Sophisticated Savannah

Our looper friends Jim and Marilyn from Spinning Dreams (who we met on the Mississippi River) were at the Hinckley Marina just down the ICW from us near Savannah. They borrowed their marina’s nearly-new loaner car and picked us up for a drive into downtown Savannah for a tour of this historic city built around 22 public squares. Each square has a lovely park, statue, monument or church.

Savannah was the endpoint of General Sherman‘s Civil War “March to the Sea” scorched-earth campaign that began with the burning of the captured city of Atlanta and moved southeast toward Savannah. Savannah’s historic buildings were saved from destruction when Confederate troops fled the city.

Historic downtown Savannah has many beautiful homes built in the 1700s and 1800s and now carefully restored. The downtown streets have historic charm, with live oak archways over brick pavement, and beautiful architecture.

The Second African Baptist Church we passed is famous for two significant events: First, General William Tecumseh Sherman read the Emancipation Proclamation to Savannah citizens at this church after taking the city in 1864. And second, nearly 100 years later Dr. Martin Luther King Junior delivered an early version of his “I have a Dream” sermon here before proclaiming it during the 1963 march on Washington.

Savannah seems to be a foodie paradise. The historic downtown area boasts restaurants of all kinds, and reservations are hard to come by in this busy city.

We shared a good Italian dinner with the Antonacci’s, then returned to our peaceful marina along the waterway in nearby Thunderbolt, Georgia.