A Quick Overnight in Historical Savannah, GA

An old friend of Rick's from their New York Maritime days, Kevin McCarey, invited us down to Savannah to visit one of the city's many museums and have dinner with he and his wife Fran. Sounded like a fun get away to us. It may seem strange that we feel the need to get away at times from the life we live, but like everyone else, we get into our ruts and it's good to change things up sometimes. We packed for one night and drove the two hours from Charleston, SC to Savannah GA.

When we have to stay overnight away from the RV with our dog Honey, we usually look for a La Quinta Inn because they are pet-friendly and don't charge an extra pet fee. They aren't a fancy hotel in any way, but usually they suffice. There are three La Quintas in Savannah, but based on my research online, I thought they looked a bit too time worn. So for one night we decided to splurge and stay downtown in the historic district at The Brice, a pet-friendly boutique hotel. This was a first for us and we were really glad we stayed there.

The Brice Hotel

Looking up in the foyer at The Brice

After being greeted enthusiastically (with major dog treats!) by the valet, the concierge and the front desk, we went to our room to settle in. The hotel website had promised a dog bed and dog dishes for Honey, but they weren't in the room, probably because we had checked in early. One call to the front desk, and all her accoutrements showed up in a flash, along with another treat.

One of three 7" gourmet dog cookies Honey got at The Brice

The decor of the hotel is what I'd call new urban funky chic, but not in an extreme way. This is historical Savannah, so of course there is tradition mixed into a more contemporary ambiance. The guest rooms and common spaces were interesting, comfy and somewhat unconventional, at least compared to La Quinta.

Common space off the lobby at The Brice

The lobby of The Brice

The Brice has a restaurant, called Pacci, which we didn't try, but looked pretty. It also has an outdoor pool, which also looked nice. I think the hotel just opened this year in this renovated warehouse building. It used to be a Coca-Cola bottling factory, among other things over the years.

Pacci - the restaurant at The Brice

The "Secret Garden" 

Our room had more than the typical amenities: a well stocked minibar and bathroom, lots of unusual throw pillows, extremely comfy beds and a unique selection of art on the walls.  Everything was very clean and fresh. 

Our room at The Brice

Funky chic decor at The Brice

Your photographer

We left Honey to luxuriate in the room and asked the front desk to call a Pedicab for us. While we waited out front Rick and the valets and concierge talked football. (Amazing where you find Patriot's fans.)  Our Pedicab driver Royce, ("Ride with Royce and Rejoice!") peddled us slowly through the narrow streets and historical squares while chatting in a friendly way about Savannah.  I am convinced that "Pedicabbing" is the best way to see Savannah, as long as the weather is good. It's slow, calm, safe and so scenic. You pay your driver what you think he or she deserves, unless you are renting by the hour.  

Rick and Royce or Boyce (we disagree in our memory of his name) our Pedicab chauffeur

Royce dropped us at the Jepson Center, one of several Telfair Museums in Savannah, where they were having an exhibit called Monet and American Impressionism. (No photos allowed.) 

The Jepson Center

We met Kevin there, where he is a member, and he generously treated us to the exhibit. In addition to being a classmate of Rick's from the SUNY Maritime College, Kevin is an author and filmmaker who currently teaches at Savannah College of Art and Design (acronym SCAD, which has a very strong presence in Savannah).  Kevin has made an outstanding documentary film about Frederick Freiseke, one of the American Impressionists featured in this exhibit. He was the perfect tour guide.  

Kevin and Rick reunite

Afterwards Kevin took us for a long stroll through historic Savannah as the sun set. One beautiful garden square after another is what Savannah is known for.  

The Mercer Williams House of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame

Historic Temple Mickve Israel

One of many historic inns and B&Bs

Sunset in historic Savannah

The temperature was perfect and we could have walked forever, but we worked our way to Bella Napoli, a cozy Italian restaurant, where we met Fran for lovely dinner.

Bella Napoli

Kevin walked us back to our hotel where Honey was happy to see us. She hadn't gotten into any mischief.  After a good night's sleep we got up early to take Honey for a long walk and find ourselves some breakfast. Our walk took us along the upper levels of Savannah's historic waterfront.  The row of buildings are old multi-storied warehouses of cotton companies converted into restaurants, boutiques and other businesses. From the sidewalk we were on we could look down to the lower level basements and the original cobblestone streets leading down to the river. 

It's a complex and beautiful historic neighborhood I'd like to explore more. 

We ended up at Goose Feathers Cafe for a tasty and inexpensive breakfast of croissants, cinnamon rolls and coffee at their pet friendly outdoor seating. Savannah is dog friendly, with lots of outdoor seating, water dishes, and specialty stores for dogs.  We wound our way back to the hotel, through many of the beautiful squares again, and checked out from the Brice where we had felt so pampered.  It was really hard not to stay longer. 

Before leaving Savannah, Honey and I found Daffin Dog Park while Rick went to the elegant Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum.  Everybody was happy, aesthetically pleased and well cared for by the time we headed back to Charleston.  I hope we return to Savannah for an extended visit someday soon.

