End of tour

Day 32

A flight from Spokane to Chicago and then 3467 miles, 16 states and 2 provinces later we are at the end of our trip.  Today we continued on our walking tours of Savannah.  We made our way to Forsyth Park, a beautiful 20 acre park with a stage for performances and events, a beautiful fountain and other memorials.  The

Forsyth Fountain erected in 1858 is the most photographed site in Savannah. Beyond the fountain a bit is the Confederate Monument.  It was erected in 1874 in honor of the Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War.  It was made in Canada, and transported to Savannah by ship so it would never touch Yankee soil.  We went to Clarys to have a cuppa and discovered they had old fashioned malts.  We went back later to get ours.  Evelyn is reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil where the Clary Cafe was described as a local hangout.  We went to St.John the Baptist Catholic Church in Charleston and discovered St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Savannah as well and the two buildings are nearly identical gothic structures.  Both large and beautiful.  Today I found my BBQ.  We had asked around and discovered that the best was Angels, a hole in the wall on an out of the way side street.  Angels we discovered has only three tables.  I called around 1:00 and asked how late they were open and learned they would close when they ran out of food, which could be fairly soon since they had a very busy lunch  hour.  We had Angel's Special and loved every bite.  There are quite a few bicycles in Savannah.  Most were single speed with fenders, a chain guard and fat white sidewall tires.  We are now ready to sleep our last night on the trip, catch our plane at 6 in the morning, get to Spokane by 12:30 and on to Ed and Lynn's pig roast.

Forsyth Fountain

Confederate Memorial

St. John

Malts at Clarys

Angels BBQ

Walking Around Savannah

Day 31

When we first arrived in Savannah we went to the visitor's center.  I was wandering through the gift shop and stumbled on a brief publication called "The Savannah Walking Tour Guidebook:  4 Unique Walking Tours."  For each of the tours the guide book directs you to a number of historical buildings, sites and squares.  We did the first one yesterday with Lesley-a tour of 23 sites.  Today we walked the second one-a tour of 35 sites.  We ended at the Pink House-built in 1789 and was the residence of James Habersham Jr.  It is now a restaurant with about 450 seats and two taverns.  We had wine, she crab soup and fried green tomatoes.  (I have found all of my southern foods except BBQ which I will get tomorrow).  The basement tavern is lit only by candle light and is very cool and opens at 5.  We were there earlier and ate at the ground level tavern.  Talking with the wait staff we discovered that they had over 400 reservations for the night. Some of the buildings on the tour included Luthern Church of the Ascension, originally built in 1756 of wood and then rebuilt between 1875 and 1879 as the gothic structure you now see.  Another beautiful structure is the Independent Presbyterian Church, built in 1889-90.  Savannah has an open container law so as we walked the tour on a warm afternoon we were able to sip from the pint of Sweetwater Ale (Atlanta).  The oak trees here are old and massive with the Spanish moss hanging from their limbs.  On some streets they form a canopy over the entire street.  Lesley took us out to Tybee Island--east of Savannah-this morning so we could see the lighthouse and spend a brief time at the beach.  We were able to climb 178 steps inside the lighthouse and at the top get a panoramic view of the area.  The first lighthouse was built in 1736 and then was rebuild 3 times as the result of storms.  The current version was built shortly after the civil war.  It played its part and is now a historical site.

Evelyn and Oak

Oak Canopy

Lighthouse View

Tybee Lighthouse

Luthern Church

South to Savannah

Day 30:
For breakfast, we walked to a French Bristo that I had visited with Lesley and Louise the last time I was in Charleston. We both had French Press coffee, sparkling water and I had a crossiant and Al had a dish with cold ham, swiss cheese, baguette, and fruit. We took along a sandwich from there for our lunch.
We left Charleston after 9 and arrived in Savannah around 11:30. We met Lesley at the visitor center and the three of us went on an interesting tour of Black Heritage in Savannah. Our tour guide, Johnny, was quite knowledgable about slave history as well as Savannah history of the Civil Rights movement. We visited a church built by the people that was likely a stop on the Underground Railroad. Martin Luther King, Shirley Chisholm, and many other notiable individuals spoke from this pulpit.  We also visited a cemetery segregated by color.
After Johnny dropped us back at the Visitor's Center, Al and I checked into our B&B which is located in historic Savannah. The historic city is organized around a series of squares and our B&B is located on one of these squares. Lesley met us and we headed out for a walk to the river and a brew. We debated about dinner and found a place that serves organic soul food. We headed out to find Cafe Florie and found authentic food in a restaurant run by African Americans. What an experience. Al had fried chicken which they prepared on the spot. I had meatloaf and I also had collard greens. We greatly enjoyed the experience.

