Skidaway Island, Wormsloe Plantation, and Hilton Head Island

Much cooler today, Saturday, with a nice breeze and temps predicted to get only to the mid 80's. Still a bit of humidity, but nothing like yesterday! We're still recovering, so we decided to take Sasha on a daytrip so we could all be air-conditioned and comfortable.

Our first stop was Skidaway Island State Park. This beautiful park, borders Skidaway Narrows, a part of the Intracoastal Waterway. We were warned that this park would be impossible to get into on short notice due to it's location near Savannah and the fact that full hookups are offered for rv's. As luck would have it, the park was mostly empty, with numerous long pull-through sites that would have accommodated Nessie with ease. Who would have thought?

Our second stop was Wormsloe Plantation, or the ruins thereof. About 30 miles northeast of our "home"and just down the road from Skidaway, it is a nice drive to the plantation. Built in 1739 by master carpenter, physician, and surveyor Noble Jones, one of the original colonists of Savannah who claimed his densely forested l500 acres and began to clear for crops. He planted cotton, rice, and Mulberry Trees for silk, and also raised cattle. Wormsloe served as an outpost against Indian attacks and kept a watchful eye on boat traffic along what is now known as Jones Narrows, just a few yards from the home. Noble commanded a contingent of marines who were housed near the plantation, and served as the colony constable, treasurer and Justice of the Province. Noble died in 1775, but his children and descendants remained on the land. The Entrance Gate was built by Wymberley Wormsloe de Renne in the 1913 to commemorate his son's coming of age and is indeed a grand entrance.

The roadway leading through the property is lined with more that four hundred live oak trees planted in the late 1800's. The road is more than 1 and 1/2 miles long!

Wormsloe was vandalized by Union soldiers during the Civil War, and all that is left is the "Tabby Ruins". Tabby was made by mixing sand, lime, oyster shells, and water in equal parts and poured into wooden forms, which were removed after the tabby hardened and reassembled on the hardened tabby before another layer was poured.

Wormsloe looked out a strategic water channel known as Jone's Narrows. In the eighteenth century, the channel was part of an inland water route used by travelers as the main thoroughfare through Georgia. That function is now provided by the Intracoastal Waterway, a short distance away. Jone's Narrows has gradually become clogged with silt and is no longer used by boats.

Our third stop of the day was Hilton Head Island. Now you gotta see that we were southeast of Savannah on the Isle of Hope, and Hilton Head is more than fifty miles north...it was a bit of a trek!

You won't see any more photos than this one, because we were unimpressed by the Island. As we circled the island, we got the distinct impression that if we didn't have a Mercedes convertible with two golf bags in the back seat, we didn't measure up to the area's standards. An uncountable number of resort hotels, scores of golf courses, and dozens of restaurants and bars line Pope Blvd and the circle road around the island. We stopped for a late lunch at Aunt Chiladas (get it?) where we had an adequate lunch. Two stars for this one.

After a 100+ mile day, we got home and crashed. Maybe we shouldn't do this any more!