2/23/15 Monday Georgetown, SC

HOME AGAIN !!! Ok here is my last post for the year!!!! What an adventure we have had!!! God has blessed us with good health, including our boat, and incredible weather!!! The only rain we have had to travel in the entire 3 months was today on the last leg of our trip. We pulled up anchor this morning at Alligator Alley, or as some know it as Minim Creek, and left around 8am!!! It was foggy bad, but Rod knows this area very well. We made the last 30 miles or so to our home port here at Harborwalk Marina and was greeted by the best dock master ever, Chris Carroll. He helped us get docked and settled in, he IS the best!!!  It's is good to be home!!! We have met some great people we now call friends, and had many wonderful adventures!!! 

Got news today that last night $8000.00 was raised at the benefit held for Jamie, our friends Jim and Paula Spence son. God is good!!! Lots of people showed up to support this young man, financially, and with much love and support, as he continues to battle Cancer!!! 

We feel so blessed to have had the ability to make this journey again this year!!!!  Thanks to each of you, family and friends, who have read the blog and prayerd for us each day!!! Thanks for the words of love and comfort as we mourned the death of a family member Terry Roseman. 

We will be joining our church family tomorrow night, as we again will be a part of The Living Lords Supper performance this year the week of Easter. And of course we will be resuming tours March 4th!!

Played, had fun, now it's time to get back to work!!! Ha 

Got a few last days travel pics to share!!!  Much love to all, Fran and Capn Rod

My view this morning from the Admirals Chair!!! Ha

As we came by the boat repair shop of Ronnie Campbell, as you can see the tour boat is still in the process of being painted!!! Just been to cold to get it done!! Praying for a warm day!!  It has to be at least 60degrees. 

WooHoo!!! Our home port !! Harborwalk Marina!!!   Home at last!!

2/22/15 Sunday South of Georgetown

Oh man almost made it home today!!! About 30 miles to go, but it was getting dark. Sooo we chose to anchor in Alligator Alley for the night and get into Georgetown before noon!!! We pulled up anchor this morning to a beautiful sunrise and water slick as glass. Had a great travel day but the tide was not in our favor several times!! We had several places we had 3-4 ft under the boat, and when we got to McCleanneville (about 1/2 way from Charleston to Georgetown) we had about 3 miles at several times we were dragging the bottom and pushing mud up behind us!!!!! Our depth finder said we had 1.2 ft under the boat!!! Now that's scary!!! Again the good Lord got us across and to safe water!!! He has sure been with us on our entire journey this year!!!! 

I made us a nice steamed veggies, ham, and pasta dish for dinner with sliced Florida Tomatoes!!! Yummo!!!

Then we FaceTime with Allie our granddaughter in Salisbury as she is officially a TEENAGER today!!!

Happy Birthday sweetie!!  We love you!!

I took lots of pics today, I will share some below!!

I will post again tomorrow night and let you know we arrived home!!

Thanks so much for all yours prayers!!!   Love, Fran and Capn Rod

My sunrise view from the Admirals chair!!! It never gets old!!!

We saw sooo many Doplhins today and several times they surfed in our wake!!! Lexie is absolutely obsessed with looking for the Dolphins!! Ha 

The Battery in Charleston!!! It is so beautIful from the water!!

Too funny!!, This, I was told by Rod is Ft Johnson sitting in the middle of the bay in Charleston!! My only comment was is there a cannon over there we missed? 

Looks like snow but its a mud flat this dock is sitting on!!! We were pushing up mud behind the boat!!!

2/21/15 Saturday South Edisto Beach, SC

Woke up this morning to absolutely a beautiful travel day!!! We left Isle of Hope right at 7am. Chilly cold and sweatpants and sweatshirt felt good most of the morning but by 1pm we were in tshirts and shorts!!! Wow what a change!!! We traveled 87 miles today! We could not have ask for a better day, and saw 100's of Dolphins!!! Kept Lexie busy all day!!   We are still about 115 miles from home so it will takes us another day and a half to get there!!  We found this good anchor spot at Edisto Beach at Alligator Creek, around 4pm, and decided to call it a day!!! I slept horrible last night as I could not get to sleep till around 11:30pm, then woke up with a headache at 4pm, took meds, but could not get back to sleep. I am to old to function during the day on 4hours or so of sleep!!! Everything I did today took so much effort!!! Sooo I may be asleep before it gets dark!!!

