Savannah - Cobblestone streets, masonry walls, stairs and miscellaneous stuff

A few more photos from the dock area along the river.  At fairly regular intervals along the dock area, there are cobblestone paved ramps leading from the river level up to the main level of the city.  The tour guide told us these cobblestone pavers were laid down in the 1700's.  There are stairs near the upper end of the ramps.  The mosaic of the cobblestones, the ramps and the walls fascinated me.  The stairs did, too.  With a little imagination, you can see carts filled with goods recently unloaded off of ships being pushed or pulled up the ramps to shops on the upper city streets.  These are a few of the photos that I took of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photo below is the back of one of the buildings we saw along River Street.

 

 

Check out the bottom of the downspout.  It is a fish.  Looks like one from a Dr. Seuss story.  Some people in Savannah must be Dr. Seuss fans.  Not far from Mrs. Wilkes' dining room is a store called One Fish, Two Fish. 

 

 

The building below is the Pirate House.  It is currently a restaurant.  We heard the food was good but we did not make it there to eat.  The Pirate House is another haunted place according to the tour guides.  The house was a tavern during the days of sailing ships.  There is a tunnel leading from the tavern to the river.  According to the legend, sailors would get drunk or be given a drug by ships' captains or members of their crews.  The sailors would be taken into the tunnel and knocked out either by clubbing or due to the drugs.  The sailors would then be taken to one of the ships.  When the sailor awoke the next day he would be miles at sea.  Sometimes, the sailor would die from being hit too hard on the head or from being given too much of the drug.  People who visit the Pirate House and the tunnel say they see ghosts or experience supernatural activity. 

 

 

 



I still have a bunch more photos to share.  I will post more later.  Have a good evening. 

Savannah - old buildings

There are a bunch of old buildings dating back to the 1700's along the river.  We took a tour and the guide said that the cobblestones along River Street, the ramps leading from the dock areas to Bay Street and the masonry retaining walls were placed in the 1700's.  Pretty cool to be walking along streets, stairs and paths that people walked on 200 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is either a drunk parrot or a fake one.

 

 

 

Abe's is a tavern on Lincoln Street.  Clever. 

 

 

We went into a peanut shop.  As we were walking up to the door, this pigeon walked out of the store.  While we were inside, it kept coming in and out of the door like it was looking for peanuts.  Once in a while it would pick up something off of the floor. 

 

 

 

Statue of the Waving Girl.  Florence Martus lived on an island near the mouth of the Savannah River.  Her father was stationed at Fort Pulaski and her brother was the lighthouse keeper.  For 44 years, Ms. Martus welcomed ships entering the harbor and waved goodbye to ships leaving the harbor by either waving a hankerchief during the day or a lantern at night.  She never married.  Legend has it that she fell in love with a sailor who never came back to Savannah.  The statue is at the east end of River Street and the edge of the Historic District.

 

 

 Savannah City Hall.  The following photos are various buildings in the historic district.  There are a large variety of restaurants, taverns and shops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This building was formerly a theater.  The ghost tour guide told us that several people died suspiciously in this building.  The building sat empty for years before someone converted it into apartments.  Tenants report many strange occurrences and they never stay for very long in the apartments.  Cool building.

 

 

There are several buildings in Savannah with these cool wrought iron balconies.

 

 

 

 

Preston Hall.  Currently owned by the Savannah College of Art and Design, the building was constructed in 1892 for the Savannah Volunteer Guard Armory. 

 

The trees prevented me from getting a good photo of this building.  It was formerly an automobile dealership.  The corner windows are quarter-round glass.  Very nice.

 

 

 

 

This is the church where the feather is dropped in Forrest Gump.  The feather drops until it falls next to the bench where Forrest is sitting at Chippewa Square.

 

 

The bench is not at the square but is in the Savannah Visitor Center.  The tour guide told us this is one of the most photographed spots in Savannah.

 

 

This wrought iron balcony reminded me of Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

 



We took a bunch of photos.  Over 1000 between the two of us.  I have more to post later.  Have a good evening.

Savannah - Cool houses

There are a bunch of cool houses in the historic district. 

These are across the street from the bed and breakfast where we stayed.  Many of the streets are paved in bricks.

 

The Wilkes House was about a block west of where we stayed.  A former boarding house built in the late 1800's, it is now home to the popular restaurant, Mrs. Wilkes' Restaurant, and rooms can be rented.  Debbie and I ate there the first day we spent in Savannah.  The restaurant opens at 11 a.m.  We arrived at 10 a.m. and there was already a line forming.  The guy in the gray t-shirt is from Wyoming.  He and his family were travelling around the US visiting various states.  On that day, they were in Georgia and heard about Mrs. Wilkes.  They decided to try it out.  Nice folks.  Sweating like crazy in the humidity, which was almost 100% at the time.  They were not the only ones.

