SAVANNAH, GEORGIA'S 

SENSE OF PLACE

by Lee Foster

The traveler longing for an antidote to a growing sense of placelessness in America, an increasingly franchised and homogenized country, might well consider a visit to Savannah, a gracious Georgia window on the South.

Savannah has preserved its sense of place and history without the use of mothballs. This is not a Williamsburg, meaning a place apart from the modern era. The central city of Savannah has been saved by a partnership of individuals, companies, local societies, and local government that has carefully restored the exteriors of historic buildings, devoting the interiors to bustling commerce or family life. The goal has been preservation for use, an integration of modern life with an historic shell, as in a few other projects around the country, such as Old Sacramento in California.

The result has been successful, both for Savannah natives and for visitors, who experience a satisfying historical placefulness and continuity. Though summer is the busy time of travel here, due to the convenience of summer vacation schedules, the ideal time to visit is in the cool of March-May or October-November.

A visitor also realizes that the challenge Savannah faced eventually confronts each aging American city.

A CITY OF GARDEN SQUARES

The city was laid out in 1733 by James Oglethorpe around a set of squares, which now number 22. The squares were originally a commons for social events and a site for mutual defense, where the populace would gather when attacked.

Today the squares amount to the front yards of the city, outdoor living rooms, a public space shared by the nearby residents. A more boosterish community might have bulldozed the squares to put in wider roads, but Savannans wisely understood that destruction of the squares would compromise the uniqueness and integrity of their city. In fact, the efforts to turn one square into a parking lot, in 1955, caused the local citizenry to rise up, in the squares, against the modern enemy, mindless development.

Stately and mammoth oak trees strewn with Spanish moss characterize these peaceful squares. Birds chirp overhead and squirrels scamper about. Monumental statuary honors military heroes or religious luminaries, such as John Wesley, founder of Methodism. A humid, balmy air suffuses the scene.

A traveler can comprehend the city easily and enjoy it on foot, looking at the squares during different hours of the day. Start by picking up an orientation map at the Savannah Visitors Center, itself in an historic railroad depot. Then walk the squares at different hours, observing the ebb and flow of daily life. The squares are particularly enjoyable in the evening twilight, when a horse-drawn carriage can carry you in an hour around much of the historic district.

The fitting place to lodge is at one of a dozen small inns on the squares, such as the Planter's Inn on Reynold's Square. Each of these inns is a human-scale affair, where check-in is instantaneous, tea and wine in the afternoon are generally complimentary, and the level of personal service is intimate.

Gardens are the glory of Savannah, especially in the spring, when azaleas and dogwood bloom. The garden and house tour amounts to a travel ritual here in April-May. Public gardens are open on the squares and at the Owens-Thomas House, but many private house gardens also open for inspection on special tours.

GEMS OF SOUTHERN ARCHITECTURE

Houses of considerable architectural significance can be viewed along the squares and can sometime be visited. The prime example is the Owens-Thomas House on Oglethorpe Square. The Owens-Thomas edifice is one of three remaining houses designed by the gifted young architect, William Jay, in 1816. This house exhibits many ingenious features, such as circular motifs that soften the boxiness of rooms, use of plaster in a textured decorative manner as a ceiling fabric, and the original 1820s furnishings.

Another key house to see is the Green-Meldrim mansion on Madison Square, a fine example of a brick Gothic residence festooned with the ironwork ornamentation for which the city is famous. The Green-Meldrim house was notable because of its celebrated guest, General William T. Sherman, who resided here after scorching his way across Georgia during the Civil War, still referred to in some quarters here as the War of Northern Agression. Sherman spared Savannah from the devastation he unleashed on other Southern cities in his rapacious path. Most of what is seen and valued today in Savannah would not exist if Sherman had pursued his destructive policy here.

North of the squares is the Riverfront Area, where Savannah borders on the Savannah River, its main avenue to the outside world until this century of adequate roads. Fortunately, the Riverfront also was preserved and enhanced rather than bulldozed. Today you pass the facade of the brick Cotton Exchange, where the key historic item of commerce was traded. Cotton became king after rice first dominated the economy. The traders, called factors, gave their name to many places and institutions here, such as Factor's Walk. Along the Riverfront a handsome promenade has been developed, affording a good place to walk and view the river commerce. Ocean-going container ships of huge proportions parade slowly up and down the river, allowing a closeup view. Along the Riverfront you'll see the most famous statue of the city, SAVANNAH'S WAVING GIRL, honoring Florence Martus, a woman who became famous by waving a white cloth by day and a lantern by night at incoming ships from 1887-1931.

