Georgia

Day Five
by

Day Five

This was the best and most ‘vacationy’ day of my holiday. I’m grinning as a I remember it… and continue to sooth a sunburn even liberal amounts of sunscreen couldn’t prevent.

There were three things I wanted to see and do in the vicinity of Savannah. As it turned out, they were all convenient to one another and stops on the same interstate, one right after the other in order of priority! I thought that I would spend Wednesday driving all over coastal Georgia, but, instead, I was able to enjoy the places I wanted to visit.

First stop:

I spent about an hour in this gorgeous cemetery taking loads of photos. Have y’all been waiting for pics of Spanish moss? Here ’tis!

Next stop was Fort Pulaski, the site of a major turning point in military history. I just went because I hoped to see ‘gators in the moat. No such luck. 🙂 I enjoyed my visit anyway. There was lots to see and the grounds were gorgeous.

Highly reflective glass meant that I accidentally took a photo of myself:

No, I’m not bald in this pic. I decided to fully embrace freedom on Wednesday and wore a scarf all day. With the sunglasses, I looked like a biker chick. 🙂

Next and final stop: Tybee Island, Savannah’s beach playground!

I started by being foolish and climbing the 170+ steps to the top of the lighthouse:

Must. Get. Back. Into. Shape. The climb is worth the view, though!

I enjoyed touring the lighthouse keeper’s cottage and was impressed by this detail in the banister.

Yes, the newel post is shaped like the lighthouse.

Next, I viewed the lighthouse museum which also featured some exhibits about Tybee’s earliest days as a resort destination.

Then came the moment I’d been waiting for. I changed into my bathing suit and went to the beach for an hour. It was HOT out, the sun was shining brightly, and the water was plenty warm enough to swim! I had fun body surfing waves, accidentally ingesting salt water, and then sitting in the sun (even though I’m still paying for this, hee hee).

There was a shack-type restaurant right on the beach called the North Beach Grill and I decided to try it for lunch since it was packed. It was a fantastic experience; a cruddy little restaurant open to sea breezes, salt shakers rusty from the sea air, rum flowing liberally, and Caribbean-style music booming from speakers. I ordered ‘grilled shrimp’ which was nothing like what I expected. I got whole shrimp, still in the shell with the legs on ’em, swimming in a cajunny-style sauce with a helping of freshly cut fries. It was one of the most undignified, delicious, and fun meals of my life. It took forever to peel those suckers using my fingers! It was there that I realised that coastal Georgia is a world unto itself where sweet tea runs freely, huge mountains of sweet shrimp big as a thumb cost less than a burger, and the people know how to take the time to breathe and enjoy a moment. It’s not paradise, but came pretty close to that for a sun and warmth-starved gal who had just fled winter!

I headed ‘home’ after to shower, change, and rest before my ghost tour.

The Sixth Sense ghost tour was absolutely horrible in the best possible sense. It explained to me the vibes that Savannah had been giving off and made me understand my unease at being there. I know that most, if not all, the stories were mostly fiction, but the history itself was fairly solid. I was the only person on the tour and I really enjoyed it even if it made for a restless night. 🙂

It was a great day.

Day Four
by

Day Four

It’s really beyond the scope of this travelogue to get into Savannah’s history. There is just so much of it and so many major players. I didn’t come for any of that; I just wanted to view the squares, see what Spanish moss is all about, tour the Mercer-Williams house, and take a ghost tour. Rather unusual for me, actually. I only scheduled one full day in the city, and that turned out to be plenty. My day in Savannah was lovely and fun, but I felt off, restless, and uneasy. I didn’t fully comprehend why until the next day.

Since I hadn’t come to Savannah to view a million sights, I knew I would have a more leisurely day than I normally do when traveling. I started off with breakfast at a Denny’s (something I always say I’ll never do again), then I ‘caught a CAT’ (Chatham Area Tranist), a bus, which costs 1$. The bus took me right from my hotel to the steps of the visitor’s centre on Martin Luther King Boulevard. Very convenient!

I’m a huge Forrest Gump fan (movie, not the book!), so please allow me the indulgence of this photo:

My very own Savannah bus stop bench! I even passed Henry Street, which is the street Forrest wanted to get to in the movie.

At the visitor’s centre, I picked up some info on ghost tours, then toured the history of Savannah museum. It had an interesting hodgepodge of exhibits… including one of the benches used in the filming of the Forrest Gump movie, and Forrest’s suitcase (or a copy thereof).

Next, I took a trolley tour of the city. We stopped in front of Chippewa Square, where I would return to snap these pics:

This is where all the Forrest Gump bus bench scenes were filmed. 🙂 Okay, okay, enough Forrest Gump!

I really enjoyed the trolley tour. I picked Oglethorpe Tours because, well, they were the cheapest at 10$ (plus a 5$ tip to our fantastic guide). I liked that they offered a 90 minute tour of the city, and then a jump on and off service that was really more of a shuttle system. You could wait at designated stations with your yellow sticker prominently displayed and a mini-van would pull up and take you to a location of your choice. Downtown is very small, so I only prevailed myself of this service later in the day, when I was getting to be a bit footsore. Very good service and excellent tour!

