Visiting Savannah, GA, A Day Later Than Planned

In the middle of the night I had the thought to check out sometime. See, we planned to go to Savannah, Georgia, today (Saturday, March 16) for a day trip. Somewhere I had read about events and it mentioned a St Patrick’s Day parade. Hum, would they have the parade on Saturday or on the day of St Patrick’s Day which is Sunday. Good thing I checked! It is today and the entire historic downtown was blocked off. All sorts of warnings about crowds and getting towed. I just knew we wouldn’t be able to see what we wanted. So, change plans. 

From Civil War, Beaufort, National Cemetery, Beaufort, SC 03/24

We decided to go to Beaufort National Cemetery in Beaufort, South Carolina. Interesting to see so many headstones with a number, then “unknown U.S. soldier.”

There were a lot of square blocks about 6 inches high that according to the sign are unknown soldiers as well. We didn’t know what “U.S.C.T.” stood for. Kevin googled it and it is United States Colored Troop.

Next we went to Henry Chambers Waterfront Park. A beautiful sunny day and a very well done park and walking area. People sitting around at tables playing chess, eating picnic lunches, reading books, or just walking along the water. No beach, this is a river and boat docks. They have big swings, many of them, all along the way. We walked down a ways and sat in one. It was so comfortable, shaded, and peaceful. We thoroughly enjoyed watching people walk past and the boat harbor plus boats and sailboats out on the river. We just sat there for a long time. 

Savannah, GA. Neither of us had been there before. We didn’t have a lot of expectations and had no plans on what to see or do. I had looked up things but we hadn’t decided on anything. Let’s start at the visitor center. The day was sunny and beautiful; temps got into low 80s. Along I-95 south there are wood block signs nailed to trees with bright yellow words advertising “Moonshine, exit 21.” HA It reminded me of the Burma-Shave signs.

Savannah River, Savannah, GA 03/24

As we came close to Savannah River, the land is devoid of a lot of trees and is tall grassland. The river isn’t as wide as other rivers but is deep enough for container ships to go through. We saw quite a few cranes for unloading ships. At Savannah Visitor Center we found plenty of parking in their lot. Went to pay and it is free parking on Sundays. Yeah!  The long building used to be the old Central of Georgia Railway passenger shed. It was built between 1850s and 1870s. It was used by the railway until 1972. We didn’t do the museum there instead went to the visitor information.

A worker there, named Maryann was so helpful. Kevin asked her for information and said I am deaf so we don’t want a bus tour because that is too much information and too hard to interpret quickly. She suggested doing a walking tour of the historical district. There is a self-guided tour book for sale in the gift shop for $5.00. We thought that sounded great. In fact, it was awesome! The book is so well written. It seems the author took all the marker signs and combined them into the most interesting and put it in her book. The opening says there are over 2,200 historic significant homes in Savannah. Most were built when Savannah was the number one cotton exportation in the world.

One of 24 Park-Like Squares In Savannah, GA 03/24

The plans were laid out in 1733 around 24 park-like squares. The houses have no yards, not front and not back, so if you want to sit outside, unless on your porch, you walk to the square. They are close together, I would say a few blocks in-between. Each square has something special about it, from a historical person or site.

Happy St Patrick’s Day From Savannah, GA 03/17/24

Some of the roads were divided and had a wide row of flowery bushes down the middle. Add to that the trees doing a canopy overhead and it was lovely. There is so much information…so read the book! The fountains had green water, since it is St Patrick’s Day.

We saw where Juliette Low was born and the house she lived in when she was married. Out back, in the carriage house, is where she started Girl Scouts and it was the first Girl Scout headquarters. So neat to see. There were people out on walking tours with the phones and others just taking a walk, while some were seated at a square reading a book, others were trying to find parking for church.

1876-1878 Congregation Mivhve Israel, Synagogue In Savannah, GA 03/24

There are a lot of churches in this historic area. I noticed that most ladies here have flowy dresses on. The book says the tour is 1 to 1/2 hour hours and is divided into two sections. Yeah, we did both, plus walked along River Street and lunch and it took us over 6 hours. LOL

Savannah Cotton Exchange, Savannah, GA 03/24

We were at the north end, along the river and read about the cotton buildings. On this level the overseers would watch as carts below, a story down, would be loaded with cotton. You can see it. Then, we smelt yumminess and I asked Kevin if he wanted to eat. I suggested we could eat nearby but I also wanted to eat somewhere specific. I thought it was out of this area but thankfully looked it up on my iPhone. Guess what…the place I wanted, Paula Dean’s The Lady & Sons was 900 feet away. LOL

This area along the river was really crowded with people in green going in or waiting outside to get into pubs. I thought we might not get into the restaurant. It was 1:00 p.m. We walked over there and it was only a 5 minute wait. I was thrilled. The old building is 3 stories tall; we had to take an elevator to the 3rd floor. It turns out everything on the menu is served family style! You pick 2, 3, or 4 main dishes and 4 sides. We picked fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, and then creamed potatoes (mashed red potatoes), Mac and cheese (I didn’t like it), collard greens (our first time and it was good because it had lots of bacon in it), and green salad with poppy seed dressing. It was southern cooking and reminded us of Kevin’s mom’s cooking. I had notice on the menu that there are free refills listed under the drinks. We had sweet tea. Later the waitress came over and asked what food we wanted more of. Turns out there are free refills on all the food! What?! So we ordered more chicken, chicken dumplings, and creamed potatoes. HAHA Then, we also got dessert included. We picked the Gooey Butter Cake. It is an original and was out of this world. We rated the food: Every Time We Come To Within An Hour, Maybe Two, Of Savannah!

Some Of The Oldest Houses In Savannah, GA 03/24

We walked into the visitor center and back to the lady who had helped us. I wanted to thank her for the great recommendation and tell her how this self-guided tour is perfect for deaf and hard of hearing people who can’t hear on a tour bus. She was so kind. I went to the bathroom and when I came out, Kevin was all excited and signed for me to follow him. He took me back to the lady and guess what! She is the author of the book! Wow “A Self-Guided Tour of Savannah” by Maryann Jurkofsky.

Found Out She Is The Author Of The Self-Guide Book That Helped Us So Much! Savannah, GA 03/24

She is so kind and humble. It was another lady who told Kevin that Maryann is the author. We visited with her a little while longer. Sweet sweet lady. We aren’t into autographs but I did ask her to sign our book and she did. What a thrill! 

 Oh, when we were eating, I wondered how far we had walked. My iPhone fitness said I had taken 115 steps and walked 0.04 miles. Kevin’s said he walked 9,513 steps and 3.99 miles. We were together the entire time! Hum…. I then set my Apple Watch for an outside walk and it seems to recalculate. Whew. At the end of the day: 6.1 miles!!!

Now I leave you with this. Tell me, in the comments, what do you think of these two headstones we found at Beaufort National Cemetery. The words “Yes Jerry” and “No Dianne”…what do you think the story is? 😃