Vacation: Day Three

A perfect weather day! We left Macon, GA after breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express and headed off East to Savannah to see this famous Eastern Georgia city that Sherman did not burn.

Savannah is all you have heard. We want to go back and spend some time here among buildings that date back to the early 1700s, and to walk the stone streets and be part of history.

After a GREAT bus tour of Savannah, we took off Southwest to the Okeefenokee Swamp...an area we always wanted to see, but never got to before.

At the Okeefenokee Wildlife area, we were lucky to get the last train ride tour around part of the vast swamp area that was populated by Cherokee and other tribes. The train driver, Bill, is 80 years young, and a wizard at the flora and fauna of Okeefenokee.

The train ride took us past many of the beauties of the area. We saw soapweed, blue flag, blueberry, and many medicinal plants that flourish here.

We heard what we thought was a Great Horned Owl, but Bill assured us, when we aked what species it was, that it was a 'Hootie Owl'. Okay.

And there were gators: We saw a 'mamma gater' who had just hatched 30 little babies. We saw adult gators and younger gators. They are relaxed and in control here.

We also saw the homesteads of the original white settlers. Why anyone would want to settle in a swamp, with the insect life, the gators, the bears and the snakes is a mystery, but settle they did.

Huge dough trenchers, iron pots and pans, primitive bedding and hand-hewn furniture were proudly displayed in the reconstructed cabins, worksheds, and outbuildings.