Most of you know by now that our annual trip to America is in October, to coincide with the Cumming Country Fair and our family trip to the cabin in the North Georgia mountains. It's always worth the wait.
This year we started our trip with Robin for 5 days in New York City...which I'm saving for the last. In the middle, we spent 5 days with Bob and Peggy, friends south of Atlanta, and visited Savannah and Tybee Island.
This post is about Savannah, Georgia's oldest city, established in 1733 on its east coast. In spite of living in Georgia for 25 years, I had never visited it for a real look.
We arrived in time for lunch...a good way and place to start.
By now you surely recognize Bob and Peggy!
After lunch we decided to just get the lay of the land around River Street.
We would have the entire next day to tour the city properly.
(And that's City Hall, not the capitol of Georgia, which is in Atlanta.)
The musicians and artists are part of Savannah's ethos.
BUT they do NOT want you taking their pictures, some of them!
(Savannah reminds me of New Orleans with a strong Voodoo influence.)
Then we just walked around and took in the beauty of the trees with Spanish moss.
EVERYWHERE.
Going back to the car, look what we found in the parking garage.
It even had Astrid's name on it, as the Co-Pilot.
We had 2 nights at a nearby hotel and enjoyed an evening snack in B&P's room that first night.
And, yes, that's moi getting familiar with my new iPad. What a fun toy, right?!
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The next day we got serious about Savannah, starting out with a trolley tour.
Since it was a hop-on-hop-off tour, we did the full loop first and then went back to spots of interest.
What I failed to mention is that our first night together, before we started this trip,
we watched Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil, from 1997.
Because it's based on the true story of millionaire Jim Williams in Savannah, it was a must-see beforehand.
I won't give the movie away if you haven't seenn it but, yes, there's a murder inside this Mercer House.
The famous drag queen, Lady Chablis, "makes" the movie, as far as I'm concerned...
and Kevin Spacey as Jim Williams is clearly sweet on the eyes.
Don't forget Johnny Mercer, who co-wrote the soundtrack and was born in Savannah in 1909.
We even had a sweet-tooth break in Clary's café, one of the movie's hot spots.
Did I mention this was 2 weeks before Halloween?
I loved the pumpkins everywhere.
There's a cemetery in the movie, remember? So Savannah is already perfect for Halloween,
...and for any other transportation you'd want to choose.
Savannah's historic district has 22 squares represented by parks and fountains and playgrounds.
Two other squares are in the process of being "revived" to total the original 24.
Did you know Juliette Gordon Low was born in Savannah in 1860?
She's the founder of the Girl Scouts of America.
Other famous people dot the landscape, often from humble beginnings,
like this 14-year-old drummer boy, Henry Christophe, who became the first King of Haiti.
(click on any collage to enlarge)
(click on any collage to enlarge)
You could spend weeks, of course, learning about every little thing.
We saw "SCAD" signs all over town for Savannah College of Art and Design.
And guess what some of those college students do???
They renovate buildings for the preservation of Savannah's architectural heritage!
Look at these houses.
Can you imagine getting a degree in restoring such a place?
It's hard not to like the architecture of Savannah!
Churches and synagogue included, of course.
But it's the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist that we earmarked for visiting,
founded in 1700 by the first French colonists.
WOWSER!
After all the European cathedrals I've seen the last few years,
I was totally impressed.
It was time for dinner by then. We were short of eyes....
...and just when we thought we had seen it all,
we walked into the middle of a new SpongeBob SquarePants 2 movie in the making. Seriously.
It's scheduled to be released on February 13, 2015. Hmmm. Just may have to watch it!
Supposedly even Antonio Banderas will be in it...one of my faves.
We ended the day at the City Market where we had a before-dinner drink
(yup, that's my Guinness!)
before a wonderful dinner there at Belford's.
It was so good I forgot to take pictures!
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Back to the hotel for another night...and the next day, to Tybee Island.
To be continued....
