Savannah and Tybee Island

Thursday, July Fourth

Savannah first appeared on my radar when I was researching lighthouses and saw that it was near the Tybee Island Lighthouse. One thing I’ve learned about lighthouses is that they are almost always surrounded by interesting and beautiful places. My knowledge of Savannah was limited to vague impressions of moss-draped trees and good Southern food, but that was enough for me! It just took a few years to convince Ron to make the road trip.

We left early Thursday morning to beat the traffic. Before the trip, I realized that St Simons Island Lighthouse was only about an hour south of Savannah, so we took a detour, getting to St Simons Island a little after noon. As we got close to the coast, the scenery changed to miles of salt marshes, their green and silver grasses waving in the breeze. So pretty! The island was packed for the holiday, but we managed to find a parking spot. We didn’t want to take the time to climb the lighthouse so we just walked around the grounds before hitting the road again.

St Simons Lighthouse

We finally made it to our hotel in Savannah around 2 o’clock. We were booked at the Hampton Inn on Bay Street, a perfect location. The first thing we did was go up to the rooftop pool of the hotel for a great view of the Savannah River, the Talmadge Memorial Bridge and the gold dome of City Hall. Then we wandered down to the riverfront. Across the street from the hotel was Factor’s Row, lined with 19th century brick buildings where cotton was once warehoused and traded. Savannah sat a bluff high above the river and to get down to River Street you had to walk down the “historic steps.” Apparently, there were no safety standards for stairs when these were built so they were all different and they were all really steep! River Street was paved with stones that were originally used as ballast for ships. Ron and I quickly realized that flip flops were probably not the smartest choice for footwear. :-)

Cotton Exchange Building

River Street

We strolled up and down the riverfront, watching the boat traffic while Ron sipped on a beer. Savannah's historic district is one of the few places in the United States where you can walk around with an open container of alcohol. As long as it’s in a plastic cup no larger than 16 ounces, it’s perfectly legal. Ron thought this was great. Clouds had been building through the afternoon and before long it started drizzling and thundering, so we ducked into the shops to get out of the rain. On a recommendation from nephew David, we found the Savannah Bee Company, which sells honey and other bee-related products. They had a honey tasting and we sampled a few different kinds (acacia was my favorite). I thought about how much Daddy had loved honey and wished I could take some back for him.

For dinner, we ate at Treylor Park, just up the street from the hotel. It was a unique little place that served classic Southern dishes with a twist. I had the shrimp and grits tacos while Ron ordered the PB&J chicken wings. We’d planned to watch the fireworks from the rooftop pool, but when we got up to the roof, we were told by staff that it was at maximum capacity. Instead, we went back down to the river and found a decent spot in the crowd. The fireworks were set off across the river near the Westin Hotel. It was a good show despite the 100% humidity. Not to be outdone, Mother Nature let out a few of her own booms. When the fireworks were over, we followed the sea of people back to Bay Street and then headed to bed. I was really hoping the weather would be more cooperative the next day! There was so much I wanted to see. Even in the rain, I could tell how pretty the city was, with all the little parks, oak trees and magnolias. I was already charmed.

Friday

I woke up at 7 and peeked out the window. The rain was gone and there were just a few clouds. Yay!! After taking advantage of the hotel’s free breakfast, we picked up the car from the parking garage and drove to Tybee Island. The Tybee Island Light Station was one of the nicest lighthouse stations we’ve visited. All of its original buildings had been restored, including the lighthouse keeper’s house and two assistants’ cottages. The lighthouse still had its original First Order Fresnel lens from 1867. We climbed the 178 steps to the top of the tower, then toured the lighthouse keeper’s house. The house was surprisingly large – two stories with three bedrooms. Because the nearest freshwater well was a mile away, the house had a 3000-gallon cistern under the floor, very much like the cisterns we learned about on our recent trip to Bermuda.

Tybee Island Light Station

lighthouse keeper's house

North Beach

On the ride back to Savannah, we stopped to take pictures of the Cockspur Island Lighthouse, Georgia’s smallest lighthouse. Built on an oyster bed in the middle of the river and threatened by erosion and shipworms, the lighthouse is closed to the public, but we found a road to an abandoned housing development that had a good viewing point. When I planned this trip, I thought I was going to see one lighthouse, but I got to see three!