Campbell's Chicken and Rice soup with saltines for dinner and as i write the kitchen fairy is cleaning up!!! I love that kitchen fairy!! Ha   No TV channels tonight, Rod more dissipointed as the Daytona Bush race is tonight!!! He will try via the Internet !!

 I have a few pics to share on our journey today!!

Also Happy Birthday to my baby brother today!!!  I love you bunches!!!

Love to all!!!  Fran and Capn Rod

Can you see the Owl ??  He has stolen an Opsrey nest, as they often do!! We could see him good with binoculars!!! Head and ears is all I could get by the time I got my camera !!!

Lots of Dolphins today several times they surfed by the boat!!!

Love the dolphins !!!,

More Dolphins !!!!

Lookin for Dolphins!!! She is too funny!!!! She started looking early this morning and has searched all day!! When we anchored this evening 2-3 swam up by the boat and she was out on the deck with Rod

She got soooo excited!, I was afraid she was going to jump in!!, ha 

2/20/15 Friday Savannah, Ga

Today is our 5th day here in Savannah at Isle of Hope Marina. We have had a wonderful time here!!!

Weather was much improved today, cold but very little wind, so it seemed much warmer. Still awoke to a frozen dock and the marina had a busted water lline this morning but it did not effect our pier.

We took off again this morning about 10:30am headed out for Fort Pulaski. We stopped at Papa Johns pizza just down from the marina and ordered a pizza to be delivered to the guys and girl at the marina for lunch!! They appreciated the surprise!!! We appreciate having a car for 3 days!!! FREE!!!! 

It is only about 10 miles to the Fort and it was a beautiful ride and again we saw things we had not seen before. A great adventure!!

Fort Pulaski is HUGH!! The biggest Fort we have seen yet!!! I took MANY pics so I will post a few to share. A sunny day but my thermals, snow boots, gloves and earmuffs felt good all day! Although it is a BIG ordeal to go to the bathroom!!! Ha

It was a self guided tour through the fort. The most impressive is its size. The center courtyard you could put 4 baseball fields. 

We stayed for an exhibition at 1pm by a man demonstrating the use of the firearms. He was extremely knowledgable and even shot the gun for us 3 times. 

Very enjoyable day!!!

On the way back to the marina we stopped at BiLO for a few needed groceries to get us home. We decided to leave tomorrow and anchor out the next 3 nights and get on home. There is plenty to do before starting  tours March 4th!! 149 school kids from 1-4pm. We should be home by Monday evening!!!

I ask for prayer for our safe travels!!! 

Much love to all!!!  Fran and Capn Rod

It was still cold last night!! Again a frozen dock this morning!!

Entrance to Fort Pulaski. 

This courtyard was HUGH!!!! This was taken inside the fort.

This was the jail where the "Immortall 600" POW's were housed!! Google it!! Rod know all about them, I learned a lot today!!!

How many cannons can a person see in 3 day? Hehe

This 10 ft deep 50 ft wide moat surrounds the entire Fort. 

head stone of The Immortal 600!!!

Grave site of the Immrotal 600. Only 13 were buried here. The one thing the last few days I have really pondered is the price of our freedom has been fought for so many years by 1000's. We can never thank them enough!!!!!

A lighthouse we could see from the top of the fort at Tybee Island named Cockspur Iighthiuse. 

Firearm demonstration!! He was great!!

Rod decided I needed my photo with him!!!

2/19/15 Thursday Savannah, Ga.

OK!!! Something is terribly wrong with this picture!!! My boat should be headed South OR still be in the Keys!!!! Ha

OMG !!!! It's was 25 degrees this morning, and expected to be 18degrees here tonight!!!

I do hope this ends soon!!! I am ready for summer. We must leave here Saturday morning and weather is predicted to be much better. They are saying high of 72 on Saturday!!!  Yeah!!! Relief!!!

