Savannah : A Fine Place to Spend a Weekend or More

Rhonda and I went to Savannah Georgia this past weekend. We decided to visit the city in May to avoid the extreme heat and humidity of summer, but we just happened to pick an unseasonably hot weekend that felt more like August than May. Still it was a rewarding weekend that included a few hours on the Beach of Tybee Island. The history of Savannah and the grand homes make the city great, along with a very interesting mix of people. The city is unevenly divided between the well off and the extremely poor, more poor than rich with few in between. Even though the homes are well over a hundred years old much of the culture seems to have frozen in the 1950s.
River Street is clearly the largest draw for tourist, but I found it to be only slightly interesting when compared to the rest of the town. River Street consist of tacky t-shirt shops full of items that most will regret buying once they get home, and a few bars marketing to the middle aged, overworked tourist trying desperately to remember how to relax .However, without all of this the area might have been torn down and turned into another expensive hotel on the water, so the stores and bars do serve their purpose.
The true beauty of Savannah is in the landscape and the architecture of the homes and buildings. By the early and mid part of the 20th Century most of the historic homes had turned into low income rentals and were destined for destruction to make room for parking lots and gas stations. Fortunately a few of Savannah’s citizens saved the old houses and restored them. One of those saviors of Savannah was Jim Williams of the Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil fame. Jim Williams saved, restored, and lived in the Mercer House on Bull Street. This house was originally owned by the great grandfather of the famous song writer Johnny Mercer. Jim Williams died in 1990 from a major coronary and his sister recently opened the Italianate mansion to visitors. Rhonda and I were able to tour the home that we remembered from the Clint Eastwood film. They filmed the movie in the same house where the true events took place and almost every detail of the house is the same as Jim Williams left it when he died suddenly. The tour of the house was interesting and focused almost exclusively on the antiques in the house and the history of structure. I found it almost amusing that they never mentioned the shooting in the house. It was a great fun to be in the same rooms that we recognized from the film.
One weekend was not near enough time to enjoy all the sites of Savannah. I think to truly appreciate this warm city you need to spend at least a week strolling the streets and park squares, visiting the the historic homes, and enjoying the art in the museums. There is more to this city than you first realize. It is a place that you need to spend time with and allow all of its charm to find its way into your soul.

Scott Thompson - May 2004