Stately Savannah GA – [March 14-15, 2018]

 We only had a week or so between other commitments, so we started looking for a spot that was sandy, salty, not too far away, and warmer than home.  After a weekend visit with Leslie, Natalie, and little Asher, we headed to Savannah and Tybee Island.  What a good choice!

Putting on the Green for St. Patrick's Day

We started our 5 day stay with two days in Savannah.  The city was gearing up for the 2^nd largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the US (3^rd largest in the world), or as one resident termed it, “The worlds largest outdoor cocktail party.”  We decided to enjoy the town before it got too rowdy – though we did find one fountain spouting green water.

A lovely square

Georgia was the last of the 13 colonies to be settled, and Savannah was the original settlement in 1773.  It was intended to be a strategic buffer between Spanish Florida and the English Carolinas.  Gen. James Oglethorpe, the expedition leader, decided to lay the city out around 24 squares.  Each square had lots designated for houses on 3 of the sides, and a civic building or a church on the 4^th side.  The 4^th side also originally had communal cooking areas away from the timber (flammable) houses around the rest of the square.  22 of the squares remain today, and they are lovely.  Many have statues.  They all have lovely plantings, and benches for people to sit and enjoy the lovely oasis of nature, stately live oak trees draped in Spanish Moss, and (for most squares) the beautiful old homes that remain today.  The abundant azaleas were in full bloom, and absolutely gorgeous.  The squares also slow traffic, as cars travel around them in a counterclockwise direction.

Pretty azaleas in another square

There are so many things to see and learn.  Union General William Tecumseh Sherman finished his trail of destruction across Georgia in Savannah, presenting it as a gift to President Lincoln on Christmas Day 1864.  Savannah was the home of Juliette Gordon Low and the Girl Scouts.  One of the earliest urban restoration and historic preservation movements started in Savannah in the 1950s. 

Wrought iron on your home displayed your wealth - even in fish shaped down spouts

We have so many great pictures and memories, so here we go…

Davenport House

Davenport House is a lovely old home built in 1820.  In 1955, it was slated for demolition as the city tried to revive the derelict downtown area.  A group of 7 women recognized that beautiful buildings and a good part of Savannah’s history would be lost to the wrecking ball.  They started the Historic Savannah Foundation, restored Davenport House and fueled a revival of the historic downtown district not only in Savannah but in other cities as well.

Kehoe House

The Kehoe House is now a swanky B&B.  It’s original owners built it of iron and brick; they owned an iron foundry.  It was empty and almost ruined when Joe Namath bought it with the idea of making it a pub.  The area was not zoned for commercial use, so the city fathers pushed back and said no.  Namath sold the unrestored house that he had purchased for $90K for $200K.  Later the restored building was sold for $5M.  The property values of restored historic Savannah have sky rocketed.

Green Meldrim House - Gen. Sherman's Headquarters

The owner of the beautiful Green-Meldrim House offered his home to Gen. Sherman to use as his headquarters while the Union Army occupied Savannah.  Meldrim did not want his fellow Savannahans to have to endure the embarrassment of housing the enemy.  Sherman got not only the house, but a small fortune in cotton housed in Meldrim’s warehouse.

Factors Walk - note the ballast stones paving the road, and the walkways from the top of the cliff into the warehouses

Savannah was the center of cotton export in the early 19^th century.  Down on the river front, warehouses once used to store cotton have been turned into bars, restaurants and shops.  The town is built on a bluff above the river front, so the 19^th century factors, or sales agents, built wrought iron walkways from the top of the bluff across to an upper story of the warehouses.  Below the walkways of what is today known as the Factors Walk are roads paved with rounded ballast stones from the holds of ships coming to take cotton to the rest of the world.

Waving Girl statue looks out to the river

Another view

Also down on the river front is the Waving Girl Statue, depicting Florence Martus as a young girl.  Martus waved to every ship that came into and left Savannah harbor for 44 years between 1887 and 1931.  She waved a handkerchief by day and a lantern by night as the unofficial greeter of the ships.

Juliette Gordon Low's birthplace

Where Juliette Low lived when she organized the Girl Scouts

The first meeting place and headquarters of the Girl Scouts

Juliette Gordon Low’s birthplace is open to the public, as is the home she shared with her husband William Low and where she founded the Girl Scouts.  The first Girl Scout meetings were in the carriage house behind her home, as was the first headquarters of GSA.

Live oak tree draped in Spanish Moss

Savannah was gusty breezy and a bit chilly.  It is a stately and lovely city that recognizes and celebrates its historic heritage.  We enjoyed visiting, even the fountain with the green water!

The fountain in lovely Forsyth Park, note the green water...