 

 

 

  

The photo above shows the line all the way to the corner of the block just before they started letting people inside for lunch at 11.  We were in the second group of about 10 people. 

 

 

 

The guy from Wyoming took our photo after we took his family's photo.

 A guy came to the door from inside the restaurant and told us to sit at a large round table near the corner of the dining room.  We did not sit with the Wyoming family.  Debbie and I sat with three college aged guys with huge appetites and two other couples.  We were the oldest people at the table.  There were several bowls of various side dishes and a huge platter of fried chicken. Everyone kinda looked at each other, looked at the bowls, then each of us grabbed a bowl and started spooning food onto our plates.  We passed the bowls to the right and took another bowl from the person on our left.  That happened until our plates were full.  Not much talking except for, "This is good," which was repeated often.  The tea was sweet.  There were several women milling around asking if we were doing ok.  Every few minutes they would bring another bowl of something or replace a bowl that was either empty or almost empty.  One woman brought a huge plate of cornbread.  I did not try everything but everything I tried was very good.  I double dipped in the beef stew and blackeyed peas.  Not sure we got our money's worth, but we did not go away hungry.  Great place to eat.

  

 

 I don't know the story about this house.  Just one of the many cool ones that we saw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The red brick house above is the Kehoe House, which is currently a bed and breakfast.  It was constructed in 1892 by William Kehoe who owned a foundry.  All of the white elements above the windows, the railing along the balcony and the columns on the porch are cast iron.  Debbie and I took a trolley tour of the historic district to hear about the "hauntings" in Savannah.  The tour guide told us this house is haunted by two children who died playing hide and seek.  They hid in a fireplace and somehow suffocated.  Apparently, the Kehoes sealed up all of the fireplaces in the house.  Guests of the bed and breakfast tell about hearing children laughing and running in the second floor hallways but when they check there are never any children to be found.  A guest reported being awakened by someone caressing her face that she thought was her husband but it was a child who disappeared just as she awoke. 

 

 

It seems that if something sits for any length of time in Savannah it gets covered in vegetation.  We saw several homes where vines covered the steps, walls or entry.

 

 

 

There are a couple of streets where the houses have these really cool curved steps leading to the front door.  Every house on the block has the same or very similar steps and wrought iron railings.  The photos do not do it justice.  Love it.

 

 

 

 

The Mercer House.  The great-grandfather of songwriter Johnny Mercer started building the house in 1860.  It was finished in 1868.  The house was purchased and renovated in 1969 by Jim Williams, who allegedly shot and killed his assistant (or gay lover depending on who is telling the story).  The movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is based on the story.  After the trial, Mr. Williams died leaving the home to his mother.  He apparently did not like his sister and left her $10.  She inherited the house from her mother and lives there now.

  

 

The Sorrel Weed House was constructed in 1839.  The basement of this house is reportedly haunted.  Tours are given almost every night after dark.  It was a few blocks away from where we stayed.  Debbie and I walked over there after dark one night and tried to get photos with orbs.  We didn't get anything outside. Should have taken the tour.  The TAPS Ghost Hunters (SyFy channel) explored the house and apparently experienced spirits. 

 

 

Davenport House was completed in 1820.  It is now a museum.  And reportedly haunted. 

 

 

This home was formerly an orphanage for girls.  The house caught fire and two girls were trapped in the attic.  The home was restored and since the fire, the various residents have reported hearing children laughing in the attic.  It is across the street from Greene Square.  Residents in the area often report seeing two girls playing alone in the square.  When police are called, the police never find the girls. The upper window in the photo is reportedly the location where a small child's handprint cannot be washed off.  Well, that's what the ghost tour guide told us. 

 

 

One two story house.  And one very small, one story house.

 

 

 

This house in the photo above has a problem worse than ghosts.

 

 

I thought the house above was the front of the Juliette Gordon Low house.  They are similar.  Not sure what the house is, but I like it.  Sorry for the mixup.

 

 

Juliette Gordon Low established the first Girl Scout troop here.  The main house is in the photo above.  The carriage house is below, where the troop was formed.

 

 

 We had a great time looking at all of the great houses in the historic district.  Well, maybe I did more than Debbie.  More photos later.  Have a good evening.