Looking Back at Savannah

Thursday, March 14, 2013 – Looking Back at Savannah

We’re en route to Alexandria, and with eleven hours on this train, I finally have a chance to catch up on my Savannah report.  Visually, the city’s historic area is a delight, especially at this time of year with the trees and flowers in bloom.  Dogwoods and redbuds, palms and live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, azaleas and daffodils bring color to every street corner.  The squares (there are twenty four of them, all different) provide perfect spots to sit on a bench and soak in the natural beauty. 

On our first day here, we took a 90-minute guided tour to get an overview of the area and a sense of its history.  The last of the thirteen original colonies, Georgia traces its beginnings to the arrival of James Oglethorpe in Savannah in 1733.  The English were eager to establish a settlement here to provide a buffer between the English colonies to the north and the Spanish in Florida.  Oglethorpe’s statue stands in Chippewa Square, looking south to guard against any incursion by Spain.  

Statue of James Oglethorpe

Located on the Savannah River, Savannah was a major port in the antebellum (I’ve always wanted to use that word) period.  Before cotton was king, indigo and rice were major exports of the region.  As cotton production increased, Savannah’s wealth grew.  Along with Liverpool, it was one of only two cities in the world where cotton prices were quoted.  The buildings along the river originally used as offices for cotton factors (brokers) and warehouses for the cotton are today used as restaurants, shops, and hotels.  However, Savannah remains one of the busiest container ports in the country. 

Factors' Walk on Bay Street

Historic preservation wasn’t always the rule in Savannah.  In fact, many of the 18^th and 19^th century buildings in the historic area were routinely being torn down to make way for parking garages until the mid-1960s when a group of local women decided to raise money to buy endangered buildings.  Fortunately, the city soon realized that the older buildings were an irreplaceable treasure and they are now protected. 

As we walked around the city on our own, we visited several of the squares and the adjacent streets, which are lined with buildings in a variety of architectural styles.  For example, the Mercer-Williams House, located on Monterey Square and featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, is Italianate.  On Columbia Square, the Davenport House, whose interior I toured, is a Federal style mansion dating back to the 1820s.  It was fascinating to see the period furnishings, especially the trompe l’oeil wallpaper imported from France. 

Mercer-Williams House on Monterey Square

Davenport House

And here’s a nugget of local history that I learned on the Davenport House tour:  Madeira was the drink of choice for the upper-class citizens of Savannah.  After dinner, the women would adjourn to the salon leaving the men to sip Madeira along with almonds and a buttery cake called Madeira cake.  Now I understand the origins of the recipe for Madeira cake that I obtained from a British friend when we lived in Fayence. 

One highlight of our Savannah explorations was a visit to Mickve Israel, the third oldest Jewish congregation in the United States.  Jewish settlers, primarily Portuguese Jews fleeing the Inquisition, arrived in Savannah back in 1733.  Oglethorpe gave them a warm welcome because a medical doctor was included in their party, and the colony’s doctor had recently died.  He granted them freedom to practice their religion at a time when Catholics (and lawyers!) were forbidden to settle in the colony.  The Torah they brought with them was inscribed on deerskin, most likely in Morocco, in the mid-1400s.  Today, that Torah is on display in Mickve Israel’s museum.  The synagogue building is unusual because of its cruciform layout, necessitated by the shape of the plot of land the Jewish community received for this purpose. 

In the sanctuary of Mickve Israel

Voodoo, with its roots in Africa and the Caribbean, is also part of the Savannah cultural tradition.  The old Pirates’ House has shutters and doors painted a distinctive blue-green color called “haint green,” haint being the voodoo word for haunted or ghost.  According to voodoo belief, ghosts are afraid to cross the sea.  Painting a house the same color as the sea would keep the ghosts away. 

Notice the "haint green" door on the Pirates' House

Of course, there was lots more to see – Bay Street with the red brick Cotton Exchange and gold-domed City Hall, SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) buildings everywhere, and the busy harbor, which we viewed during a 30-minute ride on the free Savannah Belle ferry.  And there was time for shopping and eating, too.  I passed up the opportunity to stock up on green T-shirts and other St. Patrick’s Day accouterments but I couldn’t resist Byrd’s famous cookies.  The Byrd family has been producing these for over 90 years, and I bought several packages at their City Market store.  Where else could I get cookies flavored with Georgia peach and key lime? 

The Cotton Exchange

The free Savannah Belles ferry

City Hall

Shopping for cookies at Byrd's

I made two visits to another local institution, Leopold’s Ice Cream Parlor, which has been in business since the 1920s.  Their chocolate with raspberry swirl (a purée of fresh raspberries) was oh, so good.  The 1920s must have been a fun time to live in Savannah.  There are several ornately decorated theaters that date back to that decade.  Walking down Broughton Street, the main shopping street, is a bit like being in a time warp. 

We managed to eat well and healthfully, and we even sampled Southern cuisine without paying a visit to Paula Deen’s restaurant.  At the Café at City Market, we indulged in Savannah style crabcakes (Elliott, the crabcake connoisseur, was favorably impressed) along with collard greens and hoppin’ John.  Also in City Market, the spectacular pizza at Vinnie a GoGo’s was worth a couple of visits.  The slices were gargantuan, the crust was thin and crispy, and the wine ($4 for about 8 ounces and still drinkable) was served in a plastic cup.  Gryphon Tea Room, in the old Scottish Rite temple adorned with Tiffany-style glass, was the setting for Tuesday’s lunch.  We also had lunch one day at a new vegetarian restaurant called VegHeads. 

Dinner at Vinnie a GoGo's

Our finest meal was a dinner at The Olde Pink House on Reynolds Square.  I could easily have become addicted to their buttery, flaky biscuits and moist, flavorful corn muffins.  For a main course, Elliott had a chicken pot pie and I ordered a couple of cornmeal crusted fried oysters and fried green tomatoes to accompany a delicious entrée of ravioli filled with caramelized Vidalia onions and sweet potato, served with a creamy oyster mushroom sauce and garnished with pecans.  We shared a trio of fresh fruit sorbets for dessert, and I sipped a glass of sublimely rich and smooth Savannah Madeira to cap off the evening.

The Olde Pink House

Pre-dinner photo op at The Olde Pink House

I guess you could say I’ve fallen under the spell of Savannah’s seductive charm.  Without a doubt, this gracious southern city provided everything we were hoping for on this trip.