What a beautiful city Savannah is!!! I had a feeling from our drive through that when we had our day in Savannah I would want to take a picture of EVERYTHING .. and I did want to but restrained myself a little .. LOL!!! I just posted 155 pictures on here .. and if we'd had more time there would have been many many more!!! I loved it .. I definitely want to go back there and would like to spend at least one more day there next time!!!
Our day started at 9:21 and it was already 75 degrees!!! As we got to Savannah we headed right to the Visitor Center to get tickets for the Trolley Tour of the city.
Just had to have a pic of myself with this handsome pirate inside the Visitor Center .. LOL!!!
There's our trolley ...
As we are riding through the city our trolley driver / tour guide is telling us all about our surroundings and pointing out historical places .. of course I cannot remember any of his stories!!!
Notice all the flowering bushes and trees .. gorgeous .. Ken asked a lady if the flowers always bloom at this time of year and she said "Oh no .. this is highly unusual" ..
Notcie the young lady standing at the front of the trolley .. she is performing as Rosie the Riveter .. a very neat presentation!!! Wish I could have gotten a better picture .. actually a video would have been even better!!!
Buena Vista Cemetery ..
Olllllldddddd Police Station ..
This young lady is performing as a slave and telling the story of her life .. she was hilarious!!!
Showing you the beautiful flowers ..
Notice the McDonalds on the corner .. doesn't look like OUR McDonalds' .. LOL!! Our tour guide said the people of the city fought letting a McDonalds come in for 40 years .. but finally gave in and allowed it!!!
On River Street ..
The trolley had places where it stopped every few blocks .. you could get off and do whatever you wanted and then go back to the stop and get back on and ride some more. Ken and I and several others got off at this stop ..
How neat to be sitting in the sun on a beautiful day .. painting pictures .. I asked his permission to take his picture and he said "sure" ..
The Savannah Belle ..
In the River Street area the streets were true cobblestones .. very rough to drive on and pretty rough to walk on too .. LOL!!
Woooo Hooooo .. Ken spied his first penny smasher ... we did some shopping in this store too to and found a couple of things to add to the girls' belated Birthday bags!!!
SAVANNAH'S CANDY STORE ..
Notice those giant Candy Apples .. WOW!!!
Ken bought A Praline .. $4.95 for ONE Praline .. YIKES!!!
Yes .. he did share the Praline with me as we were sitting on this bench!!
Ken loves Ice Cream .. couldn't resist this giant one .. LOL LOL LOL!!!
What do you know .. another penny smasher ... Yaaaaaayyyyyy!!!!
The building with the blue awnings is "Lizzie's Margarita Bar" .. of course I had to get a pic!!!
Savannah Belle's Ferry .. Susie King Taylor on the prow ..
The memorial for the Waving Girl ..
Of course I had to get a pic of this T shirt .. LOL!!! And NO .. we did not buy one .. LOL LOL LOL!!!
We are back on the trolley to and at the next stop and this young lady is portraying the story of "The Waving Girl" .. really really really wish I had taped this one!!!
And speaking of "The Waving Girl" this just happens to be the back of her statue!!!
Wild Wings for Lunch ..
Delicious Baked Potato Soup for me ..
A 1/2 pound Burger .. Fries and Slaw for Ken ..
Johnny Mercer lived in Savannah .. I wasn't aware until later in the day that we could have toured his home but by the time we found out we didn't have enough time!!!
WOW!! A Panera Bread Company in Savannah .. makes me miss our Bread Company Bunch!!!
Juliette Gordon Low's birthplace and where she spent her childhood ..
If you click on the picture below you will see the stool looks like the shape of an elephant!!!
Kenny sitting with Juliette and her dog ..
Just look at those beautiful flowers .. and this was the first day of March!!!!
Time for a "little" dinner before heading back to the hotel for a night's rest before making our way to Florida ..
Some of the restaurants in South Carolina had dishes that they called Calabash .. one was Calabash Chicken and we had wondered what it was .. the menu here at the Fatz Cafe gave a very good explanation of what it was!!!!
And just in case you find yourself intriqued by the story of "The Waving Girl" .. i of course went to Google and looked her up and found a web site with her story ..
Legend of Florence Martus
One of Savannah's favorite stories involves the life of Florence Martus (1868 -1943), who was known well by Savannahians and sailors of the sea as the Waving Girl. The daughter of a sergeant stationed at Fort Pulaski, Florence later moved to a cottage along the river near the entrance of the harbor with her brother George, upon his upstream transfer from the Cockspur Island Lighthouse to the Elba Island Lighthouse.As the story goes, life at the remote cottage was lonely for Florence whose closest companion was her devoted collie. At an early age, she developed a close affinity with the passing ships and welcomed each one with a wave of her handkerchief. Sailors began returning her greeting by waving back or with a blast of the ship's horn. Eventually Florence started greeting the ships arriving in the dark by waving a lantern.
Florence Martus continued her waving tradition for 44 years and it is estimated that she welcomed more than 50,000 ships during her lifetime. There is a lot of unsubstantiated speculation about Florence having fallen in love with a sailor who never returned to Savannah. The facts, however, about why she started and continued the waving tradition for so many years remain a mystery.
In any event, Florence Martus grew into a Savannah legend, known far and wide. On September 27, 1943, the SS Florence Martus, a Liberty ship, was christened in her honor. According to the Georgia Historical Society, it was the "thirtieth of eighty eight liberty ships built in Savannah", and was eventually scrapped in Baltimore.
Florence is laid to rest next to her brother in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah. The head stone inscription resonates the admiration for their legendary service to the mariners.
IN MEMORY OF THE WAVING GIRL AND HER BROTHER
KEEPERS OF THE LIGHTHOUSE ON ELBA ISLAND, SAVANNAH RIVER FOR 35 YRS.
LEGENDS
Many other legends endure about this woman, notably the following:
- The reason she greeted ships was because she had fallen in love as a young girl with a sailor and wanted to be sure he would find her when he returned.When, after 44 years, he did not, she died of a broken heart.
- Sailors would bring her gift
- When the captain of the ship that brought her memorial statue to Savannah arrived, he refused to accept payment because of his fond memories of Martus
The broken heart story is the one the young woman who gave the performance on our trolley told!!!
FLORIDA 2017 .. OH MY!! I just discovered that I never did get on here and post that I somehow lost the pictures that were taken on the way to Florida and while we were there!! I just spent an hour or so once again trying to find them on here .. and no such luck!!! I forgot all about never finishing this adventure on here!!!!!