Cockspur Island Lighthouse

Back in the historic district, we decided to take a ride on the Savannah Belles Ferry, a free ferry service that ran back and forth between River Street and Hutchinson Island. Each of the four Savannah Belles ferries is named after an important woman in Savannah's history. We caught the ferry at the landing by the Waving Girl Statue, a monument to Florence Martus who started waving to every passing ship when she was eighteen years old. For the next 40 years, Florence kept waving and over time, she became known all over the world. We rode upriver to the City Hall landing where we got off and walked around a bit. By then, it was really hot and I was feeling overheated, so we went back to the hotel to cool off and nap for the rest of the afternoon.

the Waving Girl statue

Savannah Belles Ferry

City Hall

Ron was in the mood for casual seafood for dinner that night. We chose the Cotton Exchange Tavern, housed in one of the former cotton warehouses on River Street. We ordered shrimp two ways (garlic shrimp for me, peel and eat shrimp for Ron) and sat by the window on the second floor where we could see the massive container ships going by on the river. It was my favorite meal of the trip. Afterwards, we went to Savannah’s Candy Kitchen for ice cream and free samples of their freshly made pralines. The air had cooled down to a much more pleasant temperature so we took a walk around Reynolds Square and down to the shops on Broughton Street. The line outside Leopold’s Ice Cream on Broughton was insane! At first we thought everyone was waiting to get into the movie theater next door. Just how good was that ice cream? :-)  When it started to rain again, we headed back to the hotel where we fell asleep to the sound of thunder.

Saturday

Saturday was the day for our trolley tour with Old Savannah Tours. With a Hop On-Hop Off tour ticket, you could get on or off the trolleys at any of the 16 stops around the historic district. We hadn’t ventured very far from the riverfront yet, and I was looking forward to seeing more of the city. Even though Savannah is very walkable, I thought we’d be a lot more comfortable in the heat if we could sit at least part of the day, and we’d probably learn more too.

We boarded a trolley at the Visitor Center and as we rode along, our driver told us some of the history of Savannah. When General Oglethorpe sailed up the river in 1733 to establish a new colony called Georgia (after King George), he laid out the city into grids with 24 public squares. 22 of the squares still exist today. By the 1950s, Savannah was deteriorating, and developers were tearing down the old buildings to make room for cars, parking garages and shopping centers. Savannahians began to worry that they were losing their identity. In 1955, a group of seven women banded together to purchase the 1820s Davenport House and save it from demolition. But they didn’t stop with one house. They went on to form the Historic Savannah Foundation which created a revolving fund to purchase and resell historic buildings to people willing to preserve them. The foundation has since saved hundreds of historic buildings, and the Davenport House is now a house museum.  Major kudos to those seven women!

We hopped off the trolley at Stop 4, Forsyth Park, to see the famous fountain. The park was lovely, with beautiful old oak trees and benches and lots of people walking their dogs. Due to the rain, the resurrection ferns on the branches of the oak trees had turned bright green. I was fascinated by the trees. Around the corner from Forsyth Park was the Mercer-Williams House, where the murder in “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” took place. The house was built for songwriter Johnny Mercer’s great-grandfather, Hugh Mercer, but he lost it before it was finished so no Mercers actually lived there.

Forsyth Park

Mercer-Williams House

After catching another trolley, we hopped off again at Stop 8 because I wanted to tour the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters. Unfortunately, the next available tour wasn’t for another hour. We decided to forget the tour and walked down to Chippewa Square instead. This is the square where Forrest Gump sat on a bench and told anyone who would listen that life was like a box of chocolates. We had lunch at the Six Pence Pub on Bull Street where I tried the shepherd’s pie (yum!). Before we left the restaurant, I asked for a to-go cup of rum and Coke for the trolley ride. It was great to be able to sit on the trolley, sipping my drink.

General Oglethorpe monument in Chippewa Square

Six Pence Pub

Our trolley driver for the rest of the tour was “Big Scott” and he was great. We’d gotten back on the trolley at Stop 2, which meant we repeated part of the route. But it didn’t matter because each driver is allowed to write his or her own script. You could take the tour multiple times and hear different information each time. On Abercorn Street, Scott pointed out the old dueling grounds, conveniently located next to a cemetery. Later, we passed a man walking a giant tortoise. Scott said that the man took his tortoise out for a walk every Saturday. It was almost straight out of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” And I’d thought the odd characters in that book couldn’t be real. :-)

The Olde Pink House

We had dinner that night at Huey’s on the River, a New Orleans style restaurant which turned out to be our one disappointment. Noisy restaurant, bland food. How do you make Cajun food bland?? I was bummed since it was our last night in Savannah, but a scoop of ice cream from Savannah’s Candy Kitchen helped make up for it. Ron picked up a cigar from one of the shops and we walked along the riverfront watching a beautiful sunset over the river, a great ending to a fun trip. Things I loved about Savannah – the trees, the river, the lighthouses, the hospitality, the history.