Savannah, GA

In 1733, James Oglethorpe came 15 miles upriver from the Atlantic and chose this site for the 13th colony, known as Georgia (named in honor of King George II of England).  He arrived with 120 passengers on the ship “Anne”.   Savannah’s haunted history began shortly after. When residents died, they were buried in cemeteries around what is now the Downtown area. In later years as the city expanded, houses and businesses were built on top of the burial sites. Many believe these long-forgotten spirits, along with other dearly departed Savannahians, haunt the city’s streets, homes and historic sites. 

We arrived by bus and walked to the waterfront, also called River Street.  From the waterfront we had a great view of the Eugene Talmadge Memorial Bridge which was hit by two ships and had to be re-built.  It re-opened in 1991 and reminded John and I of the bridge in Charleston.  The City Hall building is domed with 24k gold.  The Cotton Exchange building was built in 1872 when export revenue from cotton was $40 million when Georgia was the leading cotton producer in the country, and Savannah was one of the major cotton seaports on the Atlantic. By the 1880s the area was known as the "Wall Street of the South." Ironically the current building was constructed when cotton was only selling for as little as ten cents a pound. But it was a little insect, the boll weevil, which finally rendered the building obsolete by 1920.

We bought tickets to board the “Old Savannah Tours” trolley on-off tour.  It cost $25 per person but is worth its weight in gold for the historical information you receive during the ride.  Historic re-enactors board the trolley every so often to tell you a story.  The lady in blue told us about the Underground Railroad at the Presbyterian Church and how the Red doors and/or the 9-block quilts hung over the railings marked a safe place for the slaves to approach.  The pirate told us about the Pirate House and the underground tunnel leading to the waterway which enabled pirates to smuggle in the rum and promoted the Haunted Tour there.

The city is built around many Squares and the tour takes you to many of them.  You also get to see many of the homes and the different types of architecture.  Below is the Sorrel-Weed House.

For lunch we hopped off at stop #4 and went to “700 Drayton” which we had chosen before we started the tour because it is housed next to the Forsyth Mansion.  The orange décor was interesting

After filling our bellies, we headed across the street to Forsyth Park.

Back on the trolley we passed the Cathedral of St. John.

Finally, we got off again at City Market which is “where it was happening”.  There were bands playing in the squares, an artist fair in the streets and Savannah’s Candy Kitchen (home of the famous pecan praline).

This is a statue of Johnny Mercer.  Born in 1909 in Savannah he wrote over 1700 song lyrics in his lifetime.  Some of the most famous are “You must have been a beautiful baby”, “Moon River”, and “Jeepers Creepers”.