The Inn at Ellis Square had no fridge nor microwave and a very loud aircon unit, but it did have a free breakfast - cereals, breads, grits and biscuits, waffles, fruit juice and coffee. Not a bad freebie - and a very big breakfast room in which to eat it! There were a lot of people in there this morning, but (for a nice change) there was plenty of room for everyone. They even had TWO toasters! Miracle.
Having decided on a plan last night, we asked the concierge if she could book us on a walk, then a visit to the Andrew Lowe House and for Di, Paul and me, the Railroad Museum (Dave had been there before).
We paid for our walk then they sent us to another square as the starting point at 10am. Our guide was Kelse on the Savannah Walks Civil War Tour. He knew his stuff about the Civil War and even better, didn't blame the British too much!
We had a good chat about the history and I remembered some of it as well as learning some new stuff. We passed through Reynolds Square with a monument to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. We walked up near River Street and talked about the Old Savannah Cotton Exchange where the business of the city was done, buying and selling cotton. The building was completed in 1887 and in it's time two million bales of cotton a year passed through the seaport. Outside the Cotton Exchange is the Winged Lion fountain. In the distance we spotted City Hall, with its gold, domed roof.
We passed through various squares while walking through Savannah. At one time there were twenty-four, but now there are only twenty-one. Below you'll see the Nathanael Greene Monument in Johnson Square. He was a Revolutionary War soldier, second only to George Washington (you should have heard of him!) Next is the William Washington Gordon Monument in Wright Square. This was placed over the grave of Yamacraw Indian Chief, Tomo-Chi-Chi - eventually, Gordon's widow was instrumental and getting a granite memorial added to the corner of Wright Square, in the Chief's memory.
The next photo is of the Wayne Gordon House, which is otherwise known as the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace. James M Wayne was a Savannah Mayor and Supreme Court Judge during the Civil War. He was a strong Unionist, and opposed the South's secession (withdrawal) from the Union. In 1831, William Washington Gordon bought the house and his daughter, Juliette, was born there in 1860. She would go on to found the Girl Scouts of America, having met Sir Robert Baden-Powell (founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides) in 1911.
The last picture is the Independent Presbyterian Church. This building was built in 1891 after the previous building was destroyed by fire.
As the walk finished by the Andrew Low House and it was 11.45am, we decided we'd do that before going for Dave's lunch. We arrived in time for the 12 o'clock tour. It is an antebellum house, which means "before the fire" (the Civil War) and Low built it for his first wife, although she died before they moved in in 1849. He was left with two daughters to look after so he moved his mother-in-law in. About five years later he married again, and got another three girls and a boy!
The house is nice - a few large reception rooms, either side of a large hallway. All the plaster work is original and is in very good condition, having been well looked after over the years. Our guide did go on a bit though and I was starting to lose interest when we were taken to a more formal parlour - separated by a sliding door (so not a new thing, it seems).
Then we crossed the hall into a dining room, with a little area off it that the servants would use. They were very tight stairs (more bear, than human-size) with a dumb waiter (or an elevator for me!) which lowered down to the kitchen and slave quarters below.
We headed upstairs to five large double bedrooms. In one, family friend Robert E Lee would stay. There was also a balcony off the bedrooms, so they could sleep outside when it got really hot.
What impressed me was that this house had an upstairs bathroom - with a copper bath and WC! In 1849! They collected rainwater on the roof and this would heat the water to a reasonable temperature, but there was also a copper water container where slaves would place the heated water from the kitchen, when it was too cold.
It was a very nice, well kept house - shame you can't take photos, so I dropped 'em a Ted for that, but I won't dock the guide a Ted for being overenthusiastic with too much information.
As we came out of the house we spotted a trolley coming around the square. We dashed across the road to the stop and climbed aboard. We passed by River Street, which - as you might guess - is alongside the river. There's a statue here of a girl and her dog, waving to passersby, as well as a tall ship moored across the other side of the river.
We continued on around River Street and out past City Hall where some of the horse-drawn carriage rides start out. As I was riding on the bus I caught a glimpse of a good looking bear, then I realised it was me I could see in the mirror! hehe
We took the trolley all the way to stop one, the Visitor's Center and the Railroad Museum. Dave said it only took him an hour, so we said we'd go see it while he did lunch. He knows nothing!
There was a lot to see and it took us about three hours in all! We called Dave and told him to do his own thing in the meantime - at one point he was eating an ice cream (damn, I went with the wrong team again!) Well, not really, cos, when we arrived they told us there was a train ride heading out shortly. Cool! Mind you, it didn't actually go very far.
