Saturday, March 31 - I took a Vancouver
Cab at 2:30am from home to PDX. I
checked in at Alaska counter at 3:00. I
took a short flight to Seattle upgraded to First Class and a flight to ATL in
Premium Class. I enjoyed the Cheese and Fruit plate during the flight. I took a shuttle from the terminal to Hyatt
Place Atlanta/Buckhead. I photographed
NGS Benchmark: DG2683 GA State Cap Arm Holding
Torch as we drove by. The 1889 building is modeled
after the U.S. Capital.
The hotel room was not ready so I sat
on the lobby sofa and promptly fell asleep.
Check-in was 3:00pm but I did not get the room until 5:35. I was on the second floor but it was fairly
quiet. I walked to nearby Kroger Market to buy a Chefs salad etc. for dinner
and snacks. I slept soundly.
Sunday, April 1 - Easter and April Fool's
Day. After a quick breakfast I took the
hotel shuttle to nearby Caribou Coffee where I hosted a Geocaching Event from
8:30 to 10:00am. About a dozen Cachers attended. Afterwards I found the nearby cache "The
Buckhead Dragon". Very clever.
The silver trains were not working so I had to take the Magic Tube.
I walked to the MARTA
Station where I purchased a BREEZE Card.
I got off at the Peachtree Center Station. I photographed the station for an
Earthcache. I got back on MARTA, exited
at Five Points and followed the signs to the Eastbound platform. I took the train to E2 King Memorial
Station. At the street level I turned
right. I photographed the tall brick stacks
(Benchmarks) and water tower. I turned
and walked to Hillard/Grant Street toward the tunnel. I walked to Oakland Cemetery, a historic
oasis at the highest point of the city.
It was really hot so I
was soon tired. I photographed the huge
marble lion dedicated to the Unknown Confederate Dead, a Virtual. I returned to the station and rode back to
the Buckhead N7 Station. The hotel
shuttle picked up me and several others at the Buckhead Station.
I checked in with the
Road Scholar program after 4:00pm. We
had Orientation at 5:00. And buffet dinner
at 6:00. There are only 18 in the
group. We introduced ourselves. And then it was off to bed.
I attended my Event,
found a Multi Cache, an Earthcache, a Virtual (Monument was carved from a
single block of Georgia marble) and three Benchmarks today.
Monday, April 2 - I
had breakfast in the Conference Room with the group. I went into the Dining Room though to get
raisin bread toast. We went to the Carter Presidential Museum at 9:00. I saw The (Bill
and Melinda) Gates Award for Global Health, President Jimmy Carter's Peace
Prize, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's Presidential Medals of Freedom, the nation's
highest civilian honor, and an exact replica of the Oval Office. The gifts given to President Jimmy Carter and
Rosalynn Carter were quite impressive. There
was not enough time to really see everything.
I saw the gardens briefly. I
photographed "Sightless Among Miracles," a striking sculpture. I wanted to spend more time wandering through
the Presidential Museum instead.
We went to the Swan
Coach House in Buckhead for lunch. It
was quite lovely. Great place for
Afternoon Tea. We toured the Swan
Mansion (1928) and Gardens. A recurring
motif are sculpted or painted swans throughout the house and grounds. Most impressive were the 18th-century swan
tables purchased in England. I copied
the Beaten Biscuits recipe displayed in the kitchen. While the rest of the group walked through
the quarry gardens I explored the Tullie Smith House (1840), a plantation-plain
style house and the Farm. We left for
the hotel at 4:30. After dinner at
Gordon Biersch of Atlanta Buckhead we had an interesting lecture back at the
hotel conference room on "Gone with the Wind" and author Margaret
Mitchell. I did not geocache today.
Tuesday, April 3 - I
had breakfast in the conference room. I
took my luggage down to the tour bus. We
headed for Charleston, SC this afternoon.
We left at 8:00am for Field Trip.
We drove past the red brick house where Margaret Mitchell wrote most of
her novel "Gone with the Wind" in her small apartment. We stopped at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. I saw two really large pieces of Chihuly art glass. The orchids at the Orchid Center were amazing. We had lunch at the garden's Longleaf
Restaurant. The Tour Bus left at noon
for Charleston, SC. We watched
"Gone with the Wind". Two bus
tires had to be repaired at a crossroads just south of McDonough. We had dinner at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant
in Pooler. We checked into the Francis
Marion Hotel about 10:30. I had Room
716. I was exhausted! I found a benchmark: DF2500 Forsyth N Mun
Tank, and a geocache while the tires were repaired.
Wednesday, April 4 -
Following breakfast buffet we left for a Charleston Field Trip. We strolled through Washington Square, a quiet park in
downtown Charleston in the Historic District. The location of Washington Square once was
the site of Corbett's Thatched Tavern. The city square was opened in 1818. In the center of the park is a memorial (1891)
to the Washington Light Infantry (Virtual).
