Second Day in Savannah

On Thursday after more than a full night’s sleep I felt really good. I had a big breakfast in the Mulberry’s restaurant. The restaurant resembled a tropical atrium and looked out on a courtyard with a fountain and many flowers. It was a very attractive setting. After breakfast I started out on foot again.

I went down to River Street again and took more pictures. Then I left River Street via the Hyatt elevator. I started following the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil walking tour that was in my Frommer’s Portable Savannah. I took many pictures. I saw the Mercer-Williams House (pictured above), Alex Raskins Antiques and the Congregation Micke Israel to name a few. The next day I found Clary’s Café which the greasy spoon where the reporter in the moview kept eating.

Finally I found my way back to City Market and ate lunch at the Café at City Market. They had delicious black bean soup. The sky was turning very dark about the time I decided to eat lunch. While I was eating the sky opened up. It was what the locals here in Southeast Texas call a gulley washer or a frog strangler. I carry a two-gallon Ziploc freezer bag with me to protect my camera in case of rain. I sealed the camera in the bag. I had a lightweight nylon jacket with a hood and a small umbrella so I was fairly well prepared to tackle the rain. However, I had on my new sandals which are made of nubuck. I was concerned about how they would stand up to a soaking.

Before I left the hotel I had picked up a schedule and route map for the free CAT shuttle. I found that there was an old Chatham County Courthouse with a CAT shuttle stop in front of it. It was the second closest stop to the Café at City Market. I had failed to find a WiFi hotspot at the new courthouse so I thought maybe I would have better luck at the old courthouse. I made a quick walk to the courthouse. This one just had one security guard. I explained to him what I was looking for and told him I could quickly check for the network and asked if there was a place where I could sit down. He led me to the stairwell where there was a chair and left me. I scanned for a WiFi network and found none.

Then I went outside to the CAT Shuttle stop. According to the schedule the bus was due in approximately three minutes. A couple walked up and asked me if this was the free shuttle stop. I said yes. We waited in a doorway. The rain was pouring. Ten minutes later I spotted the bus a block away. I went out to the curb directly in front of the shuttle stop sign. The shuttle approached. I waved my arms. The rain was pouring down. My sandals were soaked. The shuttle sped by and did not stop. According to the schedule it would be 20 more minutes for the next shuttle. The couple who were also waiting with me were truly out of it--they just had dumb looks on their faces. Thinking back on the incident I think I was struck with a moment of insanity, but I took off running after the shuttle. At the next block it was stopped at a traffic light. I caught it. (Pretty good for a 64 year old woman with a bad knee).

I doubled up my fist and beat on the door. The driver let me in. I started asking him why he had passed me by. He started making lame excuses saying I had to be at a designated stop, etc. I had definitely complied with all the requirements. I sat down and pulled out my little notebook and pen and wrote the bus number down. I heard this voice saying “You’re mean, you’re mean.” I looked around and saw it was a woman a row back. I said, “Are you talking to me?” She went on to say the driver had been so nice and now I was going to report him and get him in trouble. I told her what was mean was to strand passengers in the rain. I looked up and realized we were close to the Mulberry Inn. The bus driver had bypassed half of his route. I told him he better not pass by the Mulberry Inn without stopping. I got off the bus.

I went up to the room and made a call on my SprintPCS cell phone to the bus company. All over the historic district I was only getting one bar of signal strength. I got through to the information line. The woman gave me another number to call for the complaint. I called this number and was put on hold while waiting for a supervisor. The cell phone dropped the call. I tried again. I spent several minutes on hold and finally gave up. The adrenalin had subsided and my fight was gone.

I put my poor sandals on a plastic bag on top of one of the beds where there was a strong air flow from the air conditioner and hoped for the best. I put on dry clothes and took off again on another walking tour. I went in a couple of hotels and scanned for WiFi networks. I found one. I was able to pull up websites on the Clie’s browser but it would not let me transfer my email to my Roadrunner server. I went back out in the rain and took a picture of the John Wesley statue in Reynolds Square with the Clie's camera. Then it was back to the Mulberry. The concierge was free so I asked her what was the best way to get to the Amtrak station at 6 AM on Saturday morning. She recommended Scott’s Cab and called and set it up for me. I also asked who I should talk to about connecting to a wireless network at the Mulberry. I had scanned several times in my room. The Clie connected to a network named “Mulberry” but I couldn’t get any farther. She told me to see Maury, one of the front desk’s clerks.

I went up to Maury and asked him if he was the computer expert. He asked me what I needed. I explained the problem. He came out from behind the desk and led me back to directly in front of the concierge’s desk. He said the wireless network worked best in that spot. I connected to the Mulberry network. He assured me it was free of charge. I loaded the browser and logged in. Then I loaded the email program and sent some of my emails including the picture of John Wesley’s statue in Reynolds Square. It worked perfectly. Maury thought my little Clie was very clever. The picture did arrive at Smugmug and so did emails to my friends. The email to this blog did not post. I do not know why. I had sent a test posting via email from the Clie before I left home, and it had worked. The Mulberry provided two computers with internet access located in the lobby for guests to use. I was able to check out the results of my Clie’s emails right away.

I then settled into my room for the rest of the evening and night.