Hardeeville, SC / Savannah, GA

Beautiful downtown Savannah, GA

Riding the motorcycle together for the first time!

After the disappointment of Walterboro, SC, we decided to just keep going and headed to Hardeeville, SC. Hardeeville is a small quiet town that is only a 15 min drive north of Savannah. We stayed at the Hardeeville RV Park and it was great! It was a pretty large park. The dogs definitely enjoyed their walk three times a day there. After a couple of days of setting up camp and tackling our laundry, we finally got the chance to go to Savannah. It was the first time we rode on the motorcycle TOGETHER! The drive from Hardeeville into Savannah is very easy... until you have to cross the bridge. Our motorcycle is a Suzuki GZ 250. It's not a very heavy bike, so the wind was a huge concern. We made it there and back in one piece, but I don't think we'll be riding the motorcycle over any more bridges any time soon. The first place we checked out was the Pirate's House and the Herb House. I thought they were two different places, but they are actually connected. The Old Pirates House is associated with Savannah's maritime history and Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island". It 

The Old Pirate's House

The stairs leading to the basement. See any ghosts?

was built in 1754.  I read dozens of articles about the place before we went. This one gave me the most chills. was Check it out here! The Pirates House is definitely haunted. They've had employees quit because of paranormal activity in the restaurant. There's a staircase that leads to a basement. Above you can read the following sign, "According to legend, This stairway at one time led to the entrance of a tunnel which ran from the old rum cellar beneath the Pirates' House to the bank of the Savannah River...a short block away. 'Tis said that many able-bodied men, drinking in carefree abandon in what is now our Captain's Room, were carried, drugged and unconscious, thru the tunnel to sailing ships anchored in the harbor and were shanghaied by shorthanded ships' masters to complete their crews." I took as many pictures as I could with there being a gate blocking most of my view. There's another entrance to the tunnel that is just an opening that drops down into the basement. Even though a sign next to this "hole" says not to throw anything into it because it upsets the ghosts, you can see in the pictures many people have disregarded this rule. There's an old wine bottle and tons of change. As I leaned over the railing to get a better look, fear just washed 

Another shot of the basement.

over me and it wasn't just because I was leaning over a railing! Something just bothered me and I instantly got goosebumps on my arms. Maybe it was just the cold air from the basement drafting upwards, but either way, I snapped my pictures and continued to explore the "house." Connected to the Pirate's House is the Herb House. Built in 1734 (20 years before the Pirate's House), it housed the gardener of the trustee's garden and is the oldest house in Georgia. There is a staircase that leads to an upstairs. Another blog posted a couple of years ago said that they used to give tours that included the upstairs of the Herb House that was used for storage. 

The basement again.

Employees have witnessed items flying off the shelves at them. When we visited, the entire upstairs had been blocked off, boarded up. I guess the ghosts have taken over that part of the house now, but diners can still hear footsteps upstairs while they enjoy their meal. I was still scared, so I only took one picture but it is CREEPY! Josh and I both see a face at the top of the stairs on the boards that are covering up (or keeping in) whatever is up there. You'll have to see it for yourself I guess. Let us know what you think! The food there was awesome. I had some crab cake sandwiches and Josh had an amazing burger. The staff was friendly and there was even a

Do you see anything on the boards blocking off the upstairs?

Please do not throw anything into the hole. It upsets the ghosts!

lady dressed as a pirate going around entertaining guests with her pirate accent. After dinner, we decided to explore every inch of the restaurant and the Herb House. They had at least 6 private dining areas. One of them was called the Captain's Room. It is said that Captain Flint died there. While we were exploring we went down a hallway that led to a smaller dining area in the back of the building. I was trying to hurry through everything because I felt really uneasy about wandering around a haunted restaurant. Josh was walking behind me. I was already in the dining room when Josh asked me the dreaded question, "Did you hear that?" The floors in the hallway were creaky hardwood. He said that as he was following me, he heard someone walking behind him. He turned around to see who it was (the bathroom was around the corner so maybe it was someone just going to relieve themselves) but there was no one there. I was already in the carpeted dining room. He said even after he stopped moving, the slow footsteps continued up the hallway from behind him. After that I was definitely finished with our visit there. We went outside to snap some more pictures and then headed home over the scary, windy bridge. We had a nice quiet

The hallway where Josh heard footsteps.

Christmas together. We both gave ourselves a spending limit and headed to the local stores. We had a wonderful, quiet holiday together, and enjoyed watching "The Sopranos". After some cold weather passed, we were ready to hit the town of Savannah again! We drove the RV this time instead of taking our motorcycle. We found cheap parking at the civic center, and took off on foot from there. We walked through all of their historical squares and passed other tourists who were just as interested as we were in Savannah. We walked with our guitars from the Civic Center down to the river front. Savannah was filled with beautiful little squares dedicated to historical figures or moments. We enjoyed

Historical Stairs - Use at your own risk!

hearing other street musicians and eaves dropping on tour guides as they passed. Josh bought me a heart made out of palm leaves from a blues singing man in one of the squares. We made it to the river front and realized we had to take a flight of precariously steep stairs. After surviving that we were finally able to take in the full beauty of the Savannah river. We took the cobble stone path and visited their World War I memorial. Then we walked to Kevin Barry's Irish Pub. They had a ton of Irish history in there! We made our way upstairs and ordered their shepherd's pie. Josh and I had never had shepherd's pie before but my Uncle Charlie 

highly recommended it. It was so delicious! It's definitely one of our favorites now! As we sat there enjoying our meal, we got to watch the shipping barges come down the river and under the bridge. People watching was also a fun thing to do. We had to have seen about 5 cars go into the same parking lot trying to park in a spot that looked empty, but wasn't a parking spot at all. After we had our quick meal we walked back the way we came, and I finally had the courage to sit down with Josh and play guitar and sing in

The view from Kevin Barry's Irish Pub

public. I have played and sang at some open mic nights, but I have never sat on a bench and played for the open public passing by on the sidewalk. I was extremely nervous at first. We had already passed by other guitar players and a violinist. I didn't recognize the songs other guitarists were playing and no one was singing. In case you haven't seen my YouTube videos, I sing quite loud. I was nervous to draw so much attention to myself, and I felt like I was imposing on everyone's visit to Savannah. Josh

The original Dr. Who phone booth!

always seems to know exactly what to say though to wash my silly fears away. It also helped to have him play guitar with me. I sang about five songs I knew. I was surprised to see that even though I could hear my voice carry and echo throughout the square, people only offered a few simple glances (some smiles), but then they were on their way. It took me two songs to finally loosen up and realize I wasn't imposing on anyone's visit! All I could do was enjoy doing the thing I love most in such beautiful surroundings. While I was singing Thinking of You by Katy Perry, a very sweet high school student walked up to us and put a dollar in my guitar case! I was blown away. She told me I had a pretty voice and encouraged me to keep playing and singing. Then she walked back over to her parents. I was so proud! I had never been paid for my talents before. It was so inspiring for me, because I was once that teenage girl giving money to street musicians. I also noticed a mother and daughter sitting across the square dancing and singing along to some of my songs. When it started to get dark, we decided to head back to our RV that was parked at the Civic Center. We really enjoyed our time in Savannah and in Hardeeville, but we got

I know there's a pole there but the cop/taxi car is real.

an RV for a reason! Next stop - St. Augustine, Florida!