Savannah

We spent most of our time in

the downtown historical

Savannah area but one

morning we did drive out to Tybee Island.

It wasn't our favorite part of the trip

but we did climb the 178 steps to

the top of this historic lighthouse

which was built in 1732.

The view from the top.

The island in very 1950-ish.

The beach was big but there were no

crashing waves so I felt cheated,

The day we went to Tybee Island I had hoped to visit

the Bonaventure Cemetery but I was not feeling

too great so we skipped it.

However, there was the Colonial Park Cemetery

within our walking distance so we did visit it.

It is the final resting place for Revolutionary soldiers

and also about 700 people who died of

Yellow Fever in 1820

During the Civil War the Union soldiers camped here

and changed some of the dates and names

on the tombstones and moved them around.

The whole back wall of the cemetery had these stones

that no one knows where they belong.

Although Savannah is 20 minutes away from the ocean,

they are on the river and they have a kind of 'river walk'

with shops and restaurants along the way.

This is Huey's where we had lunch along the river one day.

Goose Feathers was our favorite breakfast/bakery spot.

And of course we had to eat at Lady & Sons.

The food was good but nothing spectacular.

You have to make a reservation early in the day and

when you show up they tell you to go across the

street and wait until they call your name.

This is about half of the crowd waiting for the 5:00 seating.

We had a great lunch at Six Pence - an English pub.

Julia Roberts fans might recognize it from one

of her movies. I don't remember the name

but she stood looking in the window at her husband

with a baby in her arms.

We spent most of our time wandering the area which was

built in grids with 22 city park 'squares'.

It was modeled with an European flair.

This is a huge cathedral which was started before 1850.

Pretty fancy.

We didn't eat at every restaurant or tour every home

but we loved just wandering from square to square

and taking in the sights.

With this picture think Forest Gump-

remember the feather floating down?

This is the square where he sat waiting for the bus.

You'll notice there is no bench - it's in a museum

because they were afraid it would be vandalized if left out.

But we did get to see Forest -

This is the City Market - more little shops

and restaurants. This is across the square from our

hotel so we ate in here a few times.

The squares were all different but

most either had fountains or monuments -

and they all had lots of benches which were

favorite places to eat, read, or just relax.

We did not stay here but this is a haunted

bed and breakfast - the Kehoe House.

We did tour this home - the Isaiah Davenport home.

Built around 1815 this was not considered the

home of a wealthy family but it was pretty neat.

This was my favorite - The Owens-Thomas House.

Built around 1816 - it doesn't look like much from

the outside but the inside had a lot of character.

It even had a 'bridge' on the second level.

Of course you're not allowed to take pictures inside.

I found the streets very quaint.

Our hotel - Avia- is in the background.

We opted for a modern hotel with

good plumbing.

The statue is of John Mercer,

a songwriter who wrote Moon River and

Days of Wine and Roses.

The squares usually each had their own significance.

Usually where there was a monument there was a body

or two buried beneath it.

This is the Mercer-Williams home which we did tour.

It was the location for the movie

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

This house was also in the movie -

it was the judge's home.

Just a few more homes and squares we enjoyed

as we wandered:

Steve was pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoyed

the city - I think he was dreading the whole trip.

It's a great walking city with lots of history but be sure

to go when it's pleasant weather - I hear it gets awful

hot and humid during the summer.