Day 25 - January 25th - Savannah, Georgia
In Mark's words, "What an awesome day. Started off with a great early morning hike along one of Hilton Islands beautiful beaches, then headed into Savannah to explore yet another historic and lovely city. We walked for hours. Beautiful mansions, wonderful churches, great museums, yummy free samples of pralines in chocolate!!!"
We were happy that it was a little less colder today, though we still had our winter coats with us. The beach at Hilton Islands was accessible via a long, but perfectly manicured boardwalk from the parking lot.
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| Boardwalk to Hilton Head Beach |
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| Swing chairs |
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| Free WiFi |
Some things were reminiscent of our home city of Elliot Lake - except the creature mentioned was different!
Savannah, itself, is full of surprises for the first-time visitor. Taking a 'hop-on, hop-off' trolley tour helped us to get our bearings, and allowed us to choose where we wanted to explore further. Of particular interest was the Owens Thomas Mansion - a Regency period house that was typically symmetrical to the point of having 'false' doors and windows in some places that had no function other than to preserve the symmetry. We were escorted through the main building, as well as the slaves' quarters.
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| Front of house |
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| Back entrance |
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| Garden with slaves' quarters at the back, left |
It was interesting to hear about the connections with England - not only through the architecture, and that the cotton trade had ties with Liverpool and Manchester, but for the fact that the State of Georgia was named in honour of King George ll. I had forgotten that obvious connection!
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was resplendent, both inside and out, with magnificent sculptures of the Stations of the Cross, remarkable stained-glass windows, and an awe-inspiring frontage that overshadowed the square and the surrounding buildings.
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| Beautiful sculptures 'Stations of the Cross' |
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| Cathedral of St. John the Baptist |
It occurred to me that perhaps we had been unintentionally stalking the actor, Tom Hanks, throughout this whole road trip! He keeps popping up in some areas where he is least expected. If you remember the opening scene from the movie, Forrest Gump, you may recall the feather dropping by a tall church spire and landing at the feet of Forrest, who was sitting on a bench. If you don't remember it, check it out here: Forrest Gump - Opening Scene.
Continuing from Mark's words, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you'll get!" from the movie Forrest Gump. These pics were taken where the bench was when Forrest Gump made the above quote. For years, people were lined up around the block to have their photos taken on the bench but, alas one night, vandals broke bits of the bench off and took them for a souvenir - so the bench is now in a local museum." Mark couldn't resist standing behind the wall where the bench used to be - and re-enacting 'Run, Forrest, Run!'
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| Run, Mark, Run! |
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| Who stole my bench? |
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| The famous 'feather'spire |
Apparently, Tom Hanks stayed in Savannah for the filming of some of the movie at a guest house that we passed in the trolley.
A second connection with Hanks was, of course, when we visited the Space Center in Houston where, once again, he spent time while preparing to film the movie, 'Apollo 13'.
Perhaps the most surprising connection for me was at the beginning of our road trip when we were in Springfield, Illinois visiting the Abraham Lincoln Museum. Apparently, it turns out the Hanks family is distantly related to the Lincolns. Honestly, Tom - we had no idea!
Our day ended with a walk along the river, where the old cotton factories have been transformed by the Savannah Waterfront Association.
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| Reclaimed Cotton Warehouses |
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| Steam-powered River Ferry |
Tomorrow, we'll have our boots out of the trunk so that we can be ready for our return to the north, via Washington D.C. where we will be staying for 3 nights.
Happy, Fit, & Free !
Are You Toxic?
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