Savannah

[Ensign Steve]

My mom is coming to visit me next weekend, and we are considering taking a day trip to Savannah. (The Masters will be in Augusta, and we want to avoid the crowds and the price gouging!)

What do you know about Savannah? Mom and I love eating, drinking, shopping, and learning stuff. I love historical sites and things that are really old. She loves graveyards and churches. We both love things that are free or cheap.

I'm gonna search the 'net for information, but anyone who has been there, is from there, is currently there, let me know what are the cannot misses and the best-kept secrets, kay?

[viscousmemories]

What do you know about Savannah?
I'm pretty sure it's in the state of Georgia, part of the United States of America.

[Crumb]

Oh. I thought it was the place where the lions and zebras hung out.

[livius drusus]

Sorry, JD. All I know about Savannah I read in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

[lady cop]

Sorry, JD. All I know about Savannah I read in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.it's an absolutely lovely historical city, and it has been feasting on the fame of "THE BOOK" since its publication. if you have not read it, and have time, it will enhance your enjoyment of the city. in any case, it's a gracious city in the southern tradition of hospitality. i hope you tell us your impressions when you return. enjoy! :wave:...since your Mom enjoys graveyards, she should see the symbol of "Midnight", a cemetery marker called "the bird girl". it's been placed indoors somewhere, i am sure any local can tell you where.

[John Carter]

I can't tell you much on specifics, but Savannah is famous for being a party town. The St. Patrick's day celebration there is the second largest in the US. It's also well known for seafood, especially shrimp.

[Ymir's blood]

Bonaventure cemetery!

I've got a bunch of pictures stored on my hard drive for use as reference and inspiration.

[Crumb]

Bonaventure cemetery!

I've got a bunch of pictures stored on my hard drive for use as reference and inspiration.

You are just the all-around morbid one aren't you? Skulls? Blood? Cemteries? These inspire you? :chin:

[Ymir's blood]

Bonaventure cemetery!

I've got a bunch of pictures stored on my hard drive for use as reference and inspiration.

You are just the all-around morbid one aren't you? Skulls? Blood? Cemteries? These inspire you? :chin:
Yes. Been like this as long as long as I can remember. As a child, thoughts of death and the supernatural terrified me. Growing older, the fear turned to fascination.

[Crumb]

:grave:

[Godless Dave]

I know you can tap a Savannah (http://sales.starcitygames.com/carddisplay.php?product=13044) to add either white or green mana to your mana pool. Counts as both plains and forest and is affected by spells that affect either.
If a spell destroys one of these land types, this card is destroyed; if a spell alters one of these land types, the other land type is unaffected.

[Shake]

Well, I'm more partial to Charleston, SC myself -- having been stationed there for 7 years -- but Savannah is also nice. Savannah has more of a mesh of the modern and the historic in the city. It's still beautiful, mind you. A carriage ride is a nice way to leisurely take in the city, but it's easy to walk around, too. Beaufort, SC is just a short drive away and is also a lovely little city in its own right.

[Ensign Steve]

Dave you are such a geek I love you! :D

[Godless Dave]

As for real information, my little sister went to Savannah a couple years ago and described it pretty much as LadyCop did.

[Gurdur]

Savannah apparently has a good many American Civil War era emplacements and whatnot (including, IIRC, a Confederate ironclad).
I was also told years ago that it has one suburb one shoulöd not go into -- too dangerous -- but I've forgotten the name, and everything else.

[Ensign Steve]

Yay, okay, I'm back!

Ladycop, I should have heeded your advice and read the book. It is all anybody talked about while I was there, including my mom. Actually, one person did mention the St. Patrick's thing as well. The bird girl statue has been moved into a museum, and I did not see it. I did however see the house where the guy stayed and the club where the lady sings. I also saw the spot where Forest Gump waited for the bus.

In all, I had a great time. I love a port city, probably because I am from one. I really adored all the old-timey-ness and mom got her fill of churches and graveyards. SCAD* was also way cool. We took a hop-on-hop-off trolley tour, toured the Davenport house, and took a riverboat sightseeing cruise. In between those we ran around the historic district and took photos of as many of the monuments and famous houses as we could find. We also visited the SCAD library.

A few of the photos are here (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/browseimages.php?c=30). I have many more, but I am tired of uploading them!

*SCAD = Savannah College of Art and Design. Please google them because a discription from me could not possibly do justice to their intrinsic coolness and the amount of cool shit they have done to preserve and restore Savannah plus add artiness to it.

[pescifish]

Looks like you guys had great weather. I love the photos, thanks, Ensign Steve!

