American Cruise Lines - Day 11 - Savannah, GA (Part 3)

By the time 5PM rolled around, not only had the lounge filled up with people interested in checking out the Pilot House tour, but Dad had also returned from his tour of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. He said so many were interested in being back for this tour that they had the driver/guide end their tour early in order to get back here in time. They were supposed to be back around 5PM anyway and no one had come to talk to us in the lounge yet even as 5PM came and went. Other passengers were coming by wondering why we'd all gathered and then went to fetch their significant others when they wanted to join in. Despite being on the schedule, the Pilot House tour seemed to surprise many. Around 5:15-5:20PM, the Captain wandered by the lounge and reluctantly announced that they were having some maintenance work done on the bridge. They had expected the work to be done by 5PM but since it was still going on, the Pilot House tour would have to be cancelled. Everyone was disappointed (especially us since this was failed try #2) but moved on to the cocktail hour. Dad had really enjoyed his tour at the museum and felt like he could have spent a whole other hour there as well so to come back early for something that didn't get to happen was even more disheartening to him. The Captain offered to reschedule the Pilot House tour for the same time during our stop in Brunswick, GA since that was also to be an overnight visit.

After some time for Dad to get settled since he'd come right into the lounge from his tour, we headed down to the dining salon for dinner.

Warm Crab Salad with Cornbread Pudding and a Sherry Cream Chive Sauce:

Roasted NY Sirloin with Brussel Sprouts, Fingerling Potatoes and Red Wine Jus:

This time properly cooked to order and yes Mama Libbie I ate all the Brussel sprouts even though I don't have this particular vegetable on a normal basis. I don't have a picture of dessert but judging by the menu choices, it's a safe bet that I went with ice cream again.

Tonight's entertainment was singer and guitar player Chris Paul. He played a good mix of classic tunes, some folk, and some country. 

I did get to enjoy a little bit of trivia after all when he asked the crowd if anyone knew about Johnny Cash's song and later movie, "I Walk the Line" plus who was in the starring roles. I also smiled at the shock and praise from fellow cruisers for knowing that answer. A question about classic country music and a more recent pop culture reference, easy. Now ask me a question about quantum physics or sports and then you can be shocked if I come up with the right answer.

And what's this new addition to the snacks passed around during evening entertainment? Dad was so happy to finally see an offering of root beer floats!

American Cruise Lines - Day 11 - Savannah, GA (Part 2)

Once back on the ship, I reunited with Dad to join a table in the dining salon for lunch. Dad was in no hurry since he had the afternoon tour planned but I was itching to get back out there and start riding the trolley to explore on my own. I learned that Dad had used part of his morning alone to wander up the road to the nearest candy store, River Street Sweets, and tend to his need to get small bills. Such an effort that he had to reward himself with 2 mega sized tootsie rolls and 3 packs of Chuckles while he was there.

As is the case on any cruise line with shared tables, they will try and keep everyone on the same food course. It can seem tedious and a little uncomfortable when you're sitting there watching others eat because you chose not to get an appetizer. Since I wanted to get back out on the town especially with the sky starting to darken, I asked our waitress today to bring my Chicken Caesar Salad with everyone else's appetizers. This was of course no issue but if you don't ask, they'll follow the other protocol. 

This time I didn't have to feel sad about missing dessert but it was nice to see a truly local offering of pecan pie. 

As soon as I could wolf down that salad, I left Dad to finish his lunch and ran back to the cabin to grab my raincoat, travel purse, and thought ahead about finally using the drawstring backpack we normally take with us on all tours but hadn't yet this trip. I returned to the spot where we'd been dropped off waiting for a trolley to come along. After 15 minutes pass and no trolley shows (I had thought they'd continue stopping here while our ship was in port), I walked up a few blocks along the shops until I reached the "Bob's Your Uncle/Fannie's Your Aunt" duo of souvenir shops that I knew from the morning tour was the nearest regular stop to the ship. Thankfully I didn't have to wait too much longer before a trolley showed up. This area is known as stop 10 River Street on the trolley map's list and my initial goals for today was to check out The Lady and Sons restaurant (Mom's a fan of Paula Deen), possibly return to the Juliette Gordon Lowe house, and of course seek out another wooden magnet. I was also enjoying the taste of solo travel and wished I could just keep on exploring.

