The Rest of Savannah

As infatuated as I am with the Jim Williams story, I found that there is so much more to Savannah than just intrigue and murder. I think my first knowledge of Savannah came when I was a Brownie and we learned that the founder of the Girl Scouts Juliette Gordon Low was born in Savannah. Both the Low and Gordon families were very prominent families and leaders in the Savannah community. Today her birthplace home is open for tours and is known for having the most complete collection of original furnishings to be seen in Savannah. As a Girl Scout myself for many years and then as a leader for even more years, it was nice to see that several troops of Scouts were visiting and touring the Gordon Low Home.

We walked each and every square in Savannah – all 21 of them which are located within the historic district. The squares vary in size and personality, from the formal fountain and monuments of the largest, Johnson, to the playgrounds of the smallest, Crawford. In any other city the squares would be called parks; however the squares were the focal points in the layout of the city. They were intended to be used for military maneuvers, informational gatherings and at the same time add refinement and beauty to the streets of Savannah. Originally designed by General Oglethorpe the surrounding streets and the squares themselves remain almost exactly the same as they did when they were originally constructed.




Ellis Square in the remaking.


The Elbert, Ellis, and Liberty Squares are classified as the "lost squares” when they were destroyed due to development in the 1950s. Elbert and Liberty Squares were paved over to make way for a realignment of US 17, while Ellis Square was demolished to build the City Market parking garage. However Ellis Square is being revived as the city has recently razed the parking garage and Ellis Square will soon be restored to its original state – thank goodness!

Captain Mark and I came into the city of Savannah almost every day as there was so much we wanted to see and experience. We took a 90 minute trolley ride that gave us an overview of the city and its history. SCAD, the Savannah School of Art and Design has played a major role in the restoration of buildings that are not within the confines of the Historical or Victorian districts. The workmanship is top notch and continues to show the city and cultural pride of Savannah.

There are so many special houses, buildings and locations in Savannah but here are a few of the ones that we liked. The Owens Thomas house is unique in design as well as history. From the balcony (over Mark’s head) Marquis de Lafayette gave a speech to the citizens of Savannah. Like all of the restored houses, this house looks exactly as it did when Lafayette visited the home in 1825.






Built in 1893, the Kehoe Home is unique in that William J Kehoe, as the owner and founder of Kehoe Iron Works, felt that anything that could be made of wood could also be made of metal. All of the railings, window moldings and decorative aspects of this house are made of metal that was fabricated in his shop to look exactly like their wood counterparts.






Savannah was spared from destruction by General Sherman as he marched to the sea during the Civil War. A group of businessmen from Savannah met Sherman outside of the city and negotiated a settlement with him whereby the city would surrender in return for his word that the city would not be destroyed as was Atlanta. All parties agreed and Sherman then presented President Lincoln with Savannah as a Christmas present in 1864.

Of course, no trip to Savannah would be complete without a meal at Paula Deen’s Lady and Sons Restaurant. One must arrive early in the day to make reservations for either lunch or dinner but however long you wait; it is well worth the wait. We ate at Lady and Sons on a Sunday so the buffet was the only menu option but we were not disappointed in the least. Captain Mark loved the fried chicken and I loved the barbequed pulled pork. I have been on a no-starch diet for a few weeks now but I set aside the diet for this meal and I must say the macaroni and cheese was to die for! The price was also very reasonable at $16 per person.


After the meal we headed to the Paula Deen store so that I could purchase a cookbook so that I may attempt to replicate her fabulous dishes.

On our next trip into the city, we ate at Mrs Wilkes Boarding House. This restaurant is listed in the book entitled 1000 Places to See Before You Die so we of course had to go there. Only lunch is served between the hours of 11a – 2p and no reservations are accepted. When we arrived the line was rather long but we decided to wait anyway. As it turned out, the line moved along rather quickly and our wait was only about 30 minutes. The meal is served family style with ten people per table. Fried chicken was the main meat entrée with (no kidding) twelve different side dishes.
Every conceivable vegetable and/or potato dish was passed around our table multiple times. Just when you thought you could not eat another bite, dessert was served of either bread pudding or strawberry shortcake. The fun part about Mrs Wilkes’ is that when one is finished with the meal, one is expected to take their plates and silverware into the kitchen – just like at home!

Captain Mark’s restaurant choice was the Pirate House. Located near the waterfront, the Pirate House was originally a tavern of rather questionable repute. Robert Louis Stevenson spent time in Savannah and this tavern is said to be the inspiration for Treasure Island. It was not unusual for customers to find themselves crew members of sailing ships after a long night spent drinking at the Pirate House. Rumor has it that there is a secret tunnel running from the Pirate House’s rum cellar under the streets leading directly to the Savannah wharf. After being plied with liquor to the point of passing out, the unsuspecting “sailors” would be loaded aboard a ship that would depart in the dark of the night for the high seas.

The oldest standing building in Georgia is located on the grounds of the Pirate House. It is the Trustees’ Cottage also known as the Herb House and looks exactly the same today as it did when it was built in 1733. The bricks used in the construction of this building were manufactured only a short block away by the Savannah River where brick making was one of the first industries established in Savannah.



Savannah has always been a seaport and that remains the same today. The Savannah River is a major thoroughfare for goods and materials being imported and exported. We saw several large ships as they entered the harbor.

Here are several other things we found during our time spent in Savannah:



The frog looks fake but he was real and trying to hop out

I loved the bus stop signs



Look what I found located in the same building!

The legend of the Waving Girl totally captured my heart. The Waving Girl Statue honors Florence Margaret Martus by representing her saga and heart break. As the story goes, she met and fell in love with a sailor who, of course, had to leave for the sea. She told him that she would wait for him and would wave at each and every ship that passed along the Savannah River. When he saw her waving he would know that she was still waiting for him. She waved and waited for 45 years and unfortunately her sailor never returned to her…don’t we all have someone in our lives that we would wave and wait for forty-five years?