Monday, March 14, 2011

East Coast Bound--Day 12

A tour, lunch and then a stroll.

Today was a day of exploring the old historic area of downtown Savannah. We started off by taking a guided tour on one of the trolley companies working in town. This tour took about 90 minutes and wound through the narrow streets and around the historic neighborhood squares. Most of the buildings in this area are very old with some being built up to 400 years ago. Because of the historic values there are many restrictions on what can be done with/to them when they are being refurbished or restored. The wood structures must have wood siding and cannot have metal or vinyl siding put on them. Also, there are a limited number of colors they can be painted, all pastel colors. One of the houses in the historic district is what was termed a "kit house" from Sears, Roebuck & Company. (This is the yellow house in the picture to the right.) The house was delivered in pre-cut pieces and then assembled on the site. They did a good job of putting it together except they put all the window frames in upside down. This is a two family home and is currently for sale.

After the tour we went back to the area to backtrack on foot to get a better view at some of the places we had been. We started in the Market District where we picked up a few souvenirs and then had lunch at a neat cafe. From there we walked from the west end of the historic district to the east end and then down to the Savannah River. We then went back west on River Street before catching one of the trolleys back to where the car was parked. (By taking the tour we were given passes, good for all day, for their regular trolleys.) One of the buildings in this area is where Paula Deen has her restaurant, The Lady and Sons. It was a good thing we had not planned to have lunch there because by the time we worked our way back there, around 2:30, they were all booked up and not taking any new folks in. Also, every block or so was a separate neighborhood, each built around a park like square. The tour guide told us there are 22 of these squares left. Many of the squares have monuments or statues honoring different people who contributed to the history of Savannah. In one of area was a statue of Johnny Mercer, the music composer and band leader who was born here. (There is also a Johnny Mercer Boulevard on the east side of Savannah.)

Currently the town is gearing up for their annual St. Patrick's Day celebration. This past Saturday the City of Tybee had their St. Pats parade. The main celebration will begin this Thursday, which is St. Patrick's Day. The tour guide said this is the biggest celebration in Savannah all year and the town will be flooded with people. Literally thousands of people will pour in to celebrate. Everything is being decorated in green, especially the green Porta-Potties that are popping up all over town. They have even put green coloring in the water in all the fountains in town. This fountain was in Reynolds Square in one of the neighborhoods. We will miss the big celebration since we are scheduled to leave out on Thursday morning.

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