After the tour, I had lunch…

(EDITED TO ADD: Oh my. I had shrimp at Clary’s Cafe, never realising that this was the cafe prominently feature in both The Book and The Movie! I’m rewatching The Movie right now and can’t believe I didn’t get a sense of déjà vu when I entered the restaurant!)

then went to visit the Mercer-Williams House, featured in the book and movie ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’:

I found the entrance cost of 13$ expensive since we only saw the gardens and some of the first floor, but it was still worth it to stand in the spot where Danny Hansford was killed/murdered and to view the gorgeous sunken garden. The hall that runs the whole length of the first floor is roughly 12 feet by 60 feet… the exact dimensions of my old house. The Mercer-Williams house is huge! This house has a troubled history, but it sure is gorgeous. I was surprised to learn that Jim Williams sister lives there full-time. When I went by the next night after dark on the ghost tour, it was weird to see lights on all over the house, including in the rooms where the tour is held.

Next, I went to the Ships of the Sea museum. Entrance was 8$, but the old codger at the cash decided that this young lass deserved a break and sold me a student ticket for 6$. Awww, how sweet! There really wasn’t that much to the museum, but I really liked it. It featured models of ships that are relevant to the history of Savannah (plus a fantastic one of Titanic which isn’t relevant, but was really impressive). The museum would appeal to anyone who likes maritime history, models, and ships. I qualify for all three. The museum is housed in an old home which has a stunning garden with high hedged walls.

I was tired and a wee bit footsore by this point, so I took the shuttle to River Street, a cobblestone one-way thoroughfare right by the Savannah River’s edge. It is accessible by very steep staircases or equally steep ramps.

There, I took a picture of a typical Savannah sidewalk:

Those white bits are oyster shells.

I enjoyed exploring River Street and even climbed one of its staircases just to say I did. This picture does not convey the steepness of the stairs, nor the height of the risers. My knees were very mad at me by the time I got to the top. This is just a small part of the staircase:

It was very hot out and I was craving iced coffee, so when I saw a tiny stand offering this precious drink, I was happy to stop for a long while and watch the paddleboats go up and down the river. I took video footage of that, but no pictures.

I did snap this picture of a gorgeous bridge that leads to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina:

Before heading off in search of dinner, I snapped a picture of Savannah’s waving girl:

The story goes that she would wave ships in an out every day for about 40 years.

Dinner wound up being too difficult to find so I gave up. My mistake was to seek it in the historic district in the vicinity of where I was supposed to start a ghost tour. I should have eaten at River Street. Oh well, live and learn. The ghost tour wound up being canceled due to inclement weather. I was tired, so I wasn’t too disappointed, figuring I could reschedule for the next night. I bused back to the hotel and ordered pizza!

by

Day Three

Day three made me the most nervous. Since I had reservations in Savannah that night, I had to make it there, an eight hour or so trek. I was also uneasy about the hotel I would be staying at the, the Holiday Inn Midtown on Abercorn. I’d booked the hotel through priceline.com, my first experience doing so, and had gotten a ludicrously good deal for a fairly prime Savannah location–40$ per night, including taxes. So, I really wasn’t expecting much.

The day did have a great start–I left Virginia in a lightweight cotton skirt, bare legs, sandals, and a tee-shirt!

The drive turned out to be very easy and I loved ticking off states I’d never been to before–North Carolina, South Carolina, and, at long last, Georgia! I stopped at the welcome centre there and asked for a map of Savannah so I could find my hotel. Why I didn’t Google Maps myself directions ahead of time, I have no idea. I’d thought of everything but that! The lady at the information counter did have a map, and knew exactly where the Holiday Inn is located, so she gave me super clear directions. I found the hotel without any problems.

When I stepped into my room, I was so relieved–it smelled good, which is rare for a hotel room. I liked where it was located; at the back of the motel on the second level, so I knew it would be quiet. The bathroom caulking needed updating but, otherwise, the room felt nice and clean, a real bargain. I wound up being beyond satisfied with my stay there. priceline.com is great!

Up until I got to the room, I’d been raring to go in my Savannah exploration and thought I would take a bus downtown. But once I got my luggage up to my room, I realised that I was beat, but in desperate need of exercise.

I decided to hike down to the Publix, a grocery store, to get a gallon of spring water. It was a surprising tough walk for its shortness; Savannah was HOT and very sticky. After the winter we’d endured, I relished this heat and humidity and couldn’t help turning my face upwards to drink in as much of the late day sun as possible.

Once I dropped off the water at the motel room, I decided to go up Abercorn a bit to see what restaurants were available in the mall area. There, I found an authentic Mexican cantina, where I over indulged on Corona beer, margaritas, enchiladas, burritos, and nachos. Vacation had truly begun!

by

Prologue

I was supposed to go to Savannah, Georgia, in September of 2005. Three days before I was slated to leave, Hurricane Katrina swept in and destroyed the South.

Three years later, I decided it was time to try again.