Boone Hall Plantation: Mount Pleasant, SC

This December we've returned to Mount Pleasant, SC to visit with family for the holidays. We're staying at the KOA, which has made some improvements since we stayed two years ago, most importanly (to us) a new dog park.  Although we've done lots of sightseeing in Mount Pleasant/Charleston in previous years, we never got to Boone Hall Plantation, one of the most popular historic destinations in the area.

The 88 live oak lined entrance to Boone Hall

The admission fee to Boone Hall covers a guided house tour, tram tour, self-guided walking tour of grounds, gardens, cotton dock and slave quarters, butterfly garden and access to the Butterfly Cafe. It easily takes at least half a day.

As we drove down the 88 tree, 3/4 mile live oak lined entrance road, we stopped  to take a picture and noted that we were standing on an old brick bridge over an unusually deep canal. Later we learned that the canal was dug during the Civil War as an effort to detain the advance of Union troops into Charleston. We also learned that the bricks had been made right at Boone Hall Plantation brickyard. 

If you love history, you'll love visiting Boone Hall. Originally a British land grant to John Boone in 1681, it has been a working plantation ever since! It's ownership has changed many times, from John Boone, to a Russian prince, to the current McRae family and others. 

The plantation house and serpentine wall

Its source of income has also changed many times: from rice, cotton, bricks and pecans to peaches, vegetables, tourism and special events.  No cotton any more due to the infestation of the boll weevil along the coast.

As we waited for the noon house tour we walked through the gardens, which were being changed over to their winter annuals. 

However, beautiful pink and white camellia bushes, unique to these semi-tropical climes, were blooming along the garden paths.  

We had just enough time to wander along the creek and visit the smokehouse.  At 250 years, the smokehouse is one of the oldest structures on the plantation.

Praise house and serpentine wall

After walking along the serpentine wall (invented by Thomas Jefferson) we headed back to the big house for the tour.

Our tour guide was entertaining and informative as she took us through the downstairs of the period antique furnished house, where no pictures were allowed. They were in the process of decorating for Christmas with hundreds of poinsettias and a couple of trees in every room, each one decorated uniquely. One was decorated completely with cotton balls right off the bush (surprisingly effective) and another with woven sweet grass ornaments.  This house is not the original Boone home; it is actually the fourth building on the site, the others having been lost to fire and or torn down for this new structure by Thomas Stone in the early 20th century designed after the traditional southern plantation style.

After the tour we made our way back to the row of brick slave cabins along the oak avenue. Typically the slave houses are placed in back where visiting guests wouldn't see them, but historians guess that this land was the only acreage on the plantation that was not farmable because it flooded regularly with salt water. So they built the slave cabins there. 

Each of about eight cabins has a display inside with either an audio or visual recording explaining the display. The first house was described as the "praise house" where slaves were allowed to worship separately from their white owners and overseers.   Music, audio description, mannequins and informative plaques explained the history of worship tradition among the slaves, as well as notable spiritual leaders of the time. Other cabins housed displays about dimensions of slave life, emancipation, archeology, agriculture, etc.

Sweet grass baskets are still a highly prized traditional craft of the local Gullah people and are sold along Rt. 17 in Mount Pleasant. Here too a local artisan sells her baskets and explains about the art form.

Sweet grass basket detail

A local historian was available to answer questions and expound on topics of his choosing outside  one of the cabins. 

These houses are not in their original condition, as they were destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989. They are constructed of the same bricks, which were made in the plantation brickyard. The tile roofs replaced the original wood. 

Another building on the plantation that was seriously damaged by Hurricane Hugo is the cotton gin. As most readers will know, the cotton gin (short for engine) revolutionized cotton production by providing a fast and efficient method of processing the cotton after picking. The large buildings that house the gin are also called gins. There are still many modern gins in operation throughout the south.  This gin had been used as a gift shop and restaurant until the hurricane almost destroyed it. Now it is braced and waiting for a planned multi-million dollar renovation.

We finished our visit with a chilly open air tram tour around agricultural fields of the plantation. Our guide told us more about the history and current use of the plantation. We drove through peach orchards and strawberry fields (that will be ripe in two weeks!). Produce from the farm is sold locally to agricultural cooperatives.

As Christmas approaches our family activities intensify. We'll be visiting, dining out, shopping, having meals at one another's homes, baking cookings, and dancing. There's a nice contradance in North Charleston and one of our nieces is an avid ballroom dancer. We've promised to attend her dance if she'll attend ours, so we anticipate even more dancing and holiday fun.

A Sign From Above Must Have Brought Us to Sheridan, Wyoming

Well, that's a bit dramatic, but it fits this picture of a very unusual eastern sky (a reverse sunset - the sun was setting on the opposite horizon) over the RV Park where we stayed while in Sheridan: Peter D's. That's their sign for the park.

It's a place I'd recommend highly, run by the nicest owners we've ever met. Peter and Barbara demonstrate the kind of integrity and people skills you hope to find at every RV park, but rarely do. Their place is spotless, well run, homey, convenient, and they are always available to make something right if it isn't.  

