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Monday, June 1, 2009

Ya'll Come

Savannah, Georgia was famous way before Paula Deen but the line to get into her local restaurant is pretty impressive.

We have been to Georgia many times and I have always delighted in the hospitality found there, this trip was not a disappointment. Our first night however, was a little of a shock because we forgot it was Memorial Day week-end and found that being down on River Street was just like being in New Orleans at the Mardi Gras less the beads and parade. People everywhere and open drinking allowed on the street...entertainment all the way up and down the river walk from stilt walking to dancing to juggling and music and a 2 1/2 hour wait for dinner so we opted to grab a couple of bar stools and had a bite there and found a spot to sit and just watched till it got a little too rowdy for us:)
We decided to take the trolley the first day to get our barrings and it was a good choice as we also got a lot of useful information like that moss that is hanging on the trees

Is an airborne plant that also is home to chiggers. They use to stuff their mattresses with it and so came the saying..."Don't let the bed bugs bite".

Everywhere I looked while I was there was a picture moment so trying to figure out what to post is going to be a hard one. If you look at a map of down town Savannah you will not even begin to get an idea of how it is laid out because it is in two tiers...River street on the bottom, the lining of old buildings and the old train rail and rough rocky road...situated right next to the river.



The building across the River is a Convention Center and that on the left was the side veranda of our hotel where wine and appetizers were served every evening.

Up on the main street is the front of these buildings
This is the entrance to the Hotel we stayed at (was originally a cotton exchange building). Notice that there is a open part to the left??


Down below is factor's way...



A cobblestone driveway where they drove the cotton wagons for the people to buy their cotton.





The buyers would stand up on the balcony's of the buildings to get a good view as they came by and make their bid's.

The whole town was a vision of a man from England and he sat down and drew out the layout of the town which included the 22 squares. If you are like me you can't quite figure out what a square is so let me explain. It is like a miniature park and all the houses surround it. These were huge beautiful houses owned by the cotton merchants but when they were built there was not running water or electricity. There is such History here you could spend days and still not get the full impact of it. Of course slavery was a big issue here and the biggest change of all...this is a picture of a picture that reminds us of how it was
and this is a statue with broken chains laying at their feet on the Riverfront celebrating their freedom

One evening included dinner at the "Chart House"
Now this is an OLD building that normally I would not venture into .....but

it was beautiful and the food, fantastic!

The same beautiful rock work was to be found everywhere
our hotel heading to a downstairs bathroom.

There were quaint little shopping area's away from the waterfront that just had to be investigated and more tempting restaurants than we could find meals for...................

We missed the blooming of the wisteria but the whole area was a garden setting
The river is still an active port bringing many large ships loaded with cargo in and out.
What a wonderful time we had and this tune will never be the same to me again.

5 comments:

JeanMac said...

What a great place to visit. i always love your pics and info with each one.

Chatty Crone said...

I love Savannah, about 5 hours from me. Georgia is so big that there are many different types of areas to see just hours from one another. Ever go through Atlanta - you'll have to call.

Granny Annie said...

Wow, you got to see some beautiful and historic places. I would have been nervous going into that building but am proud that you did and enjoyed the visit.

Have you by any chance heard from our friend Linda G.?

Lady Di Tn said...

Looks like y'all had a good time down south. Peace

Michelle said...

Lovely post. We are going to Savannah later this year and I cannot wait. Thanks for the preview.