Despite the cold we wore many layers of clothes, including my snow boots, and took off with the marinas loaner car to Fort McAllister. A great drive getting to see a lot of the outskirts of Savannah through a town called  Richmond Hill. This town was built and prospered by one man, Henry Ford. he even bought the Fort and had it refurbished. The Fort tour would have been awesome but the fridgged cold almost made it unbearable!!! We walked and toured as long as we could stand it. The museum was interesting and the tour guides there were great !!! Lots of conversation between them and Rod (you surprised?) Hehe

We had planned to eat lunch at a recommended restaurant there near the Fort but they did not open till 4pm on Thursdays, wouldn't you know our luck, so we stopped an a small convenience  store that offered a deli and picked up chicken strips, a couple pieces of fried chicken and potatoe wedges. It's was something to eat!! Ha

After the fort tour we went to the Henry Ford Museum on the way back and spent almost 2 hours there. A wonderful docent at the museum was very knowledgable about the entire town and all that Henry Ford did for this community. The Fords had a magnificent plantation here in town for many years and spent looks of money and work to make this town prosperous in the early 1900's. The community wanted to name the town Ford, but he refused and requested it be named after his plantation there The Richmond Hill. The plantation is a private home now of the present owners. I learned a lot!!!

Arrived back at the boat at 4pm and after a nice walk with Lexie we have stayed secluded to stay warm!!  Daytona shootout races begin tonight so that's got Rod occupied for a while. 

Tomorrow is our last day here and we plan to visit Fort Pulaski!! Remember I am married to a history buff!!! Ha 

We are praying for warmer weather!! I so feel and pray for our family and friends farther North!! 

I'll let you know what tomorrow brings!!! I'm stealing Rods hoody hat tomorrow that covers your face!!! My face almost froze today!!! 

Love to all, Fran and Capn Rod

Rod took this pic of the dock right beside our boat this morning!!! The marina left the water running so the pipes would not freeze. 

The HUGH Earthen Fort McAllister COLD!!! But ok when we were down in the bottom.

OH LOOK ANOTHER CANNON!!!! Hehe  You can bet Capn Rod don't have a gun this big!!!

I wander which came first the trees or the bunker!!?  Both trees each were 25 inches in diameter. 

2/18/15 Wednesday Savannah, Ga

Cold night for southern Ga.!!!! We stayed nice and toasty all night. After watching the weather this morning we have decided to stay here till Saturday morning as it is predicted to be in the low 30's for the next 2 nights. 

We got dressed this morning, thermals and gloves, and ear muffs and on the bike we went!!! It was about 50 degrees!! We were told about a local diner called Lots chicken and waffles that seved breakfast all day!!! Crowded little place with great service and a fast meal of eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast for me Rod had grits and corned beef hash with his eggs!!! We bike about the 1 mile back to Wormsloe Plantation and began the 11/2 mile ride down the long oak lined road to the visitors center!!! What a site to see!!! The welcome center there had a lot of information about the plantion and a short movie to watch. We learned that several movies had been filmed here. Roots, Gator with Bert Rynolds, The Love Song, The movie Savannah, and The Generals Daughter.  The park is filled with many beautiful paths to walk and an area showing how the people lived here when it was first settled here in 1740.  The old planation itself is just the remaining ruins. The Wormsloe decendants still live on a portion of this property but their home was not visible from the road. A time very well spent here today. 

On our ride home we met up with Sammy Moore, the community encourager, as Rod called him!!! We had been told by Paula and Jim to find and meet this man so the people at the Marina had told him to find us. He saw us riding down the road today and said hey, are you guys Fran and Rod? A pleasure to talk with, a local here all his life, local photographer, and knows everyone and everything about the area!, ha 

After the long ride and long walk through the park, I was pooped!!! So a nice rest with "almost" a nap for a few hours was due for me!!!!  Ha 

I made a nice salad to include some of the roasted chicken leftover and a baked potato for dinner. A nice long walk for Lexie and now in my jammies and watching a little TV !!  It's been a good day!!!

Just hanging out waiting for a little warmer weather before heading north again. The kids are still sending snow pics to us !! Hehe   Glad it's them not me!! Ha 

Much love and WARM wishes to all, Fran and Capn Rod

The entrance to Wormsloe. 

The long trail around the plantation area. 

The original house layout. 

This all that is left now. Amazing how any of this tabby made house and fort has remained for several hundred years. Tabby is a mixture of oyster shells, lime, and sand. 

An pier overlooking the marsh!!! Sunning for a bit!!

A replica of their outdoor ovens!!!! 

A replica of a cottage on the property back then. 

Just thought this was a beautiful pic!!

