Exploring Savannah ~ April 9 - 12, 2019
Exploring Savannah ~ April 9 - 12, 2019
Tuesday, April 9
Today's weather forecast called for rain in the afternoon, so we set out this morning for the Ships of the Sea Museum. Housed in the William Scarbrough House, an elegant setting for the collection of intricately crafted ship models, paintings, and maritime antiques.
The Scarbrough House was built in 1819 for one of the principal owners of the Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It was designed by William Jay and is one of the earliest examples of domestic Greek Revival architecture in the South. After Scarbrough went bankrupt in 1820, the house and its furnishing were sold. In 1878 it was purchased and given to the Board of Education for use as a school for black students. After years of neglect, it was purchased and restored by the Historic Savannah Foundation. It was later acquired by the Ships of the Sea organization and restored again.
The gardens surrounding the house/museum are lush and beautiful. Of course, it is April in the South!
The Steamship Savannah was financed by William Scarbrough and launched in New York in 1818. Engines were installed shortly thereafter in New Jersey. Savannah was 98 feet long, but was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Leaving from Savannah in May, 1819, Savannah steamed to Liverpool, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Copenhagen, and Arendal, Norway. She sank off Fire Island in 1823.
The Anne was a 200 ton frigate, a merchant ship that was 87 feet long and 26 feet wide. In the fall of 1732 she left for America carrying 114 colonists from forty families and headed for the new colony of Georgia. She landed in Charleston on January 18, 1733. Six days later the Anne sailed along the coast to Beaufort. The colonists left the ship in Beaufort and were carried by small boats to the Savannah River and eventually to what would become Savannah, arriving there on February 12, 1733. The importation of slaves to America was declared illegal in 1808, but slave trafficking continued in spite of this for many decades. The Wanderer was initially built as a pleasure yacht for a New York sportsman in 1857. The model is quite lovely, depicting the graceful design. She was also amazingly fast, travelling at speeds of up to twenty knots. Some speculate that Wanderer may actually have been built with the illegal slave trade in mind as she was quickly purchased by Southerners and refitted for carrying cargo. The exhibit depicts slaves laid side by side, landing with 400 slaves in 1858.
The City of Savannah was 38 feet wide and 245 feet long, iron-hulled and powered partly by steam and partly by wind. She was the flagship of the Ocean Steamship Company of Savannah and built by John Roach & Co. at Chester, Pennsylvania in 1877. She provided passenger and freight service between Savannah, New York, and Boston. She foundered off the coast of South Carolina in a hurricane in August 1893.
There were many more models on display in this truly remarkable Museum. I really liked seeing the figure-heads.
I think Jeff could have spent even more time looking at all of the models, paintings, and artifacts.
I also loved the gas lanterns at the front entrance to the building. Finally, we left the museum and drove downtown to the river walk area, parked the car, and went into a little restaurant called Two Cracked Eggs. Jeff had hash and eggs with a gigantic biscuit and a side of grits (a two syllable word here in the South), and I enjoyed a very salty (but tasty) "Philly" cheese steak sandwich.
So far I am loving Savannah. Everything feels somehow softer here. I love the old architecture and the lines of the brick warehouses along the river. Watching the boats on the river through the window as we enjoyed our lunch was peaceful and serene.
We finished our lunch and then poked our heads into some shops before coming back to the apartment to avoid the torrential rain that began falling about an hour later. I made a new recipe - Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken. It was good, but a bit too spicy (even for me). I will leave out the cayenne pepper (and maybe substitute a bit of crushed red pepper instead. After dinner, Jeff played piano for a while before we watched a Jennifer Aniston movie called The Switch on Netflix. It was pretty good.
Tomorrow we do the Hop on Hop Off tour of the city!
April 10, 2019
What a glorious day it has been today. The sun was shining under vivid blue skies with puffy white clouds here and there. Temperature topped out at about 77 degrees - very comfortable for touring the city. After breakfast we headed to Old Savannah Trolley Tours -- a good choice, I think as the competitor does a memorized "canned" scripted tour, and OST guides customize their talks based on their own experiences. They also have costumed characters who board the trolley periodically and bring history to life a bit. We heard from Charles Green, a prosperous cotton factor and ship owner; from Robert Louis Stevenson; and Captain Sandy, a Savannah weatherman with WSAV TV. Wearing a nautical cap and windbreak, and with the help of Wilbur, the Weather Bird, Arthurmometer, and Calamity Clam, he entertained and informed children and adults for more than ten years
On the tour we learned that Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia (something I did not know until today). Founded in 1733 on the Savannah River, it was Georgia's first state capital. It was an important port during both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. The original town plan was developed by General James Oglethorpe and includes twenty-two park-like squares. The city was divided into "wards" (the guide described a ward as a neighborhood) that were 600 feet on the sides running north-south, and between 540 and 600 feet on the east-west sides. Streets and buildings are organized around an open-space called a square. These squares were considered the ward's "front lawn." The blocks of land on the north-south sides were called "tything blocks" and were used for residences. The blocks on the east-west sides of the square were called "trust blocks" and could be used for city purposes (jails, town hall, etc.). The resulting city is compact and diverse in nature. The people of Savannah are proud of their city and rightfully so as it is quite beautiful.
The pictures above give you a sense of what the city is like. Block upon block of beautiful homes and lush gardens greet you everywhere in the city.
We rode the trolley for the entire 16 stop loop, hearing about the history of Savannah, and scoping out the lay of the land so to speak. We then rode back to stop #5, where we got off for some lunch at Clary's.
