i *heart* savannah!

I just returned from a five-night trip to Savannah, Georgia and yes, I LOVED it!!! The trip was a combination of pleasure and work. I flew in a day before my NCMPR Board meeting and played tourist for a day-and-a-half. For those of you who have been to New Orleans, the simplest way to describe Savannah is to say that the entire town looks like the French Quarter. The historical preservation in the town is amazing. Here is an example of a typical street and a"typical" house:




The city is also extremely proud of its history, and celebrates it with numerous monuments and statues, such as the below statue of James Oglethorpe and a fountain commemorating the Civil War.

Savannah is laid out in a system of squares, and most of the statues are placed in the center of the squares, such as this one. Note the Spanish Moss, it was beautiful and gets its names from the Native Americans, who when they first saw it, thought it looked like the beards of the Spanish conquistadors.

Like any good tourist town, Savannah celebrates its claim to fame, Midnight in the Garden of Good And Evil. There are numerous gift shops and tours devoted to the book. I refrained from most of them, but did manage to snap a shot of the Mercer House, the house where the book's main character Jim Williams shot his young lover.

I also had a chance to drive the short distance to the coast and checked out the Tybee Island Lighthouse:

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't admit that part of the reason I was excited to visit Savannah was because it is the home of Paula Deen (and her two sons)! Savannah TRULY celebrates her fame ... it is unusual to walk into a shop and not see her smiling face looking at you from a cookbook or two. On my last night there, I had a chance to eat at her restaurant, The Lady & Sons and all kidding aside, it was EXCELLENT southern food. So here I am, post-meal ... smiling, with a belly full of soul food, happy to be in Savannah.