This week, Patti has challenged us to explore the world of monochrome using black and white, sepia, or different shades of the same color.
For this challenge I went through my archives and chose photos of scenes in Savannah, Georgia. Converting the photos to black and white added a bit of mystery to them. The photo above is of stone steps leading from Bay Street to River Street along the Savannah River.
The Forsyth Park Fountain is one of Savannah’s most well know sights.
Forsyth Park Fountain in Savannah, Georgia
Bonaventure Cemetery is always an interesting place to visit. Seeing it in black and white adds a little more drama.
Military graves at Bonaventure CemeteryBonaventure CemeteryBonaventure Cemetery
Perhaps one of the most famous homes in Savannah is the Mercer House made famous by the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good of Evil.”
We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.
On this day eleven years ago, October 31, 2008, our RV was parked in RV City in Jacksonville, Florida. We were there to attend the college football game between rivals Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators. The two schools have been playing each other annually since the early 1900’s and, except for two years while the stadium was undergoing renovations, has been played in Jacksonville every year since 1933.
Unofficially named “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”, fans of both teams start arriving in Jacksonville and surrounding areas as early as a week before the game. Hotels are booked a year in advance and finding a last minute place to stay anywhere near Jacksonville is almost impossible.
We attended our first Georgia/Florida game in 1974 and it was an annual tradition for us for many years. Most of those years we stayed in a Jacksonville area hotel for the weekend. In 2008, we decided to take our fifth wheel to RV City for the event.
RV City is a large parking lot near the stadium that is reserved for RV’s. There is a limited number of parking for RV’s and at the time, in order to get a spot in the lot RV’s start lining up early in the week before Saturday’s game.
We met friends in Jacksonville early on Tuesday morning to follow them to get in line for our sites in RV City. We spent that night in line and were in our space in RV City early Wednesday morning. From Wednesday until Friday we enjoyed the festivities and entertainment leading up to the game on Saturday.
Awning to awning in RV CityPacked in like sardines in RV City in Jacksonville, FloridaWe had a great view of the stadium from our site.There were a few waterfront sites in RV City
Yes, we were dry camping in a parking lot. Yes, the RV’s were close together. Yes, there were crowds and lots of noise. Did we enjoy it? Yes! It was a great experience and great fun!
We have friends in RV City right now. Kickoff is Saturday at 3:30. We’re there with them in spirit.
October is one of my favorite months in coastal Georgia. The weather is finally cooling off, the sunrises and sunsets are gorgeous, and you never know what birds will show up to feed in the marsh.
I’ve been seeing gorgeous morning skies at sunrise.
Coastal Georgia Sunrise
The cooler temperatures are perfect for taking a morning walk.
Coastal Georgia Salt Marsh
I need to clean out the dying plants from my butterfly garden but I decided to wait before pulling them up. As long as there are butterflies stopping by for some nourishment the plants will stay.
Gulf Fritillary on Mexican Sunflower
Large flocks of White Ibis have been feeding in the salt marsh around our neighborhood.
We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.
Five years ago, on October 24, 2014, we were camped at Deerlick Creek Campground, a Corps of Engineers park near Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We were returning home after a fall RV trip to Missouri and Arkansas to attend University of Georgia away football games.
We always enjoy staying in Corps of Engineers parks so we went out of our way to stay at Deerlick Creek near Tuscaloosa. The park is located on Holt Lake on the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway in the rolling hills northeast of Tuscaloosa. What I didn’t know when I made the reservations was the campground is very hilly and some of the sites are difficult to get in and out of for a 35 foot fifth wheel.
This campground was like no other COE campground we had ever been to. Instead of being at lake level, the lake was way down at the bottom of the hill. Even the waterfront sites were located above the lake.
Holt Lake
Our site was one of those that was difficult to get in and almost impossible to get out of. The road was narrow and our site was a back in site near the top of a hill. To back into the site took great skill on Henry’s part avoiding ditches and other obstacles. The good news is, it was a beautiful site with a few steps up to our picnic table behind the camper. When we finally got set up and had a chance to look around, we realized it would be almost impossible to get out of.
Overall, we still enjoyed our stay. Behind our campsite was a private area with picnic table and fire pit surrounded by trees.
There was not enough room for us to make a left turn out of the campsite so when it was time to leave our only option was to make a right turn down the hill, navigate a narrow hairpin turn with campers and cars right on the edge of the road, go to the bottom of the hill and turn around. Many thanks to the nice campers who helped us negotiate the tight turn at the bottom of the hill!
A hairpin turn down the hill was in our future
Although we had a worrisome night wondering how we were going to get out, we survived to tell the tale. I would return to this park but not to site 28!
This week, Amy has challenged us to feature photos featuring layers. When I read the challenge I immediately thought of colorful layered natural wonders found in Arizona and Utah.
The photo above and the photo below were taken from different overlooks at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona
The state of Utah was filled with many different examples of layered natural formations.
Hoodoos in Bryce Canyon National Park, UtahKodachrome Basin State Park, UtahCapitol Reef National Park, UtahWatchman in Zion National Park, Utah
Wandering Dawgs 