Oh my goodness. What an absolute pleasure it was to visit Savannah. Home of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) - the premier Art and Design school in the USA and Tess’s Alma Mater- Tess graduated last year and is an accomplished artist/and designer. Working already and looking forward to the wonderful work she will produce well into the future.
It was also a joy to spend time with her fiancé - Zach - a most accommodating and engaging young man. He was kind enough to listen to my constant questions about their wedding plans and was great company.
The Air BnB that Adrian booked for us was the most magnificent home I have ever stayed in - large, old, many bedrooms and reception rooms and beautifully furnished.
Savannah was first founded on the premise of religious freedom - except practising Catholics - and no slavery. And boy did that change very quickly - the beautiful Basilica and enslaved peoples history are testament to these changes.
The city was planned around green parks - initially for livestock I think but now a series (22) of big green parks surrounded by beautiful home and buildings. Trees everywhere most with “Spanish moss” growing through them which gives them an almost ethereal quality. And flat - not a hill to be seen so walking was easy. It felt peaceful and calm - no heavy traffic just lots of tourists and students - a good mix.
Savannah is also a gastronomic delight - breakfasts were at Origin - great food and coffee and a unique bathroom offering - baby diapers of all sizes in the bathroom - what a great idea. We also went to The Collin’s Quarter - a Melbourne inspired cafe which offered Australian Cappuchino, smashed peas and grilled barramundi! Strange, who knew menu ideas were so transportable.
We lunched at Frali - homemade pasta and sauce - bellissima, and at Zanzibar where I had a sandwich with chicken and boerewors - my South African readers will know how special this was.
We dined at Husk - a trendy fusion restaurant with oysters - a real delight and at The Vault - a great restaurant in an old bank with Lime and Coconut soup that was other worldly. So my minimalist eating plans whilst travelling have been put on hold because the restaurants at our next destination have already been booked by our fabulous tour director Adrian Purdy.
We took a bus tour of the town and saw the stately homes and various landmarks - most notably the many SCAD buildings that have been acquired and restored and repurposed to house and teach over 18 500 students. We also enjoyed the virtual SCAD experience - a student created magical journey telling the SCAD story in a most high tech and exhilarating presentation.
The Savannah wildlife park was a treat - we saw wolves, baldheaded eagles and owls. Long boardwalks and easy travelling to the various exhibits. We also toured the Basilica - what a beautiful church with 14 Stations of the Cross - Adrian and Tony are still disputing this number but fortunately we have Sonya to put them straight.
A highlight for me was the guided tour through the Owen’s-Thomas House and Slave Museum. Donated to the city by the last owners in order to preserve one of the last buildings of its kind. The real difference here was the emphasis on telling the story of the enslaved workers who lived and work in captivity in the house until emancipation. The story of the first owner is truly awful - mankind at its self serving worst.
We also had entry to the Telfair museum which besides offering respite from a hot day housed beautiful art works. They had an exhibit of basket weaving from West African enslaved people and the way they attributed the work to a weaver was new for me and very powerful - “Maker - Not known to us”. So much more meaningful than “unknown” or anon - in a small way acknowledging a real person with a real history just not known to us at this time but known to someone at some time.
We had a short tour of the Svannah Riverf waterfront - very wide and a busy shipping port. The Marriot hotel has a display of crystals that is quite extraordinary - a vibrant waterside hub.
All too soon we were back on a plane - this time flying to New Orleans. A shout out to the 4 women who were seated behind us and managed to talk - read screech - for the full 1.5 hours of the flight. It was impossible not to hear them - if only they had had more interesting conversations it may have made it bearable but the world does not need to know the colour of the vegetables you serve your children!
