March 22-28, 2024
Friday, March 22, 2024
Our first stop after arriving in Savannah was the UGA Aquarium and Georgia Shellfish Research Lab & Marine Extension, located on Skidaway Island.
Home to Georgia’s first saltwater aquarium, the facility features 16 exhibit tanks that showcase a variety of Georgia’s marine life.
Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant provides integrated research, education and extension programs that foster the responsible use of Georgia’s coastal resources by individuals, decision-makers and management agencies. Georgia’s dynamic coastal environment and its communities are changing rapidly. Population increase, shifting demographics, coastal development and many more changes.
The UGA Shellfish Lab is home to the state’s first oyster hatchery, which launched in fall 2015. It is expected to produce between five and six million spat, or baby oysters, per year by 2018, which will be worth an estimated $1.6 million when harvested. The Shellfish Research Laboratory has seawater and tank systems to hold brood stock, four walk-in temperature-controlled rooms and illuminated temperature-controlled chambers for maintaining stock algal cultures and mass algal rearing systems. The UGA oyster hatchery will help establish an oyster aquaculture industry in Georgia, allowing harvesters to farm single oysters that can be sold on the half-shell, a lucrative market fueled by rising restaurant and consumer demand. Funded by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Management Program, the hatchery emerged from a collaborative effort between UGA Marine Extension specialists, resource managers with the DNR, the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the Georgia Shellfish Growers Association.
Dinner at The Pirates’ House, drive down River Street and past the Waving Girl Statue.
Back at the hotel to watch a little of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Saturday, March 23rd
Captain Derek’s Dolphin Adventure Tour. We cruised through Tybee Island’s waterways in search of the ever-prevalent bottle-nose dolphin playing in their natural habitat, bird life, estuaries and marshes they call home. Beautiful Tybee’s serene coastal waters.
Tybee Island is one of 14 barrier islands along the beautiful Georgia Coast. Historic Fort Pulaski, Cockspur Island Lighthouse, built in 1856, and Tybee Island Lighthouse.
Dolphins and jelly fish, pelicans and gulls.
A visit to Tybee Island’s South Beach, one of Tybee Island’s busiest spots.
Authentic Low Country lunch at The Crab Shack. From Chimney Creek Fishing Camp to The Crab Shack. The location was great, the sunsets were beautiful, and the weather was right. The Crab Shack was born.
Tybee Island Marine Science Center‘s mission is to shape responsible stewardship of Coastal Georgia’s natural resources through marine science-based education, conservation, and research.
Sunday, March 24th – Old Town Trolley Tour
Historic Savannah – Mansions, Churches, Parks, Homes
Georgia Queen – Riverboat Sunset Dinner Cruise, Savannah River and
A little Savannah Rooftop Night life.
Monday, March 25th
Left Savannah and drove by The Port of Savannah. This Port is home to the largest single-terminal container facility of its kind in North America, encompassing 1,345 acres. Moving millions of tons of containerized cargo annually, Savannah is also the third-busiest container gateway in the US. Deep water terminals in Savannah ensure the continuous flow of goods to and from global destinations.
We traveled through the Lowcountry South Carolina toward Charleston. The Lowcountry is a geographic and cultural region along south Carolina’s coast, including the Sea Islands. The region includes significant salt marshes and other coastal waterways, making it an important source of biodiversity in South Carolina.
In fact, a majority of the Lowcountry sits only 270 feet above sea level, while the rest of the state sits much higher at about 350 feet above sea level.
Among the many things that make the Lowcountry of South Carolina unique is its natural terrain. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Savannah River, the Lowcountry is characterized by salt marshes, winding waterways, and sandy beaches that exude natural beauty. Not to mention, the native live oak trees, Spanish moss, and palmetto trees that encompass the maritime forests are truly a sight to behold. These diverse habitats are what set the region apart from the rest of the state.
Lowcountry Oyster Company
Lowcountry Oyster Company uses sustainable cage farming techniques to grow oyster babies in their nursery and help them cultivate into adulthood. Seeing start to finish of what it looks like to grow and ship oysters from farm and factory right outside of Charleston, S.C.
Our farm tour gave us a look into the science and sustainability of an oyster’s life cycle!
Lowcountry Oysters’ Founder and Owner Trey McMillan is Vice President of the South Carolina Shellfish Growers Association and South Carolinas State Representative for the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association, but that’s only part of who he is. He is an avid deep-sea fisherman, a lover of The Voice, and, most importantly, one of South Carolinas best oyster farmers!
Trey is serving up some of Charleston, South Carolina’s best local oysters, hand-raised at his own farm in the shimmering waters of the ACE Basin, with a little help from Senior Project Manager, Dredge.
Lowcountry Oyster Company seeks to provide South Carolina with the freshest locally grown oysters year-round!
Oysters truly represent the place they come from.
When you take a bite of an oyster from South Carolinas ACE Basin, you are tasting the pristine waters it was raised in.
A little relaxation and beauty, at a Charleston park!
Tucked away off the beaten path from downtown Charleston, a stone’s throw from the beautiful Noisette Creek, sits Firefly Distillery. Many of the materials used to build the elegant, barn-inspired space were taken from Wadmalaw Island, with elements purchased from local craftsmen or refurbished from a rustic barn.
