Retired and Lovin' It: Friday in SAVANNAH, GA

We have just twelve miles to drive to get to Savannah and we are almost there. Just over the bridge!

I've taken pictures off the east side of the bridge of Historic Savannah, but never the west side which is the industrial side of town, until today.

The freighters go under the bridge and past the River Road dock side that we showed you before. When we first took the Trolley Tour we bought a ticket to see three of the main homes in Savannah's history and have shown you two of them. Today we are going to go through the third one. We always park in the free lot near the bridge and take the Oglethorpe tour bus directly to the stop nearest what we want to see. Today it will be the Andrew Low house and they let us off right in front of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

We had not been able to get into the Cathedral before, so when we saw a long line of third graders in front of the door we knew it was open today. We decided to begin the day with it!! And the teachers sent us to the front of the line! But in the end, we sat down behind the children and listened to the narrator who spoke to the children about the Cathedral's history.

The first parish was established in the late 1700's. The cornerstone was laid for this new Cathedral in 1870. All except the exterior walls and the spires were destroyed by fire in 1898. The rebuilding began immediately, followed by the first mass presentation on December 24, 1899. It has had repairs, renovation and restoration three times since, beginning in 1959 with the last one in 2000. It was very interesting and BEAUTIFUL!! So we've done it again!! Enjoy!

This a close-up of the altar in the center

with this opening to the right in front. Please enjoy the stained glass windows, the murals and sculptures on the walls.

This pipe organ was built special to fit the loft in the back of the Cathedral.

This confessional is built into an offset in the side of the sanctuary. The narrator told the children that it is not built with the usual curtain between the priest and the individual seeking forgiveness. But is built with space for three chairs with the priest sitting in the center. The other person entering then has a choice of facing the priest or sitting behind him.

This baptismal fountain is just inside the doors in the back of the sanctuary. The narrator told that it is interesting when the bride with her huge skirted gown tries walking around it.

Leaving there we went through Lafayette Square

and walked on to the house which had been our first objective. It was built in 1849 for Andrew Low, a British cotton broker. His son, William, married Julliette Gordon and after Andrew's death, William and Juliette lived here when they were in Savannah, living the rest of the time in England. After William's death, Juliettte lived here until her death in 1927. Juliette was the founder of the Girl Scout organization.

Front entrance

This back porch, all enclosed with louvred shutters on both floors, was where we had to enter for the tour. As usual, we were not permitted to take pictures!! But this house, like the Wayne-Gordon house which was Juliette's birthplace, was full of furniture of the time periods when they were built. Many pieces that belonged to the Low's have been returned to the museums for display. All three of the homes that we have toured were of a different design but were furnished for the time period, thus making the tours very interesting!

The carriage house behind the Low house, as you see next, was once the First National Headquarters for Girl Scouts and is now a museum.

When we left there we ran across a book store in the bottom floor of another house which we checked out. Notice that the ground floor is what we would build below ground as a basement. Their first floor was always built way above ground level.

We walked on through Madison Square taking a picture of the monument honoring William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero.

Our new goal was to see the Green-Meldrim House next which was built in 1853 and sold to the Episcopal Church to be used as a parish house in 1943. We had been told of this house when we were at the Low house and decided to take a look. We had to enter in the back because of the restoration being done to the outside of the building. It is a Gothic Revival home originally built for Green who was an Englishman who was a wealthy cotton merchant. The cotton industry sure built this city!

The pocket windows were fascinating as well as the gas jets around the edge of the stained glass dome in the second floor ceiling. The glass panels of the dome opened to furnish air flow to the attic for the servants. The double front door was also interesting as when the solid doors were opened they served as doors for the coat closets on each side inside (first photo). Then the openings were covered only by louvered doors for air flow.

The church uses this house often for socializing on Sundays as well as meetings through out the week. The many silver tea and coffee sets used were on display also. We want to go back to see it when the outside is finished. I tried to take a picture inside without the guide noticing, but it did not turn out clear enough. I wanted to show you the form of plaster (harder than plaster as we know it) used for rosettes around the lights and also around the ceilings. It was very detailed and ornate!

Our ultimate goal and direction was to end up at Mrs. Wilkes House, which is now a family style restaurant, for lunch.

But since it only seats eighteen at a time, we knew that this line would keep us waiting for an hour to an hour and a half. So regretfully, we went back to the Gryphon Tea Room that we had passed earlier. No wait there, but it was nice and the food was very good! So no regrets.

This is the Gryphon Tea Room, which is the lower floor in what was originally the Scottish Rite Temple built in 1912. This ground floor was once occupied by Solomon's Drug Store, one of the oldest pharmacies in the country. It also was beautiful woodwork and the stained glass.

When we finished lunch we stopped across the street at an "art store". But we were quickly turned off by the style of art and the prices. The first purse that I picked up was $279. and there actually was very little art and much imported "stuff" in the store.

We got the Trolley to go back to our car and then drove up and down many streets looking for a little "one room" house that was pointed out on our tour as having recently been sold for $275,000. We found it and took a picture for you.