The diesel locomotive, with a single car and a few passengers, pushed back on a small run of track onto a turntable, where it swivelled around and reversed up some track in front of some storage sheds that were being redeveloped.
I made a little movie montage of our short train trip and a turnabout on the turntable. Blink and you'll miss me!
Then it drove forward, back to the turntable and turned through a few degrees before pulling back up another short piece of track so we got a different view, and a look at an old railroad bridge in the distance. On one of the runs of track a bird had decided to build a nest and lay eggs right alongside track. Here she is.
Our guide from the train was going to do a talk about some of the box cars, so while waiting, I did my Hobo Ted routine. Neat, eh?
All the cars on the railroad started out as flat bed trucks, but goods kept falling off or got weather-damaged, so they added wooden sides and a roof. Then, they added steel to the structure to strengthen it, making a composite car.
He took us into a refrigerated box car. This also had a steel structure but it wasn't original - when the museum acquired it, it was leaning, so they added the steel to preserve it. At the end of the truck, they placed blocks of ice - block, chunk or crushed ice, depending on the route and time of year - and this kept the products within cool.
In the summer, it wasn't possible to get ice in Savannah, so they would buy it in the North, cover it in sawdust and store it in ice storage warehouses with more sawdust. It would last throughout the summer - amazing! Before the days of electricity you see.
We went into a caboose (the car at the back of the train) - it used to take three men to run the train - the brakeman, the conductor and the driver, but, as mechanisation took over, there was no longer any need for a caboose, which housed the men.
Our guide said he would be showing two 'Office Cars' at 3pm, so we hung around a bit longer to see those. On checking in with Dave, he said he was in an ice cream store - damn, did I make the wrong decision again - nah, I like trains.
The first Office Car was Columbus - a restored car (one of three such cars) which were built for the important guys of the Georgia Railroad. It was very nice and, as a reproduction, we were allowed to sit down on the furniture. The bedrooms were small, as was the shower room, but it is a train!
We couldn't go on the second one as it was still waiting to be restored.
The third one - the Atlanta - was even air conditioned! It had storage sections below the car which held blocks of ice. This car had been restored in the 1950s and then kept like that, so, while it is not restored to the original, it is restored to the 1950s version. A few of the mattresses were replaced by the original company, to the same specification as they still had the specs on file! This one was a little larger than the first, longer and a foot wider - as wide as it was possible to get on standard track size!
Our guide then asked us if we'd like to ride a hand car. Are you kidding me? Like in all those silent movies? With the pump handle. Cool! Check out the movie!
Gotta say, Di's movie-taking leaves a lot to be desired, but she was trying to film as I pumped and one of those once in a lifetime things to tick off the list. I added another film of another group as this was from terra firma (the more firmer, the less terror) but at least the film is steady. Isn't that just the coolest thing to do? Well, anyone can at the Georgia Railroad Museum.
Then, our guide left us to see the rest on our own. We found a Blacksmith's shop.
Inside another building we found a couple of model railways! An N-gauge and a OO-gauge layout. It was nice to see them.
On the way out we passed a print shop - the room was locked so we could only look through the window. As we headed to the exit, we passed a small run down building - this was the washroom for the African American railroad workers as, in those days, whites and blacks were required to use separate facilities.
We figured it must be time to meet up with Dave - after all, we'd been at the museum for three hours (so much for his "it'll only take an hour" nonsense. We wandered through the roundhouse as we headed for the exit. The roundhouse is like a garage for trains around the turntable - by having tracks at different angles, you turn the turntable and the engine you want can get onto it and then be lined up with the track to take it for a ride.
We caught the next trolley to meet Dave and passed the Tribute to Haitian Soldiers (Les Chasseurs Volontaires de Saint Domingue) (below, left) who fought in the American Revolutionary War in 1779. Next was the First African Baptist Church - the Church was organised back in the 1770s and the 3rd Pastor, Andrew C Marshall, obtained the property where the present sanctuary (middle below) stands. He also introduced the first black Sunday school in North America. The building dates back to 1859. As we continued around we arrived at Ellis Square, where there is a statue to lyricist Johnny Mercer, who wrote Moon River and many more.