2/17/15 Tuesday Savannah, Ga

First of all, in case you noticed yesterdays post should have been Monday the 16th not 17th!!, ha

Woke up this morning to warm 60 degrees but cloudy weather. Just as they predicted it was 49 degrees by 3pm. And the wind was blowing!!!,

Rod went up to the dock house this morning to pay our rent here as they were closed on Monday when we arrived. She offered us a free loaner car they offer here!!! Normally they loan it our in 2-3 hour time slots but since we are the only transient boaters here she said we could have it for the day. We just needed to have it back by 5pm. So we took off about 11:30 am and headed for downtown Savannah. Parking in Savannah is much easier on a bike than in a car!!! Ha    We ended up in the parking garage, which is expensive at $2.00 per hour or any part of!!! Wow!! And these people that work here it's $20.00 per day!!! That could sure eat up a payday!!! We walked around some, wind was cold. We decided on a quick burger. And then off to the Tervis outlet, as we just thought we had to have another glass!!! Ha    And of course we found 2 we could not resist!! 

We decide to go check out Fort Jackson as we had not been able to go that far on the bike the last 4 times we have been here!!!  It was soooo worth the trip! We got a tour of the fort by a man dressed in the costume of that period called a Butternut!! and gave a lot of history in the use of the fort during the revolutionary war. At that time it was called Mud Fort. An earthen fort at that time. After the war of 1812 it was improved and again in 1840, used extensively to drive back Union ships repeadly to save  Savannah during the Civil War, is the structure we saw today. He also fired one of the cannon!s!!!! What a treat!! It was a great 2 hours!!!

We headed back around 3 pm to the marina, and just in time as it started raining and has rained since!!! Lexie made a quick walk when we returned and came in and cuddled by the heater!!! Pic attached!

Vegatable Beef soup and saltines for dinner!! Texting with the kids and watching videos of them all playing in the snow!!! I really still prefer shorts and tshirts and plenty of sunshine!!! Hehe

I sure hope the weather holds out so we can go to Wormsloe Plantation tomorrow, it's on our list to see before we leave here. We met a guy here on a boat today that was born and raised in Loris, SC just north of MB. He and Rod new a lot of the same people!! Go figure!!! I wasn't surprised!!!

Hope all are staying warm and blessed to have a good heater!!! We are nice and toasty aboard our boat!! 

We love you all, Fran and Capn Rod

Our free ride for the day!!! Why can't I ever get one of these when I need to go buy $100.00 worth of groceries!! Wouldnt you know we don't need anything right now! ha  they said "just replace the gas you use" sweet we thought but we got In it and it was empty!!!!!!! Some people just take advantage of a free car! So we put in a full tank!! 

Tour guide at Ft Jackson. Needless to say he and Rod had some good conversation!!

Preparing to fire the cannon!!!!

Of course Rod wanted to shoot this big one!!!hehe

Lexie says "who needs a fireplace!!!! I have an electric heater"!!!!

2/17/15 Isle of Hope Savannah, Ga

We got up 6am this morning!!! Pulled up anchor and was underway at 6:55am!!! Pic below of an incredible sunrise!!!

We left early be able to get through a small passage about a mile from where we anchored called Hell Gate passage!!!! It's only about 1000 yards in length but at low tide it is only 2-3 ft deep, but at high tide its 15-20 ft. High tide there this morning was at 6am so we wanted to get through ASAP as the tide would start to begin falling around 7am. We arrived there at 8:30 am and had 10-12 ft of water!! Soo no problem!!!  

Short trip this morning as we arrived at Isle of Hope at 9:15am. After we docked, got everything hooked up, I fixed us an early lunch and we took off on our bike by noon!! Off course Lexie got in a good walk first!!! 

We rode through and admired all the HUGH colonial homes here near the marina, then into the small town of Isle of Hope which is a suburb of Savannah. Checked out the area as to what we wanted to put on our bucket list in the next couple of days. Wormsloe Plantation and state park is certainly on the list. If not tomorrow (it is suppose to rain tomorrow) then we will go Wednesday. On back to the boat, rested up, met several people docked here with us!! We always meet some of the greatest people when we travel!!! People from everywhere!!! 

Rod then decided he just had to go to the Walmart, only a mile away so off he went on the bike and tote sack in hand!!! He carried back a gal of motor oil, rotisarie chicken, water hose clamps, and a movie he found in the $5.00 bin!!! Certainly 25 extra pounds he peddled back with!! Ha  50 degrees and he was sweating when he arrived back!!! Ha 

Great TV cable here so some TV watching tonight!! I Get to watch Castle !!!!  Yeah!!!

