Isle of Hope – We explore Savannah

Our carriage

We tried to rest a car for the weekend. Enterprise has a deal where you can rent a car Saturday and Sunday for $9.95/day. However, they were all sold out by the time we tried to reserve a car. They said there was a run on rentals with the Masters going on. With that we dropped back to just using the courtesy car in two hour increments.

Downtown Savannah is only about 10 minutes away but finding a parking space is something else but we did eventually find one. The temperature reached 91 today with full sun and downtown was packed – and gnat free! Down in the marina we have to keep the screens up all the time now. Ann wanted to take a buggy ride and we found a two horse model. We learned that the horses they use work three months and then have a month off. They have their own IRA and are constantly monitored for health and temperature. They are trained to be as steady as a rock in the traffic noise and respond to voice commands by the driver. When coming to an intersection where the view is limited, the driver would say, “One step” and the horses would step forward only one step and then stop. If the way was clear, then the driver would give the command to go ahead. The most popular question asked of the driver is, “Where is Paula Deen’s restaurant?” Her influence is all over Savannah. Her products are in every shop and she has her own restaurant here.

Seemed larger in person

The river is navigable by ocean going liners and container ships just like the Hudson River although I think there are bigger ships in the Savannah river than in the Hudson. You can even rent a dock right downtown but the cost is very high and it’s a long ways from the ICW, not for us.