Savannah City Docks, Savannah, Georgia

We went on an historical tour of Savannah today, very interesting. In 1733, James Oglethorpe and 144 "sober, moral and industrious" settlers arrived from England to set up a colony here. James Oglethorpe organized his colony on a model from Peking; he created a series of town squares, then built around them. This was to create a sense of community, and to encourage people to look after one another in their small communities. In Mr. Oglethorpe's time, slavery was not allowed in Georgia. That changed after he left. He also did nto allow Roman Catholics to live here. At that time, Florida was held by the Spanish and so was largely Catholic. The historic part of the city is still set around these beautiful squares. As we toured we saw people walking in them, children playing, and in a couple of cases, weddings taking place. Apparently for $150 one can rent a square for an event. Savannah's historic district is large and well maintained. In the war of Independence, General Sherman arrived to conquer the city. The city was handed over intact; General Sherman had been destroying everything in his path, but the story is that he thought Savannah so beautiful that he spared it. One of the houses that we saw on the tour was offered to (and used by) General Sherman for his headquarters so that he wouldn't harm it.

Most of these old houses have the front door on the 2nd level; that is because the ladies and gentlemen wanted to be away from the horse traffic on the street. The kitchens and servant quarters would have been on the ground level. Also note the balcony. There are no doors onto it, because houses were taxed on the number of doors. Instead, the windows are large enough that one can step out.



Our Tour bus



Tree hanging with Spanish moss. Apparently this is the source of the term "don't let the bedbugs bite". The early settlers used Spanish moss to stuff their mattresses; however the moss is full of small bugs that bite, so those mattresses could get itchy. Apparently Henry Ford once had the idea to use Spanish moss to stuff the seats of his cars, but after several customers complained, he had to give up on that plan.

The Waving Girl. Florence Martus was the sister of a lighthouse keeper at the entrance to Savannah, and she waved at each arriving ship to welcome them. Men on the ships started  waving back, tooting horns etc to acknowledge the welcome. She became a Savannah legend, and this statue was built in her honour. There is also a story that she had a lover who left on a ship and she was waiting to greet him on his return, but that is unsubstantiated.

In 1996, the Olympic Yachting events for the Atlanta games were held here in Savannah.

Predictions were for gale force winds and storms today; in the end we had some clouds and wind, but that was all. The street by the docks is busy again tonight with lots of people and entertainment. All of the restaurants seem to be full. Several wedding parties down here taking pictures. We will probably move on north tomorrow.