Sights Around Savannah

Savannah’s River Walk is a popular place for visitors with a number of shops and restaurants located in the historic buildings.   Mark and I enjoyed seeing the tugboats and large ships on Savannah River.  In fact, Savannah is an important port city and the second busiest container exporter in the United States (after Los Angeles).   I was surprised to learn about Savannah’s port while taking a trolley tour.  I had never even heard about Savannah having a port before visiting here.  I enjoy all the learning that comes with traveling!    In the picture above, a large tanker was just coming by as we got to the river front.  I always get a thrill seeing the big ships.

Savannah has a a number of remarkable, historic churches.   I really enjoy checking out churches while touring cities.   My favorite here was the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist built in 1873 which is stunning both inside and out.  It was hard to get a picture of the whole building because the spires are so tall!   I took the picture of the cathedral in Lafayette Square across the street.

The lovely Presbyterian Church has a tall thin steeple.  For those that are Forrest Gump fans, that steeple (and church building) were featured in the opening scene of the movie when the white feather floats past the steeple and down to the park bench where Forrest sits.  In the picture above I caught a horse and carriage passing by.  There were so many horse and carriages for hire in Savannah, more than I have seen in any other city or town.

Speaking of Forrest Gump, one day I wandered around Savannah on my own and decided to stop for lunch at Debi’s Restaurant where a scene from the movie was filmed.  In the film, Jenny was working as a waitress here when she saw Forrest on television running across the U.S.   I had the tasty fish and grits with mushroom sauce which is advertised on the sign out front.

Speaking of something good to eat, when in Savannah you must have a praline (or two).  At least I believe so.  I became a big fan of this sugary treat in New Orleans where praline shops are a common fixture.  I have found in my travels in the south that not all pralines are created equal with some better than others.  The pralines at Savannah’s Candy Kitchen were loaded with big chunks of pecans and worth all the sugar and calories.

I really enjoyed seeing the historical row houses in Savannah, usually built in close proximity to the squares.   I wish now I had taken an architectural tour as it would have been interesting to learn about these impressive homes.   Most of them are brick and have stairways with iron railings on the side of the home.  Under the stairways is another entrance, although I don’t know where these doorways lead.   These charming homes were built in the mid 1800’s.  You have to watch your footing on the uneven brick sidewalks!

Downtown Savannah has some important historical homes that can be toured.  One of Savannah’s more well known citizens was Juliette Gordon Low who founded the Girl Scouts in 1902.  Juliet was born in this home in 1860 and spent her young life here (below).  When the home was scheduled to be destroyed, it was bought by the Girl Scouts in 1953 and continues to be run by the organization today.  March is Girl Scout cookie sales month and I thought it was cute to see a group of scouts selling their cookies in front of Juliette’s home.  I decided not to tour the inside of the house, but quickly visited the gift shop where many young girls were checking out the Girl Scout merchandise for sale.

Thanks for coming along with me as I checked out Savannah.  In my next post I plan to go back a little in time and talk about exploring the Gulf of Mexico in Florida.