Jonnie our guide

Pulpit of first black church in Savannah

Cafe Florie

Charleston

Day 29:
Lesley stayed with us last night and this morning the three of us headed to Hominy Grill, a restaurant that Lesley and I visited (along with her friend Louise) the last time we were in Charleston. We walked there from our lodging and had a southern breakfast that included grits and biscuits and gravy. Lesley left to head to Savannah and we will meet her there on Wednesday.
Al and I took a tour of Charleston. It is a beautiful city with lots of history and interesting architecture, and is noted for its shot gun homes. These homes are long and narrow, two stories and a porch on each story facing the prevailing wind for cooling. We had a 2:00 reservation at Husk(the chef and its sister restaurant, McCradys, were written up in the New Yorker a few months ago) a famous restaurant noted for using grains and vegetables common over a hundred years ago from their own farm and sourcing other products in the south. We had wonderful yeast rolls, cornmeal crusted okra with a sauce and shrimp and grits. We also had a side of succotash that had lots of sausage in it. We each drank 3 glasses of sweet tea!
We then walked and walked, enjoying the architecture. We ended the day with an ice cream. Tomorrow, we will move on to our final destination...Savannah.

Typical Shotgun House

Husk Restaurant

Succotash at Husk

On to Charleston

Day 28

We visited Brookgreen Gardens on our way to Charleston.  OMG what a beautiful place.  This National Historic Landmark is the home of several hundred bronze sculptures set in beautifully designed and manicured gardens.  The site was once 4 rice plantations producing during the 1700's and 1800's (before the civil war) that used several 1000 slaves to develop and manage the rice fields.  The Gardens were created by Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington in 1931 and have been continually developed since then. The works of many well know sculptors are on display here.  A couple of outstanding examples are the goddess diana (three different poses all in bronze) and a hugh granite sculpture of Pegasus. Many of the oak trees on the grounds were over 200 years old.  From there we went to Huntington State Park just across the highway--a beautiful park with an outstanding beach at least 2 miles long.  We waded in the Atlantic which wasn't so bad and much warmer than the Pacific. We found our B&B, settled in and waited for Lesley to arrive.  Shortly after her arrival we went to the highly acclaimed restaurant Fig and enjoyed an outstanding dining experienced that lasted almost three hours.  We had a flounder dish and Lesley had suckling pig as well as appetizers and dessert. 

Diana

Pegasus

Oak with moss

southern belle

Moving further South

Day 27

Time to reflect on our driving from place to place.  We have driven over 3000 miles since leaving Chicago and have less than 200 to go.  I have noticed for the most part that on the east coast the lanes on the highways and freeways are narrower than those we are accustomed to in the west.  Driving with a truck on one side and an suv on the other it seems that there are only inches to spare.  Travel on the highways has been enjoyable.  Often they are tree lined and sometimes form a canopy over the road.  Wildlife signs are very misleading.  Through much of Maine there were signs warning of moose; however, we never saw one on the road or anywhere within sight of the road.  In North Carolina there were signs warning of red fox and bear but with the same effect--none were sighted.  The only wildlife I saw (outside of the streets in the big cities) was various species of roadkill.  I will say one thing for the highway engineers in the mid-atlantic and south--they are ambitious.  If they decide to build a bridge it must be at least one mile long and usually several miles long.  The Chesapeake Bay bridge and tunnels accounted for at least 10 miles.  The number and length of the bridges around the outer banks and inland NC were all very long.  I was surprised at how far inland the swamps went in North Carolina.  I believe we were 30 miles inland and still encountering swamps.  We went to Holden Beach in NC where Lesley spent many of her summers in the family beach house. And speaking of the devil, we will meet with her tomorrow.  We have seen a lot of corn and soybeans along the way.  Today we saw hundreds of acres of cotton.  We are in Shallotte tonight and we just finished eating some delightful hushpuppies and a blacken filet of flounder.  Alas, we did fail, however, in finding a brewpub.Tomorrow, on to Charleston.

