Georgia’s Grand Lady, Historic Savannah

Above: Jack Leigh’s 1993 image titled “Midnight.”

If Charleston is a Southern Belle than Savannah is the South’s Grande Dame. The city is built close upon the deltas of the Wilmington and Savannah Rivers at the confluence of the Savannah River and Little Back River. Traditionally, the culture of Savannah is rooted in the coastal “low country” just like its’ sister city of Charleston a hundred miles to the north.

Savannah Map from 1818

The city of Savannah, Georgia was laid out by James Oglethorpe in 1733 around four open squares. Each square was surrounded by four residential (“tything”) blocks and four civic (“trust”) blocks. Once the four wards were developed in the mid-1730s, two additional wards were laid out and the city grew out from this plan. Almost three hundred years later it is those squares that make Savannah so unique and attractive. Read more HERE about the squares.

East River Street

James Oglethorpe was a British soldier, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist, as well as the founder of the colony of Georgia. As a social reformer, he hoped to resettle Britain’s poor in the New World. Savannah was the beginning of his Georgia colony. The charter allocated each family a city plot to build a house on along with a larger garden plot outside the settlement proper and an additional large farm plot farther out into the countryside. The inner city design was originally intended to allow for defense from the Spanish to the south and the native tribes around the area.

The SCAD Theatre

Today it doesn’t matter if the plan was a result of genius or luck or centuries of dedication, Savannah is one of the world’s most beautiful, walkable and livable cities. It is home to SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) which is a dominant force in the culture of the city. Be sure to make time to visit their gallery and museum and ShopSCAD .

Savannah is also one of America’s most historic cities having played major roles in the colonization of America, the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. It is also known for food, ghosts (there are dozens of haunting legends as well as tours) and a vibrant lifestyle. When people think of this city they usually think of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, the birdgirl statue, cemeteries and grand steepled churches.

The Fountain in Forsythe Park

The last time we visited Savannah was a year ago in August, during the heat of summer. We came back in November and the weather and temperatures were glorious. We spent most of our time touring on foot, taking time for frequent stops to shop and snack. While walking along the river late one afternoon we decided, for old times sake, to stop into The Charte House for happy hour. In addition to good happy hour drink prices and snacks we were pleasantly surprised with an order of fried green tomatoes, some of the best we have ever had.

Crystal Beer Parlor

While strolling around the outskirts of the historic district we stopped for lunch at Crystal Beer Parlor, a local treasure on West Jones Street. Located in a former grocery store the “Crystal” is Savannah’s oldest restaurant, dating back to 1933. Its’ menu features solid American fare and an extensive beer list including a nice selection of local brews.

On a previous visit to Savannah we took a walking “Famous & Secret East Side Food Tour” which was the most fun we’d had for lunch in a long time. We started at Smith Brothers Butcher Shop  and visited a half dozen spots for everything from tea and sweets to gyros. One of the stops was at Angel’s Barbeque, which had garnered a reputation for some of the best barbecue and homemade sauces in Savannah. We enjoyed delicious pulled pork sandwiches. I’m glad we stopped at that time as the owners, Andrew and Alieen Trice, have now sold the building and retired. To some this amounts to a tragedy.

Market Square

If you are spending a day doing a walking tour of the city, a popular lunch idea is to stop by Smith Brothers Butcher Shop and order a sandwich to-go or pick up some items for a picnic in one of Savannah’s many squares.

For an introduction to the flavors of the city one should consider a number of dishes that the city is known for like low country boil, Shrimp and grits, Crab Savannah, oyster roast, crab cakes, beans n rice or red beans, fried green tomatoes and for dessert look for Georgia Peach Pie or cobbler, pecan pie and pralines or gophers.

Some must have treats in this historic city are legendary Leopold’s Ice Cream , Savannah’s Candy Kitchen for pralines or gophers, Southbound Brewing Company  for a tour and samples and one of Savannah’s popular and eclectic coffee shops.

The Historic Port of Call Dubrovnik, Croatia

Immerse Yourself In The World Of Game Of Thrones

The location of a number of Game Of Thrones episodes, this ancient city invites strolling through and exploring. One of the most popular ports on The Adriatic.

What to expect in this port at a glance.

The Old City of Dubrovnik is where much of Game of Thrones was filmed and the town has used this to greatly add to the appeal of this already popular tourist destination. A short walk thru this town quickly shows why it was selected as a backdrop for this popular series. Scenes from the show take in the Pile and Ploče gates, St. Dominika street, the high city walls along with the Bokar fortress and the Minčeta tower.

Dubrovnik is a beautiful city located on the Adriatic coast of Croatia, known for its stunning architecture, rich history, and breathtaking scenery.