I rode on this trolley until stop 13 known as Ellis Square and it took walking a couple blocks in the direction our driver pointed out to reach the Lady and Sons Restaurant. I was tempted to go inside and order something just so I could say I ate there but I didn't want to take the time to wait and be served. I could tell the weather was not going to be on my side for much longer. 

With that stop checked off my list I managed to get myself a little turned around trying to walk back to where we'd been dropped off. On the map, it looks like the Juliette Gordon Low house is only a few blocks away from the restaurant but after a bit of walking, I gave up. Turns out I went .2 miles in the opposite direction. If I'd gone in the right direction, it would have been a .4 mile walk. You'd think I'd have just used Google Maps on my phone like I tried to in the other ports looking for a drugstore but that of course would have been too intelligent. In my wanderings I stumbled upon a small gift shop and settled on a regular magnet that I thought looked pretty. This magnet collecting hobby could end up putting a dent in my cruise budget. This single magnet cost $6.41 with tax. 

As I continued to walk, I came across the City Market area. Oh look, they heard I was coming to visit:

And spotting these gems for sale made me think of cruise vloggers, ParoDeeJay and Jay's love of crazy socks:

This is also where the Prohibition Museum is located. I didn't bother to go inside the museum but I checked out the neighboring gift shop.

The mannequin sitting inside this car looked so creepy I thought it was a real person at first.

The gift shop was full of fun treats and plenty of the wooden magnets for which I'd been searching. When I went to purchase one, I was redirected to the neighboring store via inside passageway of the Trolley Stop Gifts to make my purchase. As I finished my transaction, a couple other ladies who had been riding the trolley of their own booking approached the counter asking to show their ticket in exchange for free bottles of water. Hmm, would have been nice to know that was a perk from our driver! My proper wooden magnet showcasing the famous fountain from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil plus a carriage ride cost me $7.48 with tax.

As I continued my walk a block or two, I came across a location I'd remembered from the morning tour - a McDonalds with a true walk up "drive-thru" window. 

I went inside and it was packed so I used the touch screens to order a McCafe Fruit Punch Slushie for $3 after electing to round up my total with a Ronald McDonald House Charities donation. Little surprising that it still took 10 minutes to receive my order. I took it outside and sat on a bench outside Trolley Stop Gifts to wait on the next trolley. By now it had started drizzling off and on so I was glad for the cover of the awning. 

By now with the rain picking up and my energy fading, I was beginning to wonder if I had another wrong trolley stop spot since I'd been sitting there a long while and had seen a couple trolleys come close but keep on going past. I walked about 20 yards back to the information booth in the City Market (right by the car pictured above) and asked the nice lady there. She checked on her computer and was able to see that not only was I in the right spot for a stop but trolley # such and such would be arriving there in 10 minutes. I loved the efficiency of their system. I thanked her and returned to the bench where the trolley soon pulled up. 

This trolley ride (thankfully with the plastic curtains down already as by now I'd stuffed everything but my slushy inside the backpack to keep dry) driver was very gregarious and even let a few people on though they didn't have the ticket to show him. He didn't want them to stand out in the rain trying to find their ticket. I got off at the River Street stop once again and at this point needed some comfort snacks of my own. I popped into the actual Savannah's Candy Kitchen on this strip of shops and browsed the bulk bins to make my own candy mix of gummy treats. This bag at least lasted even after I returned home. :) I had a lovely chat with the employee who rang up my purchase about the places I'd visited today. She talked about how despite living in Savannah all her life, she'd never bothered to check out these places. I empathized with her as I often have the same sentiment about being so close to American history both in Baltimore and DC. The few times I've been anywhere here is because of school field trips but it still boggles the minds of some out of town friends who are shocked to hear that I've been to Washington, D.C. 

