Savannah Ga (Port #75) ; Apr 20-26

Warning – this is a very long post, we were in Savannah for a week.

OMG !
We thought St Augustine was a great stop.
Savannah blows St Augustine away.
Well, it doesn’t really blow it away, but it is a much bigger city and has even more options for things to do, places to go, food to be eaten !
There is so much to see & do here ; waterfront restaurants/bars, historic buildings, 22 park town squares, water fountains, statues, historic homes, shopping districts, churches, city markets, museums, connections to Hollywood movies, art, theatre, graveyards, moss filled oak trees, cobblestone roads, beaches, & more (that means I can’t think of any more things).

This long blog update will be set up in 3 sections
1. a Savannah History Lesson
2. What Nellie & I did in Savannah
3. Photos & background of some of Savannah’s most well known landmarks

Let’s start with the Savannah History Lesson (the Murphree version).
We spent our first 2 days gettin’ to know the city. We went on a city trolley tour on Saturday afternoon & went to the Savannah History Museum on Sunday morning. From these 2 information sources, here is my rough outline/understanding of Savannah’s History.

> The city is about 285 years old, founded in 1733 (remember, St Augustine is the oldest, founded in 1565).
> Savannah was founded by the British, a guy named James Oglethorpe, as a strategic post for defending England’s rule of northern cities like Charleston, from the Spanish down in Florida.
> Savannah was the 1st American city to be designed using a grid-system street layout.
> In the 1700’s , Savannah’s climate, river system, and grid layout allowed it to prosper as a cotton/silk producer bringing riches and prosperity to the region.
> During the 1760’s-1770’s, The British had passed new laws to govern the American colonies ; a Sugar Tax in 1764 & the Stamp Tax in 1765.
> The American colonies revolted and declared their independence in 1776.
> In 1783 at the end of the Revolutionary War, peace negotiations begin in Paris. The United States sent Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. A peace treaty was drafted calling for Great Britain to recognize the American Independence & provide for the evacuation of all British troops.
> During the late 1700’s to early 1800’s, with its river port and economy booming through cotton, Savannah’s new-found wealth created lavish mansions and civil buildings across the city. The still-standing Savannah Cotton Exchange set world commodity prices.
> During the Civil war 1861 – 1865, most of the southern cities were burned to the ground.
> In 1865, after the Union had defeated the Confederacy, Savannah’s picturesque cityscape, serene lifestyle, and charm saved the city from total destruction by General Sherman’s Union army. General Sherman couldn’t bring himself to issue the order to burn Savannah to the ground, he then offered the city to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift.
> Reconstruction occurred during the late 1800’s-early 1900’s. With much of the south demolished following the American Civil War, Savannah’s economy collapsed and times were tough with little supplies, food, etc.
> By the early 1900’s, the cotton industry was beginning to revive until a plague of boll weevils struck (bugs), destroying the cotton plants. This happened concurrently with the Great Depression and the subsequent bank and business failures.
> In the early 1900’s, Savannah then went thru a period of heavy industry & manufacturing, attempting to diversify from only cotton. Wood, Paper, Pitch & Turpentine (required for wood ships) became new industries. During World War II, Savannah aided the war effort with the creation of Liberty Ships. All of the new heavy industry & manufacturing resulted in the demolition of many historic places in Savannah.
> In 1955, the demolition of the City Market (1870) on Ellis Square and the attempted demolition of the Davenport House (1821) prompted seven Georgia women to create the Historic Savannah Foundation. Throughout the 1960s, the foundation was able to halt some further destruction of historic buildings and to preserve the original structures. In 1978 the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) was founded, and rather than building one centralized campus, it began a process of renovation & reuse of many notable downtown buildings. These efforts, along with the work of the Historic Savannah Foundation, have contributed greatly to Savannah’s rebirth.
> The city’s popularity as a tourist destination grew in the 1980s and has been solidified by; the 1997 motion picture Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and the Robert Louis Stevenson book Treasure Island, which references the now famous Pirate’s House Inn.
> Savannah has now drawn over 50 million visitors to the city since the year 2000. This district is now one of America’s largest National Historic Landmark areas.
> Like New Orleans & Key West, Savannah has also become a popular destination for parties & parades, including the second-largest St Patrick’s Day parade in the United States. This is aided by a very lenient public drinking policy which allows open alcoholic beverages every day of the year in the Historic District.

Enough of the history lesson !

