August 21 - 23, 2014: Savannah, Georgia

August 21 - 23, 2014: Savannah, Georgia: After a pleasant drive, we arrived in Savannah, Georgia ready for tours of more southern mansions and great down south cooking and Savannah did not disappoint. 

The city consists of a number of squares that contain statues, fountains, and parks for strolling or sitting to socialize. In fact, Forest Gump was filmed at one of these squares. An interesting note is that in the scene where Forest is waiting for a bus seated on a bench in one of these squares (the "life is like a box of chocolates" scene), they needed for the bus to stop at Forest's bench coming from a certain direction which was the opposite of the way traffic moved around that square, so for that filming day, they changed the direction of the traffic from counterclockwise to clockwise.

One of the many squares in Savannah, Georgia. Note the Spanish moss hanging from the trees, a very common site in the South

Rain spout

Nearby was a very large oak tree, the Candler tree, that has become a monument.The width of this tree is 110 feet.

We went on a tour through a house on one of the squares. Although it was three years ago, I recall that this house was somehow associated with the founding of the Girl Scouts of America (The founding house was not this one but it is also in Savannah.)

We took a boat trip up the river to see more of the buildings of Savannah.

And of course we ate at a number of fine restaurants in Savannah. One of them was a block from our hotel, the Olde Pink House Restaurant Olde Pink House Restaurant, Savannah  Adding to the ambiance of this restaurant was the fact that it didn't appear that there was electricity in the main dining room. The waitresses were dressed in plantation clothing and our waitress sang for entertainment. The food was also very good. A great evening.
We also ate at Paula Deen's Restaurant which was far more casual in ambiance. Although the food tasted excellent and looked like the food pictured in a gourmet cooking magazine, all three of us felt queasy after eating the rich food. I think they must use a stick of butter in any dish they prepare. I would still recommend the restaurant, but be sure to go on an empty stomach. 

After Savannah, we returned home to my mom's house in Kernersville, North Carolina to prepare for out Road Scholar trip in Charlottesville, Virginia.