Savannah Day 1 - 6/23/16

We took a shuttle into Savannah this morning and signed up for one of the tourist trolleys which take you on a narrated tour of the city.  Took about 1-1/2 hours for a quick overview.  Then went into the city museum to see a movie on the history of the city.  Savannah was founded by a rather Utopian group led by British General James Oglethorpe in 1733.  Their idea was to found a colony where everyone would be self sufficient and productive.  To foster this slavery was banned and everyone had to work.  Needless to say, that didn't last too long.  The colony was founded to provide a buffer between the existing and prosperous colony of South Carolina and the Spanish in Florida.

Savannah is famous for its tree lined streets, parks and houses.  Following are some photos I took on the tour or walking around the city.

Here we are getting onto the tour trolley.

The crepe myrtle were really in bloom and put on a great show in several colors.

This is a statue to commemorate a woman who was in love with a sailor who promised to come back for her.  She lived with her brother who was a light house keeper at the entrance to the Savannah river.  She would stand on the bank of the river waving a flag by day or a lantern by night to every ship that passed by.  She did this for 44 years but her sailor never came back for her.

It's supposed to be good luck to have a dolphin downspout on your house.  Here is a photo of one.  Looks more like a cat fish to me.

Here is one of the tree lined street that look so inviting.

Her is one of the old brick houses that abound in Savannah.  Savannah has so many of these houses because during the Civil War when General Sherman arrived at the city at the end of his march to the sea, the city immediately surrendered and so Sherman did not burn it as he had done to all of the cities that had resisted him.

Here we are walking thru one of the parks/squares that abound in Savannah.  This is Forsyth Park which is one of the largest.  In it's center is this 1858 fountain with mermen, swans and a lone water nymph.

Here is a closer up view of the fountain.

For lunch we were told that you have to go to Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room and we did.  They are only open for lunch from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM and take no reservations.  So we had to stand in line for almost 2 hours in mid 90s heat to get in but it was worth it.  This is real southern cooking served family style.  You sit at a large table with all of the fixing of the day spread out around you.  You help yourself and if you run out of something they bring you more.  Here is a photo of our table after we had finished eating.

We were served southern fried chicken, beef stew, meatloaf, BBQ pork, sausage with dirty rice, chicken and dumplings, collard greens, black eye peas, okra with tomatoes, rutabaga, squash souffle, mac and cheese, baked beans, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, macaroni salad, snap beans, lima beans, rice, pickled beets and for dessert you choice of blueberries a la mode or banana pudding all served with iced tea.  Needless too say we didn't leave hungry.

For dinner tonight we just had a bowl of soup,