I'll keep you posted on our adventures!!!

Love to all, Fran and Capn Rod

Rod is the Capt of the boat, but this was taken from the Admirials chair which is my view of the ride!! Ha

This georgeous pair of Eagles had a nest near by and we could see some babies in the nest!!! 

Could see good with the binoculars but camera was not so good!! 

The view of this nest was not as good via the camera!!

The entrance to Wormsloe Plantation (they are closed on Mondays) this is an old cotton plantation!! 

We do plan to see this in the next few days!!

I shot this pic through the gate!!! The old oak trees even in the winter are just incredible!

This wrought iron gate was at one of the homes we passed today hope you can check out all the animals that are made into this gate! There are ducks, squirrels, turtles, and dragon flies!! Pic don't really do it justice!!

2/15/15 Sunday Redbird Creek, Ga

As planned Rod got up at 6am when the alarm clock went off. He checked the weather and NO WIND!!! We untied and pulled away from Jekyll Island marina at 7:40am!! What a beautiful morning. But cold!, 42 degrees!! We WERE bundled up!! We had a heater up on the bridge that warned us up nicely in 30 mins or so!!   Thank you Lord for a heater!!! 

travel day was good we had 2 sounds to cross the Sappalo Sound and St. Catherine's Sound that were a little rough and a 30 min trip down McCray creek that with low tide we had 2-3 foot of water under the boat!!! That will shoot your nerves!!! We prayed and kept right on going and with the good Lords help, we made it through!!!!

Anchored tonight at Redbird Creek just 20 miles short of tomorrow's stop at Isle of Hope. We could not make it before dark so we will get there mid morning tomorrow. I have already made our reservations for dockage there for 3 days!! Looking forward to a new place to visit.

Lexie enjoyed looking for the Dolphins today we saw many. Sure keeps her occupied !!!!

I made pork BBQ and baked fries for supper which we enjoyed sitting on the back deck as the sun set!! It never gets old to see the beauty of how God ends the day. And also the same beauty of a sunrise. 

I have only the pic to share of my Valentines necklace Rod gave me I forgot to take a picture of it to post last night. 

Much love to all, Fran and Capn Rod

What a great surprise, as we usually don't do anything this special for Valentine's Day!! Mom and baby Dolphins !! 

2/14/15 Saturday Jekyll island, Ga

Happy VALENTINE'S DAY!!!   I do hope everyone has had a great day and have told all the "loves" of your life how much they mean to you!!!

We slept in this morning, just decided it was to cold to get out yet!!  Rod found some weather film we cover our windows with in the winter to help keep out the cold and chose to get that chore done since we are heading north!! About 1pm we decided to go out and see the island for a while. The dock master gave us a golf cart instead of riding the bike. Although we did need the exercise, it was a nice convenience. First stop DQ Grill and Chill for a burger and fries (it is the ONLY fast food place here on the island). Then the hardware store for a few items, and then enjoyed a nice ride through the historic district. Most of this we have seen several times. But today we did see a tournament of Yard Bowling!!! I thought it was crochet.  Have not seen that in years !!!

On back to the boat for awhile to sit and watch the wind blow!!, ha. I worked on tax stuff and organized receipts, March will creep up on me and I will not be ready if I dont start now!! Ha

We chose to go back to the marina restaurant for another meal and listen to the live music. I enjoyed a salad and a bowl of Brunswick stew, Rod had a steak and steamed veggies. Yum!! We also liked having Kelly be our server again, a great lady, we have so enjoyed meeting her!! 

Looks like we may leave in the morning a day earlier than planned as the wind is predicted to die down tonight, and tomorrow should be a favorable travel day. Anchoring out tomorrow night, then Monday onto Isle of Hope, just south of Savannah for a few days. 

Rod and I exchanged Valentine Cards this morning and he surprised me with a diamond Dolphin necklace. He is my Valentine everyday!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to all our friends and family!!!  We love you all,  Fran and Capn Rod

Our new ride for the day to tour the island!!  NICE!!!!

A plantation home in the historic district!! It a hotel now!!! Beautiful place!!

SUPPER!!! And I did not have to cook again!!! Yeah!!!

Lexie lovin the warm sunshine on the deck!!!   Sweet pup!!!