Georgia - Savannah (Part 2)

Sultry Savannah

With Dom and Roisin playing shadow tag amongst the many gravestones in Savannah’s Colonial Park, I went a few streets over to check out St John the Baptist Cathedral. It had a plain exterior but a stunning interior, the naves painted blue with gold stars, religious scenes painted with a skill comparable to those you'd see in Italy. Mass was in full swing, the church crowded, the priest had an Irish accent which made me smile for home. He was giving his sermon about people not taking the election seriously and pranks he pulled on his parish priest as an altar boy. I just passed through and didn't stay for the conclusion but I think he wasn't a Trump fan, not sure how that would play out with his likely conservative congregation (Georgia was a red state at the time of our visit - people change!).

Get on with yo bad self

I met the others graveside, and we headed for eats. As we pottered along Dom casually said "Do you want to go to a funky brunch place?", "Sure" I said, expecting him to pull out his phone and start googling, instead he pointed across the road. I followed his finger till I saw a sign for "That Funky Brunch Place" and sure enough it was funky and friendly, with purple tables and green chairs and crazy names for good dishes.

On the walk back to wherever we (and the bellhop!) had parked the night before, we passed the Owen-Thomas house, another of the stately old homes people race to visit. I hadn’t given up on my desire to see the inside of a stately home, the tour had begun so I stuck my head around the door, but the tour seemed a little formal and stiff, certainly my disembodied head peering around the door didn't go down well. I love a talk on Regency inspired architecture as much as the next person but I'll have to catch the real deal next time I'm home in Dublin.

Footage of Savannah houses - with Roisin complaining in the background!

The last house on my mental list was the Mercer house. The real life setting for the book and movie ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’. Having neither read nor seen it, my pitch to Dom that we simply must see it, lacked lustre, we weighed up the pros and cons and decided another visit to a graveyard was surely the more child friendly option.

G'wan, ya mad thing!

While Dom and Róisín piled into the car I went in search of 'The Waving Girl' statue. A woman who had devoted her life to waving hello and goodbye to every single boat that came to Georgia. She did it for 40 years without missing one boat! She would wave a napkin during the day and a lantern and night. She moved in with her lighthouse keeper brother in order to make it easier. It's a lovely story, I think she might have had some issues, but it's a lovely story. Hey, whatever floats your boat!

Before heading out to another graveyard (we were becoming addicted) we stopped at Forsyth Park. It's surrounded by the best looking houses in town. The park drew in all sorts of people from families to femme fatales. It offered a beautifully ornate fountain, lots of benches and a terrific playground. The terrific playground has a terrific cafe next door to it which sold coffee, tea, tasty baked goods and healthy kid meals, not to mention terrific beer for the weary parents or (looking to be fired) nannies.

Our jaunt out to Bonaventure Cemetery was met by a closed gate. We drove around the perimeter so I got the gist; dead people, tombstones, trees, pretty. However, it was worth it alone for the drive out there and around the environs. Cutesy houses, stores with kitschy rhyming names. Small town Georgia. Loved it. We saw Christmas decorations on lawns, which looked beautiful as the sunset. To my shock one set of reindeer were pulling a sleigh with 'God Bless Trump'.

Em, I'll wait in the car

We couldn't visit Georgia without at least skidding past a plantation (we had already been to plantations in South Carolina, read here, and Tennessee, read here). Wormsloe plantation has thee best tree-tunnel driveway in the history of the world ever. Apparently it served as the backdrop in many period films…and everyone's spooky dreams. A mile long avenue lined by live oak trees swooping over in an arch fashion, all dressed in Spanish moss Sunday best (I wondered if it had it’s ‘church shoes’ on!).

Our next pitstop was to the city that created Shiny Happy People.

<<PREVIOUS POST                    NEXT POST>>