Home of the world’s first Sweet Tea Vodka. Firefly continues to make great spirits. From popular original vodkas to maritime influenced bourbon, and a lineup of 11 moonshine flavors, Firefly has grown to include more than 30 innovative spirits.
Tuesday, March 26th
Visit to Boone Hall Plantation. It remains a working farm today.
Boone Hall Plantation was founded in 1681 when Englishman Major John Boone came to Charleston and established a lucrative plantation and gracious home on the banks of Wampacheone Creek. The family and descendants of Major Boone were influential in the history of South Carolina, the colonies and the nation.
In 1743, the son of Major John Boone planted live oak trees, arranging them in two evenly spaced rows. This spectacular approach to his home symbolizes southern heritage and will take root in your memory for many years to come. It would take two centuries for the massive, moss-draped branches to meet overhead, forming today’s natural corridor.
Boone Hall Plantation has 738 acres of ground that makes up the working farm. Pecan Trees, Cotton, Indigo, Blueberries, Strawberries, Corn, Grapes and much more.
The history of the past is important. The difference is in how that history is presented. Boone Hall is the only plantation in the Charleston area to present a live presentation of The Gullah Culture adapted by African slaves.
True descendants of the Gullah people present the history of this culture through storytelling, song, and dance that is at times educational, at times entertaining, and at times very moving and emotional.
These Gullah ladies and men share uplifting spiritual messages of love and understanding of how through overcoming the hardships of the past have brought them to a better place today.
Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island near Charleston, to defend the region from a naval invasion. It was built after British forces captured and occupied Washington during the War of 1812 via a naval attack. The fort was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle of Fort Sumter occurred, sparking the American Civil War. It was severely damaged during the battle and left in ruins.
Although there were some efforts at reconstruction after the war, the fort as conceived was never completed. The brick fort is five-sided, 170 to 190 feet long, with walls five feet thick, standing 50 feet over the low tide mark. It was designed to house 650 men and 135 guns in three tiers of gun emplacements. Fort Sumter has been open to the public as part of the Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, operated by the National Park Service.
Wednesday, March 27th
The Charleston Tea Plantation is located on historic Wadmalaw Island in the heart of the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Wadmalaw is considered to be one of Charleston’s most unspoiled islands. It is approximately 10 miles long and 6 miles wide. The Island’s only connection to the mainland is a bridge that crosses over Church Creek.
Wadmalaw provides the perfect environment for propagating tea. With its sandy soils, sub-tropical climate and average rainfall of 52 inches per year, Wadmalaw possesses idyllic conditions for the Camellia Sinensis tea plant. This plant is currently used to produce both black and green teas and exists in over 320 varieties on the 127-acre grounds of the Charleston Tea Garden.
Nine very special flavors of tea, including our original American Classic Tea. This is the only brand of tea in the world that is made exclusively with 100% tea grown in America.
Today, the beautiful 127-acre Charleston Tea Garden has become the standard bearer for the long and illustrious American tea story.
Charleston Distilling Company is an independent, small batch distillery making handcrafted spirits for people who care about how things are made. Using only hand-selected grains, they mill, mash, ferment, distill, age, blend, and bottle – bringing the highest quality spirits from the farm to you.
Charleston Distilling Company’s process.
Milling Grain – Select the best South Carolina Grain that they can find and mill it on site. Mashing – The milled grain is added to water in tanks. One to liquify and the other for saccharification. Then crash cooled. Fermenting – The mash is added to the fermentation tank along with the yeast. The yeast converts the sugars into alcohol. Distilling – Inside the still, the mash is heated to the point where the alcohol turns to vapor. The vapor is carried through the columns to the condenser, where it is turned back into a liquid. Maturation – They mature the whiskeys and rum in non-temperature controlled rick house, in barrels that are able to breathe.
Old South Carriage Company – Charleston carriage tours are designed to give you insight into the history of our great City and to help you explore what makes Charleston unique through a mode of travel older than the city itself. The pace is perfect for going into just the right amount of detail!
Per the City of Charleston’s rules, each horse-drawn carriage tour begins with a quick stop at the check-in gate before departure. Here, the Tourism Officials will take a head count of passengers, note the carriage number and randomly assign one of four possible routes via a bingo-style lottery. The color of the ball that appears in the lottery machines display slot will determine the carriage tour route that your group will take. Each route is as good as the next, and the knowledgeable, entertaining guides will ensure you will have a fulfilling, memorable time on your carriage ride through Downtown.
Equine team members live at Sugah Cain – an idyllic 65-acre Johns Island farm of green pastures and beautiful moss-draped live oak trees. Even in high season, only about half the herd works on any particular day while the other half remains at pasture. Most of our 30 Belgian and Percheron draft horses come from Amish working farms, where they were bred and trained for heavy work. Still, they need their rest and of course fantastic care.
A large, well-ventilated stable downtown where the horses enjoy rest, shade, and water between tours. The stable features box stalls that enable the horses to lie down and rest at will. After every tour, horses have a break, and their overall health are evaluated.
Farewell Dinner at Hyman’s Seafood
