Jones Street is touted to be the “prettiest street” in Savannah (in America, some say). We learned it was within walking distance of our hotel. The Crystal Beer Parlor, a recommended restaurant we wanted to try, was also on one end of Jones Street.
Cobblestone walk…
Jones Street
So late one afternoon we took off to walk along Jones Street, all the while the song “On the street where you live” from the movie My Fair Lady kept playing in my mind. That, too, was a pretty street, if I recall.
Quaint, antique looking light fixtures on front porches.
Live oaks on Jones Street.
Jones Street was lined with colorful row houses and beautiful architecture, attractive stairways, cobblestone sidewalks, inviting rod-iron gates to gaze into patio gardens, live oak trees with branches hanging over the sidewalks and streets, dripping with Spanish moss…it was very picturesque.
Lots of rod iron…
A peek into a patio garden….
Color…
We walked up and down Jones Street before going to eat at the Crystal Beer Parlor, another gem in Savannah. The beer parlor has history in Savannah. It originally was a corner grocery store. Then, during prohibition, it made moonshine in the cellar and became a “speakeasy”. When prohibition ended it became one of the first restaurants in Savannah to serve liquor, and has been doing so ever since, along with delicious food.
The Crystal Beer Parlor.
We had a wonderful time at the Crystal Beer Parlor. We had a fun and competent waiter, we split the night’s special of shrimp and grits, which was unbelievably tasty, and we shared a yummy peach cobbler for dessert.
It seemed apropos that we end our time in Savannah on the prettiest street and with a great dining experience.
A beautiful building, not a home, near Jones Street. Maybe apartments?
The morning of our second day in Savannah, Georgia, Gary and I were the only two people in line for a tour of the historic Davenport House.
The Davenport House.
The Davenport House was built in 1820 by Isaiah Davenport, and is a beautiful example of Federal-Style architecture. He built the house for his large family, but also to demonstrate and promote his carpentry skills.
I took this photo in the Davenport House because it reminded me of the canopy bed my dad made for me when I was a little girl.
Our docent was knowledgeable and happy to share information on the house and family with just the two of us.
A lovely staircase in the Davenport House.
We only toured this one historic house while in Savannah, although there are many others. I do enjoy touring houses.
The JW Marriott hotel in Savannah, Georgia.
After our tour, we told our docent that we were going to the Riverwalk next. It was a beautiful, sunny day. We asked her if there was anything in particular we should look for, and she suggested the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel. She informed us the manager/owner of the JW was a collector and had some of his collections on display. But she didn’t tell us what the collections were.
“OK, thanks, we’ll look for it.” And so we did.
One, of several, geodes on display at the JW in Savanna.
The JW Marriott’s are luxury hotels. The JW Marriot in Savannah was built on the site of an old electric power plant. You could see part of the electric plant’s antique workings exposed on one wall. The modern hotel covers a lot of ground, using the space for conference rooms, ballrooms, restaurants, hotel rooms, etc.
A hanging light fixture made of amethyst in a conference room off the lobby.
It was difficult finding the right door. Of course, lobbies of hotels should be not hard to find, but we found we were coming from the opposite side of a very big complex. It took us several attempts, going through different doors, to find the lobby. But we persisted, and we were glad we did.
A perspective as to the size of the geode on display.
We found the collections the docent was talking about. Among other antique artifacts, there was a large collection of geodes…stunning geodes…from all over the world.
Another perspective showing the size of this amethyst, found in Brazil.
We enjoyed oohing and ahhing over the splendor and sizes of the geodes, all the while hearing a pianist in the background, playing a grand piano in the lobby of this luxury hotel.
An overview of the piano player and display cases in the lobby of the JW.
I’m so glad we found this display on the Riverwalk. We would have never gone inside this hotel if we had not asked a “local” for suggestions of things to see. We did not find this lobby listed in any tour guide book.
A citrine geode. The sign said this is one of the largest in existence and took years to prepare for display. It was found in Brazil.
