Cottage at Fort McAllister

     When I started to plan this trip Rick and I thought we would be taking our camper.  We planned to meet Terry and Connie near Savannah so I looked online for a place where we could camp and they could stay in a cabin.  We have been to Georgia before and knew that the state parks are beautiful so I was looking at staying in a state park near Savannah.  I found that Fort McAllister State Park had "cottages" as well as campsites and looked at some photos.  WOW!  They were two bedroom cabins with a nice porch and a full kitchen.  It looked like a good place for all of us to stay and we would leave the RV at home.

     The park is situated about 25 miles from Savannah on a point of land extending into the Osssabaw Sound.  The northern side is along the Ogeechee River which flows into the Atlantic Ocean.  Our cottage looks out onto the salt march.  Archeological evidence shows that the area was inhabited by Native Americans as long as 3000 years ago.  More recently early settlers in Georgia lived here including Joseph McAllister.  At the outset of the Civil War, McAllister agreed to the construction of gun defenses on his land to guard the approach to Savannah.  Addtional fortification was built and the fort continued to guard the Ogeechee until General Sherman's 60,000 troops began to approach Savannah.   The restored fort opened in 1963 a hundred years after the major Union shelling.

     We had a leisurely morning at the motel in Macon and then had a beautiful three hour drive to the coast.  We checked in at the park headquarters and drove out to the cottage area.  Our two bedroom, two bath cabin is just beautiful!.   Each room has two queen beds with big windows looking out on the marsh.  A big screened porch is across the front of the cabin and each bedroom has a door to the porch so we can feel the breeze and smell the salt march.  Big french doors open from the porch into the big living room as well.  Outside we have a fire ring, barbecue grill, and a picnic table.  Inside we have a huge kitchen, table for 8, fireplace and big screen TV.  

     After days of driving through hectic traffic we spent the late afternoon in the rocking chairs on our porch, sipping some wine.  Glorious.  The day has been warm and breezy, but cooler weather is moving in and there will be rain tomorrow.  

Tonight we sleep under fluffy comforters, in a cozy cottage on the edge of the marsh