2. What Nellie & I did in Savannah

Apr 20 – Fri
As stated in the previous post , we arrived in Savannah on Friday afternoon, washed the nasty/filthy/ salt water crystals off the boat, talked with Dan & Megan, reserved a car for 5 days in Savannah, had Poppa John’s pizza for dinner , and called it an early night.

Apr 21 – Sat
Saturday was really day 1 for us in Savannah (Friday was a wasted cleanup day).
We spent the morning visiting with some fellow Loopers, and went to pick up a rental car.
Savannah is about 15 minutes away from the marina, and each uber ride would be about $20 one-way. So we decided to rent the car for multiple trips into Savannah, trips to the beach, and to get & return oil for the next scheduled engine oil change.

We picked up the car up about 11:30am.
We then headed into downtown Savannah about 12:30pm and spent the afternoon & early evening in Savannah.

We started with lunch on the balcony of a waterfront place called Lizzy’s Tequila Bar & Grill.
The food was pretty good, we split a Grouper Rueben.
The setting & surroundings were awesome, with great views of; the Riverfront District, the Cobblestone Roads, the Savannah River, large freighters loaded with shipping containers, and a musician playing “America the Beautiful” just below our balcony – which was also hanging the American Flag.

After lunch we went on a trolley tour recommended by our Looper pals Rula Bula.
I did not really expect so much, but it was great. It was funny & educational.
Some of the highlights from the ride were ;
> Our tour guide Gertrude, an ole southern bell.

> We met captain Jack Sparrow

> We met Savannah native, Forrest Gump (more on this later)

 

Apr 21 – Sat (continued)
After the trolley ride and a lot of walking, we met our friends Rula Bula Saturday afternoon at the area known as The City Market. It is a pedestrian area with bars, restaurants, etc.

We met at a place called Wet Willy’s and had Adult Smoothie Drinks. I had a drink recommended by the trolley guide known as a “Triple Play”


After socializing with Rula Bula and their fun friends Willy & Kelly , we had dinner at one of the many “must-see” places in Savannah called The Cotton Exchange Tavern, along the riverfront, where the commercial cotton trading business once existed.
The Cotton Exchange was opened relatively recently in 1971. Prior to that date, it is reported that the riverfront was not family friendly, and was occupied mostly by sailors & bars.
The building is circa 1823 and is made out of ballast stones that the cotton ships of England arrived with in their hulls to stabilize the boats. After arrival in America, the stones were repurposed for roads and buildings, including the building currently known as The Cotton Exchange Tavern.

After adult smoothies at Wet Willy’s and drinks at The Cotton Exchange, I was feeling quite “Loopy” and in a weakened moment, went into a place called The Savannah Candy Kitchen.
OMG, big mistake, 30 minutes later we had spent another $50 on taffy & cookies.

We exited the Riverfront Street via the historic/danger steps, returned to the boat as comatose zombies, and passed out after a long day of tourism, walking, eating & drinking.
But what a fun 1st full day !

Apr 22 – Sun
On Sunday we started the morning with a trip to the historical museum. We went there mainly to get a photo of the Forrest Gump park bench (more on this later). But we also got some tips on other significant things to see in Savannah before we left.

After the museum, we went for brunch at a place on Broughton Street (the major shopping district street) called The Funky Brunch Café. After breakfast, we walked Broughton Street and saw a famous Savannah ice cream shop called Leopold’s (check out the line at 11am). Having just had breakfast, we resisted the ice cream !

After brunch/breakfast we then continued our research of historic facts & photos. It was a LOT of walking with the goal of gettin‘ photos of the places we had heard about on the trolley tour & seen at the historical museum.

After walking and taking photos of the churches, historic homes, and parks, we took a time-out rest at the Forsyth Park – Dating back to the 1840s, Forsyth Park is the largest park in Savannah & occupies 30 acres in the Historic District. There is a large water fountain at the center, gardens, walking trails, sports fields and a quaint café. During our fatigued time-out rest, we watched a cricket match !

After our Forsyth Park rest, we met Rula Bula + son Ryan (who had just arrived in Savannah) at The Moon River Brewing Company for some pre-dinner socializing.

