Savannah - a hot sticky jewel in the South

Last time I went to Savannah I was just passing through.  We stopped in the City Market and we walked down to the River Walk.  Problem is that there are two hotels that flank the part we went to, so I thought that was it.  Well folks, it goes on and on... and on and on.   I used to love going into all the shops.  My visits were always focused on what I might like to buy and bring home.  Not so much anymore since there is no room in the new “home.”  Now I like to go into stores that have nice, original things.  It’s kind of like going to a museum.  When the boys were young we took them to FAO Schwartz in New York and told them it was a toy museum; “you can look but you can’t buy.”  Well, that’s the way I am now... and yes Mom, I still put my hands in my pockets as soon as I go into any store with breakables.  It cracks me up, but I can’t help it.  My kids do it too. 

I have been off sugar for quite some time now, so walking into the numerous non-stop candy stores was also like walking into a museum.  You can look, but not touch! Boo boo.   

I especially liked the street behind the River Walk.  It connects the main part of the city to the River Walk buildings.  I thought the bridges linking the River Walk Buildings to street level were pretty fascinating.

SO... Savannah.  Besides humid, I would say, quaint and beautiful, quite southern in its architecture and charm.   I loved all the ornate iron work on the houses and the abundance of greenery was amazing.  When the town was laid out, there were four squares; parks in the middle of town.  Then as the town grew, the parks grew as well.  Ultimately there were 24, then it shrank back down to 22.  Each of them is beautiful.  Old trees, cobblestones, brick, fountains, and monuments.  Each offers something different.  But as we chronicle the stupid things I do, not knowing this, I parked next to the first square I came to.  Excellent!  I will remember that I parked next to the park.  That will work.  That WILL work, right?

Much like New Orleans, Savannah is still rocking at night.  First of all, you can drink on the streets and people do drink.  A lot.  A whole lot.  It was pretty rowdy on a Monday night at 9pm.  There was even a tour that was designed for drinking.  All the people faced the middle and pedaled to power the carriage.  Then they stopped at a bar every few minutes.  I don’t think those folks were hearing much of what the “tour guide” was telling them.  They were too busy singing along with the music.  They were very very drun,k.  But me, I toured.  I walked.  I walked some more.  I went to a club (bleh, not even worth writing about) and I came out at 11 o’clock.   So now I have to find my car.  Well, every way you walk there is a park.  Thank heavens for Siri.  SHE remembered exactly where I parked and told me how to get there.

I went on a ghost tour in a horse drawn carriage my first night there.  That was fun.  It gave me a feel for things and I got to hear some fun stories.  The next morning, I did the same thing but it was a history tour.  The combination was perfect.  I got to hear the facts and the legends... and I loved how they melded.  Later when I was just walking around, I sat at the gates of the Colonial Cemetary.  A couple was walking by and remarked on the unique designs in the brick.  I told them they were designed to glisten so they looked like water - spirits don’t like to cross water.  Haha... they loved it and asked me about the cemetary.  I told them it was one of the originals and that most of the city is built on top of old cemeteries.  This one had a brick wall surrounding it so when one of the generals saw it he thought it was be a great place for the horses.  Problem was the horses got itchy and rubbed the stones knocking them down.  The soldiers didn’t care so they stacked them against the wall.  Then, boys will be boys... they started playing with the stones by changing the engravings.  So here is a great example of their idea of fun...

It doesn’t show perfectly in the picture, but poor Josiah died October 1st 1820.  He was 11 years old.  His wife died almost three years later when she was 17.  A little more than two weeks after Josiah died, their son died... He was 12.  Haha!  That takes talent... or a talented soldier with a strong knife.  ​

The cemetary was beautiful.  Lots more crepe myrtles, but these were smaller than the trees in Atlanta, but still bigger than our bushes.  But these had Spanish moss!  SO pretty.  Did you know, and this is a fact, that spirits don’t like Spanish moss.  All those squares had a public purpose and many were for hangings.  Where there were gallows, there is no Spanish moss.  See, that proves it.  I told you it is hard to separate history from legend.

