A Savannah Sunday

We have been having a great time on this trip and we certainly have been keeping busy. So we decided not to set an alarm for this morning and we would just get started when we felt like it. So we had a little of a sleep in and a relaxing breakfast before setting out for a letterboxing day in Savannah. Our first stop was Catholic Cemetery to look for Weeping Willow's Despair. We followed the clues which took us for a little drive through the cemetery. We were able to see some amazing statues and gravestones before arriving at the box. It was a beautiful carving of an angel. I stamped in while sitting in the car and then rehid the box. after the box was in place I walked a little and took some pictures and then we were on to the next box. The next box was also in a cemetery - LaPageville Memorial Cemetery. We followed the directions to the cemetery and parked near the entrance. This was a strange cemetery. It had two tall brick columns connected with a large arched wrought sign with a bell. No other fencing. There was only grass and trees - no grave markers. After reading the clues more I found out that all the bodies had been moved when the land was sold in the 1060's and all the old markers have long disappeared. But somehow this gave the area an eerie feeling. Anyway, I found the box and was glad I did. It was an amazing carving and made the eeriness fade away. Once we were done here we drove just down the road to Aldersgate UMC to find two boxes. One of the boxes was hidden behind the church and the other one was across the street behind the gym for the church. I found both quickly and took them back to the car to stamp in. Rehiding the boxes was a little more difficult as people were showing up for services. But after a little patience the boxes were back in place and we could move on. Bonaventure Cemetery was our next stop. Most of you probably know that Bonaventure Cemetery was made famous by the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in two ways. One, the author mentions it in the beginning and at the end of the book and two, the cover photo is of a statue that is in the cemetery. The man who took that photo is also buried here at the cemetery, his name is Jack Leigh. We stopped at the cemetery office for a map and learned some news about the bird girl statue that appears on the cover of the book. She has been moved to Telfair Museum in Savannah because of vandalism and because the family felt that there was too much traffic at their plot. There were two boxes here we wanted to find. Johnny M. - in memory of Johnny Mercer who is buried here and King of the Dead. These two boxes just happened to be hidden in the same area of the cemetery so Thomas and I parked near Johnny Mercer's grave and walked to find both boxes. I found one box, stamped in, put in back in place and moved to the second box repeating the steps. King of the Dead is probably my most favorite box that I found in Savannah. The carving is fantastic, a two part stamp that is done extremely well and I really loved the cemetery - that pretty much pushed it far ahead of any other box I found here. So after a morning of cemeteries and a church (I guess that is a good way to spend a Sunday morning) it was time for a break and some lunch.

After a light lunch and a little rest we were ready for some more letterboxing. We stopped at the American Legion to get a quick box that honors canine soldiers. This was a drive-by and that is exactly what we did. Moving on we decided to visit the Oatland Island Wildlife Center. We found three boxes in the center and one outside the center. We attempted a fourth box in the center but never found it. Thomas and I enjoyed the walk on the trail but I was a little saddened with the displays and the way the animals looked. The exhibits did not seem to be well taken care of and the animals seemed less than happy. I noticed this more with the Birds of Prey exhibit. The cages were small and looked confining. I felt sorry for the birds because their most basic activity (flying) was totally taken from them. I am sure in these times of poor economy that their budget and income have been hurting but I was really taken aback at what I saw. I truly hope that the animals are happy and well taken care of and that I was just reading too much in to it. We left Oatland and decided to try for a few boxes placed here and there around town. We stopped at Old Church Cemetery and found only one of three we looked for - a little disappointing since even the cemetery wasn't all that much to visit comparing it to the ones we saw this morning. Very near this cemetery was the Wormsloe State Historic Site with its 'Tabby Ruins'. So we paid our entrance fee and drove the mile or so from the entrance to the museum and ruins along the oak lined road. After parking we walked to the ruins and looked around and then we searched for a letterbox. Well, the box wasn't there (or should I say we couldn't find it) and the ruins weren't really all that interesting. I would say that the best part of this visit was driving down the road for a mile with 400 oak trees lining it and creating an arch for us to drive through. Leaving here we drove to the next location with clues for two boxes. The clues state that the placer works at this place and had permission to plant the boxes, it also shows that both boxes were found in August of this year. After 20 minutes of looking we came up empty handed. I was quite disappointed and a little peeved because this place had no value for me at all - It was a house converted into a mission for parent and child services - it wasn't a beautiful place and there was no history so it felt like a complete waste of time for me. Especially since the placer works there (well, not really sure about that since the boxes were placed back in 2007 and they could have moved on) and she could have easily updated the clues to missing or retired instead of leaving them active - well live and learn and now time to move on. One last stop before calling it quits for the day and returning to the hotel. We stopped at the Savannah Park & Tree office and looked for a letterbox/geocache hybrid. We found this one but it was a little disappointing because the stamp was store bought and really had nothing to do with anything. So we ended our day and visit to Savannah with a 2/7 rally. Now don't get me wrong, we had a great time in Savannah and we saw and experienced some incredible things. I just wish that even though we didn't find the letterboxes that at least the places we visited would have been at least interesting. We headed back to the hotel and cleaned up and then went for a walk and ended up finding a great pizza place called Vinnie Van Go Go's for dinner. It was a nice walk with a cool breeze and we had a nice relaxing meal and after we took the long way around back to the hotel stopping at a couple of the squares to sit and relax. Now back at the hotel we got all our things organized because tomorrow we drive from Savannah to Asheville.