Day 201 - Ogelthorpe — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 0, fuel purchased gallons 0, slip fee $94, daily high temperature 78°f

There was a bit of rain early in the morning then it was just overcast. Today was sightseeing day in Savannah. I went to the concierge at the Westin to buy my Old Town Trolley tickets. While I was at the concierge desk a woman walked up and asked if there was room at the Westin dock for her boat. She said her boat was a 60′ canoe. We have been reunited with Hokule’a the Polynesian canoe. She spent last night on anchor and is now in Savannah.

We took the ferry across the river to get on the trolley. The ferry is free and is only a two minute walk from our boat. The only downside of that is the ferry runs behind our boat every 20 minutes until midnight.

Our other cruising buddy Independence is here also. She is tied up on the other side of the river at the Hyatt Hotel.

The history of Savannah is interesting from the standpoint of their charter. King George sent James Edward Oglethorpe in 1732 to start a colony in Savannah.

Governor Oglethorpe had four things banned by law in Savannah. The Savannah Constitution bans;

1. No Catholics; not due to religious discrimination but due to the fact that the enemy of the British in Florida at that time were the Spanish and the Spanish are Catholics. The fear was that if there was a conflict the Catholics in Savannah would side with the Spanish. The English are Protestants.

2. No liquor. The common man should not spend money on liquor. They should pay their bills and liquor makes men lazy.

3. No slavery because no man should own another man.

4. No lawyers. Governor Oglethorpe felt people should represent themselves in court.

We visited the Webb Military Museum. Gary Webb the owner advised he has always been a collector of military memorabilia. He had collected so much stuff that his wife said get rid of it or display it. He chose to open a museum.

John and Gary Webb standing next to the fuselage of a Mig 21 displayed in the museum. Gary said his wife was very happy to get it out of their garage.

Helmet from the Vietnam era. It has a plastic spoon, mosquito repellant, the ring from a hand grenade and a death card. Soldiers put the death card on the bodies of the Vietcong so it would be known who killed them.

A field jacket worn by Bob Hope during his USO tours in Vietnam.

Dale at the Pie Society – photo by Andy

Paula Deen has a restaurant in Savannah called The Lady and Sons. The crab stew, fried chicken and peacan pie were all fabulous.

John and Paula

Bonus photo

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day.

“For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.”

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau AC (French: [ʒak iv kusto]; commonly known in English as Jacques Cousteau; 11 June 1910 – 25 June 1997)[1] was a French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. He co-developed the Aqua-lung, pioneered marine conservation and was a member of the Académie française.

Cousteau described his underwater world research in a series of books, perhaps the most successful being his first book, The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure, published in 1953. Cousteau also directed films, most notably the documentary adaptation of the book, The Silent World, which won a Palme d’or at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. He remained the only person to win a Palme d’Or for a documentary film, until Michael Moore won the award in 2004 for Fahrenheit 9/11.