Tuesday morning and we are ready to leave Charleston. We were packed and out of our room by 10:00 AM. Mark assumed piloting controls while Abigail was in the co-pilot seat logged in to her work computer and processing payroll as we motored south. Another good driving day. Partly cloudy, no rain in the forecast and a high during the afternoon of 91ºF. As US Route 17 merged with I-95 just north of the town of Coosawatchie we stopped for a fuel top off and a bit of McDonald’s. Two soft serve ice cream cones and a black coffee later we piled into the vehicle to join the concrete ribbon southward. As Deb was wrestling with her seatbelt, her cone took a dive to the floor of the rear passenger compartment. Expletives were uttered, the dirt encrusted cone was unceremoniously stuffed into the empty coffee cup and we were on the I-95 route south. We arrived in Savannah about 12:30 PM. At the Olde Harbor Inn, our hotel room was not ready so we left our bags with the porter and walked down some very steep steps to the Savannah River to walk and shop.
We picked the Shrimp Factory Restaurant for our lunch. A starter of Oysters Rockefeller was followed by a bowl of shrimp bisque, a po’boy shrimp sandwich, and a shrimp & grits platter. There was salad, red wine, dark ale and a rum based Savanna Breeze cocktail. We shopped at the market stalls, the 5 & 10 tourist trap shop (the true meaning of the phrase “nickeled and dimed,”) and eventually climbed the steep steps back up to our hotel. The rooms were ready so we checked these out, Deb and Abigail napped and Mark read for a while. The luncheon had been late and large - we opted to break out our road snacks, some cheese, and wine for our dinner. We watched a bit of TV and bedded down for the night.
The accommodation at The Olde Harbor Inn was a two bedroom suite - one bath, a sitting room, a bedroom and another bedroom loft above; an old facility nicely rehabbed and furnished. Savannah is the largest shipping container port on the east coast, and they are enlarging it even more. As these HUGE container ships passed by on the river, one can easily see how a ship took out the bridge in Baltimore earlier in the year. These behemoth, self propelled barges tower some sixty feet above the water line, stacked with thousands of shipping containers, and they stretch for at least one hundred yards. There would be no way to stop them once they begin moving and are totally at the behest of the tugboats. It was a startling sight to see what our consumerism has wrought.
The next morning we marshaled our luggage up and carried it down the steps to our trusty RAV 4. We loaded up and walked back down the steps to pick up the Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour we had booked. Abigail, being the good protective daughter, led us down the steps so we wouldn’t fall. One misstep, four steps up and Abigail’s foot turned and down she went. Sitting at the bottom of the steps, after righting herself, we quickly determined that she had done something to her ankle. This right foot had been broken before so there was real concern. Luckily Mark has been gimping along with his cane/walking stick, so Abigail regained in an upright status, Deb went back up to the lobby and obtained the address and phone number of an Urgent care clinic. We called an Uber and made our way there.
After two hours of x-ray and wrapping, the medic on duty was not sure if it was broken again or just badly sprained. The technician sent the prints on to the radiologist, we called another Uber and headed to the Churchill Pub, across from our hotel for a late lunch. Here we dined on a steak and ale pie, a shepherd’s pie and a “ploughman’s” lunch, all accompanied by wine, a Smithwick’s dark ale draft and a Pepsi.
Then, fueled by ersatz English Pub food and a healthy dosage of Advil, we found a stop for the missed bus tour and climbed onboard to tour the Savannah Historic District. The tour was informative and entertaining; we learned the history of Savannah and the historic district. Well worth the time.
Back in the car, we pointed our nose to Asheville, the destination of the day. As we were somewhat behind schedule, the 4+ hour drive was a bit tiring. Abigail received a phone call from the Urgent Care clinic - the foot was broken and they recommended staying off the foot and putting a boot on it. Not good news when you are on the road! We arrived around 8:20 PM at our Asheville lodging - The Radical Hotel. This is a very modern, chic establishment in an old factory building. Luckily there is an elevator and grade entrance. We were too late for the kitchen, as it closed at 9:00 PM. Abigail ordered Taco Bell delivery, and Mark and Deb selected from our array of car snacks - this time Goldfish and M&M chocolate peanuts to accompany their evening red box wine! We tumbled into our beds, Abigail watching an NBA game, and Mark and Deb buried in their respective Kindle reading devices.
A truly eventful day, not the best we have ever had, but we are limping towards the finish line undaunted but “bloodied.”