The park is on the edge of town, surrounded by quiet, pastoral green hillsides. I hope these pictures and our highest praise will bring lots of people to their happy little spot in Wyoming.

Sheridan is a smallish city of about 18,000. It's close enough to the Big Horn Mountains, and Big Horn Canyon for outdoor adventures. It has many interesting and historical points of interest, plus all the practical and fun shopping you might want to do in a thriving downtown.  A few deserve special mention: Sackett's Market - a real old fashioned, quality butcher shop; two great shoe stores - Foot of the Big Horns and Brian's Boot & Shoe Company; and the daddy of them all, King's Saddlery.

OMG, hold on to your wallet. Not only does this place have an incredible selection of western wear and accessories, but it also has the very best fancy rodeo gear anywhere.  This is the kind of stuff you don't see very often, even out here in cowboy/girl country. Seriously, look at those spurs and chaps.

And for those who are more practically minded, there is a huge selection of fine riding tackle including saddles, (new and used),  blankets, bridles, bits and who knows what else...

...plus ROPES.  This is the home of King's Ropes. Who knew there were so many kinds of ropes! I thought places like the Big R and Tractor Supply had a lot of rope. Nope.  

Now if you aren't overwhelmed with all that, even if you're broke from buying too much rope, head on back to the museum, one of the very best we've been to, and I don't mean just the best saddle museum, I mean best museum period. (Right up there with the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix.) It really helped that we had just watched an episode of How It's Made TV about saddles. Layers upon layers of shaped leather go on top of wood and even metal form layers, topped off with carved detail finish work and cushioned shearling underneath, even on the basic saddles. So just imagine the work that goes into the Championship Saddles that are the rodeo trophies, some of which were on display here. We were duly impressed.

It's called the Don King Museum, after Don King, a master saddle maker and leather artist who lived here in Sheridan. He and his wife collected the saddles and other cowboy related artifacts displayed here. This is not an art museum per se, but it is chock-a-block full of some of the finest artwork you'll see. In fact, you may be lucky enough to meet one of the artists, James F. Jackson, whose workshop is in the museum.

We had no real idea of how leather was carved. The artistry that goes into this kind of fine leather working is so elegant and amazingly detailed. These are examples of Mr. Jackson's belt patterns. (Special order only.)  I think Rick may be getting one for Christmas, but don't tell.

These are leather carving tools made by Don King. Mr. Jackson says Don King was the master at making leather tools, which were and still are in very high demand.

Leather tools made by Don King

On display are examples of sketches made by Don King and other leather master craftsmen and women such as Al and Ann Stohlman. 

This is the workbench of Al Stohlman, a master leather artist who was a formative contributor to the Tandy Leather line of tools and leather patterns. He made all the wooden pictures on the workbench in patterns that he also made in leather.  His wife Ann was a leather artist as well, and some of her unique saddles are on display.

So even if you aren't a horse person of any sort, I think you'll be amazed at the quality of this collection of saddles and leather art (as well as some pretty interesting taxidermy).

We aren't horse people either of course, or even history buffs necessarily, but we enjoyed a couple of other historical points of interest in Sheridan. The first is The Historic Sheridan Inn. The dancing couple out front caught our eyes.

The Sheridan Inn just reopened after being non-functional for about 50 years. We felt really fortunate to be able to see it inside and out. It has 69 gables!  

Anyone can go in and look around the bottom floor, where you'll find the stunning Buffalo Bill's Bar, named after Buffalo Bill (aka William F. Cody) who actually lived here and managed the hotel for awhile. 

The smaller dining room....

The required buffalo head... Perhaps one of the hundreds that good ol' Buffalo Bill shot.

The Inn is a fully functioning hotel, restaurant, bar and special event location in addition to being a very impressive restoration and historical landmark.  

Spring is in full bloom here in Sheridan, and the peonies are popping in everyone's yards. Sheridan has received plenty of rain (and a few floods) this season, so everything is lush and green.  These beautiful peonies were in Trail End's yard, another historical location in town.

Trail End, or the "Kendrick Mansion" was built by John Kendrick, former governor, U.S. and state senator of Wyoming. 

We don't visit history museums that often, but we do like to visit historical homes. They give you a perspective of history that is grounded in every day life rather than facts and dates.  Trail End is in it's original state, as it was well taken care of by the Kendricks family even though they lived here for only a short time.  Almost all the furnishings and decor are original, with only a few replacements matching the originals.

All three floors are accessible to visitors.

The master bedroom, as it might have looked with the family living there.

The staircase to the third floor, doubling as library and family gallery.

The entire third floor was a ballroom with exquisite wooden floors and a little balcony for the musicians. What a cool (well, maybe hot) place to have a contra dance, or more likely a square dance or fancy dress ball. 

The stairs looking down three stories. 

We really liked Sheridan Wyoming a lot. It even had a big dog park with shade, water, picnic tables and grass, that Honey liked a lot too.