Savannah, again

I decided to give Savannah one more chance, so Lee and I drove into the historical district today, had lunch, visited one of the homes, and walked around a bit. The weather was incredibly beautiful, for this time of year. Sunny, 80 degrees, no humidity.

Here is the main street for shopping:

Not exceptional, but there are some upscale stores and city officials seem to be trying very hard to revive the area.

We took a tour of a home built in 1816-1819 that was interesting on many different levels.  It was built by William Jay, an in-law of the owner of the home.  Jay was only 24 when he designed the home, and had no building experience at all.  But he built a home that was innovative and had some beautiful features.  It was the first home in Savannah to have running water, collected from rain water on the roof and stored in cisterns at different elevations in the house, so that it would run down when needed by the force of gravity.  The home actually had toilets.  The house walls were very thick, 12" inside, to hold the weight of the cisterns.  I especially liked a "bridge" upstairs that connected the front and back halls.  I can picture in my mind children running back and forth across that bridge, and maybe even swinging from the railings. What fun!

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photographs inside the home, but I do have a couple of the exterior.  The woodwork is beautiful.  This is back door into the home:

And the front doors:

Two staircases curve up to the front porch.  The owner lived in the home for only a couple of years, and then went bankrupt and had to sell everything.  Across the way is Oglethorpe Park, one of the city squares (Oglethorpe founded Savannah):

These parks all have a very quiet feel to them.  Life seems to slow down as you near any one of these parks.  People walk slower, or sit down for some quiet time.  

As in many southern towns, homes have small gardens in courtyards behind them.  It's fun to peak in to see what's there:

After strolling through Savannah, we drove out to Tybee Island to see what it was all about.  The beaches on the island are some of the largest we saw on the Atlantic Coast.  We were there at low tide, but there seemed to be miles of sand:

Can you read the sign?  It says "Danger of drowning beyond this point".  It may be true, but while we were there it was hard to believe.  People were walking on sandbars at least half a mile out!  It seemed incongruous.

And then there was the obligatory lighthouse:

So, what do I think of Savannah now?  It's definitely a small city, with a small town feel.  I have a feeling it is one of those places that may grow on you the longer you are there and the more you know of its history.  The pace of life is definitely slower than I am used to.  I can imagine everything grinding to a halt in the heat of summer!   I still like Charleston better, definitely, but Savannah's history is important enough that I do not begrudge the time I spent here.  And it does have a quiet charm.

I learned something more about Savannah's history today, by the way.  I read that its economy started going downhill in the mid-20th century, when the market for cotton started to slow.   Cotton was largely responsible for Savannah's wealth.

Tomorrow, on to North Carolina.