"The Charbor Chronicles": Savannah, Georgia

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.seen from Lafayette Square.

Savannah was supposed to be a side trip, a mere excursion from Charleston.

And we almost did not even go!

Boy, are we ever glad that we did, because as it turns out, Savannah was, quite frankly, the highlight of our trip down South! It was the one place that, yes, everyone agreed was simply wonderful and tremendous fun!

It is a beautiful city, filled with history and beauty.

Ironically, my girlfriend tried to talk me out of going to Savannah, because she was just tired of all of the driving that we were doing. I did not blame her, or anything, but kind of put my foot down and insisted on going, since it had a reputation for being very beautiful and worth the visit, and was only two hours away from Charleston. Had we not gone, I think we would have regretted it, and used that argument at the time to convince her.

In the end, she gave in.

Later on, she would be thankful that I won this particular argument!

So, what makes Savannah so nice?

Savannah is Georgia's third largest city, after Atlanta and Columbus. But it is not it's size or economic might that brings throngs of visitors every year, and it certainly will not overwhelm you with it's size.

No, what makes Savannah unique is the history that has remained very much alive through centuries now.

We can trace the origins of this back to the earliest days, when James Oglethorpe succeeded in creating the English colony of Georgia, with it's origins being in Savannah.

Oglethorpe is a rather fascinating character. He was opposed to slavery in his colony of Georgia, and thus, rather ironically given that Georgia would be right in the heart of the Confederacy and the slave owning state not too far into the future, it was, nonetheless, the only one of the original thirteen colonies during Oglethorpe's day that attempted to prohibit slavery! It was officially outlawed in 1735, but after much protest from those living inside of Georgia, claiming that they could not compete with states where slavery was legal, the powers that be relented, and slavery was legalized in Georgia in 1750.

Also, Oglethorpe was interested in trying to establish a colony for debtors, since he had lost a friend to disease that he had acquired in debtor's prison, an event that changed his life.

But before you go thinking that Oglethorpe was setting up his new colony with an emphasis on humanitarianism, some things should remain clear. Catholicism was banned in the new colony, being seen as a real threat to it, mostly because of the close proximity of an influx of Spaniards from nearby Florida.

Having made a contract with the natives, Oglethorpe and his group settled at the present site of Savannah, to finally establish the Province of Georgia, with Savannah serving as the de facto capital. It would remain the capital for the early days of Georgia's history, even at one point rotating with Augusta as the capital. Augusta ultimately replaced Savannah as Georgia's capital city, although it changed hands quite a few times since, as well.

Wanting to avoid the rather droll and gloomy look and feel of London, Oglethorpe designed Savannah by taking advantage of the sun and space. He created 24 squares, bringing greenery into the city right away, with the city building itself around these public squares, or parks.

Of these 24 original squares, Savannah still has 22 of them. Two of them are gone forever. Only one of the existing squares has been radically changed from the way that it originally looked, having been destroyed, and then restored, but taking a new form.

Since these squares have been preserved, Savannah has retained the airy feel that Oglethorpe had sought. it has also largely preserved it's historical past with many buildings dating back centuries.

And at every turn of it's history, it has played an active part. The city was very much sympathetic to the rebel cause during the Revolutionary War days. It was very much part of Dixie during the Civil War and, as the war was winding down, it became the place where Sherman and his Union army were stationed for the winter during the final months of the conflict, from late 1864 until spring of 1865, as kind of a deal in exchange for Sherman not burning the city to the ground. Thus, it was able to preserve it's past in a way that some other cities in the South were not so lucky to be able to do.

Savannah has been blessed with a very colorful history, as it was a center for pirates at one point. It has also come to gain the reputation as the most haunted place in America. Some of that is evidenced in the novel "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", which was made into a movie.

But that was not the only major movie to have either taken place in Savannah, and/or to have been filmed in Savannah!

Forrest Gump, one of my personal favorite movies, was partially filmed there! These were the famous bench scenes, when he is supposed to be sitting and talking, reflecting on his life, while waiting for the bus that will take him to Jenny's apartment.

Chippewa Square was the site of some of the most famous and iconic scenes in Forrest Gump, although the bench has since been removed. But you can probably notice the similarities between the square as it looks now, and the way it looks in the movie, even if it largely remains as part of the background there.

Also, "Something To Talk About" was also filmed, at least in part, here in Savannah! Finally, Claudine's Return" was also filed in the city, as were parts of "Roots".

Yes, Savannah was wonderful! Very hot and humid, but still wonderful! This is a city that I would love to visit again, although maybe I'll try and go when it is a little bit cooler, like in the fall, or perhaps even winter. Not less than a week before July.

Still, all in all, it was an awesome visit to a really great city, one that I would highly recommend!

Here are some of the sites that I checked and used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.ourgeorgiahistory.com/people/oglethorpe.html

http://www.savannahga.gov/index.aspx?NID=1060

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Oglethorpe

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/georgias-historic-capitals

http://savannahnow.com/slideshows/movies-filmed-savannah#slide-13

http://gosoutheast.about.com/od/savannahgaattractions/a/waving_girl.htm

My girlfriend and I enjoying a brief respite by the water fountain at Lafayette Square, near the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

The Cathedral seen from Lafayette Square.

There were a few people in period costumes that would come onto the bus and tell us a bit of local history from the period that they were dressed for. We even had as a guide a pirate, who obviously took his inspiration from Johnny Depp's "Pirate of the Caribbean" character, Captain Jack Sparrow.

Forsyth Park

Forsyth Fountain

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Some of Savannah's Squares:

River Street

The cobbled River Street, with active trolley car rails, and the Savannah River and Talmadge Memorial Bridge in the background. That bridge is the largest bridge in Georgia. I noticed it goes a long way towards hiding the uglier, industrial parts of the area, which you can kind of see behind it in this picture.

The "Waving Girl" Statue

This is a famous statue in Savannah's waterfront, right off of River Street, and known as "The Waving Girl". It is a statue of Florence Martus, one of Savannah's most famous residents, who moved to a cottage along the river, and was rather bored, feeling lonely. So, she began to make a habit of waving to passing ships with a red handkerchief, and with a lantern at night, and often got sailors to wave, and even for ships to blast their horns. According to a legend the guide told us, she may have been waving to welcome back her lover, although he expressed some skepticism about that story, since she waved to ships passing by for 44 years!