For dinner on Sunday night, we went with Rula Bula & son Ryan, to another one of the “must-see” iconic restaurants in Savannah called The Pirates House restaurant.
A portion of the structure was built in 1734, making it the oldest standing building in the state of Georgia. Originally an Inn and tavern for seaman visiting from abroad, the restaurant was established in 1753. The Pirates’ House is home to some rare early edition pages of Treasure Island, the book by Robert Louis Stevenson. The pages can be seen hanging on the walls of the Captain’s room and the Treasure room in the Pirates’ House.

 

Apr 23 – Mon
Monday was a sucky day, it was about 60 degrees, and high wind with heavy rain ALL DAY.
So we turned Monday into a work day.

I went to West Marine and purchased some Salt-Away, boat cleaning product recommended by a couple of our Looper friends; Derek Gamradt from the vessel Donna Mae & Tim Gareau from Craic.
They advised that the Salt-Away hooks directly to your water hose and dramatically reduces the time to clear the salt water film off of the boat vs a full wash. Can’t wait to try it out at the next port.

Monday was also Oil Change Day for the 2 motors.
I had last changed the engine oil in Fort Myers Beach, about 125 hours & 1200 miles ago.
This would be the 4th oil change so far, with 2 more planned before we return to Michigan.

Jonell did some cleaning in the morning & helped me with the oil change in the afternoon.

For dinner, we went again with our pals from Rula Bula (Mike & JoAnne Feeney from Green Bay). It was our farewell dinner for a while. Rula Bula will be speeding up a little to get son Ryan to Beaufort SC by next week.
We went to a restaurant near the marina called The Driftaway Cafe.
There was nothing special about this place, it was not on the must see list, but it was a nice friendly atmosphere with cheap beer & good food. Oh, they also had a cool fish tank with jelly fish !

 

Apr 24 – Tues
On Tuesday I spent the morning making marina reservations into North Carolina for our upcoming visit with friends Dave & Ginger Hinman. They will join us on May 15th.
I had previously made reservations for the bigger cities like, Georgetown, Mertyl Beach, and Beaufort, but had some open holes in the smaller cities. It’s a good thing that I was calling early, as there appears to be a big sportfish tournament in Wrightsville NC on May 20th, booking up many marinas.
We usually book marinas about 2-3 weeks in advance of our arrival.

We departed the boat and went into Savannah about 10am for, guess what, some Eating !
There is yet another iconic, “must-see” restaurant in Savannah called Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room.
The Problem = Mrs Wilkes is only open from 11am – 2pm Monday thru Friday, has very long waiting lines to get in, and does not take reservations.
So if you want to get stuffed on (Chicken, Ham, Beef Stew, Potatoes, Yams, Collard Greens, Green Beans, Lima Beans, Black Eyed Peas, Baked beans, etc) at 11am in the morning, you have to arrive and stand in line by 10am.
We arrived at 10:30am, below is a photo of the line 30 minutes before opening.
We were seated in the 2nd grouping of folks, about 12 noon (a 1.5 hour wait) !

Mrs. Wilkes History = Most Southern towns used to have a boardinghouse where you could find a quiet room and a communal dining room that offered at least two hearty meals a day. Boardinghouse food was the normal daily fare for middle-class laborers.
In 1943, a young Sema Wilkes took over a boardinghouse in historic downtown Savannah. Her goal was modest: to make a living by offering comfortable lodging and homestyle Southern cooking served family style in the downstairs dining room.
The goal lives on today, with only 8 tables of 10 seats each, serving only 80 people per sitting at a time. Each table is covered with about 20 bowls of food. You sit with 9 other people at your table, eat hearty, and get to know previously total strangers during the meal.

The bottom Line = It was a good experience, but 11am is toooo early to be eating a meal that big. The food was good, especially the chicken, but we felt ill & lethargic the rest of the day.

After Mrs Wilkes Dining Room, we went on a tour of The First African Baptist Church. The church claims to be derived from the first black Baptist congregation in North America. While it was not officially organized until 1788, it grew from members who founded the congregation in 1773. Its claim of “first” is contested by the Silver Bluff Baptist Church of South Carolina, and the First Baptist Church of Petersburg, Virginia, whose congregations officially organized in 1774.

The tour guide and parishioner Josef, gave us about a 1-1/2 hour tour and history lesson about the church & the underground railroad.
No photos were allowed inside of the church.
The building which houses the Church was finished in 1859, almost 100 years after the land was obtained for the church.
The historical features inside of the Church include; a 1832 Pipe Organ, support pillars which are aligned thru 3 floor levels of the structure, air holes in the flooring which covered underground tunnels from the church to the river & carvings on the ends of the pews which represented the many slave tribes which contributed to making the church. Josef reported that the church was made entirely by slaves who came to work on the church after long days in the cotton fields. Religion was in high regard in the south, so allowing the slaves to build their own place of worship was endorsed by the slave owners.