Cape Hatteras

Day 26:
We had a leisurely morning. We went to a farmer's market in Manteo and I purchased a piece of beautiful pottery for a souvenier. We also purchased a variety of vegetables to cook for dinner as we are craving fresh veggies.
After taking the veggies back to our room, we headed to Fort Raleigh, the site of the first settlement from England on this continent. The history was quite interesting. The settlement disappeared and no researchers have been able to determine exactly what happened. The settlement was on Roanoake Island which is where we are staying.
Then, we headed south toward the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. When we finally got there, we found an amazing lighthouse, the highest brick lighthouse in the U.S. On the way  back north, we stopped at Pea Island Wildlife Refuge and took a nature walk. We saw many birds on the walk, plus some turtles.
We also stopped at Bodie Island Lighthouse which is being repaired.
We got back to our lodging where a wedding is taking place. We cooked our supper and are now settling in for the evening. Tomorrow, we head south for the last few adventures of our trip.  Ev and Al

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Pea Island Wildlife Refuge

Bodie Island Lighthouse

Wright Brothers Museum

Day 25: Wandering in the Outer Banks

After a leisurely morning, we went to Jeanette's Pier to see what the fishing scene was all about.  Jeanette's Pier is several hundred feet long.  I had thought about going fishing but discovered that there were already people fishing and it was very crowded.  I wanted a good share of the Pier to myself or nothing at all.  After talking with a couple of fisherman and seeing a few fish caught we wandered off for coffee.  I thought about charters but disovered they started at about 6 hundred.  A little too rich for my blood and what would I do with all the fish I caught?  After coffee we made our way to the Wright Brothers Museum  located in Kill Devil Hills.  Now that was a trip.  We saw a replica of the Kitty Hawk and the glider they used for testing their ideas regarding flight.  I did not know how extensively they studied and tested flight until they were able to successfully build and fly the Kitty Hawk.  One of the best exhibitions we have seen on this trip. Afterwards we went to the Outer Banks Brewing Company, Americas first wind powered brew pub.  We followed that to an upscale restaurant and had she crab soup and crab cakes.  Yum!

Jeanette's Pier

One of the Wright Brothers used this actual sewing machine

South From Rehoboth Beach

Day 24:  South to Outer Banks, NC

We talked some with an engineer from the Army Corp of Engineers about Rehoboth beach.  It is a constructed beach.  Sand was hauled in from somewhere near in the Atlantic, a beautiful rock free sand.  Every morning it is groomed with a machine pulled by a brand new John Deere tractor and looks very much like a freshly raked sand trap on a golf course when finished.  I want that job!  No rocks, no trash, no driftwood.  Just freshly raked sand on a bench that is 3 or 4 miles long and about 75 yards wide.  Several fisherman along the beach fishing for blue fish.  I talked with one but I did not see him catch any.
We enjoyed a very nice drive to the Outer Banks, North Carolina.  To get here, we drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel. It must be 10 miles long. The tunnels allow big ships to get into the bay. The cost was $12.
We are staying at a B&B in Manteo without the breakfast.  We have a whole floor to ourselves for the moment.  Beautifully appointed with antique furniture.  We have access to a kitchen, a sunroom and two other sitting rooms.  Pretty amazing.  We found a pub nearby--Cafe Blue Moon. Good beer brewed on site and excellent gumbo and shrimp salad.

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Day 23:
We decided to stay a second night in our beautiful B&B called At Melissa's. You guessed it...the B&B is owned and operated by Melissa!
Something we forgot to mention about our drive yesterday. We had to pay at least 7 tolls, the highest costing $13.85. This was to drive on the New Jersey turnpike for about 80 miles. There were only 10 exits on the entire road. It is quite well maintained and for about the first half, the trucks were on an adjacent roadway which was nice.


