You never know what you will see next, but you can be sure you are gonna like it.
If a real-life Forrest Gump sat on a park bench in Savannah, Georgia chatting-up total strangers in his off-beat way, just like in the movie Savannahites would smile, listen politely and consider him just another of the wacky characters that spice up their daily life.
Oddly for a city in the Deep South, Savannah is proud of its cast of kooky town characters as accurately portrayed in the best selling book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It’s a place where ultra conservative DARs (Daughters of the American Revolution) and drag queens happily share a seat on the town’s trolley cars. Quaint, captivating, oozing Southern grace and hospitality – just when you think Savannah is all hooped skirts and chittelins, the town surprises you with something quirky and well, in some cases down-right, down-home twisted. We had a blast there!
Savannah is a world-class walking town. In 1733 founding father General James Edward Oglethorpe
laid out the settlement in a grid-pattern generously studded with 24 squares of enticing green-space. Somehow the town has managed to resist ‘progress’ and hang on to these jewel-like parks. On a town map the utterly delightful and individually unique squares really do look like a partially eaten box of chocolates. Strolling along from one square to the other is one of the main tourist attractions. Discovering the individual flavor at the center of each square - a statue in one, another with a small formal garden, yet another with a whimsical fountain - is almost as rewarding as eating your way through a Whitman’s Sampler. Unifying all the squares are the cool and oh-so-Scarlett-O’Hara oak trees elegantly draped in long flowing Spanish moss.
Savannah Fun Facts
- Voted one of the "World's Top Ten Trendy Travel Hot Spots" by the New York Times and was a "Top 10 U.S. City to Visit" in Conde Nast Traveler.
America's first planned city
America’s largest historic district
The Girl Scouts were founded in Savannah by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912
The bench used in Forrest Gump was moved to the Savannah History Museum for safe keeping.
Lyricist, composer and singer Johnny Mercer was born in Savannah in 1909. Mercer was one of the most prolific songwriters in history with 1,500 titles to his credit. To name only a few of his zillion hits: I’m an old Cowhand, Moon River, Skylark, Satin Doll, Goody-Goody, Fools Rush In, Come Rain or Come Shine, That Old Black Magic, You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby, One for My Baby and One More for the Road, plus many more.
The Mercer House located on Monterey Square was the real-life scene of the Jim Williams murder of his gay lover as depicted in the book, Midnight in the Garden or Good and Evil.
St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Savannah are second only to NYC.
In 1864, the city fell to Northern troops led by General William Tecumseh Sherman in his infamous scorched-earth March to the Sea (those pesky damn Yankees!). After taking the city General Sherman offered Savannah to his Commander-in-Chief telegraphing President Lincoln with the following message: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah."
Paula Deen (of Food Network fame) Lady and Sons restaurant has THE BEST fried chicken I have ever tasted!
But none of the Savannah sites could compete with the real reason we were there: To visit our son - newly discharged from the Army, Ranger Sergeant Dan the paramedic, and his lovely bride-to-be, the newly graduated SCAD student, Amy.
The only thing we didn’t like about Savannah was the fact we had to leave it so soon.