[Ensign Steve]

Oh yes, the weather was too perfect to be allowed! It never rained or got cold or windy, yet the sun never came out long enough to make us hot (despite all the walking) or necessitate sunblock.

[godfry n. glad]

Love the pix! Thanks, Ensign. They are a real delight.

I love the historical maintenance. It has a place in American Revolution history, too, does it not?

How was the humidity? What keeps me away from the south is heat and humidity together. I'm easily indisposed by heat and humidity, so the south during usual vacation travelling time (May-September) is pretty much out of the question for me. I've never been in the deep South; I've only skirted through the likes of Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas.

What would be the best time of the year for a person like me to visit the likes of Savannah and Charleston (or New Orleans, for that matter)? Is it ever cool and dry?

[Ensign Steve]

I believe I heard more about the American Revolution than I did about the Civil war while I was there. Most of the monuments I saw were from the Revolutionary war, that's for sure.

It was not very humid at all this weekend. As I said, the weather was perfect. I haven't lived here long enough to answer your other question, though. I only moved to Georgia last December. I am originally from the southernmost part of the Mojave Desert, California, so I am used to a pretty arid climate! (and also temperatures far higher than they ever see out here) I haven't been too affected by the humidity yet, but ask me again after the summer! ;)

[Shake]

godfry, you don't want to go to that area much past this time of year if you don't like the humidity. It starts getting really warm in May and continues through September and even October, although by then, the humidity does start to drop. October, November, late February, March, April, and early May are perhaps your best bets.

Yeah, ES, just wait another month or two when the humidity really kicks in. You've lived in higher temps, but just imagine it with 80-90% humidity (at 11pm, even)!

[John Carter]

I am originally from the southernmost part of the Mojave Desert, California, so I am used to a pretty arid climate! (and also temperatures far higher than they ever see out here) I haven't been too affected by the humidity yet, but ask me again after the summer! ;)

I will! :) I'll be interested to hear what you think of the "dog days."

I grew up in Georgia, and I live in a pretty arid environment now; not really desert, but in the transition between a desert environment and mountains (high desert is only a few miles away, and the altitude is 6k').

105F is about as high as the raw temperature ever gets there in Georgia, and that's fairly rare. It'll approach 100F for weeks at a time in June, July and August, though, and it's not unusual to get into the low 100's. However, the humidity makes it feel far worse. Seriously, I'll take 110 in a desert over 95 in Georgia any day. 120 in the Mojave, though... that's stretching it! I never really understood what people meant by "in the shade" until I moved to the Southwest. In Georgia, just getting out of the sun really doesn't make a whole lot of difference in terms of comfort.

I'm sure you'll be fine, but you'll find that the experience is very different; it's really tough to compare a dry heat to a wet heat.

Where I live now the summers are quite nice. The altitude makes for relatively mild temps; in the time I've been living here the highest the mercury has gotten was 96-98, and with very low humidity that is very comfortable for someone who is used to those same temps with ~70% humidity.

If you want really brutal temp + humidity, go to New Orleans in the summer. Georgia is positively balmy in comparison.

[Ensign Steve]

If you want really brutal temp + humidity, go to New Orleans in the summer. Georgia is positively balmy in comparison.

Hey, check it out. I totally have plans to go to New Orleans this July!

[Ensign Steve]

I'm going back, y'all. My grandfather and his lovely wife will be in Savannah the next couple of days, and upon discovering my proximity they invited me to drive out and crash their party. It will be their first visit and my second.

:slide:

[curses]

I love Savannah! Should be a good weekend, too. Take a trip to Tybee, it should be relatively quiet this time of year. You have to stop at Williams Seafood on Tybee Rd. It's been about a decade since the last time I ate there, but it was tasty!

Whereabouts will you be staying?

[Ensign Steve]

My grandparents got a room on Abercorn. They didn't know any better, plus they are cheap. They've been there since yesterday, and I hope they are enjoying themselves. I'll be there for less than 24 hours, but it's such a short (and beautiful) little jaunt that it's totally worth it.

[Dingfod]

I've never been to Savannah, but my daughter has talked about going to Savannah College of Art and Design. If she does, I'm sure I'll make it over that way a few times a year.

[Ensign Steve]

SCAD kicks ass. :)

[livius drusus]

My cousin went to SCAD and loved it. She's an animator now. I've also read great things about their historical preservation program.

[Ensign Steve]

:hellyes:

They don't have a "campus" per se, but rather they are made up of old buildings all over town that they bought and fixed up. There's an old timey train-station that they converted into, like, classrooms or something. And a lot of the dorms are actually old apartment buildings. Like, really old. It would suck to go there if you didn't have a car or bike, because everything is all spread out, but still it is like super cool.