Day 8 - Savannah

2.2 square miles of historic sensory overload!  We have sore necks pivoting them so much to catch the next amazing sight in this gem of historic preservation of colonial America.  Wisely, we chose a 90 minute trolley tour of Savannah to gain our bearings and learn an insiders perspective from our amazing guide.

We then walked the entire distance from Forsyth Park at one end down to the River Walk with many pictures and stops along the way.  

Highlights are too numerous to mention in their entirety but some that come to mind include:  A visit to St. John the Baptist Cathedral which enlightened us, particularly since the 4 tenets of James Ogelthrope's founding of Georgia were - no lawyers, no slavery, no whiskey and no Catholics.  

Needless to say a lot of things have changed since its founding in 1733.  Also absolutely amazing was the preservation of Ogelthorpe's 22 of the original 24 "squares" that define colonial city of Savannah.  It would take hours to explore each one as they were adorned with statuary, plaques, intoxicating flora not to mention one exquisite historic colonial house after the next. 

One square that might be relevant to our friends in Northern NY was that dedicated to Casmir Pulaski a colleague of George Washington and revolutionary War hero.  
  

After our exhaustive walk we lunched at Vic's - part of the old cotton warehouse district.

After lunch we walked along the River drinking in more of the city.  Beyond the historical aspects we were amazed to learn that the port of Savannah is 3rd busiest in the US, despite a population of 130,000.  Also SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) has grown into a renown University having a tremendous influence on the design of the renovation of the city.  

Tomorrow we continue down the coast of Georgia with stops at Jekyll Island and St. Mary's before we turn right and head west!