The church became a significant tool for the Underground Railroad (a network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved people to escape to the free northern states and Canada, with the aid of both black & white abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause).
The ceiling of the Church was designed similar to a “Nine Patch Quilt” that Josef showed to us. The “nine patches” provided a hidden message/pathway of how to use the underground railroad to search freedom to the north. Each of the patches on the quilt represent directions of steps to take, to lead one from the south to the free northern states and Canada.
Most slaves were illiterate, so the symbol meanings were taught by other slaves who could read (sometimes called Uncle Tom) and created a pictorial communication /road map from south to north.

Apr 24 – Tues (cont)
After the church tour, we went for a car ride to scope out Tybee beach, supposedly one of the top beaches, about 18 miles east of Savannah.
The Tybee Island & beach were not so impressive to us. The area looked like it may have big crowds at some point during the year, but the town looked sleepy/tired when we rolled thru. The beach did not have so many folks, and rental chairs & restrooms were not evident (are we gettin’ spoiled ?).

On the ride back to the boat we stopped at a cool little coffee shop called The Tybean Art & Coffee Bar, on Tybee Island. Nellie had COFFEE, I had a delicious smoothie.

After the big meal and long day, we came back to the boat about 6-7pm.
Mike worked on the blog, Nellie read, we had turkey sandwiches for dinner.

Apr 25 – Wed
On Wednesday we had another full day.

We started the day with a visit to The Wormsloe House. The House is listed as the oldest standing structure in Savannah dating back to 1739. It was the home of Noble Jones who was basically the right hand man of Savannah founder James Oglethorpe in 1733. The house is really just remnants of the original structure, and so highly surrounded in vegetation that photos were not available. We wanted to go there because we had heard that the house is at the end of a 1.5 mile street lined with Oak trees and Spanish moss. We were not disappointed, the ride down the perfectly straight Oak tree lined road was spectacular. The photos again don’t do it justice, just how magnificent the ride was. It is reported that there are over 400 Oak trees on the approach to the Wormsloe house.

Check out this video to get a feel for the ride. I have filmed only 30 seconds, the ride was about 8 minutes long at 15mph = https://youtu.be/YS7cYmPwT8o

After the Wormsloe House, we had to run an errand and return the used oil from yesterdays oil change, to the local O’Reilly’s Auto parts. It is a nice service that they accept the used marine oil, even though we did not buy it there.

After dropping off the used oil, we went to the Bonaventure Cemetery. Bonaventure is advertised as one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the country, with many famous folks from Savannah’s history buried there. The Bonaventure Cemetery is a public cemetery located on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah. The cemetery was cool, but not as beautiful as I had anticipated because we are too early in the season.
Here is what it looks like later in the spring (google photo).

Some significant burials in Bonaventure include ;
> Noble Jones – Physician, Civic leader, & the man most responsible for the formation of Savannah, next to founder James Oglethorpe. Surprisingly, there were many major/large monuments in the cemetery, the Noble Jones monument/casket was very small.

> Johnny Mercer – Songwriter and singer born in Savannah. He was also a record label executive, who co-founded Capitol Records. He wrote over 1900 songs,  including Moon River for the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s. He was buried with his family members, but also had the smallest tombstone of all his family members gravesites.

> Gracie Watson – The most visited grave site in Bonaventure Cemetery is that of Little Gracie Watson. Gracie died of pneumonia in 1889, just two days before Easter at the age of 5. Her father fell into a deep depression after Gracie’s death. As a tribute to his beautiful little girl, Gracie’s father had sculpture John Walz carve a monument to his girl. Using a photograph as reference, John Walz sculpted the monument which now sits upon Little Gracie’s grave site out at Bonaventure Cemetery. It is a life-size representation of Little Gracie Watson. This monument to Little Gracie has captivated visitors to her grave site for over 100 years.
The most heart-breaking part of the story is the Gracie is here all alone. After her death, her father quit his job managing the Pulaski Hotel in Savannah. He took a job working at the Desoto Hotel. However, that didn’t last too long. Eventually he and Frances moved back to New England, leaving Gracie all alone in Savannah. After their deaths, Gracie’s parents were buried in New England. Is this part of the reason why Little Gracie’s grave site is such a popular place to visit in Bonaventure?