Now with the bag of candy added to my backpack contents, I flipped up my raincoat hood and started powerwalking the couple blocks worth of distance back to the ship. By now the rain was a soaking deluge and even my raincoat was little protection from the elements. Thankfully, the backpack worked out great and all of the contents inside stayed dry. Once back at the ship I was helped onto the now 2nd level gangway by the same deckhand I'd chatted with on the way out about getting my exploring done before the rain hits. He playfully teased me about "making it back before the rain." 

By now Dad had left for his afternoon tour (which was thankfully all indoors) so I went straight to the cabin to change clothes and dry out as my raincoat was completely soaked through. Once I felt human again, I headed down to the Chesapeake Lounge for a soda and ran into Kathy from the tender ride. After a nice chat with her, I headed back upstairs to the 3rd deck lounge to use the internet and wait for today's scheduled Pilot House tour at 5PM.

American Cruise Lines - Day 11 - Savannah, GA (Part 1)

Savannah was the first of our unique port visits in that we arrived here at 8PM the evening of November 11th and stayed in port through November 12th leaving at 7AM on November 13th. I've personally been to Savannah twice before. Once as part of a long family road trip where we continued on to Savannah after dropping my brother off in Huntsville for space camp. Being a family involved in scouting, Mom and I spent a good part of the day in Savannah exploring the former home of Girl Scout founder, Juliette Gordon Low. Fast forward to my teenage years and someone in the local scouting organization arranged large bus trips for individual troops and their chaperones to travel together to various points of interest. The first one we did took us through a stop at Gatlinburg, TN and Dollywood at Pigeon Forge, TN before visiting Savannah and Juliette Gordon Low's former home again. The other bus trip we were able to do as teenage scouts was to Niagara Falls with a stopover in Corning, NY and you may soon be seeing references to that destination on this blog. If you're a follower of mine over on Twitter, you already know what we booked for our next trip. And if you're not following me over there too, well you should be! I try and share there in real time while traveling and in the future hope to add some more interactive opportunities and giveaways.

A representative from the trolley company came to give us a rundown of how the tours would go. When he explained that a perk of taking the morning organized trolley tour would net you a sticker that you could use to ride the trolley the whole rest of the day, I decided to attend the morning tour after all. Dad elected to keep his morning free and attend the afternoon excursion to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum.

Here's today's rundown of the 3 ACL excursions:

Historic Savannah Trolley - $40 per person - wheelchair accessible, activity level of 2, cameras permitted, and restrooms available. The icon on our excursion explanation sheet says 1 1/2 hours but Ali noted a 3 hour span of 9AM to 12PM on today's schedule. The trolley has open windows and seats for 2 people each down each side. The windows have plastic that can be rolled down should the weather turn bad. The description reads: Visit Savannah's Historic and Victorian Districts including Factor's Walk, the Cotton Exchange, and the city's beautiful streets and green squares. Visit the historical Massie Heritage Center. Built in 1856, this Greek Revival home was the first public school.

Savannah Exploration - $20 per person - wheelchair and scooter accessible, 2 hours long, activity level of 2, cameras permitted and restrooms available. This was a 1.5 mile walking tour led by Rachel. Highlights include Colonial Park Cemetery, Savannah's Squares, and the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. This tour will be focused on viewing the local gardens and architecture, learning about the vast city history, and specific group interests. This tour ran from 9AM until 11AM.

Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum - $30 per person - wheelchair accessible, level 3 in activity, and restrooms available. This excursion started at 2PM so you could easily do one of the morning choices and this one. There is a 20 minute ride to the museum where guests will have two hours for self-guided tours. Guests will load the motorcoach at 4:30PM to return to the ship. This museum offers a range of exhibitions from the 1940s through today, focusing on the Eighth Air Force's impact on WWII.

