One of the tidbits we heard from our tour guide: When Georgia became a colony the governor established four simple rules: no drinking, no practicing Catholicism (aimed at prevent Spaniards from settling there), no slavery, and no lawyers.
It seems all the guides emphasize how important cotton was to the Southern economy, and Savannah was the biggest cotton port in the country, but they rarely mention that it was only profitable because they had free labor.
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| Savannah's Main Slave Market |
After the tour we had a late lunch, French toast stuffed with peaches, and eggs benedict with fried green tomatoes. Both were wonderful.
We returned to the campground for a quiet night. Hot dogs and potato chips were on the menu. Sorry, I forgot to take any pix of dinner; but I’m sure you can use your imagination.
On Monday, we again had a leisurely start to the day; but a simpler breakfast, so we were on the road by 10:30 AM. Our first stop was for a second cup of coffee at a really funky place on Tybee Island, which is the next island just north of Skidaway where our campground is located. Surrounding the coffee shop were multiple small shops filled with distictive locally made art work and crafts. Very tempting.
We left Tybee Island and drove just a short distance to Cockspur Island where Fort Pulaski is located. The fort was named for a Polish soldier, Casmir Pulaski, who aided the colonies in their revolution against the British. Pulaski is considered the founder of the US cavalry, for it was he who introduced the horse to the American military.
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| Overlooking the Savannah River |
The fort was built to protect the entrance to the Savannah River during James Madison’s presidency. Like Fort Sumter, it was a strategic location, since Savannah was such an important commercial center for the South. Construction on the fort started in 1829 and ended in 1847. Robert E. Lee’s first assignment after his graduation from West Point was part of the Army’s Corps of Engineers that started the construction. Twenty-five million bricks were used and it was believed to be an indestructible fortress.
The fort, like Fort Sumter, was captured by the Confederacy in 1861, but it was retaken by the Union during a 30 hour siege in 1862. As well designed as the fort was, it was no match for the new rifle bore cannons that did not exist when the fort was designed. These new cannons, quickly destroyed the walls of the fort, and Confederate General Olmstead surrendered the fort rather than have every one of his men killed by the cannon fire that threatened to destroy the entire fort and all soldiers had the powder magazine been hit.
The fort has been beautifully restored to its 1862 status by the National Park Service, and the inside grounds of the fort reminded me of Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Union troops that manned the fort which it was recaptured from the Confederates actually played baseball there to amuse themselves.
Leaving Fort Pulaski, we returned to Tybee Island where we lunched at the Crab Shack. I have to laugh, my crab plate was fabulous, but the crabs were Alaskan King crabs, not local crabs.
Leaving the Crab Shack we took a brief driving tour of Tybee Island, a beach resort that hasn’t lost any of it’s original charm, plenty of reasonably sized homes, not just beach front mansions. It reminded me of Long Beach Island in New Jersey as it looked in the 50’s and 60’s.
