Thursday, January 28, 2010

Travel Tip Thursday: Oatland Island

With things being crazy these days in Pseudo Land, not much time to be out and about the island taking photos and creating travel posts...

Today's travel post is brought to you from the summer of 2007, when our family took a once in a lifetime trip to the East Coast to celebrate Daughter's graduation from high school.

We stayed three days in Savannah, Georgia. We wished we had booked our stay there longer as we fell in love with Savannah in that short time.

We drove from DC to Savannah in one day, a day which happened to also be Teen Boy's 15th birthday. He was not so thrilled with being couped in a car for nine hours on his birthday. Apparently his mother's road trip genes didn't get passed on. It did not help that I-95 was pretty much the same view the whole way down.

We arrived in Savannah a bit late and quite hungry. The front desk at the motel recommended Sticky Fingers Rib House which was not too far away and would be open at nearly 9 PM. Not only was the BBQ delicious for hungry road travelers and a Teen Boy's B-Day dinner, our waitress was the sweetest, friendliest young woman. A biology student at the local university, she told us all about a preserve out at Oatland Island.

Teen Boy decided that the next day he wanted to go there for his B-Day outing. Hubs and Daughter opted for a tour of Old Savannah, and Teen Boy and I headed out to Oatland Island.

So glad we did.

I freaked out when I looked over the three foot wall to see these alligator eggs hatching and expected a fierce mama alligator to come tearing up and ruin the birthday outing. But this was one display that was actually fake. Took us a minute of staring to realize these baby alligators didn't flinch.

This bird is real.



The marsh walks were very cool.





Deer...



There were dozens of baby turtles right below us at this pond.
We stayed for awhile watching for alligators on the perimeter, but saw none.
To Boy's disappointment and my relief.


The wolves were my favorite.



This possum was saved as a baby when its mother was hit by a car.
Teen Boy loved playing with it.



Today's travel tip? If you are ever in Savannah, head on out to Oatland Island. And when you get a friendly waitress? Ask her what is cool to do and take her advise.

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34 comments:

Brian Miller said...

nice. i love savannah. been there a few times. never played with a possum though. watching the alligators hatch, too cool. my boys would love it.

Mrsbear said...

We've only ever driven through Georgia to get to Tennessee, and it was so tedious for us to be on the highway as long as we were. It seemed to take forever to get across the state.

I'm sure if we'd stopped and seen some of the local sights it would've been a different story. Reminds me a lot of the Everglades down here in Florida. Love the possum shot, my kids would've loved it. We see a lot down here but never alive, they're always flattened in the middle of the road. :(

Rosaria Williams said...

Lovely places. I've been there and enjoyed the beautiful ante-bellum mansions too.

Angie Muresan said...

Love everything about Savannah! I think I can do without alligators and possums. There is something about them that just attracts the kids, isn't there?

Kristan said...

Dude! I wish we had known about the preserve when we went. Maybe then Andy wouldn't have gotten so grumpy... After 2 days of walking around artsy Savannah shops, he was ready to go home. :\

(We would have done the dolphin watching tours if it hadn't been December...)

Savannah was BEAUTIFUL though. I wish everywhere in the US was that beautiful. (Not necessarily in the same way -- I like diversity -- but there's a lot of plain/ugly out there, ya know? :P)

Jen said...

Those baby alligators do look real. They would have fooled me, too.

Amy said...

what a fun trip... I feel the same about the alligator. A possum is not my friend either.

Anonymous said...

It looks like you had a great time. Possum's ugghhh.......

tattytiara said...

I definitely wouldn't miss it. What a wonderland!

Joanna Jenkins said...

Alligator eggs hatching!!!! OMG, I'd have been out of their in a minute fearing the mothers would be there. yikes.

And the possum-- i always thought they were mean. your guy looks so sweet!

xo

Mango Girl said...

The beautiful south...

my fave is the picture of the 'possum with teen.

