Site 34 W/E/S;
Beautiful campground that's close to Savannah.
From the north (Charleston), we drove Rt 17 till it merged with I-95 and stayed on that as it bypasses Savanah to Rt 204, then east, following signs to the park.
Campsite is very pretty with large oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. Sites are well spaced out and roomy. Facilities were very good.
There is a hiking trail to a platform overlooking the marshes and the Skidaway River. A Publix Supermarket is just a few hundred feet from the park entrance in an small upscale outdoor mall.
There was not a lot of sightseeing on the island itself as most of it is privately owned and large gated communities (with golf courses) take up a good part of the island. Still, a very pleasant location and an easy drive to Savannah and Tybee Island (the later we did not have a chance to see). Hilton Head Island is just a little further to the north.
11/29/17 Savannah.
Parked at the Visitor's center (fee) from which several tour trollies start.
The city was well designed with many small parks, called squares, in a spaced grid pattern flowing from the largest, Forsyth Park north toward the waterfront. While a nicely walkable city, between the squares (typically surrounded by beautiful homes) and the specific attractions, most of the streets we saw contained businesses in contrast to the overwhelmingly beautiful wall to wall homes of Charleston. In comparison, Charleston looked to be a preserved historic area where Savannah has historic features in a working (but pleasant) city.
Oak canopied street,
A Charlestown "square".
Due to our limited time of one day and the fact that I was fighting a cold, we only visited Colonial Park Cemetery, The Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Forsyth Park, and several of the squares in between. The cemetery was very informative with plaques explaining the history of certain persons laid to rest there.
At Forsyth Park we sat in a bench and watched the fountain and the many other visitors and locals doing the same thing. At and near the park we also encountered many young people who appeared to be either in or partaking of the drug trade. We felt reasonably safe in that it was around noon and it looked to us that these young people seemed to be ignored by passersby. We kept a wide berth anyway.
Not unusually, our favorite part of the day was enjoying an unusual and unusually good spot for lunch. Recommended by some young relatives, Zunzi's is a South African inspired street-side walk-in-to-the-counter and order sandwich shop with tables out back under umbrellas. The selections were different and the advice of the girl at the counter to the guys in front of us confirmed what we had heard, “visitors get the Conquistador, and locals get the Godfather.” The Conquistador sounds simple and bland – baked chicken, lettuce, tomato, on French Bread, but it is the “special sauce” (available for purchase) that sends it over the top. The Godfather is the same sandwich with smoked South African sausage added. We both opted for the later and were not disappointed. OMG good.
11/30/17 After getting the trailer ready to leave the campground, we took a walk to the observation platform. A few markers along the way referred to a trail guide pamphlet explaining some things to notice. Of interest to me were two very small Gator Ponds. Only 20 feet wide and 100 feet long or so, these are formed by alligators agitating the muddy water creating deeper holes which fill up with water and hence provide a food source for the gators.
Alligator-made pond
