Interesting Stops - Near Historic Savannah

Just a few miles out of town, take the time to visit these stops:

SKIDAWAY INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHY. Located 10 miles southeast of Savannah on Skidaway Island, you can visit the Aquarium exhibit of marine life found in Georgia waters, tours of institute which is conducting studies on area sea creatures and their potential uses. The Aquarium is open to the public. Call 912-598-2300 for more information.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE. Located just across the Savannah River on SC Highway 170, the entrance to this intriguing to-be-driven tour is just past the Houlihan Bridge in Pt. Wentworth, GA. Get your camera ready because you will see alligators half-asleep in the waterways, eagles tending their young in the trees and an amazing variety of birds who rest and shelter in this, their federal safe-haven. The drive-through is free. Take a picnic lunch and just enjoy the raw beauty of this refuge. Please do NOT feed the alligators.

HISTORIC SAVANNAH-OGEECHEE BARGE CANAL. One of the prime relics in the history of Southern canals. Beginning at the tidal lock on the Savannah River, the waterway continues through four lift locks as it traverses 16.5 miles before reaching another tidal lock at the Ogeechee River. Along the way, the canal passed through Savannah's 19th century industrial corridor, former rice fields, timber tracts and a lush tidal swamp. Local citizens in the 1990s began to restore and interpret the waterway and turn it into a park. Most of the effort is centered at the Ogeechee River terminus, where a small museum and nature center is open to the public near Lock 5. For more information contact Nature Center at 912-748-8068. The Center is located off GA 204 a short distance west of I-95. Open daily from 9AM to 5PM.

For more information on Historic Savannah, please go to The Savannah Traveler On-Line

The African-American Families Monument

The African American Monument was erected on Rousakis Plaza/River Street on July 27, 2002. The monument is an 11-12' high bronze monument which depicts a black family caught in a tight embrace with broken shackles at their feet.

The Monument is to commemorate and honor contributions of African Americans to the cultural, social, educational, economic and spiritual life of the Savannah community.

The inscription, by poet Maya Angelou, reads:

"We were stolen, sold and bought together from the African continent. We got on the slave ships together. We lay back to belly in the holds of the slave ships in each others excrement and urine together, sometimes died together, and our lifeless bodies thrown overboard together. Today, we are standing up together, with faith and even some joy."

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Enjoying Historic Savannah

This is my first post and first blog so I will be learning as I pursue this new way of telling people about the historic and beautiful city of Savannah.

The Picture on this page is an exhibit in the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum.

While I am not a native of Savannah, we have lived here for almost 20 years and have enjoyed every day of it. It really is beautiful even though it can really get hot in July and August but I'll take the heat and not the cold from my early days in Illinois.

In subsequent blogs, I'll write about Savannah: places to see, to do and other informative facts about the city and surrounding area.