Clary's started out as a drugstore in the early 1900s and became a cafe and ice cream parlor by the 1950s. They were featured in the 1997 film, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
After a delicious lunch, we walked over to the Andrew Low House. Oglethorpe laid out the city using a "grid system." This house was built on a "trust lot" facing Lafayette Square.
It is a modest house, in comparison to others and felt truly like a "home" and not a "mansion" as we toured through it. Andrew Low was born in Scotland and came to Savannah at the age of 26 to work in a store, which he eventually bought out. Gradually his business shifted to primarily the cotton trade. His nephew, Andres Low II came to Savannah at the age of 17 and joined his uncle's business, rising to become a cotton factor and eventually taking over the entire business. He married his first wife, Sarah Cecil Hunter in 1844 and had a son and two daughters. In 1847 he purchased the trustee's lot on which his house stands today and hired John Norris to build him a house. Both his son and wife passed away before the house was completed, but he moved into the house with his two young daughters by the end of 1849.
He married his second wife, Mary Cowper Stiles in 1854. They had a daughter, named Katie in 1855, a child that lived only one day born in 1856, a second daughter (Mary) in 1858, and then a son, William Mackay Low was born in 1860. Willie, as he was known, eventually married Juliet Gordon, the founder of the girl scouts, although they divorced after just a few years of marriage.
The house fell into disrepair until it was purchased by the Historical Society who have lovingly restored it.
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| The back of the house opens onto a lovely little courtyard. |
The parlor (on the right), and Mr. Low's office/library on the left. The plaster moldings that were original to the house are still in tact. They were made from molds and affixed to the plastered walls while still damp in order to have the two plasters adhere to one another. The light fixtures are just gorgeous.
The dining room on the left, and one of the many beautiful light fixtures found throughout the house.
After touring the house, we strolled through the square and I captured the spires of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. I loved the bright blue sky and the intricacies of the leaves and branches as well as the Spanish moss (which is, we were told, neither Spanish, nor moss).
The Pirate's House is legendary. We were told that many a man went to the Pirate's House for a bit of rum never to be seen again. Instead they were drugged and taken off to sea on pirate ships. Today you can have a nice meal at the Pirate's House.
Another wonderful day in Savannah!
April 11, 2019
We have been exceedingly lucky with the weather! Another beautiful day - lots of sun and blue skies and a pleasant breeze to keep the heat and humidity at bay. Today has been a day of walking, walking, and more walking - nearly 15,000 steps all told!
We woke early, had breakfast and set out for Davenport House, which we both really loved. Isaiah Davenport was a master carpenter from New England who migrated to Savannah in the early 1800s because of the building boom that was happening in the South. The house was completed in 1820. It is a Federal Style home designed by Davenport for his wife and ten children. He used the house to showcase his skills as a builder.
People would enter through the front door and come into the "breezeway" (we would call it the front hall).
The hall had intricate Grecian columns to demonstrate Davenport's skills as a builder/carpenter. To the left was Mr. Davenport's office, the place where he might meet with potential clients.
The moldings are original to the house, which is remarkable due to the fact that the house had been used as a tenement for many years before it was acquired for historic preservation.
This intricately carved marble fireplace graces the office as well.
Mrs. Davenport's parlor was across the hall from Mr. Davenport's Office. It was a "public room" that could be used to showcase his skills as well. Mrs. Davenport might entertain guests for tea or for an evening social event. The furniture was all very portable to enable it to be moved about depending upon the social activity.
A "pocket door" divided the parlor from Mrs. Davenport's sitting room. She might work on correspondence or do some sewing or reading in this room.
I love the cradle that stood by her desk - a testament to the many children she was raising. There also was a table nearby that might have been used to provide instruction to her older children.
I also loved all of the trims - just really and truly beautiful in every room. Many were plaster molds; but there were also some magnificent wood carvings throughout the house.
This was the dining room, which was painted green and had an interesting wallpaper pattern.
Overall, it was a truly enjoyable tour - perhaps one of the best we have ever had. I loved the garden where we sat for a good while just chatting about the house and our trip.
After this, we headed for the river front and took a ride on the Georgia Queen. It was really interesting to be on this "working river" -- there weren't any historic homes to see, and once we were out on the river, even Factor's Row disappeared from view.
The boat trip was about 90 minutes in length, and well worth the time and money. So far we are finding it difficult to find fault with Savannah. It is definitely a place to which we will return.
We had salads for lunch at Barracuda Bob's Bar and Grill right on River Street. We sat outside and watched the people go by.
Then we walked up the "historic steps" -- despite the warning to "Use at own risk" to get back up to Bay Street and the walk back to our apartment.
I loved the dramatic skies we saw today and couldn't help capturing photos like the one on the left of the Old Savannah Cotton Exchange.
Back to the apartment, where we ate leftovers from the last couple of nights in preparation for our departure for Charleston tomorrow.
We will miss you Savannah!
April 12, 2019
Departure day - breakfast, pack up, load the car, and head out. We were gone by 10:00 a.m. and on our way to the Georgia State Railroad Museum before we headed up to Charleston.
The museum was a challenge to get to since the entrance road was blocked by some sort of utility work. We found our way to a place to park and walked the rest of the way to the museum, which had a steam engine to ride ... at least for a very short way. We kept comparing this museum to the Danbury Railway Museum -- Danbury wins in all categories except for the "has a steam engine" category.
Highlights of the day ...
Some pretty shots while leaving towns -- the skies were dramatic today! The bridge pictured was built 25 years ago and was expected to last 75 years, but with the changes to the Panama Canal, ships are being built bigger and bigger, and the "new" bridge cannot accommodate them. So a new bridge is in the planning stages.
Have I mentioned that we LOVE Savannah?! It was hard to say goodbye!
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