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Published: April 24th 2017
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The 'Pink Houses' from John Mellenkamp - early public housing for blacks. Downtown Savannah, Georgia
Rolling down the street, headed in our direction, is a greenish vehicle that looks a lot like a trolley. In front is a driver who steers the vehicle. Behind him is a guy dispensing beer from a tap - he's a bartender, in fact, and has bottles of hard stuff lined up at waist level. Yes, this is a bar on wheels. Bellied up to the bar, while riding this vehicle, are eight or ten very happy people drinking and yelling at us pedestrians on the sidewalk. Yes, it is a moving bar on a tour of the old part of Savannah, Georgia.
There is something rather unusual about this trolley, though - there is no motor or engine. In fact beneath the bar stools all of those drinkers are pedaling furiously. The bar moves by pedal power. Apparently that is what makes it legal - the drunk passengers provide the energy that moves the trolley through the streets, but are not in charge of steering or braking!
We weren't on that trolley, but it is one of many sensations we experienced taking the First Squares Food Tour of the Savannah Taste Experience - whose
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Storage facilities and a cobblestone street from early Savannah port. motto is 'Eat.Play.Repeat'. For three hours we walked the streets of downtown Savannah, stopping at seven different restaurants to taste one of their signature dishes. We started with a delightful shellfish chowder with chunks of shrimp and lobster in a light and slightly tart creamy broth. Next stop gave us shrimp and grits, similar to what I had tasted in Key West, but without cheese. Then came pork-belly sliders on donut buns with a side of French toast. Fourth stop was a small portion of excellent Shepherds Pie, washed down with a terrific Scottish beer (the Scots were an important part of Georgian history). Next stop was a portion of tasty sausage in a layered pastry from a British savory pie bakery (The British were even more important). Dessert was a custom cupcake from a local cupcake baker. We ended the day with a honey tasting at a local honey shop - I had no idea that honey could express such delicate differences.
Along the way Brenda, our tour guide, showed off the local history, especially the black experience in Savannah. Oglethorpe, Georgia's founder and the person who was seriously trying to give the poor and unemployed a way
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Modern container shipping under the bridge and down the Savannah River out of England, outlawed slavery when he established Savannah and the Georgian colony. It was instituted only later.
Oglethorpe also organized Savannah around a grid of 24 town squares, blocks that were kept open as city parks. All but one are still serving that function. It gives the downtown area an open feel and makes the city very human in scale.
Another stop on the tour was City Market, basically a three block long section where the road has been eliminated. There is live entertainment, lots of food and drink, and shopping, of course, with both local boutiques and national brand names. The allowance for open containers and drinking in the entire downtown area gives the city a feel of a party town, almost, but not quite as big as Key West.
The tour of Savannah is part of Joan's Bucket List Rebellion, as she adds things to our itinerary that aren't part of the National Park System. We both agreed that this one was a welcome addition and gave us a great introduction to this beautiful city. I suspect we will be downtown again, either later this week, or on round two of the bucket list.
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Brenda at the start of the our, talking about the River and the founding of Savannah. (17.1.47)
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MIckey
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Savannah..Our dad lived there!
Well, when we visited Savannah o so many years ago, there was not a bicycle bar or a tour like you had. How did you eat all that food? Perhaps it came in tiny bites? glad you liked this part of Georgia..wonderful for history and literature buffs. Evelyn and I are going to GA the end of May to visit her daughter, etc. We will be in Augusta and Atlanta areas. We're looking forward to reading your GA blogs.