A side view of the citrine geode…ordinary gray rock on the outside, surrounding stunning crystals on the inside.
We often do that… ask a local… and we find hidden treasures, in unexpected places.
Our first full day in Savannah we took off on a self-guided walking tour and were determined to walk to every “square” in Savannah’s historic district. There are 24 squares…a square is a large block of green-space in the middle of neighborhoods, all with trees, some with fountains or statues, benches or gardens.
Oglethorpe Square. James E. Oglethorpe was the founder of the Georgia colony, and a champion of the oppressed.
They are laid out very orderly and each one a few blocks from the other. After eight miles of walking, we accomplished our goal.
Another Square in Savannah.
We took a photo of each sign at each square. We’d stop to rest at times, read history plaques, drink a cup of coffee, enjoy a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful, sunny day and a nice temperature for walking. It gave us a great overview of the historic district in Savannah.
The John Mercer house. John Mercer was a popular figure from Savannah. He was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer. He was also a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records. His house was featured in the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
Warren Square sign with a lime green lizard (Green Anole).
In the afternoon we stopped for ice cream (of course!) at a wonderful little shop we walked past, and found it to be a long standing, well-known ice cream parlor, with wonderful treats.
A delicious Southern Socialite flavor at Leopold’s Ice Cream.
As we were waiting for the walk sign to change so we could cross the street to Leopold’s Ice Cream, I read a plaque on the building we were next to. It happened to be the old department store where, in 1960, black students led by the NAACP Council staged sit-ins at white-only lunch counters in eight downtown stores. Three students, were arrested in the Azalea Room at this Levy’s Department Store – now a SCAD’s (Savannah’s College of Art and Design) library. We didn’t remember sit-ins took place in Savannah. It was interesting to see the building where one took place.
The previous Levy Department Store, now a library for SCAD (Savannah College of Arts and Design).
We returned to our hotel, happy and exhausted. Each day I loved climbing the stairs to the second floor where our room was located. It was an older hotel and it had a lovely wooden staircase. Each time I climbed it I imagined myself in an old southern mansion. It added amusemnt to our stay.
We left North Carolina early Thursday morning to start our journey back to Minnesota. We planned a new route home, because we wanted to see a part of Mississippi.
Welcome to Mississippi.
We wanted to stop there because there are only two states I do not recall having been in…Idaho and Mississippi. Since Mississippi seemed a reasonable distance to include on our trip home (Idaho, of course, was not!) we decided it would be fun to stay overnight in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Road maps.
Therefore, on Thursday we drove from North Carolina, through South Carolina, through Georgia and through Alabama to Mississippi. We stopped at the birthplace of Elvis, a must-see attraction in Tupelo, before checking into our hotel…then we went out for dinner. It was a pleasant day.
The house where Elvis Presley was born, in Tupelo, Mississippi.
The clouds put on a pretty display for a pleasant evening in Mississippi.
The next morning we drove on the Natchez Trace Parkway, a 444 mile national scenic byway, that goes through three states.
Directional sign.
The road roughly follows the “Old Natchez Trace” a historic travel corridor used by American Indians, European settlers, slave traders, soldiers and a few presidents. It has a lot of history to tell, dating back to the late 1700’s.
A scenic two-way parkway, with little traffic.
Natchez Trace Parkway.
We drove on the parkway for thirty miles before getting off to head towards Kentucky. There was another attraction we wanted to see on our way back to Minnesota…the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky.
A wonderful museum in Paducah, Kentucky.
A step inside the quilt museum.
The quilt museum was interesting. I have more thoughts and photos to share in an upcoming post.
Our third morning was a bit different than the others. We spent the night near St. Louis, Missouri, and woke up to a snowstorm (unusual amounts expected for this part of the country). We got an early start, but it was slow going the first few hours, until we drove out of the storm and the roads cleared up.
Snow-packed road conditions as we traveled north through Missouri. Fortunately there was not a lot of traffic.
As we checked out that morning in St. Louis, the clerk at our hotel gave us a blessing for our safety while traveling through the snow…she was a kind-hearted woman and a delight. It felt right, and special, to start our journey that day with her blessing.
