# 77 Savannah GA

# 77 Savannah GA

Friday  November 14, 2019

Welcome to Savannah where the Live Oak trees canopy the main streets.

Welcome to Savannah where the Spanish Moss hangs like veils off of the Live Oak trees.  Just for clarification our trolley driver in St. Augustine reminded us that this is neither Spanish or Moss.  

The plant is a bromeliad in the same family as succulent house plants.  It is native to Mexico, Central and South America, the U.S. and the Caribbean.  It is not a parasite; it doesn’t put down roots or take nutrients from the tree.  It thrives on rain, fog, sunlight, and airborne or waterborne dust and debris.   The French Explorers named the plant.  The Native American name meant “tree hair”.  The French thought it looked like a beard and called it Spanish Beard.  The Spanish called it French Hair.   Later the beard went to moss.  Our driver in St. Augustine said lots of tourist want to take it home as a souvenir.  However, one must be careful as the moss is home to mites, snakes, mice and other things.  Clean moss does have several uses.

We drove through Savannah and out to the Intracoastal Waterway. We crossed over the causeways to Tybee Island.

We parked at the River’s End Campground on Tybee Island.

Meet Art our trolley driver and guide for Savannah.   Photos were a problem here like in Charleston.  Lots of trees and the Trolley roof got in the way.

Art said every denomination of religion is represented with houses of  worship except Jews and Mormons in the historic city of Savannah.  We saw several churches on our tour.

Two interesting characters boarded our Trolley.  The first one was Forrest Gump! What fun.  Forrest Gump is well thought of here.  We even drove by the Deb’s diner where Jenny worked.   Forrest Gump made Chippewa Square famous for the bench he sat on.

This lovely lady who positive life was made possible by the Massie Institute. Peter Massie died in 1841 and left $5000 to establish the poor in Savannah.  It operated as a public school until 1974.  The educational programs of today allow students to experience a 19^th century school day.  This lovely lady came aboard the bus and told how she benefited from an education as Massie that led her to become a doctor.

These beautiful columns were created with cement.

The downspouts on this building are shaped like fish!

This Six Pence pub sits in the Historic Landmark District of Savannah.  A British pub décor serving British and American comfort food.  Julia Roberts character in Something to Talk About” brought the pub to the spotlight.

The Mercer House notoriety involves Jim Williams and featured in book and movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  You can tour this place.

This mansion was recently purchased for $14 million and is currently under renovation to return it to a single family dwelling.

When James Oglethorpe founded Savannah in 1733.  He designed the city to have 22 square that vary in size and character. The square was the center of a basic organizational unit called a ward. Each square were planned east and west to contain two large lots reserved for public buildings like churches, schools and institutions.   North and south land was divided into 20 lots with a lane down the middle for passage.  The lanes now make the streets in the historical district.  Unfortunately for me I was sitting on the right side of the Trolley, and because of one-way streets, all the parks passed by on the left.

Here is one of those public buildings still in use.

Views of Savannah.   The Live Oaks grace the city with beauty and shade.

As we bumped down this cobblestone lane and hoped our teeth would survive, the Trolley took us to the River Front.

Back to East Street these old brick buildings that once house the cotton industry now are home to shops and restaurants that sit on the cliff and overlook the Savannah River.

SCAD officially known as Savannah College of Art and Design occupies a lot of land in Savannah and employs a lot of people. This historic Lucas theater provided the venue for the SCAD film festival.  Part of the college occupies an old railroad building.  SCAD pops up all over the city.

Art told an interesting story here at the cemetery.  In one of the wars soldiers were stationed here and they would take the bodies out of these large brick mausoleums and occupy the building to keep warm.

Savannah’s version of Rainbow Row.

The Owen Thomas House.   This Greek Revival house stands as a monument to William Jay who designed it before his 21^st birthday.  William Jay designed several of the fantastic mansions in Savannah.

The Telfair Mansion….now museum and an academy for Arts and Sciences…also designed by William Jay.

This street is blocked off for pedestrian use.

At one time Savannah was the capitol of the state, before it was moved to Atlanta.  This beautiful building with a 3 carat gold dome now houses the offices for Savannah’s City Hall.

Time to eat!  We went to Paula Deen’s restaurant anticipating a fabulous meal similar to the one we enjoyed in 2010.

They said the dinner hour started at 4 pm.  We arrived just before 4:00.  The third floor dining room was not open yet so we took a seat in the first floor area.  Lynn and I tried the buffet expecting delicious food.  We were so disappointed. No longer did they have piles of fresh mashed potatoes instead it was creamed mashed potatoes mixed with gravy. The meat entrees were not fresh.  Lynn went back for seconds only to discover the entire buffet had been swapped out. Apparently we came at the end of the lunch shift and just before the dinner buffet.  The peace cobbler melted in your mouth. The guys ordered off the menu and were pleased with their entrees

After dinner we walked a few blocks to Leopold’s Ice Cream.   Leopold celebrates their 100 Anniversary this year.  The line was out the door.  

Jay, Lynn and Derrille waited in line for their turn to get ice cream.  For all the hype, the ice cream rated in the OK range.  Of course, you could get merchandise if you wanted.

Here are a few buildings of Savannah as we returned to the car.

Fortunately, we visited Savannah today.  Tomorrow thousands of runners will be taking over the streets for a marathon. Traffic will be a mess.  Our tour guide is choosing not to work.

Tomorrow we explore Tybee Island where we are staying.