Savannah and 6 Month Anniversary

I visited Savannah and northern Florida in my search for Big Foot this month. While I may not have captured my prey I am certain I am getting closer and closer. 

I took a walk down the streets of old Savannah and it is just as pretty as everyone says. Forsyth Park is lovely and was full of people enjoying the beautiful day. I kept a keen eye for Big Foot but I had no luck despite the pleasant temps and lovely space.

Forsyth Park. Quite lovely. I took a bunch of pictures but decided this is all you get to see. 

As part of my due diligence in the search for Bog Foot, I also checked out a few breweries. My first stop was Debellation Brewing. The beer flowed nicely as it was again a beautiful day and the the people were very friendly. I tried the new food truck which was run by several deaf chefs. The food was excellent and surprising nuanced for a food truck. I stayed around hoping to see Big Foot but there was no luck that day.

Debellation Brewing. Nice bartender and the owner was also super friendly and shared some private taps. Being nice pays off.

I tried the low country boil for dinner one night and it was fabulous. after dining, I walked past an Irish bar. Since it has been a while since I was in Ireland (5 months) I decided to stop in. I have been to many Americanized versions of Irish pubs but this one was the closet to an actual pub experience. I could swear I was at a place just like this in Dublin with M&J. The only misstep was that he served me the Guinness too soon as it was not done settling down. This of course is a major faux pas in Ireland but I will excuse the behavior this one time.

Relaxing with a pint. If you look closely you might see my reflection.

One final stop in Savannah was Two Tides Brewing. The beer was excellent and the bar was upstairs in an old renovated house. That means that there a bunch of rooms set up with couches or chairs and you could just hang out. I tried several of the rooms (but not the pinball room) along with several of their taps in the hope of running into Big Foot. After that was unsuccessful, I stepped through the open window on the balcony and enjoyed the sun. While Big Foot was not found there, it was a good stop and place to hang out and if I lived in the Savannah area it would likely be my second home.

Two Tides - Just a relaxing place to hang out

I was onto Florida next. I decided to avoid the popular areas and hung out in the pan handle in case Big Foot too thought the most scary creature was "Florida Man". I sampled the shrimp at Ouzts Too oyster bar. One may wonder why I didn't try the oyster since it is an oyster bar. The simple answer was that I felt like shrimp. The shrimp were local and well prepared with a nice blackened seasoning. There was a band outside but I chose to check out the decor inside and look for Big Foot there. I didn't see Big Foot but the giant "Busch" flag convinced me that Big Foot would never go there. Alas.

After checking out several other area establishments and enjoying some walks, it was time to move onto Alabama. 

I have now been a vagabond for six months. Ignoring the trip to Europe, I have towed a camper over 6400 miles and stayed in 16 states. For the purposes of this adventure, I am only counting states that I have spent a night in and not just drove through or stopped for gas. I have camped for 163 nights so far with an average camping cost of $30/day. I am on track to hit 19 states by the end of the year. This has been a pretty aggressive pace which I expect to slow down in the future. There are several reasons for this. Primarily I am so young and there is no deadline as of yet. Secondly slower travel is cheaper since nightly costs drop as does fuel consumption. So far in my life I have been to 47 states and have slept at least one night in 42 of them. By the end of this year, that will be 49 and 44 respectively. I have several alternative plans for next year, but I think a visit to New England is in order to follow the changing colors next fall. That will go a long way to cleaning up the states I have not slept in (c'mon, Delaware and Rhode Island?) and I will visit states I have not been to in a long time.  Those are some of the numbers, but I have a spreadsheet (naturally) with a pivot table and I can break out by amenities, type of site, state, etc, if one is interested.

I thought about posting some reminders about every place I have been and then I realized it has all been written down in this blog. Feel free to go back and read the ones you have missed. I am not certain how long the blog and specifically my search for Big Foot will continue but at least you can read where I am going for now. As a quick rundown of the adventure so far (only places slept count): Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota. South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

States camped in so far. I did stop in Tennessee but that doesn't count for this adventure.

It has been a glorious journey so far despite any momentary grousing I may espouse. I know how truly fortunate I have been to be able to take part in this adventure. I wish Amy was able to share in this with me but I know that she would love the vagabond way as much as I. We visited many states as a family and we never shied away from experiencing life. I encourage everyone to go on an adventure of your own. It doesn't need to be anything like mine, but rather it can be to a new restaurant or museum. I am so thankful this Thanksgiving that I have had six months of the road. I have no idea how long I will continue this journey or where I will land once I decide to have a home base. It frankly doesn't matter. What matters is enjoying this moment and this time and living my best life one day at a time. 

Remember not all those who wander are lost.

Thor

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