The sea and surrounding hills are ruggedly beautiful and the Old Cities massive defensive walls and towers add a feeling of being transported back in time centuries.

Old Town: Dubrovnik’s Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is known for its well-preserved Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture. You can explore the narrow streets, enjoy the stunning views from the city walls, and visit the many museums and churches

Where Your Ship Docks

Currently there are docking facilities a short distance down the coast from the old city but there is no terminal or public facilities. Shuttle service into the historic city is usually provided at a nominal fee.

Transportation

The main attraction for day visitors is the old city and there is enough to do and see to last a couple of days. Should you want to go exploring there is a good bus system in Dubrovnik and inexpensive fares can be purchased from the drivers. You will need to exchange some currency beforehand as they only accept cash. Taxis are available at Taxi Stands and are reasonably priced.

Currency – The official currency is the Croatian Kuna (HRK or K) with an exchange rate of about 1 HRK = US$0.15. Credit cards a readily accepted and there are also ATM machines which disburse HRK.

Recent History and Attractions

In the early 1990’s, after the break-up of Yugoslavia, a civil war broke out in the region mostly along ethnic and religious divides and Dubrovnik was attacked and besieged by Serbian and Montenegrin soldiers of the Yugoslav People’s Army for seven months and suffered from repeated artillery shelling along with constant sniper fire. After the new peace and the restoration work in the early 2000s, Dubrovnik has become one of the top tourist destinations in the Adriatic Sea.

The Old Town of Dubrovnik was founded in the 7th Century by refugees from Epidaurus in Greece and is a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its historic importance. As soon as you cross over the drawbridge and enter the Pile Gate you will find yourself entering an ancient city that is brimming with amazing architecture and surrounded by the Adriatic on one side and the interior city walls on the other.

Visitors can take a walk along the city walls that surrounds the Old City. The old city is so large that the walk takes a couple of hours with breathtaking views of the Adriatic Coast as well as beautiful vantage points down on the old city. The walls stretch over 6365 feet and consist of the main wall, sixteen towers, three forts, six bastions, two corner forts (cantonatas), three pre-walls with several turrets, three moats, two barbicans, two drawbridges and one breakwater.

Dubrovnik city walls are opened all year-round. The busiest period of year is the peak summer months and busiest time of day is from 11am till 3pm. A general admission tickets cost about US$10.00 and you can buy e-tickets ahead of time.

Lovrijenac Fortress is one of the sights that can be seen from the wall, it is an impressive structure built on an outcropping rock. It is located just outside the Western wall of the Old Town and is often featured in Game of Thrones. Fort Lovrijenac or St. Lawrence Fortress, often called “Dubrovnik’s Gibraltar”, is a fortress and theater outside the western wall of the city of Dubrovnik, 121 feet above sea level. Famous for its plays and importance in resisting Venetian rule, it overshadows the two entrances to the city, from the sea and by land. There is an admission to Fort Lovrijenac and it can be crowded at times, so we recommend booking a tour or buying e-tickets ahead of time.

While the Game Of Thrones is fiction there is a remarkable amount of real history within the city walls.

Important Sights

Dubrovnik Cable Car: The cable car takes you to the top of Mount Srd, where you can enjoy panoramic views of Dubrovnik and the surrounding islands.

Lokrum Island: This beautiful island is just a short boat ride away from Dubrovnik’s Old Town. It’s a nature reserve with plenty of hiking trails, a botanical garden, and a beautiful beach.

Rector’s Palace: This Gothic-Renaissance palace was once the seat of power in Dubrovnik. Today, it houses a museum with exhibits on the city’s history and culture.

Stradun: This is Dubrovnik’s main street, lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants. It’s a great place to people-watch and soak up the city’s atmosphere.

Dubrovnik Cathedral: This Baroque cathedral was built in the 18th century and is dedicated to Saint Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik.

History and the Republic of Ragusa

After the fall of the old Gothic Kingdom, the city was incorporated into the Byzantine Roman Empire. Because of that even in the medieval period, Dubrovnik still had a large Roman population. After the Crusades, Dubrovnik came under the control of Venice, along with the remaining Dalmatian cities. After the Peace Treaty of Zadar in 1358, Dubrovnik achieved relative independence as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Hungary.

Between the 14th century and 1808, Dubrovnik ruled itself as a free state, although it paid an annual tribute to the Ottoman sultan. The Republic reached its peak in the 15th and 16th centuries, when it rivaled the Republic of Venice and other independent maritime republics.

