Savannah, Part Two

Have I mentioned lately how much I enjoy (love) history? I love being right in the middle of it, right in the middle of a place with well-preserved history. My head wants to explode with the magnitude of it all. It's not difficult for me to imagine a young Savannah, a humid wilderness, teeming with insects, disease, politics, (notice how I placed those together!) natives and newcomers. Strip away the paved roads, the tourists, air-conditioning and the traffic noises, add in dusty streets, horses and carriages, the ripe smell of livestock in the backyards and a general lack of indoor plumbing, wood fires and the sounds of chickens, goats, and people, talking. The people, not the chicken and the goats. I do have a hard time imaging how it felt to wear multiple layers of clothing during the summer, and to do without deodorant, screens, bug spray and readily available ice. No wonder there were sleeping porches - who could stand to sleep in a bedroom on a second floor? I'm not sure if could decide between mosquitoes or heat stroke!

Door of the First African Baptist Church, started May 20, 1775

Random fence picture

Random bike photo

A city of artists and poets . . .

The Kehoe House

Side porch of the Juliette Gordon Low house

New Johnny Mercer statue. This area used to be a parking lot, and before that one of the squares (please, if I'm wrong, correct me). The last time we saw it it was just a gigantic hole in the ground. The city built an underground parking deck, and turned it into a nice spot to sit and enjoy the scenery.

The carriage house of the Andrew Low house (marriage home of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts). Mrs. Low bequeathed it to the Girl Scouts for all time - it was the site of the very first Girl Scout meeting.

One thing you can be sure of seeing in Savannah is plenty of Girl Scouts. This group was on the piazza of the Low House, doing some sort of ceremony. The Juliette Gordon Low story is fascinating, not always happy but enduring. I found it amusing that the tour of her childhood home and the one of her marriage home each shed a different light on her life. Her childhood home tour told of her unhappy marriage, and the tour of her marriage home never mentioned it!!

Early morning patriotism

Again, the First African Baptist Church

Factor's Walk

The Cotton Exchange and warehouses are located here, hence the name

The Davenport Home

The Cotton Exchange

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Another view of Factor's Walk, with River Street to the left

Monument to the African American Soldiers of the Revolutionary War