July 4 – Hilton Head, SC

Day 108 – Happy July 4^th

Calibogue Sound – Anchorage

It felt nice to be back on the water. We had a short day from Thunderbolt (Savannah) to Hilton Head. The weather was a little warm, but tolerable and there wasn’t as much boat traffic as we thought there would be…so it was a good day. We anchored near Harbour Town Marina and had a front row seat to the firework show. The fireworks were very nice and we could see at least five other places that were shooting off fireworks. That was pretty impressive. We will move to a marina tomorrow so we can explore Hilton Head.

Low country of South Carolina

Harbour Town Marina

The fireworks

July 3 – Thunderbolt, GA

Day 107 – Bonaventure Cemetery

Bahia Bleu Marina

We visited the Bonaventure Cemetery today; it was developed on the historically-significant site of Bonaventure (Good Fortune) Plantation. The peaceful setting rests on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah. The site was purchased for a private cemetery in 1846 and became a public cemetery in 1907. This beautiful site has been a famous tourist destination for more than 150 years due to the tree-lined roadways, the many notable persons interred, the unique cemetery sculpture and architecture, and the folklore associated with the site and the people. Bonaventure is the resting ground of fallen soldiers as well as many others, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Conrad Aikin and songwriter, Johnny Mercer who wrote many timeless classics including “Moon River”, “Jeepers Creepers” and “Fools Rush In”.

Along with old oak trees draped with Spanish moss the cemetery is lined with hundreds of azalea bushes… it must be beautiful in the spring when they are blooming. A big part of the cemetery was laid out in family plots. In some of these plots we saw new headstones next to family members who died over a hundred years ago. I know it seems like a strange place to visit, but it was very interesting.

We spent the evening grilling hamburgers, visiting with people on the dock and watching fireworks.

Entrance to Bonaventure Cemetery 

This statue of Gracie Watson is a favorite of visitors. She died in 1883 and this life size statue is a depiction of her. Many people who have visited the cemetery leave presents or trinkets in her lap. Legend has it if the present is taken away, the statue of the girl will actually cry tears of blood and she will cry out into the night. Whether or not anyone has actually seen or heard this is unknown.

Other interesting sculptures we found

July 2 - Thunderbolt, GA

Day 106 - 4th of July Weekend

Bahia Bleu Marina

Savannah puts on the Great American Weekend for the 4th...with arts and crafts, music, contests, food and fireworks. We spent most of the day on River Street looking at craft booths, enjoying the music and watching people.

Our marina houses 100 boats or more in a large building. All an owner has to do is call and let the marina know when they want to use their boat and they take the boat out and put it in the water for them. The best part of this deal is when they return, the owner gets out of the boat and the marina does everything else. They gas it up, clean it up and put it away. As you can imagine it's been very busy this weekend. It was very entertaining watching these people bring their boats in this evening.

Scenes from River Street

The buildings along River Street are very old

The Savannah River

Entertainment at the marina

Boats everywhere

The storage barn

They move these boats around like little toys. Here they are putting one of the boats away.