Savannah - a true Southern Belle...

Everything I had ever read, or heard about Savannah was true. Her Southern beauty and charm is like no other. Streets lined with huge Live Oak trees dripping with Spanish moss, one Square after another (22 of them!), all with fountains and/or statues and big, beautiful homes covered in ivy. The history of this place shouts at you from every direction, it's almost overwhelming. I couldn't wait to spend time getting to know this Southern Belle.

Reading up on Savannah, I quickly realized it was going to be to big for Jack and I to try and tackle on our own, so I signed us up for a two-day hop-on-hop-off trolley tour. We did the 90 minute tour of the city first, to get the lay of the land, all the while, snapping away on my camera. Every block, every house, every building had a story! The Old Savannah Tour Company added "characters" to several stops to compliment their tour. "Forest Gump" came aboard once looking for Lt Dan (that movie was filmed in Savannah), as well as a "Southern Lady" sharing what it was like to live in the 1800's. Of course the house where the book and film of the Midnight In The Garden Of Good & Evil was pointed out and referenced to whenever possible, as well. Poets, writers, and even the development of the Girl Scouts, all came out of Savannah.

Savannah, and those of us who cherish the history and beauty of the old homes and buildings that the wealthy built in the 1800's, was very fortunate that a group of women organized one of the country's first and most successful urban restoration programs. They called themselves the Historic Savannah Foundation, and they bought up hundreds of properties and sold them to private parties along with a covenant to restore and repair them. Because of them, 22 of Oglethorpe's original 24 squares survive. This sparked the cleanup of the river and the restoration of the warehouses and cotton brokerage offices along the city's historic riverfront. Instead of commerce associated with cotton trade buying and selling, these renovated 19th century buildings now house specialty shops, restaurants and nightspots.

Two days was not nearly enough to really soak in her grandeur, but there was so many other places to visit and take in, we had to limit our time, this time, as I'm sure we will come and visit her again...
































































































If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/


...kicking back in Georgia, Marie

History lessons, Southern style...

The drink that refreshes...No trip to Atlanta would be complete without a visit to the World of Coca Cola. What a treat, literally. The journey begins in the Coca Cola Loft, filled with Coke logos, framed posters and all manner of memorabilia before moving you into a theater for a cute film on "Happyfication". They don't talk so much about "how it's made", but more about "how it became so successful". Asa Candler didn't create the recipe for Coke (John Stith Pemberton did) instead, he was a genius at marketing it. His first goal was to get people to like it, so he offered "free samples". Once they knew the taste, he shifted his marketing to "status", you were "cool" if you drank Coke. Today, the emphasis is on "feelings", such as "the happiness drinking Coke brings". At the end of the (self-guided) tour, you go into the tasting room, where they have over 60 varieties of the beverages they offer throughout the world. I had to try them all, well, almost all, of course! After all that, I still came away liking Diet Coke the best and Jack still liking Pepsi. Just goes to show you that some people never change, no matter how much you advertise!










































The rest of the day was spent exploring Stone Mountain. Before we came to Georgia, Jack and I had never heard of Stone Mountain. When we read that it was this granite dome that had the largest bas-relief in the world, and had the carving of three figures of Confederates: Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis, we knew we had to add it to our "must see list". We took the Summit Skyride, a Swiss cable car, up to the top of the mountain for a great up-close view of the carving, but also amazing views of the cities of Atlanta and Buckhead below. It was a beautiful day, so we could see for miles, and wow, Georgia has a lot of trees! Did you know that? Trees, as far as the eye could see!

Back on the ground, we roamed their Park, called Crossroads, which is a cluster of family oriented attractions and shops where crafters and artisans demonstrate their specialties. We enjoyed watching Sy Dowling giving a glass blowing demonstration. Later that night they put on a great laser show against the face of the mountain with music, fireworks and laser scenes of the Civil War & Old Glory. I have to say, it was well worth the visit, and a nice ending to a great day.











































































If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

...kicking back in Georgia, Marie

Goodbye Alabama, Hello Georgia!

Georgia On My Mind...

Our first stop, Atlanta Georgia. We chose to stay at the Stone Mountain Campground to be centrally located and we knew we wanted to visit this unique attraction anyway. The campground surprised me in that it was more like staying in a National Park with a beautiful lake and a site nestled among the trees, vs a "commercial" RV park. Nice.



























We went into the city the first day and went to the oldest cemetery in Georgia, the Historic Oakland Cemetery. This Victorian cemetery not only has the famous author Margaret Mitchell of "Gone With The Wind fame and others, there were Georgia politicians - past and present, but most impressively, I believe, are the 6900 Confederate soldiers. They also have a Union soldier section and a slave and Jewish section (keeping with the true Southern style of "proper placement"). The grounds were beautiful, covered with old oak trees, along with just about every kind of flower & bush that grows here...all arranged with love.





























Afterwards we wanted to check out downtown Atlanta as well as what they call Five Points and the Atlanta Underground districts. That didn't turn out to be such a great choice and it was actually a homeless person who "guided" us out of a "not so nice area" and told us to "be careful". We managed to stumble into a tourist information center where we were guided to the best Southern cooking in Atlanta, at Mary Mac's Tea Room. It was a great ending to the day and my first taste of Georgia peach cobbler! Um mm!



































If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

...kicking back in Georgia, Marie