Savannah

We’ve always had this mental picture of Savannah, with magnolia trees everywhere, and tall oaks dripping with Spanish moss; all amid quiet tranquil beauty.  Pretty vivid mental pics, yet neither of us had ever been to Savannah.

That all changed a couple of days ago as we turned off Route I-16 and made our way in to Savannah on Oglethorpe Street; which is indeed lined with magnolias and tall oaks dripping with Spanish moss.  It was everything we imagined and more!

We arrived at our Bed and Breakfast (The Foley House Inn) just in time for afternoon tea in the parlor.  We had pink lemonade and pecan crusted cheesecake as the hotel manager told us about the history of the hotel and nearby Chippewa Square, where Forest Gump sat on his bench and talked about boxes of chocolates.  We really enjoyed tea time, but of course that wasn’t enough food for Mona so later on we had to walk in the rain to find dinner.

About 9:00 we were back in the parlor waiting on our ride for the evening’s tour.  Finally, it showed up….a hearse, a real life (or death) hearse!   The hearse had been retired from its normal service and modified to allow eight people to sit upright in the back.  This was to be our touring vehicle for the night!

Our tour took us to many of the ghostly sites of Savannah…and there are many!  Apparently, there are many who have lived in Savannah that thought murder was an acceptable solution to their relationship issues!  Maybe it’s because much of the town is built upon the graves of almost ten thousand souls who were buried outside the current perimeter of the Colonial Cemetery.  The ride was made even spookier due to the rain and those oaks with all that Spanish moss!  This was definitely a ride to remember!

The Foley House Inn is said to be haunted.  We would have deduced this ourselves even if the hotel manager hadn’t told us.  That’s because Mona was in our room alone and had placed two socks on the bed.  She turned away and then back to notice a sock was on the floor.  As she bent to pick it up, the second sock moved to the floor. Neither sock had been on the edge of the bed where it could have fallen.  Needless to say, Mona left the room ASAP and wouldn’t be in the room alone again!  Apparently, Wally, the house ghost likes to move things and make noise.  They call him Wally because during some renovations they found a skeleton behind a wall.  (Hence the name, Wally.)  Apparently, a previous owner had killed Wally for his money and hid his body behind the wall!

We had a few other “occurrences” in the room…I put a loaded camera bag on the bed beside me.  A few moments later it was moved to the floor.  There was no sound indicating it had fallen…it had simply moved.  The next morning Mona asked me if I had heard all the noises in the room above us.  Problem was, there was no room above us.

Other guests had odd occurrences too.  A gentleman from England said he put his glasses on the nightstand beside him. Next morning they weren’t there….they were on the nightstand on the other side of the bed.  Another couple asked us why we were running water at 3:15 in the morning.  We weren’t!  Wally is certainly a busy fellow!Apparently, Wally also likes port.  The hotel keeps port on the lobby piano 24 hours a day for the guests, and for Wally!

Of course, there is much more to do in Savannah than stay in our hotel.  We visited two of the notable cemeteries in town…the Bonaventure and the Colonial Cemetery.  The Bonaventure is huge and full of incredible tombstones and monuments…and with lots of live oaks draped in Spanish moss.  It’s beautiful.  Bonaventure also has a large Jewish section.  Did you know that Jews don’t put flowers on graves?  There are lots of theories as towhere this custom came from, but my favorite is that since rocks are permanent they show that the departed is permanently in the heart of the person who left the rock.

We also visited the Colonial Cemetery in the heart of Savannah.  It’s been turned into a park, but there are still hundreds of graves there, including graves of heroes from the Revolutionary War.  Many of the graves there are brick hut-like buildings.  We’ve never seen any like them before.

We finished our visit on a trolley tour visiting most of the sites in the city.  There are many beautiful homes to see and 22 squares, which are like miniature parks laid out in a grid fashion in the heart of the city.  We hopped off the tour along the Savannah River to grab a bite to eat and to enjoy the river view.  We highly recommend this tour!

Our last stop of the evening was Pirates House for drinks and appetizers.  This place was built in the 1700s and which used to have an underground tunnel going from the building to the river port.  If you had too much to drink you would we whisked away through this tunnel and you’d wake up the next morning as a sailor!  Talk about “Argh”!!!

Next morning, we were treated to another fantastic low-country breakfast and shared “bump-in-the night stories” with our fellow guests.  Can’t wait to go back and visit there again!!!