Saturday, May 28, 2016

TRAINS, CEMETERIES AND BBQ!!!



What a combination! We thought it was going to be an easy and short day but it turned out to be a long day. Even with all our stops it was still fun. Jett thought it to be a bit exhausting but only because she was not able to get a nap in. 



Since this is a holiday weekend Tim and I decided to make an early start of it. The other day we scouted the Georgia State Railroad Museum. Making sure dogs were indeed allowed and that parking was adequate. So today we made this our first stop. What an amazing place. Center of attention is the functioning 85 foot turntable. By turning, it allows locomotives access to any one of the stalls in the roundhouse. 



I'm not sure if any of my pictures convey the true size of this enormous complex. Surrounding the backside of the turntable is the roundhouse. Here in the roundhouse locomotives were inspected, maintained and housed. Through redesigns and expansions over the years it currently has 34 bays, each over 138 feet long. One of the fascinating elements I liked (other than the locomotives) was the wood block floor. It was used because it absorbed grease, oil and water and it protected tools and parts from damage if dropped. 




The complex is made up of many more buildings including a paint shop, carpenters shop, machine shop and blacksmith shop just to name a few. On the backside of the Storehouse is Savannah's Children's Museum. It looked to be pretty neat! We didn't go in but could see through one of the buildings. This building has a maze and fun play area for kids in the basement but there is no floors, windows or even a roof. Crazy concept that works! Jett did really good. We even got some training in on a metal staircase. Just guessing that because she could see through them she didn't want anything to do with them. Our second try with her about an hour later worked! 



With weather heading our way Tim and I (with Jett tagging along) decided it would be a good day to visit a cemetery. Not just any cemetery but the very famous Bonaventure Cemetery. They even have their own Historic Society and it's listed as a National Registry Historic Place. The first adult to be buried on the property was believed to have been in 1802. 



Laid to rest here are many Confederate Soldiers, a few Generals, Governors, Senators, Mayors, plantation owners, Bishops, and even the famous song writer Johnny Mercer plus many, many more people famous and not. The Bird Girl Statue from the cover of the book MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL was here. People kept stealing her so the family had her removed and she currently resides in the Telfair Museum in Savannah. 



Just as it began to sprinkle we were wrapping up our cemetery visit. Jett was exhausted and we needed food. Tim began a search for something on our return back to Skidaway. We both decided on just picking up BBQ from a place we passed yesterday in Sand Fly. When I ran in to grab to go menus, while Tim sat in the truck with Jett, I found out that they didn't have any (only a chalk board) they do allow dogs in the outside seating area and they serve beer out there as well. That's all we needed to make up our minds to stay and eat. We didn't pay much attention to all the awards and plaques on the wall but once you smell it you know your in the right place! It was the perfect ending to an interesting day. 



Tomorrow may turn into a down day depending on how much rain we get from Tropical Storm Bonnie. As of now looks like we are right on the edge of it. 




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