Just returned, from a great trip

My BFF and I flew into Jacksonville, FL, spent a night near The Landing, on the river, and joined a Gate One tour group of 22 fellow travelers and had a guided tour that included St Augustine, oldest settlement in the US, (very interesting) and spent the next day exploring Jeckyll Island, vacation home of the Rockefellers and 50 other WAY RICH, spoiled rotten vacationers who escaped the riff raff during the East Coast winter. Like all the other destinations, toured the grounds and homes with very informed local guides and sampled the local seafood.
Then it was on to Savannah, (home of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), which was our favorite, with a tram tour, sporadic torrential rains, and an amazing history that incl Civil War AND Revolutionary tales. Again, fantastic food, incl BBQ and shrimp.
On the way to Savannah was Beaufort, (over 20 movies filmed there, incl The Notebook and much of Forrest Gump), and a horse drawn carriage tour with a knowledgable local guide and views of the many mansions and huge old 'live oak' trees, hundreds of years old, covered with Spanish Moss.
Great art galleries and museums along the entire trip, as well as shops, brew pubs and amazing restaurants. Perfect weather with temps in the 70's every day, though we did have one rainy day, which I really enjoyed.
It's no wonder why Southerners are so fat. The food is good and portions YUUUUGE.
We finished in Charleston which also has a great history, incl Ft Sumter, where the Civil War began. All these cities are beside large (and many) rivers that add to their charm. Saw where Stephen Colbert grew up as well as where Bill Murray lives. and had another excellent local tour guide. Walked Meeting St and as well as King St and the Riverfront area and toured the Boone Hall Plantation that had an amazing history of the slaves, with lots of original building, cuz they made and exported bricks, (and built with them) as well as cotton, indigo and pecans.
Topped off the tour with a meal at world famous Hyman's Seafood Restaurant, winner, ten years in a row, of "Best Seafood' in the South. No doubt why.... Earlier had a great meal at Sticky Fingers, a local BBQ, where towels are used instead of napkins, for obvious reason.
All in all a great trip with an excellent tour director and OK fellow passengers. I have no idea how the tour company, Gate One, can offer SO much, (Guides, admissions, tour bus, excellent accommodations and many meals) for such a low price. It's why we will keep coming back to them.
Nice break, learned a lot and glad we did it.
BTW, this blog will be so nice to help recall 'memories', during my rocking chair years, that would have been lost forever. Which, along with exposing FOX-PARP as nothing more than the Propaganda Arm' of the Repub party, where the sheep KNOW they can get what they WANT to hear/believe.