Rehoboth Beach



Bike Ride



Big City Tour Folks

Now back to today. Melissa provided a varied, substantial breakfast. After relaxing over breakfast with three newspapers to choose from, we walked the 2 blocks to the beach. It is a beautiful beach and we walked for a ways before deciding to rent bicycles. We rode on a bike trail to an adjacent town called Lewes. There we found a well stocked Italian deli which was quite a suprise. We rode back to Rehoboth and had a snack on the porch. Melissa has wine available and we shared a glass of good Malbec. Then we rode more on a boardwalk on the beach, took the bikes back and returned for more time on the beach. We watched a man surf fishing for a while, but never saw him catch anything. This evening, we went back to the brew pub (this is getting to be a habit) and then for a light dinner at a local restaurant that sources locally. All in all, a very good day. Tomorrow, we head to the Outer Banks, North Carolina. 

On to Points South

Day 22
At Al's suggestion we got up early to depart Boston. We were on our way by 6:45 and got into a little traffic before finally heading west. We traveled through Massachusetts, then Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and finally Delaware. It was a little stressful around New York City, but with the help of Chris and Alexis' GPS, we made it just fine. We had planned to check out Dover, Delaware (the capitol). When we got there around 2:30, we did not see much that was appealing. Earlier in the day, I was researching micro breweries in the area and had found one in Rehopboth, Delaware, a beach town and we decided to go an additional 40 miles to check out the area. When we arrived, we found a wonderful B&B and are staying here for the night and possibly tomorrow. It is supposed to be 70 degrees here tomorrow which is much warmer than Boston. We checked out the Dogfish Head Brewery where we sampled 5 brews and then had dinner at the Oyster Bar. Dogfish Head ales are all brewed in Delaware but are shipped nationwide and can be found in Colville. We are tired from our long drive so we will say good night for now.  Ev and Al

Last Day in Boston

Day 21:  Historical Trek in Boston

There is a 3 mile walk in Boston called the Freedom Trail that goes by several historically important sites related to the revolution.  You know you are on the trail because there is a narrow row of red bricks to show you the way. We started at the Commons and ended on Bunker Hill.  I have been a fan of Samuel Adams and we passed his gravestone as we walked the trail. Some of the sites that I can remember are the Old State House where speeches were made from the balcony and was the site where the Boston massacre happened.  Faneuil Hall was buil as a place for selling goods but the second floor had a room where speeches were made regarding the British and independence.  We walked through Paul Revere's house and saw the church where the lanterns were hung.  We learned about Bunker Hill and the three waves of British attack.  We also saw the USS Constitution sometimes referred to as "Old Iron Sides" on our way to Bunker Hill. Very impactful journey about the precursers to the revolution and some of the battles that were fought. 

My friend and chef Pete Tobin recommend we go to an Italian restaurant called Giacomos.  What a trip.  We got there just in time to get the last two seats before a long line developed outside the restaurant.  Very noisy, very Italian and a lot of fun.  The tables are very close together so your neighbor is like eating at the same table.  The couple next to us were from San Diego and and come to Boston for a wedding and were able to get tickets to a New England Patriots game. Evelyn bought some bread, salumi, olives and cheese at the best Italian market in Boston for a picnic on our next days journey.  The soft cheese was one she had often in Florence but has not been able to find here or in Trail.  Now to pack and off to southern points.

Sam Adams grave

Faneuil Hall

USS Constitution

Bunker Hill Monmunent

Fenway Park

Day 20:  Slow Day at the Pubs

We arrived at Fenway Park via the subway system about 10:15 to buy our ticket for our tour only to find that the 11:00 tour was sold out.  We bought tickets for the 12:00 tour and then went for coffee and pastry.  I can now say I have been to Fenway Park and have sat in a seat at the top of the Green Monster.  There is limited seating atop the green monster and you have to enter a lottery to get a chance to buy up to four seats for one game only.  If you are lucky and decide to buy four seats it will cost you $620.


