Oh Savannah
I made a side trip to Savannah Georgia on a recent trip to Miami, and I am so I glad that I did. Savannah was one of those places I had heard so many good things about, and it didn’t disappoint at all.
It’s about a six to seven hour drive from Miami to Savannah-that’s about 460 miles mostly on I-95, with about 130 miles on the Florida Turnpike to avoid the Ft. Lauderdale/Palm Beach corridor. I had never been north of Ft. Pierce in Florida before, so the trip represented a voyage into unchartered territory. I had also never been to Georgia, so it was doubly exciting for me. The trip North proceeded well, and when I crossed into Georgia on I-95, the consistency of the road measurably changed. I-95 was still a large highway, but the road surface had a noticeable gravelly feel to it- it was certainly not as smooth as in Florida.
Road surfaces aside, I arrived at the B&B on a Wednesday night, and the B&B I chose was right in the middle of the historic district- a perfect spot for walking to see all Savannah’s sights. The first night was perfect: there was a jazz festival in town, with performances that night at a BBQ restaurant just a five minute walk from my B&B. Since I was ready to eat dinner I walked over there, and sure enough there was a wonderful jazz singer performing in the large backyard of this restaurant- and it was all free. I grabbed a pulled pork sandwich and a beer and sat there slightly mesmerized, because I couldn’t imagine a better place to be: the combination of great BBQ and jazz in a historic setting was hard to beat.
The next day involved walking around to see some of the many historic sites. Savannah is a planned city that has beautiful green squares every few blocks whichever direction you go; it couldn’t be more pedestrian friendly. Around the corner from my B&B were some amazing old houses and points of interest: the Georgia Historical Society, Forsyth Park, with its amazing fragrance garden, and one of the oldest synagogue in the United States, founded by Spanish and Portuguese settlers around 1733. Great restaurants and small shops complement the beautiful old houses everywhere, and there is even a Civil Rights Museum well worth a visit. In fact, I stumbled upon this museum at 4:30 on Thursday to find a talk in progress by veterans of the Civil Rights struggles of the early 1960’s. One of the four speakers was one of the first African-American marines to fight in WWII, and he was also one of the first African-American police officers on the Savannah police department in the early 1960’s. Most amazingly, he recounted a story about how his father was very good friends with a local Ku Klux Klan head, and how this guy used to frequent his house growing up. This Klan member was even a sort of mentor to him, and encouraged him to join the local police force! This is not something you get from the official version of history, yet so incredible. It shows the value of listening to someone’s personal story of direct experience. I came away feeling that there was always a huge sense of community between the black and white citizens of Savannah, even before desegregation.
On the trip back to Miami, I stopped for lunch in St. Augustine, the oldest city in America. This was a real treat too, because it was a place I had never visited. I developed a slight car problem around Cocoa, Florida that I thought was tire related, and was directed to a Walmart Tire Center where the ingenuity and honesty of the repair people reminded me of the character traits that made American great. Back on the road, I drove back to Miami with a sense of renewal and satisfaction, something I often feel when returning to a great city by car.
