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Published: January 7th 2012
Typical street in the Savannah historic district
Note the low hanging trees covered in Spanish mossToday is my first day in one of the most romantic cities in the US,
Savannah Georgia.
It was founded by British general
James Oglethorpe.
He wanted to create a haven for yeoman farmers and those in debt.
To this end, he banned both bankers and lawyers from his new colony!
He also banned Catholics, rum, and slavery.
Like many utopian experiments, he
designed the town plan very deliberately.
It was broken into self-contained areas called units.
Each one had a public square at the center.
Residents’ houses surrounded the square, and farms were next to those.
Each farmer was expected to grow goods that would be sold in England to finance the colony.
The experiment ultimately failed, and settlers turned to the slave based plantations used elsewhere in the south.
The squares are still there, and they form part of Savannah’s unique atmosphere.
Another major component is the
trees.
A hint of this is found on the highways into the historic district “Danger: overhanging trees, low clearance”.
The streets of Savannah are lined with hundred year old oak and beech trees.
They have been allowed
Battle of Savannah
Reconstruction of the site of the Battle of Savannah during the Revolutionary (NOT Civil) War to overhang the streets, so they form a green tunnel.
All of the trees are covered in Spanish moss that hangs everywhere.
There is nothing else like it in the US.
The trees were a driving hazard for me, because all I wanted to do was look at them instead of the road.
Savannah History Museum
The first stop for most visitors, including me, is the
Savannah History Museum, which gives an overview of the city.
This is not entirely a good thing, as the museum and its surrounding streets are overrun with cars and tour busses.
It was peaceful once I got inside.
The displays inside cover the major points of Savannah history, including James Oglethorpe, plantation agriculture, and the wars that have shaken the area.
The museum also has a number of quirkier exhibits, such as one on the evolution of ladies hats.
One fact that visitors may not be aware of is that Savannah saw far more action in the
Revolutionary War than the Civil War.
The British held the city, and French and American troops tried to take it.
After a long
Forsyth Park Fountain
The center fountain in Forsyth Park, Savannah Georgia. Note the green water, a St. Patricks week special and bloody battle, they were repulsed.
The French contingent contained a troop of free Africans from Haiti; after the French Revolution, many of them because leaders of the Haitian fight for independence.
During the Civil War, Savannah was the site of one of the stranger groups of that era, the
Ladies Gunboat Association.
After the Monitor and Virginia (known to northerners of the Merrimac) fought to a standstill, local leaders decided Savannah needed an iron gunboat of its own to break the Union blockade of the city.
The Ladies Gunboat Society formed to raise the necessary funds.
They did so, and a local shipyard built the boat, the CSS Georgia.
Unfortunately, the builders did not design the boat properly, and it could barely maneuver in the Savannah River.
The local commander ultimately turned it into a floating fort.
The Civil War displays have one missing detail that I find very telling.
There is not one word about
William Tecumseh Sherman and what he did in Savannah.
The answer, it’s worth pointing out, is “nothing”.
After his army captured it at the end of their march from Atlanta, he
The Charter Oak
The Charter Oak, oldest tree in Savannah Georgia. This live oak is over 300 years old. ensured they left the city alone on Lincoln’s orders, which is why we get to enjoy the amazing architecture today.
Savannah's Squares
After the museum, I checked into my accommodations.
While researching this trip, I quickly realized that I had to make a major tradeoff.
Both Savannah and Charleston would be having major events while I would be there, and rates were accordingly high.
Given my budget, I would be forced to do at least one of the two on the cheap.
I ultimately chose to spend the cash in Savannah.
This was partly due to parking in Savannah being much harder to find otherwise and partly due to finding a pretty good deal.
I stayed at the
Catherine Ward House, which is a restored
Victorian Bed and Breakfast on the edge of the Historic District.
The house itself is beautiful.
The rooms are painted warm colors, and the rooms are filled with light.
My room features a chandelier.
The owner also loves to chat, and is very knowledgeable about the city.
I spent the rest of the day just wandering around and looking
Monterey Square
Monterey Square, just one of the famous squares of Savannah Georgia at the
squares, houses, and trees.
I stayed out long after the sun had gone down.
Many people see the historic district on a guided tour, but I found my guidebook to be sufficient.
The largest green space is Forsyth Park, a deliberately designed garden park.
Its centerpiece is a large
fountain of nymphs, frogs, and swans.
Given that this was St. Patrick’s Day week, the fountain water was dyed green.
This was a pretty surreal sight.
Next to the northeast corner of the park is the largest coastal oak tree I had ever seen.
This is the Charter Oak, the oldest tree in Savannah, alive for over three centuries.
The sign does not mention the fact that Union Soldiers chained Confederate supporters to it during the occupation of the city.
Just north of the park is Monterey Square, considered the most beautiful of the squares by many.
It’s a fantasyland of twisted oak trees and flower beds.
Several of the buildings on the square have decorative ironwork.
On one side is a gothic building that many people mistake for a church.
It’s actually
Typical house in the historic district
A typical house in the historic district. Note the decorative iron work balconies and fencing a Jewish synagogue,
Congregation Mickve Israel, the oldest in the south.
The congregation dates to the 1720s, when Jews moved to Savannah to escape persecution in Spain.
One square north and one square east is Lafayette Square, whose main landmark is a large beautiful Catholic Church.
This is the
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the spiritual home of the city’s Irish.
More squares with more historic buildings followed, although they blend together after a while.
They are all insanely beautiful.
Most of the squares have statues of one form or another.
Savannah residents love to joke about how the statues have nothing to do with who the squares are named after.
Southern Cooking in Savannah
I had dinner tonight at a budget pushing, but worth it, restaurant called the
Olde Pink House.
When tourists want to eat southern food in Savannah, they inevitably head to Lady and Sons, the restaurant founded by
Paula Deen.
Natives will now not go anywhere near it, and head to places like the Olde Pink House instead.
The building is one of the most historic in Savannah, having been built for a British Army commander.
It’s on a
Johnson Square
Johnson Square in Savannah Georgia, the first created in the city. The monument honors Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene. The post in frtont is a sundial honoring Savannah cofounder William Bull. square, of course, Reynolds Square.
The pink color was originally due to read bricks bleeding through white stucco.
They serve southern cooking with a modern twist.
When I ate there, they had several dishes with pecans of all sorts: pecan sauce, pecan puree, candy coated pecans, and more.
The food was cooked to perfection, and delicious.
I had desert at the most famous ice cream parlor in a city filled with them:
Leopold’s.
Their flavors are adventurous and intense.
I ultimately chose lemon custard, but almost any would have sufficed.
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