Walking around, the houses ranged from smaller row homes (sorry, town houses) to larger mansions, some as large as 12,000 square feet.  The streets seem to meander around the squares, at least in the historic district.  But even when I ventured out a bit, the houses were still that southern style... not quite Victorian, but not colonial either.  I guess I would say it was a mixture. Of both.  I loved it.  I loved the feel of it.  As I said, I loved that there were trees everywhere.  That continued into the suburbs as I ventured further.  But the historic district was where the best houses could be found and I just loved walking around seeing them.  Everything smelled really good too!  I finally figured out that it was this flowering tree that smelled so good.  My friend Jim may know what it is and leave a comment.  It was lovely to smell that’s all I do know.

One of the smaller homes... yeah right! 

Line up folks... this one was for sale.

These were the town houses.  I loved them.  So cute and so pretty and so perfectly simple and elegant.

Some houses were more heavily Victorian.

This was originally the horse stall for the Arabian horses.  I guess they wanted them to feel at home.

On the other side of the historic district is Forsyth Park.  It was described to me as “our version of Central Park.”  So I thought that was worthy of a ride.  I drove over and I have to say, it was a park.  There were nice houses around the park, but for the most part it was a park.

Sorry about the tree in the way.  It wasn’t intended but I was shooting from the car.  But you can see.  It’s a park.  A nice park, but nothing super special.

Now here is a “square.”  I think that is so so so much nicer.  The park is better for playing frisbee, but I am not playing frisbee too often these days unless I am with the kids.  So for me alone, I would much rather wander around these squares.  I loved it. 

Each square had something unique based on its purpose way back when.  This square was for the public ovens.  People did not have ovens like we do.  Fires were a huge problem in old Savannah and public ovens were one of the solutions.  This fountain was built on the foundation of one of the ovens and the brick surrounding the oven is actually the original brick from the oven.  Pretty cool.  Another story was that one of the squares had a bell.  It was right near the firehouse and it was the fire bell.  Only problem was there was only one bell and there were 24 squares.  So if you saw a fire near the 24th square, you ran to square 2 and rang the bell 24 times.  Then the fire “truck” went out to square 24 to put out the fire.  More often they were putting out the embers by that time.  Later they came up with a better system.  Have you heard about all the fires Savannah has endured... that’s why!​

Pop quiz... recognize this church?  Picture a feather floating around it.  Picture Tom Hanks eating a box of chocolate.  Yup, it’s the church from the opening scene of Forest Gump.  Yes, Forest, life is like a box of chocolates!

I talked to a bunch of people on Social media while in Savannah.  I got recommendations for which parks and cemeteries to visit and recommendations for restaurants as well.  Only problem on the restaurant front was that it was so humid I had virtually no appetite.  I ate in the morning and then had no desire the rest of the day.  I decided I had to eat in one of the great places Savannah has to offer so I chose to go to lunch at Fox and Fig, a restaurant that only serves “plant based” foods.  It was delicious and everyone that I spoke to later said that I made the perfect choice for a hot humid Savannah day.  It was a small place, not particularly fancy, but it was warm and inviting with a nice, kind of up-scale crowd.​

My Fox Burger was yummy with Shitake “bacon” as an extra.  Yum.  Loved the arugula bite and the pretzel bun.  Nice! 

Just a quick note on the campground.  It was down a windy road that was pretty rural.  Small houses, lots of pine trees, some commercial operations.  At one point I was wondering if A) the directions took me down a wrong road and if so, will I be able to get out without backing up anywhere? (Yes, that has happened) or B) is this campground going to be like one we went to in Florida that was really really really nice... in 1950 when it was built?  Well, I came up to the entrance and I was floored.  It was like an oasis.  It was beautiful!  The people were super nice and helpful as well. 

This is the entrance.  

The pond was lovely. I did not get one of these campsites.  I could have, but I did not want to have to back into a spot, so I needed a pull-through spot.  Sorry I did not get a pic of my set up... I will next time!