Sultry and seductive Savannah

We're staying in a very comfortable two story wooden heritage home just one block from Forsyth Park.  It sits in a picturesque, tree-lined street, and gives us a really good idea of what it might be like to actually live here. The very first thing we noticed about the historic district of Savannah is that it’s squirrel central. J thinks they're the cutest things, and they are. This city is pack jammed full of crepe myrtles with fuscia pink flowers and loads and loads of live oak trees: Heavenly.

Yesterday morning we went straight out to buy coffee, as this is the first AirBnB we've stayed at that does not supply it. Fortunately there’s a coffee bean providore and café just a few blocks away, facing the lower end of Forsyth Park. It’s a hippy trippy sort of place, and a bit too feral for me frankly. The crowd there reminded me of the scene in Newtown & Enmore in Sydney. You’re expected to half do your own dishes, which I found revolting. I felt this put a certain tarnished edge on our first impressions of Savannah, which wasn't necessarily a fair representation.

J & I had oatmeal with pecans and cranberries for brekkie, and my hub had a cheese and egg croissant. Being seated by the window, we noticed that lots of people had cute dogs. Another cool thing about the place was that they gave my hub a trophy (as an order token) when he came back to our bench by the window. I thought that was hilarious, given it was Father's Day in the U.S. yesterday. It must have been a trophy store before it was a café, coz when I looked up high I saw dozens of old 1970s trophies up on the mezzanine which they were using as junk storage.

We walked through part of Forsyth Park, which was lovely. It’s been a dream of mine to come here for twenty years now. The whole park, although large, is quite a bit smaller overall than I imagined. Next we grabbed our rental car and drove downtown to visit the First African Baptist Church on Franklin Square. Yes, believe it or not, we went to Church! Just for a look, because we’ve always wanted to witness the place that gospel came from and the blues grew out of. It was a big deal for me to get my hub in there. He’s 54 and says he would have been 7 when he last went to an actual service, other than for a wedding or funeral. I was about 12. We stayed about half an hour, just listening and watching. Heard two great songs, and found it entertaining listening to the preacher for a while, and observing the congregation, but then we had to leave. It was special though and one of those boxes in life we’ve now ticked.

Next we walked around a bit, through the City Market to Ellis Square and then over to Telfair Square. This section feels very ‘downtown’ and it’s OK, but it’s not that special, so we drove in search of a supermarket, found one and bought ourselves lunch to eat in, so as to save money. The funniest thing is that every time Laurie buys wine, he gets asked for ID. He’s 54!!! We’ve asked around and it’s a Low Country thing – Everyone get’s asked – ‘It’s the law’… When you leave a store, people say things to us like "Y'all be blessed." Classic.

J was asking why the only music on the radio is either country, reggae or God Rock, and I had to say that’s because that’s where we are… We discovered another category this afternoon ‘70s Guitar’.. .They love old rockers here. So much more to add about our adventures at Bonaventure Cemetery yesterday, on our completely absorbing 2.5 hour guided tour, which I really need to write a small essay on. It was way beyond impressive.

Then there were all of our adventures today, which began with us jumping on the free bus downtown, which poor locals seem to use. We had brunch at a great eatery on Bay Street, the walked home, as per our plan, via as many city parks as we could squeeze into the two hour time allowance. We walked from city square to city square, zigzagging in fact, all the way trying to work out which ones were our favourites. I chose a first and a second, but with so many to choose from… The fact is they are all good in their own way, if only by virtue of the fact that they are there – The lungs of this little city. It’s so wonderful. On our way we explored the oldest cemetery in Savannah, the Colonial, which was rather lovely, and a few blocks on we came across a gourmet food mini-mart as well as a very impressive bookstore. We purchased several items at each stop.


We absolutely loved visiting Charleston, in all aspects. It's very grown up, polished and pretty. However, the wealth of public parks in Savannah really do it for us. It's a highly seductive lifestyle city.  Having spent three nights in both Charleston and Savannah, that is the minimum we would recommend, but it was adequate. If I had my time again, within the same budget, I would probably add in one night in Beaufort, in-between these two big cities, just to take the heat off, on a whole lot of levels.

This afternoon my loved ones wanted to go to the beach, so we asked around and found out where the locals go. We were told North Beach of Tybee Island, 40 minutes away. Today it was 26 degrees in the water, apparently. Me? I spent my time on a wooden beach swing, and after half an hour there in the bold sun, I went to a communal wooden rotunda for a short while, and then finally found myself some privacy in the shade on the verandah of a coastal heritage museum called 'Summer Cottage', where I could peruse Architectural digest without glare.

After that, we went to a rough edged place called the 'Crab Shack', which my loved ones enjoyed immensely. Reminded me of Australia's Top End. Not quite my scene, but it was memorable, and I was there for them. It's such a relaxed place overall, I really didn't mind the side trip.