Savannah, day 1

I started out the morning by going to the visitor center, since there seemed to be a consensus that that was the place to go, but it turned out to be little more than a ticket counter for the many commercial tours available: you can see the historic district on foot, on a rented bike, in a horse-drawn carriage, or in a noisy diesel bus made to look like a trolley.

My second stop was City Market, which I hoped would be a farmers' market, but it's a pedestrian mall.  An Internet cafe there let me plug into the phone line, and I caught up with my e-mail over coffee.

Next I headed for the riverfront, where I saw containerships much taller than those I'd seen on the Mississippi, but shorter in length.  I guess the channel on the Savannah River must be deeper than the Mississippi's to allow the taller ships.  The main attraction on the riverfront is supposed to be the assortment of quirky shops, bars, and restaurants, but I've been through so many towns in the past month that storefronts don't make much of an impression anymore!

On my way south from there, I planned to stop at the famous Colonial Park Cemetery, but somehow I didn't see it.  I'll have to go back tomorrow.

I happened to pick up a free newspaper and glanced at its ad insert, which happened to be for a natural-foods store that was on my way!  I wish more stores would carry my favorite instant lentil soup mix in bulk so I wouldn't have to clean them out every time I stop in.

The trouble with historic districts is that they rarely have one-hour photo shops!  My search for one led me to a mall in the southern part of town.  On the way I stopped at a library to determine whether I needed to buy maps of North and South Carolina.  I decided I did, and I was able to do so at the mall.

The traffic on the way back into town was just awful.  Had I known I'd be out until rush hour, I would have put off some of my errands until Saturday!  I got back to the hostel, met the new arrivals (a young couple from Florida), and made a big mess of spaghetti.  It's great to cook for myself for a change, with a real stove and perishable food!

10.8 mi