The memorial is made of Carolina gray granite and is a miniature version
of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
We did not get a
chance to visit nearby French Huguenot Church.
Very disappointing.
We briefly toured St. Michael's Church Charleston (1761),
the oldest church edifice in the city.
The steeple is 186 feet tall; the weather vane is 7 1/2 feet long. The entire steeple sank eight inches as a
result of the earthquake in 1886. (Benchmark: CJ0908)
We visited the Citadel which was established in 1842 and was
originally located on Marion Square right across the street from our
hotel. It was moved in 1922 to the bank
of the Ashley River. Author Pat Conroy
graduated from the Citadel and later wrote the controversial novel "The
Lords of Discipline". I photographed
the Citadel Water Tower on Indian Hill, a sand bluff along the Ashley River
(Benchmark: CJ1024)
We walked alongside the White Point Gardens. We saw the dentist's pink mansion - how could
you miss it. I photographed the
historical statue for a Virtual.
We had lunch at the
hotel in the Parkview Room. I left at
1:45 as I had reservations for Spirit Line Cruises for Fort Sumter. The cruise departed from the Fort Sumter Visitor
Center at Liberty Square in downtown Charleston: 2:30 pm Ended: 4:45 pm. I started walking. SLC sent an Uber to pick me up. He arranged
for me to board ahead of the crowd and told me where to sit on the boat. There was a relaxing 30 minute narrated
cruise to the historic fort. I could
clearly see the dentist's pink house among the Battery homes. I had a great visit at Fort Sumter, the site
of the first shots fired in April 1861 in the War Between the States. I found the Virtual "Night Attack"
and photographed the flag (Benchmark: CJ0864).
I saw several playful dolphins. I
could have easily spent another hour exploring.
We had dinner at the hotel. I
found three Virtuals and three Benchmarks today.
Thursday, April 5 - After
breakfast we visited Middleton Place (1741), a National Historic
Landmark situated on the Ashley River. This carefully preserved 18th-century
plantation has survived revolution, Civil War, and earthquake. It was the home of four important generations
of Middletons, beginning with Henry Middleton (1717-1784), President of the
First Continental Congress; Arthur Middleton (1742-1787), a signer of the
Declaration of Independence; Henry Middleton (1770-1846), Governor of South
Carolina and an American Minister to Russia; and William Middleton (1809-1883),
a signer of the Ordinance of Secession. Middleton Place is home to the oldest
landscaped gardens in the United States.
We had Lowcountry
buffet lunch in the Middleton
Place restaurant.
We toured Magnolia
Plantation founded in 1679 by the Drayton family. It is the oldest public site open to visitors
in the Lowcountry, with the oldest public gardens in America, opening its doors
to visitors in 1872. It is informal
English style gardening away from the very formal design earlier borrowed from
the French style which I very much dislike.
We rode through the landscape on a tram.
We saw sights that evoked the plantation’s past such as a Native
American ceremonial mound. We had a
buffet dinner in the Parkview Room at our hotel. I skipped the lecture on Gullah Culture. I found two bottled waters compliments of the
hotel in my room. I prepared for morning
check-out and then went to bed early instead. I did not geocache today.
Friday, April 6 - After
breakfast buffet, we checked out of the hotel and headed for Beaufort
and Savannah. We visited the Penn Center
(1855) near Frogmore SC on Saint Helena Island.
Penn Center works to preserve the Gullah culture and Sea Island
history. We stopped to view the ruins of
the Chapel of Ease (1740) which burned in a forest fire February 1886 and
a mausoleum built in 1852 for Edgar Fripp and
his wife Eliza in the adjacent graveyard. We stopped at the Red Piano Too Art
Gallery where I saw many bottle trees. I
purchased a novel: "The Secret of the Gullah Treasure" by Carl E.
Linke.
We had a couple hours to explore Beaufort so I chose to find the Virtual "Hit or Miss?". We stopped at the Visitor Center. I walked
west to The Parish Church of St. Helena near the corner of North St. and
Newcastle. The bell chimed 12:00 noon. I took several photos for the Virtual of
the brick wall and The Parish Church of St. Helena. It was likely divine intervention that the mortar shot hit the brick wall rather than the church.
We stopped briefly at an old railroad depot to use the
restrooms. I photographed the Savannah
Flare Stack (Benchmark: CK3991). The
stack is located at an old railroad engine round house and engine repair
shop. We stopped briefly
at the Massie Heritage Center and at The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. John
the Baptist. The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is a Roman Catholic cathedral on
Lafayette Square. It is the Mother
Church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah (two Benchmark
Spires).