But first, there's breakfast!

For comparison's sake - I was so early to the lounge to meet for the Historic Savannah Trolley Excursion, that I finally saw what was put out for the "Early Riser's Breakfast" offering:

A tried and true favorite - eggs over medium with sausage:

For the trolley tour, we were led outside a couple blocks up to a bridge overhang where the two trolleys sat waiting. Ali was there to check people off and help direct them to whatever trolley still had room. As you boarded your trolley, you were given a small postcard that was stamped with today's date on one side and featured a survey to mail back to the company on the other side. This was your main ticket they gave everyone no matter how they booked a trolley ride to show the driver on future rides. Those of us on the ship tour also got stickers to put on as another option to show the driver. We also got a map of the trolley route identical to the one the ship had out for anyone to pick up sitting just outside the dining salon by the stairs. The drivers also gave each person a little $3 off coupon to use if we chose to also visit the American Prohibition Museum as it is one of the stops on the trolley tour circuit. On the back of each coupon, they wrote their names so I guess they get credit if one of their coupons gets cashed in. Since this was a ship tour with the Massie school visit included, it was more of a narrated ride through town than a true hop on/hop off trolley. It was still a very informative and entertaining tour as we drove through the beautiful city and learned about geographic highlights and historical buildings.

In the above picture, the price for an adult ticket is $30 and $14 for a child's ticket. This would only be for the guided trolley transportation option. ACL charged $40 per person for this and included the Massie school visit. That's pretty comparable considering most of the big ship tours are highly marked up and you can often find better booking privately if you do your research. This trolley company was Old Town Trolley Tours which operates in several cities and offers a small discount if you book tickets with them directly.

Both trolleys arrived at the Massie school at roughly the same time but we had to circle around again for a bit because both could not be parked in front of the school at the same time.

Once we returned, they had started the first trolley group so they had moved on to another area by the time we entered. We were kept in a large room featuring a mockup of the city in the center. It was cool to see not only a dramatic retelling option to listen to on this mockup but also it would light up the area of the city as it talked about it. We also had a guide employed by the school who gave us a very lengthy explanation incorporating these features as she talked. While it stayed sunny all morning, it was also very humid so several of us were waning being stuck in this room together while she talked on and on. The few places to sit were essentially parts or corners of exhibits and several of the older crowd took seats as she continued to lecture.

If you spend any time in person with me, you'll find I have a sarcastic sense of humor, especially at this point when we all feel ready to drop. Our guide had been telling a story about a general meeting with an Indian chief and joked about it being like their first date. Later on she circled back to another meeting between the two and it leading to the marriage of the female from the tribe who had been helping the general. I quipped "Oh guess that was their second date" which got a few chuckles from nearby folks. A day or two later we joined a table for dinner and one of the ladies points at me, calls out "Their second date! You're the one who made that joke, that was funny!" By then I'd long since forgotten what preceded the joke but she couldn't remember either. Wish I could remember exactly what the guide had said which led to my punchline. Just glad the guide didn't hear me or I might have been sent to stand in the corner.

Rachel and Ali had both accompanied us on the tour so Rachel took the initiative to also point out the pictograph on the floor showing the city's arrangement of squares to designate the different areas of town.

A school tour group and the echo of their excited voices resonated throughout the entire area but the staff did their best to redirect the children to another part of the building while we finished down here. Once they were clear from their time upstairs, we were led to the school room setup upstairs where we met another guide. Thankfully, we were all able to find seats at the classroom desks to rest for the time being. 

Here we learned about the classroom layout with the teacher standing on a small platform at the front and the principal's office located just behind this stage so that the principal could watch over the students the entire time. 

