Trip to Savannah and Charleston April 2008 Part 1

Part 1 Savannah

Spouse and I had a family wedding in Charleston in April. So we decided to extend the weekend and go to Savannhah too. Just three words.... well worth it. Man did we love Savannah. even thought there is so much quaintness in a relatively small area two days is not enough time for this town. So here are some of the things we liked about our Savannah trip:

1. First of all we stayed in the cutest cottage, Wakefield Cottage @ 545 E. Congress St. Ideal location near everything. We literally parked our rental car behind the black gate in the picture below and didn't drive it again until we left Savannah. So probably best to ditch the car to save money for future trips.
2. This town has the most adorable little square with mini parks that make it just wonderful for pedistrians. We also found the wonderful architecture, great local restaurants and interesting history so enjoyable.

Below is a picture of the garden behind our cottage.

Above is a picture of spouse walking into Wakefield Cottage. Wakefield had two bedrooms and two bathrooms (shotgun style), plus a fully stocked kitchen. It was more room than we needed but the extra bedroom helped speed up getting ready in the morning. The bedroom off my bathroom had a gas fireplace which I lit both mornings while I was getting ready. We both agreed we want to stay here again... it is also one of the few b&b's we would consider taking a kid to as well. 4. Since we arrived around 5Pm the first thing after we unloaded our carry on luggage was go out to dinner. I have to say I have improved so much on packing lightly in the last couple of years. Anyhow the restaurant we found was the Belford which we both liked. Spouse had lobster ravioli, I had chose a southern entree of shrimp, grits and collards. We shared a bottle of Mark West 2006 Pinot Noir. The Belford is located in a very cute area with lots of restaurant choices. Just up the block was Paula Deen's restaurant which as is usual had a line wrapped outside the building. I read several recommendations about the restaurant across the street from PD's but it was too busy too. So luckily we found the Belford. The 2nd night we had another enjoyable meal at a place called the Alligator Soul.

5. The next day we took two 2 hour walking tours. The morning tour was an architectural walking tour and a garden and gates walking tour in the afternoon. In between we had lunch at the Gryphon Tea Room. The food was really good, tea excellent and beautiful restoration too. It used to be a pharmacy and is located near the bench where the scenes Forest Gump waiting for the bus was filmed. For our morning tour one of the homes we heard about was the Davenport House (pictured below).

This is the decription from the back of the postcard that I bought of this house:

Built in 1820 by Isaiah Davenport, the house is perhaps the finest sample of tradtioional Federal architecture in existence today. Located on Habersham and State Streets.

This house was almost demolished in 1955. It took years to restore it but in 2005 it received a Preserve America Presidential Award.

• The next picture is of the Owens - Thomas House. I like this picture b/c of the carriage tour and costumed guide. Someday I hope to be able to airbrush out the parked car and street sign. Anyhow the next time we visit this town I want to see the inside of this building which is open to tours . Some background info:
• Style = English Regency (name comes from King George IV, who ruled as a Prince Regent from 1811 to 1820.)
• The house was one of William Jay's first and it took over 3 years to build (began in November 1816 and completed in January 1819). Many owners later (and several different families) it was bequested to the Telfair Museum of Art and is a National Historic Landmark. The gift shop for this place is in the carriage house.

Above is a picture of Olgethorpe Square, where we met for our walking tours. So pretty in April and about 3 blocks from our cottage. The next set of pictures is of gardens from our afternoon tour. A private resident's side garden. Above is a picture of me in one of the many public garden and below a picture of spouse. A very cute downspout (above) and beautiful homes with iron-work (below) everywhere. The gates were just amazing, both old and newer ones too. The next several gates pictured below are mostly contemporary. A wrought iron gate is something spouse and I have talked about quite a bit. We plan on replacing our current gate from our side alley which opens to the backyard garden, possibly when we fix the sidewalk. We have thought about incorporating grapes leaves (or something else subtle) since we know Mt. Adams was almost entirely a vineyard in the 1850's. We had time to take a tour of Juliet Gordon Lowe's home. I remembered this home tour fondly from a family trip 20 + years ago. It was just as enjoyable this trip.

6.Juliette Gordon Low's birthplace was built in 1821 and elegantly restored in the 1880's. She is famous as the founder of the Girl Scouts. The house is Victorian. Docent's lead the tours and this is a well visited site. Lots of stories, interesting history and good restoration.

7. If we had had more time I would have liked to take one the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil tours. Johnny Mercer's house is on that tour.