Savannah & Charleston & Travelers Rest

Photos at:

http://web.mac.com/goodlenora/iWeb/Site/Library%2013.html

(It is library 13 – there is no 12)

We arrived in Savannah, GA yesterday afternoon and as we drove into the La Quinta Motel where we hoped to stay, we saw a tour trolley pull out. Fortunately, they just had a cancellation in the motel for a ground floor, non-smoking, 2-bed room! And, equally fortunately, we had a coupon!

As the afternoon was yet young, we decided to go sit by the pool and read. No sooner had we situated ourselves on the chairs, gotten comfy with our books, than we realized the sun had disappeared, and not only were their some rather dark clouds above us, but they began to hurl some rather large drops of water at us. By the time we got back to our room, (about 30 feet) the rain came in sheets, thunder roared and lightning flashed. Finally! A decent thunder storm! (one of the things I miss from Florida)

The concierge suggested we take one of the tours, so this morning, we were up bright and early and waited around for a couple hours for the tour shuttle to come and get us. The driver of the shuttle, Geri, was a delight and when she found out we had signed up for the ‘on and off’ tour, she opined we might want to take the bus all the way around, and mark on the map where we wanted to go back to, rather than getting off at each stop and waiting for the next shuttle. Great advice!

Not only did Geri give us great advice, she was full of tidbits about the city, and even gave Ms Flat Stanlietta a lesson on how to drive the trolley!

We rode to the end of the line, and got off, and walked along the river walk. The town of Savannah was planned by Mr. Oglethorpe before he left England, and the streets are laid out in a nice grid, with (originally) 24 squares and one park (oblong). Through the years, three of the small squares (parks) have been sacrificed to progress, though one is being re-built. The only problem is, he made the plots small (30x60 feet) and the streets narrow. Very narrow.

Most of the old homes (in the Historic part of town) have steps leading up to their living area. The idea was to put the parlour (living room) above ground level to help keep the dust and dirt down, also, to get the homes a bit higher to take advantage of any breezes that might wander through. Most homes have the stairs running up the side of the front of the building to take up less space, and allow for more living area, with a small, hidden, garden in back.

The wealthy folks, who could afford more than one lot, often had two sets of steps leading up to the front door. One side was for the men, the other for their women, who wore long hoop skirts at the time. They would ascend the stairs and meet at the top. By going up separately, they not only looked nicer, but he wouldn’t see her ankles (it was considered quite risqué to show ankles and elbows at that time. go figure!), and she’d have more room for her hoops.

Many of the old homes have fish at the bottom of their down spouts, and on the third step up to the door, there is a hole and a ‘scraper’ for the gentlemen to scrape their boots, and many still have the stepping stone out front, so when the carriages pulled up to the home, the ladies would not have so far to step down.

Historic Savannah is roughly a mile wide and a mile long, so we decided we could walk to wherever we wanted to go. Savannah was built along a bluff 40 feet above the river, and to get down to the river, we walked along the old cobble stone streets. The cobbles were originally used as ballast from the ships bringing cargo in. Instead of filling the river with the stones the citizens used them for streets and buildings (smart of them, actually) We saw the statue in honor of Florence Martus, who lived on an island, and waved at every ship that came up the river for 40 years. Legend has it she waved because she hoped her long lost love who sailed away and never returned was on one of the ships. She denied it, and said she was bored.

Along the river walk were 15 signs explaining the history of Savannah, all of which Ms. Flat Stanlietta found of great interest. After completing the river walk, we found our way up to the old Pirate’s House. Those of you who have read Treasure Island read about the Pirate’s House in the book. If you haven’t read the book, shame on you! Go get it and read it!!! Incorporated into the Pirate’s House is the oldest house in Savannah, the Herb House.

As we left the Pirate’s House, the resident Pirate stole Ms. Flat Stanlietta and held her for ransom, which we paid. Then we walked on to the Cathedral, which is supposed to be spectacular inside, but just as we approached, two tour buses disgorged their tourists, and as they swarmed up the steps and into the building Kay and I decided we’d rather go sit in Lafayette Square. While there, we realized on one side of the square was the home in which Juliet Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts, was born, and across the square was the childhood home of Flannery O’Conner, so while Kay sat and rested, I hiked the bit for a couple of photos.

