MORE OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA

This is supposed to be a rainy week here. And looking at what is happening in other areas of the country, I would imagine that they will be correct. So on Monday we decided to spend another day in Savannah. We began by letting Oglethorpe Tours transport us from their parking to the Isaiah Davenport house. We only had to wait about fifteen minutes for a new tour of the house to begin. A former school teacher took us through all of the rooms, except the attic of the home. We were not permitted to take pictures unfortunately for us. I do believe that this is going to be the case in most or all of the homes open for tour. Of course, this is done to preserve the historic fabrics and furniture in the rooms. Front entrance Iron railing at front entrance, boot scraper, used because of the mud in the streets during the early 1800's. Back porch and entrance with side gardens where another tourist took our picture. This Federal style home was built between 1815 and 1820. The saving of this house by Seven prominent ladies who did not want to see this piece of history destroyed and raised the funds to purchase the home. It was the first effort of preservation by the Historic Savannah Foundation in the 1950's. It has been restored, authentically with the original plaster work, a self supporting staircase and period furnishings. Mr. Davenport, born in New England in 1784, was a carpenter by trade, apprenticed in Massachusetts. He and his wife, Sarah, had ten children. He died in 1827 of yellow fever. Sarah sold their slaves and holdings, also turning their home into a boarding house to be able to support the family. From the Davenport House we continued to walk the streets, passing the Kehoe house before we stopped for lunch at Leopold's Ice Cream across from the Maxwell House Hotel. An interesting note was that William Kehoe was a poor Irish immigrant who worked his way up from being an apprentice in an iron foundry to becoming one of Savannah's most successful businessmen. The house is now an Inn and is rumored to be haunted haunted by two Kehoe twins that died while playing in one of the home's chimneys. However, I could not attest to that since we are not staying there! After lunch we walked on to the Wayne-Gordon House-Juliette Gordon Low birthplace. Front entrance Back porch overlooking the beautiful gardens with historical pieces of iron work displayed there. Juliette was the granddaughter of William Gordon. After her husband William Low died, needing something to do with her life, Juliette founded the Girl Scouts. She dedicated the rest of her life to this organization. The Girl Scouts began as Girl Guides and was patterned after the Boy Scouts. She was friends with Lord Baden Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, and she felt girls needed such an organization of their own. She was so dedicated to this that she wore the uniform everyday and was buried in it. This home has been restored to depict the Victorian era and has been furnished as accurately as possible to what it was when she lived in it during her early years using her furniture. It is very extensively furnished and very interesting! Joe, the guide who took us through the home, was very interesting and does a wonderful job sharing the life style of that era. We walked past the Independent Presbyterian Church, first founded in 1755. This structure was reconstructed in 1891 to replace the original structure destroyed by fire in 1889. Lowell Mason, a noted composer of sacred music such as "My Faith Looks Up To Thee" and "Nearer My God To Thee", was organist and Superintendent of Sunday School between 1815 and 1827 in the Presbyterian Church. General Oglethorpe laid out the city with multiple squares which have been dedicated to various famous people and causes of this area. We walked through Wright Square with a monument dedicated to William Washington Gordon, who was the first president of the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia. I show this monument in two pictures, since you can not clearly see the top of it in the first photo. It is also noted that Tomo-chi-chi is buried in a grave beneath this monument. He is of the Creek Indian Nation and is noted as being a co-founder of Savannah along with Oglethorpe. He was a good friend of the English and was considered indispensable in establishing the colony as a military outpost against Spanish Invasion. We also went in to the Lutheran Church of the Ascension which was a little different in design from most of the very ornate churches that we have been in prior to this. It still is beautiful with it's marble altar, stained glass windows and the large pipe organ. I told Gary after going through this church, also knowing that we have toured many other churches, that I can imagine God looking down upon us, saying to himself that we are missing what it really is all about! So much emphasis is put upon the building itself and has been for thousands of years! Returning to the bus stop to wait for our bus we noticed one of the Federal Buildings that were built in Savannah, with the request that they stick with the era style of this Historic District. Today they laughingly call these buildings their bathroom tile buildings! This was the government's choice to match the historical buildings!! Waiting at the stop with us was this fine lady who was a guide with the Old Savannah Tours. Now we will rest (Ha-ha) from all of the walking and try out some other sight seeing for a change. Stay with us!!