 

After getting depressed at Bonaventure, we went to the Savannah riverfront and had lunch on the river at Joe’s Crab Shack. Yes, we know it is a chain restaurant, but it did have a very nice riverfront deck, and it was a beautiful day to be on the river watching the boats go by.

After lunch, we chilled in the riverfront park for a few hours.

We ended the day with; some grocery shopping , some blog writing, some prep work for our next stop at Hilton Head, and a late night eclectic meal from a place called McDonald’s.

Apr 26 – Thu
Thursday was a bust task day, with a bunch of little assigmnents which had been lingering.

We took the rental car back, created the route to Hilton Head on the IPAD, called the marina to get our slip assignment, did some banking, did some laundry, studied the route up into Cheasapeak Bay, and completed the lovely blog.

Tonight we will take the marina courtesy car to dinner at a nearby Mexican place.

Tomorrow we depart for Hilton Head.
The Harbour Town Marina is right behind the 18th green of the Harbour Town Golf Course, where the televised 2018 RBC Heritage Golf Tournament was just played 2 weeks ago. It was cool to see the marina where we will be staying on TV.

It was a darn fun week in Savannah !
It has become one of our favorite cities on The Loop.
I said at the beginning of the blog, that Savannah blows St Augustine away, but this is not really true.
Savannah is much bigger, and has a lot more options, but we both agreed that St Augustine was much more quaint and lovingly low-key.
So it really depends on what you like & want, both cities are awesome.
Can’t wait for the upcoming cities of Charleston & Beaufort.

I mentioned several times, all the walking and photo taking we had done. Here is the summary of our historical research into a very historical city.

3. Photos & background of some of Savannah’s most well known landmarks

> The Waving Girl
Florence Martus (1868–1943), also known as “the Waving Girl”, took it upon herself to be the unofficial greeter of all ships that entered and left the Port of Savannah, Georgia, between 1887 and 1931. The reason she greeted ships was because she had fallen in love as a young girl with a sailor and wanted to be sure he would find her when he returned. When after 44 years, he did not return, she died of a broken heart.
Unknown sailors would bring her gifts.
When the captain of the ship that brought her memorial statue to Savannah arrived, he refused to accept payment because of his fond memories of Martus.
The statue was made by the sculptor Felix de Weldon, who also created the US Marine Corps statue of Iwo-Jima in Arlington Virginia.

> Colonial Park Cemetery
Many prominent people are buried here, the most notable is Button Gwinnett, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Gwinnett died on May 19th, 1777 when a duel with Lachlan McIntosh ended his life.
The ride past the cemetery prompted the guide to discuss the early Safety Coffins, which had a cord leading to an external bell. Back then there was no embalming process, and due to yellow fever people would go into coma’s for weeks and be buried alive. The bells were added just in case someone was buried by mistake. This also prompted the terms “saved by the bell” and “a dead ringer”.

> Bonaventure Cemetery
We went into much detail earlier in the blog. The cemetery became famous when it was featured in the 1994 novel “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”, and  the subsequent movie directed by Clint Eastwood. It is the largest of the city’s municipal cemeteries, containing nearly 160 acres. The walking tour identifies 36 famous people from Savannah’s past, and also has different sections devoted to Savannah natives from all the different wars (Spanish, Revolutionary, Civil, WWI, WWII) .

> SCAD – Savannah College of Art Design
The trolley tour went by the main building of The SCAD College. SCAD has about 1500 students, with a masters program in restorical renovations. SCAD has been one of the moving forces in Savannah, along with the Historical Society, responsible for the re-birth of Savannah. SCAD owns 85 buildings in Savannah.

> City Hall & The 23 Karat Gold Dome
Built in 1905 on the site of the 1799 City Exchange. Savannah’s City Hall is the called the most distinctive building in town with a clocktower topped with a gold dome and a towering American flag. The dome was historically copper, but was coated in gold leaf as recently as 1987 after a large donation from an un-named local philanthropist.

> Wrought Iron Fish Shaped Downspouts
Wrought iron was a symbol of wealth in the glory years of the Savannah historic home building. Many house have wrought iron fish-shaped downspouts like this one.