Green Monster



Red seat

 We saw the red colored seat where some lucky or unlucky fan was dozing and was hit in the head by the longest home run ball ever hit in Fenway:  502 feet.  It was hit by none other than Ted Williams who on a good day weighed 190 lbs.  From Fenway we found our way to Harvard Square where a huge Octoberfest street fair was buzzing.  I would guess there were thousands of revelers there.  We came to Harvard to go to the Harvard Natural History Museum.  I thought the exibition of color was very informative as well as the glass flower exibition as well as the Peabody exibitions on indigenous peoples of the Americas as well as..... As you can tell, it was quite overwhelming. It was getting late in the day and we had not found our way into a pub.  To remedy that, we visited The Green Dragon in downtown Boston where our forefathers came up with their schemes to outsmart the British and create a new nation.  There is a pub crawl that visits four of these very old pubs. So far we have managed to visit two of them which makes tomorrow a busy pub day if we want to hit all four before we leave. We are comfortable with the subway system and will ride it tomorrow for our last day here. Hope you all are enjoying fall. We are looking forward to meeting up with Lesley in a week.

Overview of Boston

Day 19: Boston Upper Deck Trolley Tour

Want to get an overview of a city?  Take the double decker bus.  We spent most of the day riding the bus, getting off and on at various locations and taking a Super Duck Boat ride through the harbor.  One segment of the tour was Cambridge.  We got off at Harvard Square and wandered around a bit and found the John Harvard Brewery.  Just to show you that I am delving into the early history of this region, I want to relate what I learned about the naming of Harvard University and the formation of the John Harvard
Brewery.  Newtowne college was founded in 1636 by ministers who sensed a need to educate illiterate ministers.  It was a new struggling college, unlike today where it gets billions in endowments.  John Harvard, a minister and brewer, acquired some wealth, brewing recipes, some supposedly from Shakespeare, and a library of over 300 volumes.  John Harvard worked in his father's tavern and as a minister brewed beer to help support himself.  At this time water was unsafe to drink, so beer was better than the water.  Children drank beer at the table the same as adults.  He died an early death not from cirrohis but from tuberculocus.  He gave half of his wealth and all of his library including the beer recipes to Newtowne College. The College fathers were so grateful for this contribution that they renamed the College Harvard.  About 20 years ago some farsighted folks started Harvard Brewing Company in honor of John Harvard and used some of his beer recipes for their beers (which were quite good by the way). Trinity Church was one of many historic buildings we passed by today.  It was founded in 1733, burned in the great Boston fire of 1772 and was rebuilt 1772-77.  Trinity has appeared on the architectural community's "top ten" lists of significant buildings for over 100 years, This evening we wandered to Little Italy and ate at the Antica Forno.



John Harvard Brewery



Trinity Church




On to Little Italy



Boston

Day 18:  On to Boston

Wells has one of the few sandy beaches in Maine.  The water is quite shallow so when the tide is out the beach is very wide.  We  took a nice walk on the beach this morning before departing for Boston.  The trip to Boston was straightforward and uneventful.  Our place is Boston is very nice but perhaps not in the best neighborhood.  Evelyn noted that we are having an urban experience.  We have parked our car and will depend on the subway for our transportation.  We bought 7 day passes this afternoon so we should be fine.  We made our way downtown on the red line and wandered over to the Quincy Market and that is exactly what it is.  Lots of shops, 50 or so food booths, some restaurant/pubs and a large fruit and vegetable market.  We walked through and then went to an off site pub that supposedly has been in continuous operation since 1795 called the Bell in Hand Tavern.  Boston is a town for walking.  After our beer and fish and chips we walked to the wharf and watched some tour boats leave and gazed at the very large and expensive cabin crusiers and sail boats tied up in the harbor.  One monster was from Baton Rouge, LA  I was still thirsty so we went to the Black Rose pub which was very busy, loud and vibrant for my final brew of the night.

On to Boston

Day 16:  Slow Wet Day in Maine

Today is our last of four days in Maine.  We have enjoyed lobster every day, parks, small towns, the Atlantic Ocean, bays and wetlands.  Now we will be going to Boston.  We got a late start from Brunswick this morning and headed to Freeport, home of LL Bean, our first stop.  The LL Bean campus (I know it is a campus because a sign said "No smoking on the LL Bean Campus) is a series of buildings that add up to 175,000 square feet of retail space.  There were green shirted staff everywhere who were very helpful and well informed.  We bought a couple of items.  Then off to a small hole in the wall on the water in South Freeport  to find some lobster.  We shared a lobster that had been put on the scale and weighed, cooked and presented to us with melted butter.  After Freeport we went to an industrial park on the outskirts of Portland to an amazing brewery that specializes in Belgian type beers.  We happened to arrive just when a tour of Allagash Brewery started so we got to taste 4 different brews (all on the house) and make a tour of the brewery.  Some of their beers are aged in whiskey barrels from Jim Beam and some are aged for 4 years.  They distribute widely on the East Coast and in Southern Cal.   We were aware of these last two places thanks to Cathy Merrill's sister Stephanie. From there we made our way to Wells, checked in to our motel and went to dinner at a restaurant that sources its food locally.  Kristen Six' mother had recommended Joshua Restaurant to us.  The food was excellent and we discovered that one of the cooks is from Bellingham.  We talked with Chaz for a moment on our way out.

