Savannah - In the Springtime!

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Savannah, with its 22 park squares and rich history, has long been a destination city. Since the publication and popularity of the book "In the Garden of Good and Evil" with the bird girl statue on the cover, the lure and mystique of this city has only increased. Some want to see the bench where Forest Gump sat, which is in Chippewa Square. Paula Deen's chicken is a draw for others (more about that later), there are restaurants and bars aplenty (more about that later) and the city was filled last week with many older tourists (excluding us, of course) taking bus tours. We were three women on a budget who chose to explore the city on our own terms, with the purchase of a 2-day parking pass for $12, a couple of rides on a free DOT bus, and many miles of walking.

Waiting for a DOT - not this bus!

The bird girl statue (depicted above in stained glass) became such a draw that it had to be moved to a museum for protection and we did not see it. This photo was snapped as I emerged from the restroom inside Clary's Cafe, where we enjoyed breakfast on the street: great coffee, biscuits, breakfast potatoes and bacon omelets. We hadn't read the reviews (they are mixed) when we happened upon this place, hungry and needing a caffeine fix, on a morning walk along Abercorn street, in the middle of Savannah's historic district. Clary's Cafe has been serving "greasy spoon" breakfast fare for decades. The building dated to 1903.
                                               

One of the squares

Besides exploring the historic district, we managed to find the famous cemetery (with the invaluable help of our Garmin we named Charlotte) where the bird girl first resided, Bonaventure Cemetery. This is on the top 10 list of things to do in Savannah and my daughter also had recommended it. My companions kept asking, "Why are we going to the cemetery?"

The ghost tours and stories were the farthest thing from our minds as we drove through this massive cemetery in sunny daylight with large, deep-pink azaleas blooming gloriously. I took only one photo to document my visit ... but a misadventure did occur (captured by O's camera) which I am not going to publicly expose. Even though we were given a sheet of "cemetery etiquette" that said "do not touch any memorials or artifacts" and "stay off cemetery lots," an incident of inadvertent desecration occurred.....(with no permanent damage!). In fact, we still laugh every time we remember what happened.

A gravestone in Bonaventure Cemetery

Yes, we had many thoughts and snapped dozens of photos which will remain private (in the vault), I hope. There were more butt shots taken than biscuits eaten on this road trip to Savannah AND Charleston. Savannah (in Spring) has now been scratched off my list of places to visit before I die.

Azalea in cemetery of St. Philip's church in Charleston

We saw many sights and absorbed a little history here and there. One large monument that was topped with a statue of liberty was built in honor of a Polish nobleman, Pulaski, who fought on the American side in the battle for Savannah, losing his life in that battle in 1779. It was not funded until the next century but still remains in all its marble and granite glory in Monterey Square.

Monument to Pulaski

Everything in Georgia seemed to be named after General Oglethorpe, who founded the colony of Georgia. He has a large monument as well.

I came to Savannah hoping to see the azaleas in bloom and I was not disappointed. The azaleas in Forsyth Park were not that impressive--a little small and past prime, but plenty of blooming shrubs were found in both cities we visited.

Azalea by fountain in Forsyth Park

The iconic fountain of Forsyth Park

J admires azaleas in Charleston

Besides azaleas and sunshine and warmer weather, we discovered both cities were near lots of water. Savannah's historic district is right on the river, which we crossed by ferry, exploring the Westin hotel, which we could not afford. We veiwed the ocean beach by traveling the 18 miles to Tybee Island. In Charleston we took a $20 boat tour of the harbor (just one tour!) passing by Fort Sumter, which would be amazing to tour if you are a history buff. Both cities are harbors and we saw huge container ships coming in to port.

And we just had to cross this beautiful bridge, the last thing we did before heading out of Charleston:

And what would going south be without sampling a little fried food.

Authentically southern - fried chicken, okra and mac and cheese at Jestine's in Charleston. One of the chicken pieces was spoiled. Three buck off did not make up for it. I cannot recommend this place.

Fried green tomatoes with (really tasty) sweet relish  - Jestine's

Chicken pot pie with chunks of Paula's fried chicken - The Lady and Sons

99 cent leg, ala carte off buffet - The Lady and Sons

shrimp wontons (Tybee Island)

The food that elicited the most oohs and mmm's of the whole trip was another recommended spot in Savannah--Leopold's Ice Cream. There was a long line out the door, but the customers kept coming out exclaiming "It's worth it!" O and I had two scoops each--coconut/coffee and butter pecan/caramel swirl. I dug in so fast I didn't even think of taking a photo of our bowls. I thought I knew good ice cream but this stuff was pretty amazing. O snapped a menu photo.

Another spot in Savannah where we enjoyed ourselves was Wet Willie's. After giggling about the name of the bar and some of the offerings, we sampled about a dozen daiquiris before picking one. Some were actually disgusting, one tasting like bad cough syrup. I ended up with a double of "sex on the beach" paired with some "naked willie" (sugar-free) flavor. It was pretty empty there in the early afternoon and we had a great lunch experience at a table overlooking the Savannah River. The food was also good. I had a drunken chicken sandwich with pineapple coleslaw and my friends had this stunning salad:

Photo by O at Wet Willie's

The Lady and Sons:
more to come...

This is the lovely wall of the street level women's restroom at The Lady and Sons. There is a limit to one's toleration of the authentic touches in old historic buildings!

"Paula's" bathroom

Random shots of Charleston:

My Dad? 

Crossing over - my view from back seat

Where are we?

I obviously did not include all the good food eaten. We packed our own cooler lunches for the long trip. But by the evening of the first night, in Charlotte, I scarfed down a perfect Culver's burger. And on the way home I tried that new Mickey D's bacon club burger. We also stopped in Cincinnati for a rib dinner and breakfasted in a free B&B in Dayton Ohio with coffee, scones and an egg casserole.

It was a great and memorable trip. The worst part was the long miles of tedious expressways, only justified by how very inexpensive it made the trip, with gas split three ways. I'm certainly not ready to do it again for a few months...