Tybee Island Adventure, Day 5

[Composed 8/3/2021]

Today was our chance to explore the city of Savannah. We started in Forsyth Park with a trip to the playground and then the nearby Fragrance Garden. The kids enjoyed both sites. I loved the concept of the garden which encouraged us to take in the scene with our nose and not just our eyes.

From there we made our way to the historic district where I planned to deploy my secret weapon for learning about Savannah's history: a carriage ride. After our experience in Montreal, I realized that a carriage ride is a delightfully kid friendly way to take in a city. And Savannah's carriage ride was no different. First off, what kid (or adult for that matter?) doesn't love being pulled by a horse? Our driver / tour guide was an absolute pro, casually dropping historic facts that kept everyone interested. And best of all: no tired legs or feet. At some point, the kids (and Shira) may be old enough and motivated enough to cover blocks of a historic city on foot, but until then, I'll gladly pay a premium price for the horse and driver experience.

Both J and I took plenty of photos on the carriage ride. However, I was so impressed with J's pics that I'm using them instead of the ones I took. So here's a feel for what we saw, all through J's lens.

I came away from the carriage ride blown away by the history of Savannah. We toured at least 4 notable time periods. Savannah starts with a sort of utopian founding which falls apart in less than 20 years. Next up, there's its role in the Revolutionary War and the failed attempt to extricate it from British control. Then there's its involvement in the Civil War, including the Union occupation. And finally, there's the battle of Ellis Square.

The last battle wasn't between armies; it was between local interests:

Ellis Square is one of the original squares planned by James Edward Oglethorpe during the founding of Savannah ... For over 200 years, the square served a market area and locals referred to it at Market Square throughout from the mid-1700s through the mid-1950s, when it ceased to exist.

In 1954, with much dismay, the significant square was demolished and turned into a multi-level parking garage that stood for more than five decades. This event helped ignited the restoration movement that has restored so much of the Savannah you can see today.

In the 1950's, Savannah wasn't the pristine historic location we toured today. The demolation of Ellis Square was very much a sign of what was to come:

By the mid-1950s, much of the downtown was wallowing in disinvestment and decay. Buildings were blighted and empty, crime was high, residents were fleeing to the southside, and there was little to no tourism. In 1954, the demolition of the beloved City Market on Ellis Square for a parking garage served as the catalyst for a nascent preservation movement.

By the following year, another serious threat arose-a nearby funeral home was set to purchase the c.1820 Isaiah Davenport House to tear it down for a surface parking lot.

Savannah residents were energized by the Ellis Square demolition and succesfully fought off attempts to tear down the Davenport House to make way for a parking lot. From there, they went on to save hundreds of other buildings and succesfully turned Savannah into the historic Mecca that it is today.

While this isn't the utopia Oglethorpe, the town founder, had in mind, if I squint I can see some similarities. Savannah opted to take a deliberate path that prized values over short-term gain, and the results are a beacon for others to embrace.

After our carriage ride we made our way to City Market. Some sources suggested the the market was a fun place to explore; other's suggested it was too touristy to be of much use. Given the heat and the age of our kids, we found it wasn't anything special. We did a walk through in a few minutes and then made our way back to one of the nearby squares to eat the lunch we'd packed for the day.

At this point, the sunshine and 86% humidity were taking their toll. It was hot and Shira had lost her patience for traipsing around the city. Grasping for one more thing to do, I suggested we visit Books on Bay, a used book shop located near the historic district. I figured what better place to spend our tourist dollars than in a local bookstore, and I liked the idea of taking the kids to a place where I'd be psyched to buy them something.

T found a paperback section that interested her, and she and Shira scoured it looking for a book for her, but all the titles ended up being too adult. J found the sci-fi section and ended up picking up an old school Star Trek book. I tried my hardest to get C and G to be interested in the various old-school girl-oriented series books (think Hardy Boys, but with girls on the cover) but had no luck. On the plus side, I ended up discovering the Cherry Ames series and picked up the one where she worked as a Flight Nurse. I was sold on reading it and hoped the kids would enjoy it, too.

But it was D's find that ended up being the most interesting. He picked up a copy of Mildred Wirt's Courageous Wings. When Shira went to buy our stack of books, it was then that we discovered the book he had picked up hadn't been priced yet. This triggered a fairly lengthy converstaion between the store owner and D. It started innocently enough, with her asking where he found it in the store. From there, we learned why it hadn't been priced yet and that she wasn't sure she was even going to sell it. D and the owner chatted on. By the end of the conversation we learned that this copy of Courageous Wings had been published during Word War II, when war scarcity caused the book to be printed on thinner, more delicate paper. Ultimately, she opted to not sell us the book. Instead, she gave it to D as a gift. The whole thing couldn't have been more touching.

I'm not sure the kids were blown away, but I'm definitely adding visit used book store to our list of activities we can do when visiting a new city with the kids. There's just too much opportunity to discover something new and interesting.

After the book store we did a bit of shopping at the outlets nearby and then made our way home.

I read the kids chapter one of Cherry Ames, Flight Nurse. I loved it. The kids, not so much. Oh well, it was worth a try.

Caption Me: Introspective Bug Edition

Awfully nice of this praying mantis to sit patiently while I photographed him (or her?) from all angles.

Have a caption suggestion? Leave it in the comments below.

Tybee Island Adventure, Day 4

[Composed 8/2/2021]

This morning we found ourselves back at the beach. This time we were at a much calmer stretch of water because the plan was to learn how to Stand Up Paddle Board. As we waited for our lesson to begin, the kids naturally found themselves exploring the beach and splashing in the water. They quickly realized that the fewer waves meant there were more signs of life, including various types of crabs and baitfish. At one point, I noticed D gingerly walking through the water. I tried to encourage him: there's nothing to be scared of here; in this case you're the giant scary creature, not them. D corrected me, he wasn't worried that they were going to hurt him, he was worried he might hurt them. Ahh yes, D, my gentle giant.