> 22 Town Squares
The city was laid out in a grid fashion. Within the grid there are 22 squares in Savannah which provide locals and visitors with a little greenery amid all the businesses and historic houses. The squares are surrounded by some churches, historic homes, Bed-breakfast inns, & museums. The squares are also shaded by huge oak trees and contain fountains & statues.

> The Savannah Theatre
Built in 1818, and is the oldest continually operating theatre in the USA.
BTW, there have been over 70 movies filmed in Savannah, including; Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil (directed by Clint Eastwood with Kevin Spacey), & Daniel’s favorite Forrest Gump.

> The Forrest Gump Bench
We had heard prior to arriving in Savannah, that the bench that Forrest sat on and told all his stories, was located in Savannah. The bench that Hanks/Forrest sat on was actually a movie prop (never a real park bench) that has since been placed in the Savannah History Museum. But the location of the bench for the movie in Chippewa Square is still a popular spot for photographs. Here are our photos of the bench in the museum & a comparison of the park location identified by the locals vs a photo from the movie – does it look like the same place, I think yes ?

> Historic Churches – there are MANY churches in Savannah, the 3 below seem to be the most significant historically.
The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John the Baptist located at the northeastern corner of Lafayette Square, was built in 1876. It has tall peaks and 81 Tiffany stained glass windows. The locals say that the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is the most photographed landmark in Savannah.

> Congregation Mickve Israel is reported as the 3rd oldest Jewish Congregation in the United States, organized in 1735 by Jewish immigrants of Spanish-Portuguese background from London who arrived in the new colony in 1733.  They consecrated their current synagogue, located on Monterey Square in Savannah, in 1878.

> The First African Baptist Church – discussed in detail, earlier in the blog. It claims to be the first black Baptist congregation in North America from members who founded a congregation in 1773, but were not officially organized until 1788. Its claim of “first” is contested by 2 churches in South Carolina & Virginia.

> The Chandler Oak Tree – is estimated to be about 300 years old. It is 54 feet tall, has a circumference of 16.85 feet and a 63 inch diameter. Its average crown spread is 110.25 feet. After years of stress caused my automobiles, construction, and other signs of progress, the Candler Oak was in serious decline with a life expectancy of less than 20 years. In 1982, concerned citizens formed the Savannah Tree Foundation to protect the Candler Oak as well as other Savannah trees. The group made history by securing the first conservation easement on a single tree in the nation. In 1985, asphalt was removed from a parking lot over the tree’s root area and the landmark was put on a health plan with guidelines for watering, mulching and fertilizing. In 2001, the Georgia Urban Forest Council designated the tree as a Georgia Landmark and Historic Tree.

> Historic Homes – there are MANY, we are showing only a few key notables.
> Kehoe House – Built in 1893 by architect Dewitt Bruyn for William Kehoe, the dark red brick mansion used cast iron for all the exterior trim. William Kehoe arrived in Savannah when he was ten years old. After an apprenticeship as an iron molder, Kehoe later became the owner of a successful iron foundry. William and his wife Annie had ten children, and built this imposing house to accommodate their large family. The white exterior trim looks just like wood, but is definitely CAST IRON, I knocked on it !

> Owens Thomas House – built starting in 1816, completed in 1819 & designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. Reported as having 22 inch thick walls & the 1st home in Savannah with plumbing in 1819. Built with three cisterns holding a total of 7,000 gallons of rainwater, with flushing toilets, marble bathtubs and sinks.

> Hamilton Turner House – Built in 1873 for Samuel Pugh Hamilton, who would become mayor of Savannah. He and his wife entertained lavishly, and wanted a house to suit that need. It was the first home is Savannah to have electricity. Nearly demolished in 1965 for a parking deck, but was saved by the Historic Savannah Foundation.

> Juliet Low Birth House – Founder/creator of The Girl Scouts of America
The house was built in 1818–1821, and is currently owned by the Girl Scouts of America.

> The Wormsloe House – we discussed this place in great detail earlier in the blog, but the 1.5 mile / 400 Oak tree lined entrance is incredible, the photo looks like a post card. The house structure remnant is listed as the oldest standing structure in Savannah dating back to 1739 (note, the Pirates House claims that part of their structure dates back to 1734??). The Wormsloe House was the home of Noble Jones who arrived in Georgia with Savannah founder James Oglethorpe in 1733. Noble Jones named the estate the “Wormsloe Estate” based on his roots back in England.

 

THE END !