Museums in Savannah can assist in comprehending this largest urban registered historic landmark district in the U.S. (fully 1100 designated buildings are now protected from demolition). At the Massie Heritage Interpretation Center you can see a full-scale model of the city, interpreting the restoration in progress. At the Visitor Center you can witness the Spirits of the South Museum, explaining Southern life. The Maritime Museum along the Riverfront salutes Savannah's window to the sea, which inspired construction of record ships, such as the S.S. SAVANNAH, which made the first steamship crossing of the Atlantic, in 1819.

However, the city itself functions as a large open-air museum, living easily with its history. Around almost every corner you'll find a cannon or a statue recalling early American struggles. Even the historic city graveyard, within the central district, has been turned into a public park, where children bicycle, lovers linger, and the curious amateur historian rubs a finger over the fading names on the gravestones. In a manner peculiar to the South and perhaps best expressed in the writing of William Faulkner, the citizen seems preoccupied with history, with a past vividly alive in consciousness, pondering repeatedly the names of forebearers, contemplating and embroidering on the story.

Black history forms a vital part of the Savannah encounter. Be sure to visit the King-Tisdell cottage, where you might meet the exuberant black historian, W. W. Law, who prefers the use of the term Negro to the vogue phrases Black or Afro-American. Sometimes Law leads the two-hour Black History Tour of the city. At the cottage you see interpreted the average life of a black family and observe many milestone artifacts, such as a poster calling Blacks to arms toward the end of the Civil War, a bill of sale for a slave valued at $200, and a touching movie called CLEM, about a black man in the low country on the Georgia Islands. On the Black History Tour you visit the First African Baptist Church, the oldest Black church in North America.

Three miles downriver from the city you can visit brick Old

Fort Jackson and learn of the withering firepower, the vast assemblage of cannons, that made Savannah one of the best defended harbors in the world at the time of the Civil War.

HOME COOKING AND SOOTHING SONG

The people who inhabit this historic city are hospitable to meet.

Nowhere is this better expressed than at Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room, a breakfast and lunch enterprise that is a Savannah institution. For a modest price, the traveler will find copious amounts of Southern Cooking set before him or her. Fried chicken and perhaps a specialty such as venison are surrounded by dishes numerous and ample, served family style. Sweet potato pie, squash casserole, collard greens and ham, blackeyed peas, corn bread and syrup, and strawberry shortcake begin the litany of what a boarding-house reach can grasp in this setting. The Wilkes family women have run this operation for three generations. They are as authentic a touch of Savannah as you can find.

When thinking of dinner in Savannah, know that the area is a major shrimp and oyster fishery. The River House is one of the good seafood restaurants. Try fried soft-shell crab followed by tangy bluefish, fried in black-peppers.

For after dinner relaxation, bask in the songs of Emma Kelly, who entertains with a singalong and dancing at her piano bar, Emma's Place, along the Riverfront. Emma has been entertaining here for 43 years. She is a monument equal to the historic edifices along the squares. Another lively nightspot is Sweet Georgia Brown, where Dick Odom tickles the ivories. Adjacent, you'll find the main arts and crafts area of the city, called City Market.

A traveler of today can sometimes be overwhelmned by the many destinations competing for attention. Each destination has its particular strengths. Rank Savannah's gracious historic authenticity high on your list, especially if you seek an antidote to placelessness.

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SAVANNAH, GEORGIA IF YOU GO

The central information source is the Savannah Area Convention and Visitor Bureau (222 West Oglethorpe Avenue, Savannah, GA 31402, 912/944-0456). A Visitor Center informs travelers at 301 West Broad Street.

Savannah has a major airport served by several prominent carriers.

Typical of the dozen historic inns on the squares is the Planter's Inn (29 Abercorn, 912/232-5678).

While strolling the city, be sure to see an overview of historic preservation at the Massie Center, the fine architectural detail of the Owens-Thomas House (124 Abercorn), and the Green-Meldrim Mansion, residence of General Sherman (Madison Square).

The choice breakfast and lunch site is Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House (107 West Jones Street). For a good local fish or shellfish dinner place, try the River House Seafood (125 West River Street).

Among nightspots, take in the soothing songs at Emma's (224 West Bay Street) and at Sweet Georgia Brown's (312 West St. Julian Street).

The overall Georgia tourism information source is Georgia Department of Industry, Trade, and Tourism, PO Box 1776, Atlanta, GA 30301, 404/656-3590, web site www.georgia.org.

This article was written by Lee Foster of Foster Travel Publishing. Contact him at his website www.fostertravel.com or via email at lee@fostertravel.com. Copyright Lee Foster.

Lee Foster's most recent travel guidebooks are Northern California History Weekends (Globe Pequot), which won a Lowell Thomas Award, and Adventure Guide to Northern California (Hunter Publishing).

Lee Foster's new literary book is Travels in an American Imagination: The Spiritual Geography of Our Time.

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