Thursday, December 12, 2019

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Christmas Season Celebration, Part 2

Day 1
Our adventure started on Thursday afternoon after checking into our hotel, The DeSoto, named after a Spanish conquistador.
It was a lovely hotel.
Again, we had a beautiful view from our room.

About half of our meals were in a room on the 15th floor.

Day 2
After a wonderful overview of Savannah by our leader, Larry Smith, we had lunch at Gryphon, a charming restaurant near our hotel, a former apothecary.


In the afternoon, we toured the Historic District by trolley and on foot, including a tour of the Green-Meldrim House. I guess I didn't take a picture of the outside of it...

We had dinner at Billy's Place--crab cakes!
After dinner, we went to the Johnny Mercer Theater for a concert by the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra.

Incidentally, there was an Indian wedding and reception taking place at our hotel. The dresses were stunning.


Day 3

I was determined to try all the southern foods I could, and every other day, there was always a large bowl of grits with grated cheese for breakfast.

After breakfast, we toured the childhood home of Flannery O'Connor. I'll be honest here and admit that while I have heard of Flannery O'Connor, I am not familiar with anything she has written, although she is considered one of America's greatest fiction writers.
In the neighborhood (South Historic District).



Then it was on to the Andrew Low House.

Incidentally, Andrew's daughter-in-law was Juliet Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America (and there was always a tray of Girl Scout cookies in our hotel lobby).
We had a little free time before lunch. The nearest square to our hotel was Madison. This building was nearby.
On one of the other corners was this building, which housed, among other things, a gift shop with things made by students of SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). SCAD has a very large presence in the historic district of Savannah.
This was one of the salespeople. He was very interesting.
 I had southern pecan pie for lunch dessert.

In the afternoon was the Holiday Tour of Homes, which began when Jim Williams opened his home in 1974. It was a self-guided tour, and also included five homes that are now bed and breakfast inns.

Photography was not allowed in the private homes, but some photography was allowed at the inns.
 Ingenious wreath constructed in two halves for this double door.



This picture is nearly identical to the cover of the tour brochure.
My first sighting of the Bird Girl, a replica by this pool.
In the neighborhood.








A bride sighting.
We went through Forsyth Park, which has a beautiful fountain.

After dinner, we went to a fabulous holiday show, Christmas Traditions, at the Historic Savannah Theatre. The end of a very wonderful day.

1 comments:

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OPQuilt said... #

I LOVE Flannery O'Connor--used to teach several of her short stories when I taught English, but she might be an acquired taste as some of her characters are kind of weird. Such a fun post with so many beautiful homes!