Day 50-52

From Peter Ver Ploeg:

We had a nice relaxing day traveling down the tidal rivers of South Carolina and into Georgia. The weather was fine, we got everything dried out, aired out, and warmed up. Life was good. I was so content I scampered up the mast to enjoy the view and take some pictures of Pete taking some pictures of me.




We were headed for Savannah, GA where I had a friend and fellow river rafting guide we could stay with. He lives right on the Intracoastal, with a place for us to anchor our boat and a pool house for us to stay in. Three miles off, with a home cooked dinner already on the table, we got caught at a poorly timed drawbridge. Forced to cool our heels for 45 minutes, we tied up to a channel buoy and waited it out. It was agony but, dinner was just that much more delicious.

The next day we had a very full schedule. First, we slept in. Then, we shaved off our beards. Pete had been getting his caught in his jacket zipper. I had been biting off mustache hairs while eating. Warm weather ahead. Time for the beards to go.





my friend Trey had to work, but he left us his truck so we could check out Savannah. We turned out of his driveway, came to the guard house entrance of a gated community, realized we must have turned the wrong way, and spent the next twenty minutes trying to find our way onto a major road. As tempers reached breaking point, I had an epiphany. What if that gate hadn't been the entrance but the exit and we were already in the gated community? Huzzah! We were walking through Savannah's historic district fifteen minutes later.

Downtown, the aptly named River Street is lined with shops and restaurants overlooking the water. What interested us though were all the candy stores, all making their own fresh pralines and salt water taffy and all offering free samples. We made the lap along River Street a couple times and saved money on lunch.

The next day we nurtured our developing habit of sleeping in late, did some laundry, watched some of the Olympics on TV, and played some tennis. It was the first real cardiovascular workout I've had in about two months and my whole body hurts. The highlight of our stay in Savannah came that night when Trey took us to the nearby skeet range to shoot a couple rounds. I had only ever fired a shotgun once before, at a family reunion in Wisconsin. My scores reflected this, but that's not the point. The point is hanging out with your friends, holding guns, dusting clay pigeons. It was awesome. I felt like a real man's man. Afterward we went and drank beer.