Savannah

Savannah has got to be one of the most beautiful places in our country. I just can't get enough of it. The Spanish moss is just so....well, I just can't get enough of it. I've been wandering around Savannah for two days now while Bruce attends his trade show in town. We are staying at the chic Mansion at Forsyth Park, which is another experience all in itself.

The best part about staying here is that it is right across the street from the 22-acre Forsyth Park on the edge of the Historic District.

But before I get too far into blogging about Savannah, let me just say that Savannah has a story about everything. There are so many stories here, so much history here, so much art, so much beauty, and absolutely wonderful food. It's hard to know where to start but I'll start with our wonderful hotel or old mansion where we are staying. It was built in 1888 as an 18,000 square foot house. Over the span of 50 years, only two different families lived here. The hotel was built to mimic the architecture of the original house but it took master masons to lay the brick work because the bricks in the original house were laid so closely together. The restaurant and hotel opened in 2005 and the restaurant is suppose to be one of the best in Savannah.  Staying at the Mansion at Forsyth Park is like staying in an art gallery, there are over 400 pieces of art throughout the hotel.

Savannah is known for it's vibrate art scene and right next door to the hotel is the Grand Bohemian Gallery.

In Savannah, there are more art galleries per capita than in New York City—one gallery for every 2,191 residents, to be exact. The art influence seeps into all aspects of this town. Even a simple real estate office will look like an art gallery at first glance, just like our hotel. Our hotel has art in the hallways

by the elevators

on the ceiling of the elevators (yes, the following photo is on the ceiling)

and outside on the hotel grounds.

Aside from the art, I love all the chandeliers wherever you go in Savannah, too, including in our hotel.

Our room has candelabras for lighting to give us the feel of historic Savannah.

I haven't heard of ghost stories at this hotel but many of the old mansions here in Savannah have ghost stories like at the Olde Pink House where we ate our first night here. Ghost stories are so popular here that they have ghost tours.

We've seen the tours driving around in a hearst with the top cut out so the people have good views of the haunted mansions. They also have walking tours at night. We've seen them as late as 11:00 pm walking around the Historic District with flashlights and pointing their lights at certain spots on a mansion. They say if you're not a believer of ghosts, you will be by the end of one of those tours. Savannah loves it's ghosts. If you could see all the glorious old mansions around here, you'd understand how there could be so many ghost stories.

The most famous mansion is the Mercer House where the murder takes place in the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

It was here, in May 1981, that the wealthy homosexual antiques dealer, Jim Williams, (who bought the house in 1969) fatally shot his lover, Danny Hansford, age 21. It is also where Williams gave his legendary Christmas parties each year. It is still owned by the Williams family and is now opened for tours. It is called the Mercer Williams House, but Johnny Mercer never lived in it. (Johnny Mercer, the singer who sang "Moon River", is also from Savannah) It was built by his great-grandfather, Civil War Gen. Hugh W. Mercer in 1869 and the house become known as "the envy of Savannah".

I spent all my time in the Historic District of Savannah which is a 2-1/2 mile square mile area where there are 2,350 architecturally and historically significant buildings.  Over 800 of the buildings have been restored, using original paint colors - pinks and reds, blues and greens. Savannah's Historic District is now the largest urban Historic District in the county, it's really a "living museum"

The Historic District consists are 24 squares or parks which are all the blue boxes on the map above. It's really easy to learn your way around because you not only learn streets but you learn the squares, too, and they are all simply beautiful spots.

One of the famous mansions is located by Oglethore Square (Gen. James Oglethrope was a British general who led the colonist that founded Savannah in 1733). This mansion is called the Owens-Thomas House built in 1819 and is open for tours. George Welshman Owens was the mayor of Savannah who purchase the property in 1831 and it remained in the family until 1951, when Margaret Thomas, George Owens' granddaughter, donated it to the Telfair Museum of Art.  In 1825, Revolutionary hero, Marquis de Lafayette was a guest here.

Many of the historical mansions are museums now so you can go inside. But even the buildings that people live in today are beautiful in the Historic District. Throw in a little Spanish moss hanging from the trees...gorgeous!

The churches are also what is breathtaking to me in the Historic District. My favorite is the Independent Presbyterian Church across from Chippewa Square. President Woodrow Wilson was married here in 1885.

It's stunning at night, too.

Also stunning at night is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist that is the oldest Catholic church in Georgia, dating back to 1799.

Here are a couple more beautiful churches that I couldn't resists taking their photos.

Speaking of churches, you can't forget the cemeteries that go with them. I only saw one in the Historic District, the Colonial Park Cemetery but there are others if you want to venture further away.

Colonial Park Cemetery is the oldest burial ground in Savannah (1750) where distinguished Georgians are buried along with the more than 700 victims of the 1820 yellow fever epidemic. It is a very popular spot for the ghost tours.

After the gorgeous mansions and beautiful churches, my third favorite thing about Savannah are the squares.

As I mentioned before, John Oglethrope, the founder of Savannah, began laying out the squares in 1733 when he began planning the town. Each square is historic in some way with monuments with a total of 21 squares today.  Monterey Square is supposedly the most beautiful square, although, I think its hard to claim that since I choose multiple squares as the most beautiful.

A statue of General Oglethorpe stands in Chippewa Square

which is also famous because it is where the "park bench" scene was filmed in the movie Forrest Gump. The bench itself was just a prop and is not at the actual location.

In Reynold's Square, there is a bronze statue John Wesley, founder of Methodism (he preached in Savannah 1735-38).

In Wright Square, there is a burial site of Tomochichi, a leader of an Indian tribe who was an ally of Oglethorpe. His monument was ereted in 1899.

Franklin Square has a tribute the Haitians who came over to fight in the fourth year of the Revolutionary War as our French allies.

Next to Franklin Square is Ellis Square where you will find a statue of Johnny Mercer, the local singer.

Ellis Square in one of the city's oldest and busiest centers, but what is there today was re-created in 2010: the original square was destroyed in the 1950's to make way for a parking garage (now demolished).

Right next to Ellis Square is the City Market area with lots of shops and restaurants.

I loved all the quaint and unique shops in Savannah.

River Street runs along the Savannah River and is a popular area of the city with lots of shopping and beautiful views of the Savannah River.

It use to be an area of warehouses holding cotton to be shipped out, now it has been the subject of massive urban renewal, turning into a strip of restaurants, hotels, lots of shops and riverboat cruise tours.

  Morrell Park is along the river where you can see the Waving Girl statue,

a tribue to Florence Margaret Martus, who once waved to all the vessels going in and out of the harbor. The Riverfront is also beautiful at night with great views that show the beauty of this great city of Savannah.