Getting into Savannah from our home exchange stay in Sun City (we are surrounded by "active" retirees and they make us nervous!), was a piece of cake. Our hosts advised us to park across the river at the Convention Center and take the free ferry across the river. Not only was it easy, it was fun.
Susie the Ferry just chugged up, loaded us in about 2 minutes and whisked us across to historic River Street. We then hoofed it up the cobblestone streets and, with a coffee in hand, walked through one of the 22 garden squares that make downtown Savannah so cool and inviting.
The Lutheran Church has an open door policy, so we visited the second floor sanctuary (we have learned that the second floor is the most important floor in these southern buildings. Cooler and quieter up there). This church was established by Germans and the services were conducted in German well into the the 20th century.
They had to add an elevator at some point and we thought it noteworthy that they did not go all utilitarian.
While I poked into a yarn shop, Ben discovered this basement level book store, which had every nook and cranny filled with used and new books. The leather chairs here were all cracked and comfy. We found books on every subject, with emphasis on southern writers.
We're glad we took the time to visit the Savannah Museum. They had a special exhibit about Juliette (Daisy) Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts.
You talk about a Southern Belle in Work Boots! Daisy was born into a wealthy and loving Savannah family and she was a pistol! Not only was she a beauty, she had the energy of 10 girls. Probably not surprising since her own mother had the habit of sliding down banisters to save time. Called Daisy from a young age, she was irrepressible as an artist and athlete. She became a painter, sculptor, woodworker and iron forger. Her big mis-step was that she married a very rich, young philanderer, who moved her to England high society, but also made her life miserable with his affairs.
Daisy fit in this tiny gown, which looked to me to be sized for a 10 year old. She had life long health problems and lost hearing in one ear when a grain of wedding rice got caught in her ear canal. It was a frustrating disability, but she used it to advantage, turning a "deaf ear" when people would not go along with her plans.
Daisy got tired of the life of a childless socialite in England, and longed to find a purpose. After the death of her bad husband (and fighting off his mistress in the courts over his estate), she took the advice of Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts, and created the Girl Scouts (girls kept trying to sneak in the Boy Scouts).
She headed back to Savannah and enlisted her cousin to start a troop of 18 girls. By the time of her death there were 168,000 Girl Scouts. We can't underestimate this achievement - empowering girls to learn skills of self-sufficiency in an era where they still had few rights and opportunities. She enlisted her maid to start the first troop of black girls, and though the Girl Scouts did not integrate in her lifetime, they are now a world-wide organization open to all.
Ben and I agreed that taking the tour of Daisy's ancestral home was the highlight of our day (unexpected, since he gave up as a Cub Scout and I was a 4-Her!). Daisy seems to represent our impression of Savannah - a city on the move, keeping up the historic elements, but busy with real life.
We walked through a dozen of the historic garden squares (enjoying the blessed shade - the sun in Georgia is HOT, even on a cool day) and enjoyed the historic plaques and people watching.
Our advice? Don't ever come here in the summer! Charleston or Savannah? We enjoyed Charleston more. But maybe we were less tired...
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