We checked in at the B Historic hotel. I did not get a chance to get a snack, shower
and relax before dinner. My room was
diagonally across from the elevator. The
room was a nightmare of noise from the elevator. Another RS couple changed their room also
that was directly across from the elevator.
We went to dinner at Chart House.
I finally got Room #534 way at the end of the hall. Great location. I found one multi cache and four benchmarks
today.
Saturday, April 7 - The buffet breakfast was terrible. One covered server had a mound of raw
bacon. Very limited food choices.
Our Savannah Trolley field trip was led by a local expert.
Of the 24 squares from General Oglethorpe’s original plan, 22 remain, shaded by
magnificent live oaks and surrounded by homes, churches, and museums. Each is
distinctive with a variety of fountains, memorials, and lovely landscaping.
We toured the 1820 Isaiah Davenport House, one of the oldest
brick structures in the city. The two-and-a-half story urban dwelling contains
a total of 6,800 square feet with a basement level (which originally housed the
kitchen, storage, work space and possibly a sleeping area for the enslaved
servants owned by Isaiah Davenport), the first floor containing the public
areas, and the second and third floors which were bedrooms and storage space.
We visited the Ships of Sea Museum. I was exhausted. We continued on the Savannah Trolley.
We stopped at First Independent
Presbyterian Church (Benchmark: CK3975).
In the opening scene of "Forrest Gump" a white feather
floats gently downward from the sky. The
first view of Savannah is not of Chippewa Square, but of Madison Square, the St.
John's Episcopal Church in the background.
The film then makes a cut to Chippewa Square. The white feather is seen floating in front
of the steeple of the First Independent Presbyterian Church and then across the
street, the First Baptist Church in the background. It finally lands at the feet of Forrest Gump,
seated at a bench beside a bus stop on the north side of Chippewa Square.
The group walked through Forsyth Park, the largest in the
Historic District. Savannah has many beautiful fountains,
but none is so striking nor memorable as the one in Forsyth Park. The view of Forsyth Park’s fountain – seen at the end
of a wide walk lined with moss-hung oaks – is one of the best-known sights in Savannah. I chose to stay on the trolley. We had delicious lunch at Elizabeth on
37th situated in a mansion from the early 1900s.
We returned to the B Historic hotel. After a shower and nap, I walked to a nearby
six-story parking garage where I found a cache.
Great view of the city. It was
lightly raining. I called a pedicab. A young woman driver named Shelby dropped me
at Starbucks where I had a light dinner.
I walked a couple blocks to the waterfront where I found a Virtual. I had a rich chocolate and vanilla scoop of
ice cream in a cup at Ben & Jerry's.
I called a pedicab from JJ's. The
same young woman showed up much to our surprise. Back at the hotel I was glad to crawl in bed
and get a good night's sleep. I found
one cache, one benchmark and one Virtual today.
Sunday, April 8 - The buffet breakfast was terrible again. One covered server had a mound of French
toast - cold and soggy. The first plate
I picked up was not clean. Very limited
food choices.
We checked out
of the hotel and boarded our motor coach at 8:30 am for the ride back to
Atlanta. The drive back to Atlanta is
about 250 miles, approximately 3.5 hours.
Along the way, we watched the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good And
Evil” based on the book of the same name by John Berendt, an adopted son of
Savannah. During the entire trip when a
film was not playing there was often a bouncing ball on the screen which
irritated me.
En route, I had poor boxed lunch with a sandwich which I
did not eat, salt and vinegar chips (did not like), a frosted cookie (rather
have plain sugar cookie or chocolate chip cookie), and bottled water. The sack lunch was likely made by the B
Historic hotel. Very poor food during
our entire stay at the hotel. And, of course, the
room situation was a nightmare. They
really need to get their act together.
We arrived in
Atlanta by approximately 1:30 p.m. I was
dropped off at the Atlanta International Airport. It was confusing where to find the Alaska
counter. I checked my two free pieces of
luggage. I was given the wrong boarding
pass from SEA to PDX which later caused a problem. I had a light lunch. I boarded the flight to SEA in First Class
for a 4:02 flight, landing in Seattle about 6:30. I took a short flight from SEA to PDX again
in First Class. We landed about
9:00pm. It seemed like I walked forever
from the plane to baggage pickup.
I got my luggage and boarded MAX light rail to Rose Quarter,
walked a block and boarded MAX to Delta Park Station. I caught the C-Tran bus to Evergreen and
Broadway where I caught the #37 to Manzanita Street. The entire ride cost $1.50. Christopher met the bus and took my
luggage. We walked a couple blocks to our
home, arriving about 11:00pm. I was
exhausted. Great trip but good to be home.
Lessons learned: Request rooms directly with hotels. Clearly mark luggage with
colorful luggage strap. Take nonstop,
direct flights. Check boarding
passes. Get enough sleep.