In The Crafts Mart

Casual Fashions For Cruisers from the Intentional Travelers & The Crafts Mart

Bon Voyage

The Intentional Travelers have partnered with The Crafts Mart to offer some of our casual cruising fashions. Bon Voyage

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport To Your Cruise Ship

Taking The Train From Schiphol Airport Into Amsterdam’s Centraal Station

Getting from Schiphol into central Amsterdam there are several options available such as taking a train, bus, taxi or private transfer. The most convenient and cost-effective option is to take the train, which departs from the airport every 10-15 minutes and takes around 15-20 minutes to reach Amsterdam Centraal Station.

From Amsterdam Centraal Station there are a number of additional options available to get you around the city. Trams, buses, ferries and the Metro (subway) marked with an M.

Taxi fares range from €40 to €60, and the trip will takes around 20-30 minutes. Train tickets start at less than €8 per person.

Taking the train from Schiphol Airport is actually the fastest way to get into downtown Amsterdam. Directions to the Schiphol train station are clearly marked in the airport terminal and there are ticket vending machines which take most credit cards as well as ticket windows. In our experience most ticket agents speak English.

You can purchase tickets at the ticket machines located in Schiphol Airport Plaza or at the manned ticket counter. Additionally, you can also purchase tickets online or through the NS app (more information HERE). It is important to note that you need a valid ticket before boarding the train, as there are often ticket checks on board.

  • 15 – 20 minute trip with trains every 10 to 15 minutes
  • 2nd Class Full Fare: US$7–10
  • 1st Class Full Fare: US$11–17

From Centraal Station it is relatively easy to buy tickets and switch to the Amsterdam subway or the city’s trams. The entrances to the subway are right outside the station. Descend the stairs marked with the M for metro. The tram stops are across the circle going away from the station. The cost of a single tram or subway ride in Amsterdam in 2023 is €3.20. However, if you plan on making use of public transportation while visiting it is more cost-effective to purchase a ticket or pass that offers unlimited travel for a day or more.

Single-day or multi-day tickets are available for the system in Amsterdam with these tickets offering unlimited use of the Metro (subway), GVB bus system, trams, as well as ferries for the entire period of validity (1 – 7 days). These tickets are rather inexpensive for a European metropolitan city. For 2023 fares range between €5.85 and €9 a day, depending on period of validity. Tickets can be purchased in vending machines or in most tour offices. There’s more information HERE.

Currently if you are taking a cruise the piers are only a 5 or 6 block easy walk from the station. Exit the front of the station, turn left and follow the water. If you are staying in a hotel we suggest you contact the hotel by email and ask for instructions on using public transportation and the nearest Metro stop.

On Blogging Part 7 – Clickbait

Why Use Clickbait

Back when I was in the corporate world there was an expression that carried a lot of weight:

“Nothing happens until someone sells something”.

The best organization and the best products aren’t going anywhere until you actually get an order and you can’t get an order until you get someones attention. The same applies to the internet. The best web design and the greatest content doesn’t mean anything unless you get those clicks…

The process of trying to improve traffic for your web site is referred to as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and you’re usually offered advice from a number of sources about how to take advantage of it. Things like optimizing titles, using descriptive paragraphs, alternate text and graphic descriptions, but mostly this doesn’t really get the job done. Maybe there was a time when this advice was useful but with web sites growing exponentially now and everyone usually following the same advice – well it’s really unlikely that the usual SEO will get you to stand out from billions of web sites. And that’s the job that needs to get done.

A word of caution is necessary though. While using the usual SEO methods will probably not go very far in getting your site moved up in searches, but not using SEO can result in you being seriously ignored. It would seem that using standard SEO methods today will not help much in getting your web site moved up in search results, but not using them will result in getting you moved down. So keep looking for and using key words, employing alternative text, adding image descriptions* and selecting heading copy carefully. You also need to do more.

The Target Audience For Clickbait

Who should the primary target for click bait be? Oddly enough, the short answer is search engines with people being a distant second. Experience will quickly demonstrate that the fastest way to gain clicks is to simply get the search engines attention. Once you have its attention it will usually work to move your web site up for many different search requests.

The best way to explain this is to think about your site if you take a break from posting. In most cases you would have had a base number of visits as you post regularly. Take a number of weeks off and what happens to your visits? Usually they drift down going faster over time. Some of that may be a result of not reaching out to subscribers or no longer auto-posting on social media, but way more than half of that drop is usually referrals from search engines. The data is easy to confirm by looking back at your referrals data.

It’s easy to see the process. Stop posting for a time and watch the traffic. We all have a number of postings that consistently draw traffic and usually they continue to draw traffic when you pause postings, but the overall traffic drops. Start up posting again and quickly you’ll see a jump, but you’ll probably also discover something odd. You’ll probably notice that the search engine response to a new post isn’t really related to that new post? Usually it’s your overall referrals from search engines that jump along with the new posting, but the traffic is not directly related to that specific new post.