Sending love and light your way!

xo, Mango

cheatymoon said...

14 years ago, I drove through Savannah on my way from Charleston to SMB's part of Florida. I wished I had been able to stop in Savannah -I know i would have loved it. I am bummmed that I didn't travel much when I lived down that way.

Thinking of you and your move this week, Pseudo. xo

Sprite's Keeper said...

Savannah is about a 7 hour drive for us, but absolutely beautiful in the Fall and Spring.

Twenty Four At Heart said...

Um, I think I'd scream if I had an opossum on my shoulder. They give me the heebie jeebies!

sage said...

I've never spent any time in Savanah (I love Charleston--especially before Hugo). But I grew up in that kind of environment in eastern NC--looks like a nice park.

Beth said...

I wish I had known you then. It would have been great to meet in Savannah - and I do love Savannah! The Georgia coast has quite a few treasures.

Love the possum picture! That one made me laugh out loud.

Michele R said...

I was in Savannah this week for business (4 hours from Atlanta). It was beautiful. There was moss on the trees everywhere and on the ground too. I wanted to take some home but knew there are little critters in it so I didn't.

Heather said...

I was thinking..How cool is that to be there right at the time those baby alligators were being born. That bites that it was a fake! LOL!

Vodka Mom said...

every ONE of your posts is fascinating and wonderful.


And you know that? SO are you.

LucyCooper said...

The wolves are gorgeous. And I mean that as a hippie, not a Twilight fan.

My son would love this place!

AiringMyLaundry said...

Very cool.

I wouldn't mind checking out Savannah.

CiCi said...

Good travel tips. The photos are so good (even if the baby alligators aren't real). The possum on the shoulder is a great birthday picture for your son.

People Who Know Me Would Say: said...

Wow! You had me with the photo of the baby alligators! I'm kind of glad they weren't real!!!

Love the possum!

Mike said...

That walkway looks like my neck of the woods!

My Dad and stepmom love Savannah!

Mango Girl said...

Pseudo ~ I knew we shared a bond from reading your older posts.

Thank you for your inspiration!!!

xo, Mango

Melissa B. said...

Savannah is such a lovely, genteel place. Did you sit on Forrest Gump's bench?

The Saturday Sphinx

Liz Mays said...

I had to really look at those eggs because you're right. They looks incredibly real! I did a marsh walk in Florida a few years back and it was one of my fave parts of that trip! :)

Smart Mouth Broad said...

I love Savannah but I've never been there. Thanks for the tip. We'll have to put that on the list for our next visit.

Gal Friday said...

I will remember Oatland Island --thanks for the tip(enjoyed the tour and photos)! I have long dreamed of visiting Savannah(it's in my top ten places to go before I die)

Midlife Roadtripper said...

I have not been to Savannah. Exploring the south is something I hope to do in the next few years as I think that youngest son of mine is headed over that way for college.

Hope all is going well in the moving world. So glad it is not me, but oh how much lighter you'll feel when you settled.

K Dubs said...

ooooooooh so cool. looks like a great place, and I love the pictures. I think I would have been scared of real alligators too! And hey - anonymous left some great investment advice! Seriously. No stop. Stop laughing - I'm sure they're a real person. LOL

Lori said...

What a nice outing for you and your son. :) I read you last post and seen that you are moving...hope the packing and all that it entails go well. I was reading and as I scrolled down, what did my eye's see, but my picture! You are too sweet my friend. Thank you! I am thankful that I finally felt good enough to come visit you and others around this wonderful caring community. (((((Pseudo))))))) Thank you for blessing me today...more then you could possibly know. XX Lori

Casey said...

Those gator eggs were a little too real for my liking too. Sheesh. Teen boy looks so young in those pictures! Glad you had a nice trip this way, maybe you'll get back over again in the next ten years. We'll grab coffee. ;)

Lifeofkaylen said...

The marsh walk looks amazing.
A teenage boy having fun on a vacation with his family? amazing! :)