LL Bean

Barrel at Allagash

Gnocchi Plate at Joshua

Traveling the Coast of Maine

Day 15:  Another Fine Day in Maine

Left Belfast and headed south on hwy 1.  One of the things we are disovering is the beautiful libraries in the small towns along the Maine coast.  Yesterday we were at the library in Belfast-a beautiful brick buidling.  Evelyn talked to one of the librarians and discovered she was from Coeur d' Alene.  We went to the library in Camden today--a stone structure built in 1928 and then expanded with a beautiful expansion in 1996. We hit a couple of local breweries today-one in Rockport called Shag Rock in a nice restaurant and then this evening in Brunswick we went to the Sea Dog Brewery-one that was included in an article in the New York Times on 36 hours on the coast of Maine.  Our other excursion today was to walk 1 mile on the breakwater in Rockport out to an old lighthouse.  Unfortunately the lighthouse was closed - permanently I guess.  Hundreds of beautiful sail boats in the bays along the coast--some very large.

Acadia Park and Belfast

Day 14:  Enjoying  Northern Maine

We bought a little breakfast and food for a picnic at the COOP in Belfast and set out for Acadia National Park.  Acadia was the first National Park east of the Mississippi.  It is a very large park along the Alantic with millions of visitors during the year.  Even here in October it was crowded.  In many of the parking lots it was impossible to find  a place to park.  We drove the 27 mile loop rode-had our picnic lunch at Otter Point and took a walk on the Eagle Lake carriage road.  One of the Rockefellers financed the constructon of carraige roads in the early 1900's so people-you guessed it-could take their horse drawn carriages on the roads through the park.  We then did our laundry and headed out to a pub with about 20 of its own brews.  We then picked up some lobster and make a lobster sauce for our pasta and stuffed ourselves.  I am ready for bed.  We are off for Rockport tomorrow. (More lobster and more local brew.)  BTW I checked Google maps and it is 2975 miles from Belfast, ME to Spokane, WA  There were a lot of bicycist in Acadia Park.  We had wanted to ride some of the carriage trails in a bicycle but were not able to make arrangements.  The bus from Bayside that transported people with their bicycles had stopped running for the season.  The bicycles in the park reminded me of Toronto and Montreal--there were bicyclist everwhere and lots of bicycle lanes.

Back to the USA

Day 14:  Traveling to Maine

We said goodbye to our wonderful Montreal hostess and headed east and south towards Maine.  Once we cleared customs we were on the Interstate 93 also called the Eisenhower Highway.  I think it was under his adminstration that the Interstate was conceived, for easy transport of military troops and equipment.  To his credit, he warned us regarding the "military industrial complex" but unfortunately he failed to warn us about Monsanto.  The folage through Vermont and New Hampshire was outrageous-in full color and in its prime.  Once we crossed into Maine the folage was not as bright and was interspersed with a lot of conifers. We arrived in Belfast about 4:30 found our lodging (which is on the bay but a little marginal) and settled in.  Our cabin has three bedrooms, living and dining room, kitchen, bath and a screened in porch.  Needing libations we headed for downtown Belfast, found a pub with Maine brewed beers and quenched our thirst.  While there we found a place to get lobster.  Another of those other-worldly experiences.  Evelyn was wild.  A hugh tub floating with several hundred lobsters.  Employees were catching them, cooking them, cracking them and presenting them to waiting crowd. We bought a lobster roll (based on Cathy Merrill's sisters recommendation) and went to our cabin and enjoyed every bite.



Fall Color




Lobster Tank



Cracked Lobster