5-20-14 Savannah, GA
Regrettably, we zoomed right by St.
Simons Island. When I say that, I mean
that we did not take advantage of the shore excursion today, even though we had
signed on to it. When the ship anchored
to tender people ashore, a million big black flies that look like bees gathered
on the windows. They bite. Worse, they bite ME. ME, Lindy, not Maine. If I apply repellent, they take a bath in it
first, tie a bib around their necks and then dine on me. So we remained aboard the ship where there
were nice slabs of glass and steel between the bugs and Lindy.
We are now docked in Savannah, GA and it
is a warm, sunny, beautiful day, perfect for exploring to see what's cookin' in
the Hostess City. Juliet Gordon Low's
birthplace and family home is located here in Savannah and we were invited to
have a look around. Juliet, nicknamed
and forevermore known as Daisy, was born in 1860 in this home where she lived
her young life with her dad, mom and five sibs.
When she was 26, she married William Low, who was the heir to a pantload
of money and never worked a day in his life.
Daisy was pretty arty and did a lot of sculpturing, oil painting and
even designed and welded fancy wrought iron gates. Her hubness was a Brit and so they moved back
to his origins in London. That's where
Daisy met Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts. She learned that girls were hungry for a
piece of that action and became inspired.
She came back to the States and began immediately to craft the
organization that wound up being the Girl Scouts. She was heavily wrapped up in that enterprise
until her death at 66. Her family's home still contains the original
furnishings and it seemed to me that for that era, they must have been
LOADED. But we were assured that,
although her dad was a cotton merchant, this opulent home was considered
"upper middle class." Beyond
my means, by any yardstick, and really beautiful. And now I know why there is a Girl Scout
cookie called a "savannah."
But not why it's that particular cookie.
Savannah as a colony was first
established in 1732 by James Edward Oglethorpe and there are monuments, streets
and buildings named in his honor. It is
considered one of the first planned communities in the USA. Since the USA became the USA 44 years later,
I'm not sure how this figures but I'm just the messenger, here. The city is laid out with 22 squares, each
square with pretty landscaping of big live oaks and flowers and monuments and
each named after an historically significant person or event. Some are Madison, Chippewa, Washington,
Reynolds and Ellis Squares. Along the
waterfront is River Street. You can
stroll along the cobblestone walk here and visit the stores, cafes and saloons
catering to the tourists. It was midday
so Rob and I found a great old brick and mortar saloon and settled down for a
quick lunch: a cold beer, fried grouper
and chips (Rob) and fried gator tails (Lindy).
Yup, gator tails! They are tasty
and chewy. The fish version of chicken
gizzards in my evaluation.
The streets of Savannah were originally
dirt, of course. But the ships that came
in delivering a variety of goods used rocks for ballast. This assured that the ships would remain
bottom-side down, always a nice concept, to be sure. When the ships were unloaded, the rocks were
thrown out and before you know it, the town was strewn with big rock
piles. It occurred to the locals that
these could be used to pave the dirt streets and there are still many original
cobblestone streets. It is important to
watch your step because they are rugged and uneven and hazardous to your
health.
Next stop: Hilton Head, SC, where men play golf and the
rest of us spend money.
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