My wife and I took our first trip in the van after thanksgiving. She had a rare three days in a row off so we decided to head somewhere warm. We quickly decided on Savannah. Initial plans were to drive her Subaru and stay in a hotel but a lot hotels were booked up and the ones that weren't wanted $200 + for two nights. Being a cheap *** I found a campground that had a primitive tent site open for $25 a night on Tybee island. We only have a small backpacking tent now so the van got to take its first trip.
The only preparations to the van I got to make before leaving were limo tint on the windows and a twin mattress from a close out store. I placed the ARB fridge behind my seat and most of the rest of the gear in the back where I tried to secure it with a ratchet strap. I didn't bring a lot of camping gear due because we planned to eat out most meals and the campground had showers. The jetboil for coffee, camp chairs, snacks, and the fridge full of beer, waters, and sandwich making stuff.
The drive down was pretty uneventful. Not much to see but was impressed with how the van drives. I was worried about the 5.4 but so far I am really happy with it. It doesn't shift down on every hill like my Tacoma does. I have an annoying wind noise coming from the front which I think is being caused by the windshield wipers.
We got to our campground at Rivers End Campground on Tybee by early afternoon. I set up the tent to make it look like we were staying in it. Unfortunately as it was a primitive site the parking space in front of it was not completely level, something I would pay for later in the evening. The staff were super friendly and the faculties were nice and clean. The trees throughout the campground were very nice and shady.
We walked the beach after that and my wife was amazed by the amount of shells. I think she could have spent the whole weekend looking through them.
We ate dinner at the Crab Shack on the island. It was great!
After dinner we retired early and were quickly to sleep. I had a little difficulty sleeping later on as we I had laid head down.
Saturday morning we were up early to see the sunrise over the beach and looking for more shells.
After shelling it was showers and onto Savannah for the day. Breakfast was a very unimpressive Sonic where they tried to convince me that my card had not worked at the self pay and that I needed to pay them again. Even after showing the lady the charge on my checking account on my phone she still insisted that it didn't go through. After a couple of minutes they said they finally saw it.
Bonadventure Cemetery was next. The cemetery was very impressive and we could have probably spent several more hours there if we didn't have other things to do. Some of the sculptures were amazing. So were the mosquitoes!
After the cemetery we went to the visitors center for passes where one of the workers was very impressed with my southern accent. She was extremely helpful and restaurant choices, what to see, and where to park. I had planned on buying a parking pass but she recommended parking on the streets since it was free on the weekends and we weren't staying in the city.
Parking was kinda annoying to find but we eventually found a place near Columbia square. We walked around most of the afternoon looking at the beautiful houses and squares. I was quite unimpressed in the lack of public restrooms. If it wasn't for my wife then the side of one of those fancy houses would have been peed on!
After the walk we headed to Service Brewery for there afternoon tour. Being prior military I had wanted to make sure I made it by hear. The place was just like any other craft brew tour I had been on but it was nice to know it was owned and ran by vets and that a portion of the proceeds go to many veteran organizations. The owner was a cool guy. We talked to him for 10-15 minutes about the whole place. They also had some very unique beers. A chili pepper stout who's name slips my mind and Lincoln's Gift which was another stout that oysters as one of its ingredients!
Dinner after that at Bernies Oyster Bar was my favorite part of the trip. They had a special for a bucket of you shuck them oysters and a pitcher of beer for $30. Never will find a deal like that around here. The wife did pretty good shucking the oysters and really enjoyed eating them after I told her she didn't just kill them (she googled it later and I was yelled at! Lol) After dinner we walked around for a it more and waited for a river boat Christmas light parade that never came. We were tired so we headed back to the van and went back to camp. I made a fire but fell asleep before the initial logs were even have burned. I slept much better sleeping with my head up hill.
The next morning we slept in late. We showered and packed everything up. It sure is nice to be able to pack up in 10 minutes. If it weren't for the tent I could have been done in 5!
We ate another unimpressive breakfast at the Sugar Shack on the island before heading over to Ft Pulaski. This fort was started before the Civil War but not finished before the war broke out. It was supposed to be impenetrable but new rifled cannon rounds used by the Yankees quickly bore through the wall and threatened that powder storage. The fort was surrendered quickly and never saw action again.
The fort was nicely restored and neat to look around. It is one of the few forts to have an actual moat around it. They had several trails around the area but once again the swamp mosquitoes were eating me up (but somehow the wife wasn't touched). We looked around for a couple of hours before heading back to Savannah to look for my wife's missing sandal. After being unable to locate it in the area of where we parked the previous day we drove to some plantation that was supposed to be scenic. The entrance had an annoying sign that said we must pay before entering OR taking pictures of the entrance! After being aggravated by this and the poor Google reviews we decided not to pay and just head back home.
The drive home was much longer with some traffic, naps in the back, and scenic detours. Nothing too fancy or worth reporting.
Overall very happy with the van. I am excited to get this Tacoma sold so I can focus all of my efforts and funds into making the van the way I want. Thanks for reading!
