Dames Point Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge which crosses the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. The main span is 1,300 feet and it is 175 feet high. I discovered that it's design is a slight modification to the harp stay arrangement. It was really quite an impressive sight!

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Our home for the next few days is at Red Gate Farm which was bought by the Martin family in 1930. They bought 440 acres and established a dairy farm as well as cultivated land to raise silage for their 140 Jersey cows. Today the property is still in the Martin family and is a small RV Park with full amenities as well as chickens, fishing ponds...

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...antiques like these trunks scattered around on the property and...

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...this great old Singer treadle machine.

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The family has always been know for their gracious entertaining and today the Mackey House, a colonial mansion with spacious rooms and a magnificent wrap-around porch is a sought after venue for weddings, receptions and conventions.

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We chose this campground because we could get a shuttle from the park to historic downtown. We're so glad we did because it made it so easy for Al.

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The Sorel Weed house represents one of the finest examples of Greek Revival and Regency architecture. It is one of the largest houses in the city at 16,000 square feet and was first opened to the public in 1940 by the Society for the Preservation of Savannah Landmarks which later became the Historic Savannah Foundation, the organization was instrumental in saving many of the historic Savannah homes. The opening scene of Forrest Gump which begins with a feather floating through the sky was filmed from the rooftop of this home.

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This mansion shows an example of the ironwork, which equated with wealth in historic Savannah, that adorned the homes. Ironwork can be found on balconies, windows, fences and even rain downspouts.

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The Kehoe House is a good example of a Queen Anne brick mansion. The dark red brick mansion was built in 1893 to accommodate William Kehoe, his wife and ten children and features Corinthian columns, bay windows beneath a parapet, single, double and triple windows, a truncated turret and a variegated roof line. It is surrounded by balconies and porches and all theoutside trim, including around the windows, was cast iron. Not surprising, Kehoe was the owner of a successful iron foundry.

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The Savannah Cotton Exchange building was completed in 1887, during the era when Savannah ranked first as a cotton seaport on the Atlantic and second in the world. In its heyday as a cotton port, over two million bales a year moved through Savannah. The Cotton Exchange was the center of activity in the staple which dominated this city's economic life before its evolution into a leading industrial seaport.

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Forsyth Park is one of 22 historic squares in Savannah. It was created in the 1840's and contains walking paths, a cafe, a children's play area, a Fragrant Garden for the blind, tennis courts, basketball courts, areas for soccer and Frisbee, and is the home field for the Savannah Shamrocks Rugby Club. The fountain at the north end of the park was added in 1858 and is reminiscent of fountains in the Paris and Peru.

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Many of the mansions have beautiful formal gardens like this one that can be viewed through iron gates.

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The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is French Gothic style and was completed in 1899. The steeple height is 207 feet (214 feet if you count the crosses).

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The French Gothic interior of the church has ribbed ceilings and pointed arches, both characteristic of this type of architecture. The stations of the cross are wood carvings from Germany and all of the Carrara marble was carved in Italy.

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The Colonial Park Cemetery is the final resting place for many of Savannah's earliest citizens. Established about 1750, it was the original burial ground for the Christ Church Parish. Among those buried here are Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The cemetery was already closed to burials before the start of the Civil War and no Confederate soldiers are buried there.

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Fort Pulaski was built before the War of 1812 to protect Savannah. The confederates grabbed it weeks before seceding from the Union. It was surrendered after a 30 hour barrage by Union forces whose use of rifled cannons made such fortifications obsolete.

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An example of a rifled cannon.

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The lighthouse that stands on Cockspur Island was built in 1855 on an oyster bed foundation. This 46 foot tower has an eastern side that is shaped like the prow of a ship to help it withstand the battering it takes from the waters that surround it. During the Civil War when the Confederate forces fell to the Union, the Cockspur Lighthouse stood directly in the line of fire in the 30 hours of battle. Amazingly, the lighthouse suffered no damage. The lighthouse resumed operating in 1866 until 1949 when the Coast Guard abandoned it. The Park Service assumed control of the lighthouse in 1958. The tower was repaired in a two-stage restoration and the lighthouse was relit in 2007 using a solar powered beacon.

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There is always time for the beach!

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Ordered by General James Oglethorpe, Governor of the 13th colony, in 1732, the Tybee Lighthouse has been guiding mariners safe entrance into the Savannah River for over 270 years. The Tybee Island Light Station is one of America's most intact having all of its historic support buildings on its five-acre site. Rebuilt several times the current Colonial style light is 144 feet tall, has 178 stairs to a nine foot First Order Fresnel lens.

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