Next on our walk was Forsythe Park, by way of several more small squares. I think that’s where the photo on the cover of the book about Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was taken, but not sure. The tour guide pointed out several interesting homes that were in that movie, and places where Forest Gump waited, and the steeple from which the feather floated downward in Forest Gump, but didn’t mention the fountain. From there, we meandered our way back to the pick up point and our return trip to the hotel, again regaled by Geri with interesting tidbits about Savannah, and her life here. (FYI, in the movie, the traffic ran the wrong way around the park where Forrest sat eating his box of chocolates! And the bench on which he sat was a prop, but it was made to look like the ones in the square)

Many of the old homes still have their carriage houses and what were slave quarters, which are now used as garages, apartments, or storage.

There are several tours available, plus many of the homes are open for touring (for a fee, of course). There are night-time tours to check out the resident ghosts (including Capt. Flint in the Pirate’s House), lots of Civil War stuff in the area, paddle wheelers, etc.

One of the nicer Civil War stories is that once Sherman arrived all the Churches were closed, but on Christmas, he not only allowed services at one church, but a Northerner and a Southerner gave the sermons!

There is a lot of ironwork in the city, and fearing Sherman would torch Savannah, as he neared the city the folks removed all their ironwork and buried it with their other valuables. As it turned out, Sherman didn’t torch the city, thankfully, but he did bivouac his men in the local cemetery. Being bored, with not a lot to do, they made a few, ah, changes, to some of the tombstones. There is one lady who lived to be 160, another who had 111 children, a couple of men who died before they were born..... well, boys will be boys, eh?

South Carolina and Charleston – not!

So, the thunderstorm I so enjoyed knocked out the WiFi at the hotel, and I couldn’t post the above. No bother, we were only two hours away from Beautiful Downtown Charleston, and another hotel, so off we ventured.

We stopped at the South Carolina Visitor’s Center (Welcome! the sign said) only to find it locked. They are closed on Tues and Wed. Sigh. They did have maps in a bin outside the door, to which we helped ourselves, and as we were muttering because there were no hotel coupon books, a young lady came up and muttered about the lack of maps. We showed her the maps, and she walked us over to where all the hotel books were located. What started off as a grumble turned into a delightful visit with Anne, who, it turned out was from Portland OR! Well, for the last four years. She and her fiance were en route back home to England to be married, and then moving to Scotland (I think that’s what she said.) We visited a bit, and parted, and Kay and I headed up the road toward Charleston.

We stopped at a Visitor’s Center in Walterboro (not: Waterboro) that was open, and the young lady gave us much information about Charleston, including several maps. By the time we reached Summerville, I had no voice, and felt like I had a vice about my chest – the air was yellow with pollens! At Summerville, we stopped at a little Mexican restaurant for lunch, looked over the maps, and decided neither one of us really wanted to drive into Charleston. It appeared, from the maps, that once in, there was no way out. About this time, one of Kay’s sons called, and kept telling us not to go there, or there, or there, to keep our doors locked, etc. So, when we got back to the car, we called several hotels that were near Charleston – rather Kay called, I had no voice – and discovered that NONE of them had shuttles into town, one thought a bus route was “down the street” but had no idea of the schedule, and NO tour groups ran shuttles out to any of the hotels other than the ones downtown. Kay and I decided neither of us had lost anything in Charleston, and headed up the road toward Travelers Rest, SC, where our friends Jan and Lori live. About an hour out of the Charleston area, I began to breathe much easier and my voice returned.

Per directions, when we reached New Cut Road, we called Jan, and as we neared the other end of the road, Jan approached on her bright red trike and we followed her home, arriving about 5. We are having a marvelous visit, starting off this morning with laundry. (Why is it, even when we’re on vacation, we still have certain chores to do? Oh, sigh! But, we have been very fortunate, I think all the laundry we’ve done has been at the home of friends. I don’t think we’ve had to do any in hotels. Well, maybe once. Domestic life must continue, even on the road ;-)

Try to make at least three people smile each day.