So after the unexpected joys of Jacksonville, Charlotte and I head further north to Savannah, GA.
I’ve heard wonderful things about the place, and having seen it in a number of movies, I’m really looking forward to it.
The drive up the coast is beautiful, it’s a warm sunny day, light breezes, occasional glimpses of the ocean and the scent of sea air. Today clearly falls into the “glamorous” category of life on the road.
We reach Savannah, and drive into the old historic district. Picturesque, full of trees and with wide streets, Savannah is old school South, nestled on the banks of the Savannah river. It immediately brings a sense of age, with many of the streets paced with cobblestones, enclosed by garden squares.
Note – Somehow most of my photos from Savannah have disappeared, so I am using some stock images from the interweb. Where I am doing so I will indicate in in the caption.
I spend much of the afternoon and a lot of the next day walking around town. Savannah is full of one way streets, parks, old houses, and statues. It really transports you back in time. It’s become a little touristy of course, with pubs and bars and eateries galore along the main strip, but once you get a few blocks away, the cool, shady languid nature of the place soon engulfs you.
I said walking around town, but in reality it is more like a stroll – slow, leisurely, with occasional stops for a refreshing beverage – they do make a pretty good mint julep in these parts. I almost feel myself slow down by degrees, which I had though impossible given the relaxing drive up the coast. But there is something in the air here – a seductive call to a state of mind the perfect distance from both sloth and industry.
We drive around and look at some old plantation houses, but given I’ve already toured a couple down in Louisianna such as Houmas House, I don’t really feel like forking out $s for inside the house tours. Strolling gardens is enough for me, particularly in my current state of mind.
Time ticks down until I realise it is Sunday, the last day of the Masters at nearby Augusta. Since I’m so close, I had looked into how much tickets were. The cheapest general admission ticket for either off the last 2 days was, wait for it,……. $1650 USD!!!!
With that somewhat outside by budget, I’m stuck watching it in a sports bar in Savannah – not the most salubrious of locations, but the local crowd are pretty knowledgeable, and when American Jordan Spieth melts down to hand the title to Brit Danny Willett, there is much hand wringing and lambasting. The schadenfreude in me does its own dance of joy
Afterwards I stroll along the riverbank in the warm summer air, and prepare for the next day.
It’s hard to put into words how attractive Savannah is, and without most of my photos, the stories are a little bare, but rest assured I was not disapppointed.