Heavy snow-cover along the side of the road.
A Minnesota winter scene.
We were thankful we made it back to Minnesota safely.
It hangs like icicles dripping from the trees…not a certain type of tree, but any tree. And it’s everywhere in Savannah, Georgia, where we took a mini road trip from our base in North Carolina.
The grey-green moss dripping from southern live oaks.
I admit it took me awhile to come to appreciate the appeal of these plants but I now think Spanish moss is a beautiful sight. It is not Spanish, nor is it moss. Its name is derived from French settlers naming it Spanish beard and later it became Spanish moss.
Spanish moss is a member of the bromeliad family, an epiphyte, or air plant. It uses trees only for support, but gets its nourishment from air, sun, and rain. It does not hurt the trees it grows on.
A majestic southern live oak tree.
And even more beautiful is when you see the Spanish moss hanging in the southern live oak trees. The Southern live oaks are majestic trees. Although usually identified as evergreens, because live oaks retain their leaves nearly year-round, they are not true evergreens. Live oaks drop their leaves immediately before new leaves emerge in the spring. The leaves do not resemble the oak leaves we find in Minnesota.
Spanish Moss on a southern live oak.
Southern live oaks grow to about 50 feet in height, with large looming branches hanging low and spreading far and wide, its limbs may spread out 100 feet or more.
A beautiful, sprawling southern live oak tree.
They can grow to be several hundred years old. They are the official state tree of Georgia. Southern live oaks are magnificent trees, and found all over Savannah, and the deep south we’ve read. They are picturesque.
Orleans Square in Savannah.
At one historic place we visited, Wormsloe, there was an avenue of southern live oaks lining each side of the road for one mile, forming a canopy overhead. I was in awe as we drove through this exquisite scene.
A mile long avenue of southern live oak creating a canopy overhead.
This is one of the prominent features I will remember about our enchanting trip to Savannah, Georgia: Spanish moss and Southern live oaks.
We’ve had some fun adventures on this lengthy (for us) time away from our home in Minnesota. We took a road trip to North Carolina and are staying with our son and his family. The time is going by fast; maybe because it started over the Christmas holidays, and is extending into the New Year. Or maybe because we’re visiting family and grandchildren – that is always special. I always anticipate having all kinds of time to write, but that never proves true for me. I get distracted with the days activities. We are still here, but I’m taking time to write now.
On the front porch at our son’s home in North Carolina.
Initially we had some warm days in North Carolina. We were able to sit on the front porch and drink our morning coffee, and go to a park on a sunny, 75* day and play with the new Stomp Rocket.
Having fun in the park.
We also had a couple warm and sunny days in Georgia, and I wore my sandals while walking along Savannah’s Riverwalk, but now a cold front has come through and it’s a bit chilly…but not as cold as it is back home in Minnesota.
The Riverwalk along the Savannah River.
We did take a mini road trip to Savannah, Georgia (a road trip within a road trip!) and enjoyed exploring that lovely, southern city. We had four wonderful days there. One, of many, interesting tidbits from our time in Savannah is from our first afternoon when we drove through the beautiful, historic Bonaventure Cemetery, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and located on a scenic bluff on the Wilmington River.
The cemetery has acres of old, interesting tombstones and monuments with mature southern live oak trees with Spanish moss dripping from them, and rough gravel roads that create a very mystical place.
This was not your typical manicured cemetery, but it was eerily peaceful in the late afternoon as we drove around.
Sun rays lighting up some Spanish moss.
Rod iron gates around clusters of marble and granite tombstones, large and tall monuments, cement angel and crosses, and all manner of cemetery props are within its gates with mature trees and other greenery.
On our way out we stopped at the info center just outside the cemetery where someone commented on our Minnesota license plates. He stated we’re a long way from home and asked what part of Minnesota we were from? “Northfield,” I said. And he said, “we are too!” Two couples from our hometown had just toured the cemetery. It was a fun moment.