We learned that the boys and girls were kept completely separate except for being in the same classroom itself. They had their own bathrooms, their own courtyards to line up in and play before and after school, as well as separate entrances they were to enter the classroom from before sitting on opposite sides of the classroom. Our new guide explained that this only became the case because in front of each connected desk was an inkwell. The boys sitting at the desks behind girls would take the girl's hair and dip it into their inkwells. 

One of the points I found interesting having worked in an elementary school myself is that even back then, the teachers tried to follow a protocol for avoiding the kids' germs. With the added issue of many families not having enough to even afford a pencil for their child to use at school, the teacher would designate one pencil for each child to use. The pencils were assigned slots in a wooden board with a handle. The teacher would hold onto only the handle as they walked around to each student for them to pick up just their pencil. The process would be repeated in reverse at the end of the day. This way the teacher never had to touch the student's used pencil and no other student touched it either. Our group was very surprised to learn that after all this effort, each classroom only had one water pail for everyone including the teacher to drink from during the day. I'm going to go out of my way to avoid touching what you touched with your hands but happily swap spit all day long.

The buckets used for drinking water are stacked under the chalkboard in this picture.

After a brief interlude of the school group having to weave through the classroom on their way to the next stop, we were able to head back downstairs for a restroom break. Once back on the trolleys we headed to see the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. We were allowed inside for around 15-20 minutes before the trolley would circle back and pick us up. 

A lot of our group was done quickly in the cathedral and gathered outside chatting. The other trolley arrived and several of us went to board it only to realize it was the wrong one. Even Ali was getting restless wondering why ours wasn't here too and asked the other driver to call ours. The other driver even came out a few times to ask the gathered crowd if anyone else was part of her group but no one budged. Finally, she walked up to an older couple and asked them outright if they were supposed to be on her trolley. Once she did that, they realized their mistake and followed her back to the trolley so she could now leave. Shortly after that, our trolley arrived and drove us back to the pick up point under the bridge. This spot was only for the private tour pickup and drop off and not part of the usual route.

On our walk back the couple blocks toward the ship, I took the time to browse the memorials set up by the waterfront.

American Cruise Lines - Day 10 - Hilton Head, S.C. (Part 3)

Caesar salad starts off tonight's dinner meal and the anchovies were back in full force. Again it was funny to see the different amounts of anchovies on other people's salads. Maybe there's my picture in the galley with a notation - "this gal seems fishy."

I also wanted to try the BBQ Braised Pork Belly with Caramelized Onions and Spring Greens. We've tried various versions of pork belly on other cruises and haven't really found one that was good. This one unfortunately followed suit.

One of the things I'm squeamish about is undercooked meat. Even mentally knowing it's supposed to look that red even though it's cooked doesn't help. More power to the people who order meat so rare it's still mooing but no thanks for me. When we both ordered the Prime Rib as our entrée tonight, we both asked for it to be cooked medium well. Dad's plate came out looking like it should for medium well. My plate however, looked like the "before" picture:

That's horseradish in the little cup but someone didn't believe me that it wasn't sour cream and doused his baked potato with it. A little disappointing in general that aside from the butter always on the table for the rolls, there was no sour cream or fixings for the baked potato. I'm guessing that shiny stuff on the brown outside strip of my meat was the artist formally known as Au Jus. 

And for all you Carnival chocolate melting cake lovers - here is ACL's version known as the Chocolate Bomb. It's hard to tell in this picture but the center is the consistency of chocolate syrup.

We decided to skip the scheduled entertainment of Jazz pianist David Duckworth and headed back to our cabin to relax. While Dad watched TV, I stepped out on our balcony to watch the sunset sail away from Hilton Head and our arrival into Savannah, Georgia a mere three hours later.

I'm not sure what this little boat was that seemed to be parting the sea for us to follow but the large line in the water it formed created such a beautiful color contrast between the water behind and in front as well as with the setting sun.

Welcome to Savannah!