So what does that indicate? It seems that the search engines are more attracted to sites when they post often without much interest in what they post. We probably all knew this but we never understood how important constant posting is. The truth is that posting a simple one line quote of the day, every day is far more attractive to the search engine than an in-depth, thousand word essay once every week or two and it’s a lot less trouble.

The Other Target Audience

That other audience is people and the motivation is a bit more complex. Today there is a lot of talk about AI and what we can do with it, but the reaction of search engines to posts will demonstrate that intelligence actually isn’t involved. Click bait for search engines isn’t much more sophisticated than that of getting your dogs attention by throwing a ball. People are a whole different issue and to get their attention you have to use language and ideas to hook them.

Human click bait is everywhere:

“You won’t believe what this celebrity looks like now!” – “10 shocking secrets your doctor doesn’t want you to know” – “This is the most amazing thing you’ll ever witness!”

Developing click bait for people requires an understanding of the emotional environment. In promoting a web post it is all in the title. The title will show up in search listings, in your subscribers emails and on social media auto posts. The secret is to use a title that really engages peoples curiosity. Even if it doesn’t fit the established character of your site it makes the difference between seeing it and clicking on it. Get creative and after the initial response you can go back and make the title fit your overall theme.

What is more likely to get a click? “10 things to see in Rome” or “10 sights you can’t miss in Rome!” – it isn’t much more complicated than giving it a little thought.

*While image descriptions are important in the case of Google there is a new process that now seems to drive much more traffic. Google Lens is now delivering a steady stream of inbound clicks. In Google Lens travel is a very important category and posting good photos seems to attract inbound clicks. Unfortunately for now I don’t seem to have a way to tell what the inbound clicks actually see – it might just be that image in my media library. Any thoughts?

Luss, A Cute Town In Scotland

Nestled in the Scottish Highlands on Loch Lomond is the small resort village of Luss. The cute village invites you to stroll its charming streets and discover its fascinating history. Whether you’re interested in nature, history, or simply relaxing by the loch, Luss has something to offer everyone. With its sandstone and slate cottages decorated with flower boxes and gardens, and its narrow lanes the village has been the location of a number of movies and television shows since the 1980s and 1990s.

A settlement has stood on this site since medieval times although much of the current village dates from the 18th and 19th centuries, with many of todays village homes having been developed to house workers from nearby slate quarries at the beginning of the last century. In the 6th century, the village was said to have been founded by the Celtic Saint MacKessog. During the medieval period, Luss was an important center for the Clan Colquhoun, who owned much of the surrounding land.

Things To Do In Luss

Explore Loch Lomond: Take a leisurely stroll along the shore or rent a boat to explore the largest freshwater lake in Scotland. You can also enjoy various water activities like kayaking, paddleboarding, or fishing.

Visit Luss Parish Church: This historic church dates back to the 19th century and features beautiful stained glass windows and intricate woodwork. It is worth a visit to admire its architecture and peaceful surroundings.

Walk the Luss Heritage Trail: This scenic trail takes you through the village and surrounding countryside, offering breathtaking views of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. It’s a great way to immerse yourself in nature and learn about the area’s history.

Visit Inverbeg Galleries: Located nearby, this art gallery showcases a wide range of contemporary Scottish artwork, including paintings, sculptures, and ceramics. It’s a great place to appreciate local talent and perhaps take home a unique piece.

Take a Wildlife Cruise: Join a boat tour from Luss to explore the Loch Lomond islands and observe the diverse wildlife in their natural habitat. You might spot ospreys, seals, and even wallabies on some of the islands.

Where To Eat

  • The Loch Lomond Arms Hotel: This historic hotel offers a cozy atmosphere and serves traditional Scottish cuisine made with locally sourced ingredients.
  • The Village Rest: This family-run restaurant offers a warm welcome and serves delicious homemade food, including seafood and steak.
  • Colquhoun’s Restaurant: Located in the Lodge on Loch Lomond hotel, this restaurant offers stunning views of the loch and serves contemporary Scottish cuisine.
  • Coach House Coffee Shop: This casual cafe serves light bites, sandwiches, and cakes, along with a selection of teas and coffees.
  • Luss Seafood Bar: This seafood bar serves fresh seafood dishes, including oysters, scallops, and langoustines.

Click map to download a pdf copy

Today Luss is a popular stopping-off point for visitors exploring the Loch Lomond area. At Rossdhu House, there is a championship golf course that stages the Barclays Scottish Open each year in July.