On our way from Atlanta to Florida for the holidays, we stopped over in Savannah again. Nicole really wanted her ghost experience and Mary Lou wanted to see a cargo ship float down main street. We parked the car at the visitor's center parking lot and walked South, to the newer Victorian section of the historic district. We just crisscrossed back and forth through the neighborhood, enjoying the Spanish moss dripping from the oak trees, the beautiful houses and the fountains. We stumbled across General Cashmir Pulaski's monument and tomb (strangely, not in Pulaski Square). He was killed in battle in Savannah. After reading his heroic story, we started to feel bad that our hometown has purposely mispronounced his name for so many years. Apparently, our town used to be called Fishville, but the State ordered us to change it to honor General Pulaski, or else face budget cuts. So, we grudgingly changed it, but spitefully decided we would forever mispronounce it Pulasky.
We walked North to the Riverpark, hoping to see the big ships come in at high tide. We saw a lot of ferry activity, bringing the Friday night revelers in to the nightlife, but no ships. Oh well, time for a drink!
We started at Vic's on the waterfront: Hendrick's martinis, crawfish beignets, raw oysters and shrimp. When the bill came, we realized that it was happy hour, and we ordered two more martinis! On our way to the next venue, The Pirate House, a supposedly old house that maybe we could find a ghost in, we both had terrible hiccups. You could probably hear the two of us from blocks away. The Pirate House was all lacquered plywood, tourist gimmicks, and bottom shelf drinks, but a wonderful Captain Jack Sparrow did greet us on the way in. We chugged our sickeningly sweet mint julep slushies and carried on to The Olde Pink House Tavern Bar. We took a seat in the corner, next to the candlelit wine vault. Had a delicious dinner of shrimp and scallops over cauliflower puree and roast duck, with wine pairings. Nicole went to the bathroom four times to see if she could get locked in and meet the ghost of the concubine that the Mayor's wife had locked in there, but, alas…. Nothing.
After such a fun night, we slept in until 11.30 and headed to Bonaventure Cemetery, via Wormsloe Plantation, which has the longest oak drive in the world. The Cemetery is serene and gorgeous. It was the setting of the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". We found the gravesite of Johnny Mercer, whom we never knew was the founder of Capital Records, and the sad statue of a sweet little Gracie Watson.
The whole East Coast was enveloped in fog, but we had to drive through Jekyll Island. We drove over bridges that disappeared into the fog, like bridges to nowhere. It was surreal. The island roads are all detoured for construction, but we were able to see the "cottages" of the rich and famous: J.P. Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, Marshall Field, John J. Hill, Everett Macy, William Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Richard Teller Crane. They all had to leave the island when it was deemed environmentally unstable. Jekyll was currently taken over by the film set of the latest Xmen movie. Nicole tried to sweet talk her way into meeting Hugh Jackman, but he wasn't on set yet.
We reached Boynton Beach at 2 am. Slept in the Walmart parking lot so as not to wake Grandma. Will be with Grandma and Kyle for Christmas and New Years!
Click here for photos!
No comments:
Post a Comment