Georgia, Savannah - Thursday, May 23, 2019 - Tybee Island and Ft. Pulaski

The drive to Tybee Island, I love these trees with moss.

We stopped at the North Beach Bar and Grill for lunch.  North Beach was incorporated in 1887.

The grilled fish taco was great.

Greg opted for a shrimp po’boy.  We shared the sweet potato fries which was drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction, different but good.

The boardwalk to the beach.

The beach is crowded today, the last time we were here it was in the fall and rainy so we almost had the beach to ourselves.  It was really hot out today so we didn’t stay long.

I still couldn’t convince Greg to climb to the top of the lighthouse.

We had to laugh because there is a sign that says the Battery Brumby is a “Severe Weather Safe Site” but all of the doors appear to be padlocked shut.

Greg wondered how long it would take a turtle to get across the road.

Ft. Pulaski is named for a Polish soldier who fought for Polish liberty against Russia.  When Poland lost he was forced to flee his homeland.  He met Benjamin Franklin in Paris in 1777 and Franklin inspired him to join America’s fight for freedom.  In 1778 Congress selected him to command the newly formed cavalry unit and he became known as the “Father of the American Cavalry”.  He was fatally wounded in 1779 during the Battle of Savannah.

Construction of the fort began in 1829, long before the War Between the States was to begin.  Robert E. Lee, fresh out of West Point, took his first assignment as assistant engineer on the project.  The marshy ground on Cockspur Island had to be prepared for the heavy fort.  Lee conducted surveys, selected the exact site for the fort and began building the drainage and dike systems.

The view of the fort from the parking lot.  This is a national memorial so our senior pass got us in for free.

 Crossing the moat into the fort.  The moat is 7’ deep and is home to the occasional alligator.

This is a passageway to the gun placements outside the fort.  I was just glad there were no bats inside.

Massive doors were part of the defense of the fort.

The fort is built around this large grassy parade ground.

The breezes through these covered walkways was amazing on this very hot day.

Ten cisterns like this one stored 200,000 gallons of water.  Rain water came in through a series of pipes.  After the capture of the fort in 1862 Union soldiers supplemented the natural supply with a steam condenser which converted the moat’s salt water into fresh.

Col. Olmstead surrendered in this room on April 11, 1862.

Even though these cannons were built with a track so they could be moved, that had to be a major undertaking.

Thirty-one steep steps up a spiral stairway with no hand rail and you are on the top level.

Room for more cannons up here.  The fort was designed for 140 cannons.

On April 10, 1862, Confederates refused a demand to surrender because the enemy guns were a mile away on Tybee Island – more than twice the range of heavy artillery of the day.  However, the Union troops had new “rifled” cannons.  When they fired those spinning projectiles, they bored through the brick walls of the fort especially those in the area containing 40,000# of gun powder.  In less than 30 hours the Confederates were worried about being blown up by their own gun powder among other things.  They considered the situation hopeless and surrendered.

Inside the fort from above.

Cannons could have lined the walls.

It took 25 million bricks to build the fort.  Fingerprints of those who made the bricks can still be seen.

Confederate soldiers prepared for battle using earth and timbers to create a “bindage” to protect troops from incoming shells.  They also dug ditches in the parade ground to catch rolling cannon shot (I thought this was genius).

The commanding officer’s quarters.

The Federal medical dispensary.

It was hard to get a picture of this bird, I think it is a brown pelican.  Lots of these birds were diving into the water and catching fish for lunch.  Quite the spectacle, but hard to catch on film, I need to get comfortable with videos.

More trees with moss on the way home.

Georgia, Tybee Island - Wednesday, August 6, 2014 - Tybee Island Lighthouse

Tybee Island was our destination today.  It’s about 20 miles from the campground on the other side of Savannah.  We called yesterday to see if we could get into the campground on Tybee Island for next week.  They didn’t have any sites available so on Saturday we will be moving further north into Hollywood, South Carolina, not far from Charleston.

The temperature was so hot today (100 degrees) we decided we needed to find parking near where we wanted to go.  We found public parking near the Tybee Island Lighthouse complex.  We could see the umbrellas on the beach from where we were parked.

 

There are wooden walkways across the dunes to the beach so the dunes don’t get destroyed.

The dunes aren’t all sand.

 

We walked across the beach to this jetty looking for shells.  I think you have to get out earlier than we did to find the good ones.

 

This little guy was crawling around near the jetty, I decided he still needed his shell.

 

There were some pretty good waves coming in, just a few were swimming out on surfboards thinking about giving it a try, but few were actually doing it.

 

The North Beach Bar and Grill appeared to be our only option for lunch without going back into town.

At least there was shade and a little breeze blowing and they were quick to serve a big glass of ice water.

I chose the blackened shrimp tacos with avocado and papaya salsa.  It was great.

Greg opted for the grilled shrimp salad.  It had mixed greens, strawberries, papaya, oranges and candied cashews.  Looked pretty good to me and I noticed he didn’t leave any.

 

After lunch we walked over to see the lighthouse.  This is the third lighthouse built on this site.  The first was built in 1736, the third one in 1773.  The last ones was partially destroyed by the Irish Jasper Greens of Savannah during Union occupation of the island.  It was repaired and today is one of the famous lighthouses on the east coast.  We decided not to tour the lighthouse.  Going up 178 steep steps in an enclosed space in 100 degree weather just didn’t appeal today, I don’t care how good the view probably is.

 

All of the buildings around the lighthouse are well-kept.  I think this is the lighthouse keeper’s home.

 

This is one of the home near the lighthouse.

 



We did come home with a few shells.

 

Riding was great today, the road out to the island ran through a lot of marsh land and across an intercostal waterway.