Savannah GA

FRI July 2

I started out the day in seaport city of Savannah by going downtown and taking a tour of the historic distinct; a beautiful area that most of us have seen part of in movies. [I’ll get back to that later.] The guide stated that GA and Savannah was established as a buffer between the Spanish in St. Augustine and the English in Charleston and it was settled 65-years after Charleston was settled. He explained the layout of the City and how it was set to defend itself from the Indians, who turned out to be friendly, and the Spanish who only once ventured north from St. Augustine and who were defeated south of the city. Anyway we drove around and you could see how the city grew as the merchants grew and prospered off cotton and rice that came into the city through a series of railroad lines and a few canals. The restored homes in the historic district are beautiful and you can tell that the “culture vultures” are very active in preserving the heritage; wrought-iron railings and oak trees with Spanish Moss are everywhere and they even go with a different bike-path sign. And of course I had to see the Catholic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

The guide also said that Savannah is the setting for many movies and he cited Forrest Gump, Glory, The General's Daughter, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The Legend of Bagger Vance and Something to Talk About as examples. He also stated that Robert Redford had just finished directing the movie "The Conspirator," a film about Mary Surratt, the lone female among those charged with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Surratt, a Maryland widow and boardinghouse operator, was arrested for her part in Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Surratt was hanged and was the first woman executed by the U.S. government. The film should be out in a few months.