We eventually arrived at Colonial Park Cemetery (where our walking tour had finished that morning). While there Dave had spotted a cool gravestone, so I stopped to get a photo - this guy was practically family - being the great, great grandfather of my Prez, Theodore Roosevelt. The Union soldiers were stationed here during the Civil War. It seems they got a little bored because a lot of the gravestones have been altered! They have people who died at hundreds of years old and apparently young kids with many children. The soldiers also used to sleep in the crypts when it was really cold. Lovely story eh? One for the young'uns!
Alongside the cemetary are the Police Barracks, which are described as "the oldest continually active police headquarters in the nation", having been completed in 1870. The two cars outside - Historic Savannah Police and Chatham County police cars - are the most photographed police cars in the city! The building today continues to house the Savannah Police Department.
The car on the right below is a little weird. It is half police car, half taxi and is obviously used to try and impress the Don't Drink and Drive message, stating "Choose your ride" and showing the penalties for driving under the influence. I liked it!
We just made it to the trolley stop when it arrived, but there were some folks in front of us in line and they filled it up! However, the nice driver told us he'd call for another trolley and an empty one arrived in less than five minutes! Talk about service. We got a little private tour for a couple of stops as we encountered a couple more historic buildings. The Davenport House is pretty imposing. We did plan to go there, it was built in 1820 and was the first house to be saved by the Historic Savannah Foundation. Trouble was we were a bit housed out after the Andrew Low House. We also skipped the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace - she founded the Girl Scouts.
Check out the windows on that house? Notice anything strange. According to the driver-guide (should we believe him? - t'internet suggests we should) this house was out of the Sears Catalogue (they used to sell houses!) and when it was built they installed the windows upside-down! Not sure you can tell from this photo but they certainly did look like they were upside-down. Might just be something they tell the tourists, but I believed it, so figured you'd want to know. In case you don't believe me, you can also read about it here.
Washington Square is just before the Pirates' Cove restaurant, but we were too early for our 6pm reservation so we stayed on the trolley back around to River Street.
We did a little gift shopping. I bought some stuff in the Peanut Shop - they had some Georgia stuff, but I bought some Virginia peanuts - it's a gift, it won't matter (they're lucky to get a gift at all!) The road on River Street is all cobbled and there are tracks down the middle. I wondered why so I had to google it. Apparently there's a streetcar that runs up and down, however, it only runs Thursday to Sunday and we were there Wednesday, which explains why we didn't see it. I thought I might be going mad, but no, just there on the wrong day!
We took another look at Savannah's Waving Girl statue, up close this time. I think it's lacking a small bear, but looks nice nonetheless. We then climbed up the steep steps up to the high ground above River Street. Phew! That was hard work.
It looked a bit grey again, sky-wise, but we were almost at The Pirate's House and it hadn't rained all day. Phew! We were so glad we'd brought our coats. Not. Fortunately, although we were ten minutes early, they seated us straight away. They were offering a Release the Kraken cocktail so we figured we should get in the spirit of things and try a rum cocktail so we did. This had Kraken rum, razzmatazz (whatever that is), pineapple juice, sweet and sour and a splash of strawberry mix. It was a little too heavy on the strawberry for me, but being in pirate-land the rum seemed like a good idea.
We ordered a shared appetizer of deep-fried pickle chips (who knew there was such a thing?) - we ate a lot, but it didn't seem to make a dent in the pile in the basket! They are a bit of an acquired taste and you can have too much of a good thing. There were a few vague veggie choices for Di, otherwise the usual offer of vegetables on pasta (boring!) so Di ordered an appetizer of fried green tomatoes stack with smoked gouda and slime on the side. Oh, and fries. The house wine was $21 and the bottle had a great-looking label.
While waiting for dinner to arrive, we were visited by their resident pirate. Her talk like a pirate accent needs work, but she was nice enough, until she held a gun to my head! To be fair, she is supposed to be a pirate, I guess. Us guys had the fried chicken dinner and it was huge! We were stuffed - even Di with her deep fried double-appetizer - so we skipped dessert. They didn't look that exciting anyway.
Overall, they lost a couple of Teds cos of the average food and lousy pirate accent, which was a shame as David had been before and thoroughly recommended the all-you-can-eat bearfet...er, buffet. He'd really enjoyed it a year or two ago, but this was just okay. Nothing bad, but nothing special either. Shame. Even the trolley driver had recommended it, but I wasn't that impressed.
We decided to amble back to our hotel. We took another walk along River Street, with the gift shops and bars. We decided to go for a drink in Wet Willies where they have cocktails on draft. Dave was sticking with rum and had a pina colada but I had a Bud, before staggering back to our hotel for the night.