Our private SUP lesson began well enough. The teacher had everyone don life jackets and gave us a water safety overview. Looking at the kids, I think her intentions were good: better to skip lots of instruction on the beach and get the kids in the water so they can do what kids do: figure stuff out. So with a minimum of instruction, we had everyone on boards and in the water.

Turns out, there was a bit of a snag with this plan. What appeared as calm water had a fairly significant current. Within a few minutes, the kids were floating down near the edge of the boundary that the teacher had set for us, and she'd neglected to teach them how to turn around. The kids, can therefore be forgiven for freaking out. We got everyone collected, walked back up the beach and tried again, this time after learning a few more fundamentals (like, say, how to turn) and were back in the water. Ultimately, the kids did get it figured out. Though, they ended up enjoying splashing around in their lifejackets more than the actual SUP'ing. While this wasn't quite the experience I had in mind when I suggested it, I'm still glad we gave it a try and the kids had a chance to step out of their comfort zones.

After the lesson we stayed at the beach and the kids were excited to continue to play in and around the water. At some point, C, J and I walked further down the beach to see if there was anything to explore. We didn't find anything, but on the way back, C announced that she just saw a shark. C, I explained, this isn't a video game--you can't just say things like that at a beach without raising an alarm. OK, she replied, maybe it wasn't a shark, maybe it was a dolphin. Dolphin?! Where?! She pointed out what she saw, and sure enough, it was a creature with a dorsal fin. It happened to have been a dolphin, but her cry of shark wasn't far off. I apologized to her and thanked for sharing her discovery.

For the record, my setup of our beach shelter was far improved over my first attempt. Maybe the wind on the beach wasn't as extreme, or maybe I cracked the code for setting it up (take whatever sand you think you need in the sandbags, and double it). Either way, I no longer felt like a Tenderfoot Scout setting up his tent for the first time.

Aftere the day at the beach, we made our way, cleaned up and watched a bit more of the Olympics. The kids have turned their rooms into an explosion of game cards and legos. I'm trying to think of this a bit of joyful chaos.

Tomorrow we head into Savannah for the day. I'm hoping I can slip in a bit of a history lesson without the kids or Shira even knowing it. Wish me luck!

Tybee Island Adventure, Day 3

[Composed 8/1/2021]

Today we explored two amazing sites in the Tybee Island area. We started with Fort Pulaski National Monument. Fort Pulaski is what I imagine / hope-for when you mention the word fort: moat, drawbridge, massive stone walls and plenty of nooks and crannies to explore. Fort Pulaski has all of this, and then some.

By the time we got to the fort the weather was hot, with a feels like approaching 100°F. In this context, I forgive Shira for finding a nice tree to hang out under and wait while we explored the fort. A few of the kids ended up hanging out with her and they apparently played a rousing game of charades.

Meanwhile, C, J and I earnestly explored the fort. As I hoped, we weren't disappointed. On the main level we were able to explore various side-rooms, and from the top of the ramparts we were granted amazing views. While exploring, C raised a few good questions: where did the soldiers go the bathroom and where were the prisoners held? We got the answer to our second question when we descended down a funky spiral staircase and made our way along the back of the fort to a barred off section. In these bare and cramped conditions, it was here that POWs were held.

As to the second question, it took us asking a ranger before had our answer. She explained that ultimately, everything ended up in the moat. Yuck.

While exploring additional side rooms J pointed me towards one of the most powerful exhibits we'd see all day. It was titled 'Words Have Power' and talked about how the language we use can have an impact on our understanding of history. Here's an excerpt from the exhibit:

Though they may be simple and small, words have power. Close your eyes and consider the following word groupings.

Master vs. Enslaver
Ran away vs. Self-emancipated
Plantation vs. Forced labor camp
Runaway vs. Freedom seeker
Slave vs. Enslaved

What do you see? What do you feel? Open your eyes and think about the words we use daily without thought. Words have power, but how are we using that power? Through your words are you helping reinforce people's humanity or simply the conditions forced upon them?

How incredibly eye opening. Good find J!

Walking the fort's seamingly impenetrable walls, you can appreciate why Colonel Olmstead, the commanding officer of the fort, liked his chances against a Union attack. However, after 30 hours of bombardment Olmstead knew that he was out of options and surrendered. The defeat was caused in large part by the use of rifled guns, a new and easy to dismiss technology that traditionalists would have ignored. Instead this turned out to be an innovation that would make massive forts like Pulaski obsolete.

After Fort Pulaski and lunch we made our way to the Tybee Island Lighthouse. The lighthouse incorporates a foundation that was built in 1773. That makes it Georgia's oldest and tallest lighthouse and I'm proud to say we made it to the top. While the views were amazing, you can see from the pictures of me below that my fear of heights was starting to creep up on me. I've backed up as far as I can from the railing and I'm willing myself to be absorbed by the bricks.

After climbing the lighthouse we explored the grounds. The highlight of which was finding that one of the buildings had been converted to a small theater that showed an informational film on the lighthouse. Sitting in a dark, air conditioned room, with 5 children content to watch a screen, I have to say that I felt a special bit of peace.

After the lighthouse we made our way to an ice cream shop where we all enjoyed a treat to help cool us down. From there, we made our way back home to cool off, clean up and watch some of the Olympics.

For dinner we made an an obscenely large amount of food (a dozen burgers and 8 hot dogs) and watched as nearly all of it got snarfed up by the children. They may be pre-teens, but they're definitely eating at a teenage level.

Tomorrow we're back on the water, starting with a Stand Up Paddle Board experience. Beach time, here we come!