo Square. If you stand in the middle of this square your voice will echo but you can only hear the echo if you are standing in the middle of the square. It was really cool.

Then we strolled some shops, grabbed some over priced hot dogs for lunch and then strolled some more shops. As I said, the kids were squirrley, so we didn't spend too much time shoppig. Just enough to get Tyler a cool cup and grab some candy for all the kids.

Then we headed back to our car but I was determined to stop at Chippewa Square on our way- it was the square where the famous Forest Gump scene takes place ("life is like a box of chocolates"). Unfortunately the bench was just a prop they put in the square so no good photo ops but I did get a picture of the kids finally sitting still while we were conversing with a couple. A guy had noticed Tyler's GruntStyle Shirt and had asked him if he had served in the military and we ended up having a nice conversation with the guy and his girlfriend. Nice people who actually lived near St. Augustine (our third destination) so they had some tips for us. 

 

After returning to our car we drove down to the Bonaventure Cemetery. It was another neat cemetery with lots of cool gravestones and surronded by beautiful foliage. Someone told us (with disgust) that the tall obelisk was built for the largest slave trader in Savannah. SO I took a picture of it just so I could horrify them.

And because I am who I am, we made our last stop on Tybee Island so I could see a Lighthouse on the east coast. This one was not the prettiest light house I have ever been to but at least I can add it to my list of lighthouses.

After we took my token picture, we walked over to the beach and Penny got her first view of an ocean. Lucy and the boys dipped their feet in and even got a glimpse of a dead jellyfish. Penny and I kept our distance amd found a ramada to sit in- the rest eventually came to join us.

When we finished up at Tybee Island it was time to head to our next hotel in Brunswick, Georgia but on our way we had to stop by a Nine Line shop (the couple we met in Savannah told us about it) so Tyler could get a new shirt, We even got Steven a shirt which has now become his favorite shirt. He is apparently very patriotic.

Our hotel room that night was much nicer than the one on the previous night- I think just because it was a newer hotel. We got lunch at Five Guys that night and I was shocked at how much it cost ($80!!). We could have gone to a restaurant for that price. I am not sure I will visit Five Guys again. Then it was off to bed.

Monday we made our way to Jekyll Island, Georgia where we met Leslie's friend Michelle at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. She had recently moved to Georgia and so I had let her know we would be visiting nearby. I know I like it when people come to say hello to us and I thought she might like that too. The Sea Turtle Center was nothing fancy. It had a small museum with some interactive exhibits and then we went to the building next door where the sea turtles were. Unfortunately when we went to the other building we forgot to check and make sure all our kids went with us. We had been looking at the cute, injured/sick sea turtles for a good while when suddenly Penny was beside me crying. I thought she was just upset because she couldn't see the sea turtles. When I went to pick her up she cried, "I was lost" and then I noticed the worker standing behind her. Major mom fail. But also there are 5 other people in this family who did not notice she was missing.

Shortly after she got there a worker talked about the turtles and then fed one. I couldn't really see but I could hear and she had some interesting facts. We learned that the only way to find out a turtles gender is by doing their blood work and since that is expensive they usually don't find out. I asked Ben later if his dream job would be to work there and he said no- the injuries and diseases are too gross for him to handle. 

When the worker finished her presentation we headed to the gift shop (where 3 out of the 4 kids bought a sea turtle stuffie) and the worker who had helped Penny find me was the one that checked us out. I thanked him again and he told me how lucky I was that this wasn't a big place like Disney World. No judgement from him obviously.

The next thing we had was a dolphin tour but we had several hours before that started and it was literally right next to the turtle center. I honestly hadn't made any other plans for the limbo time and I had kind of hoped Michelle would know something to do. She did not. We ended up just walking around nearby- they had big fancy houses and a hotel and some shops. This island is mainly for old people trying to escape the noise and craziness of life. There was even a plaque about how people who had kids used to not be allowed to live in the homes there. It was SO quiet, which was nice, but also that made my kids seem extra loud. 

When we had enough strolling we decided to drive a little futher down to get some food. The wait for our food was enormous but we still had some time before the tour left so we strolled some more shops. I could tell Michelle was bored to tears so not too long after lunch she headed out. I really should have planned better. It was a nice chill day for me and Tyler but not so great for the kids or Michelle. In hindsight I wish we had worn swimsuits, packed something for a lunch and spent those few hours on the nearby beach.

When it was finally time for the dolphin tour we headed over to the dock. I had been really excited for this but it ended up being more like a nice boat ride. Apparently dolphins only jump out of water if they are mating or giving birth. Also dolphins do not stay in one place long which means you are constantly on the look out. Plus the girls picked the wrong side of the boat because it seemed like a lot of the sightings were on the other side of the boat. Anyways,it wasn't a total bust. I did see dolphins for brief moments here and there but I didn't get any pictures of them because they disappeared quickly. Lucy was pretty whiny about being cold and bored throughout the boat ride so I suppose that didn't help my opinion of the outing.

When we finished the dolphin cruise we decided it was time to head to our airbnb in St. Augustine, Florida. On our way there we stopped at this amazing gas station called Buc-ee's. It is has hundreds of pumps and a huge store with all sorts of fun food and things. I ended up getting a cute shirt and the kids all got slushees. It was a win. When we got to our airbnb it was determined that I had done well picking our lodging, the kids were especially excited that they had TV's in their room. We ended our day with a Walmart run, TV dinners and of course, TV.