Jim and I are on a short holiday and we are spending our last night in Savannah, Georgia. It's a place I've wanted to see for a very long time. I don't know exactly why I wanted to be here, but I'm sure it has something to do with the books Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell) and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (John Berendt).
I am both vaguely disappointed in Savannah and enthralled by it. I'm disappointed that, as wonderful as the squares and the mansions found in the historic district are, they lack the mood I was expecting. I expected large squares surrounded by stately, distinctly Southern homes but found small squares with a few stately homes with bustling traffic. Still lovely, but too much part of the modern world.
What has surprised me is that outside the historic district, I found the "historic" Savannah I was looking for. We went to Bonaventure Cemetary, which figures in the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and found the most amazing place - old mixed with new, elaborate gravesites mixed with modern plain, spanish moss covered trees mixed with assorted palms. Very distinctive, very moody, very "Savannah".
We've had some wonderful meals here - the best we had were in the Olde Pink House and Circa 1875. What I enjoyed most? Wet Willie's frozen strawberry daiquiris. Really. Frozen daiquiris available as quickly as a slushie, to be enjoyed as we wandered the streets, went up to the pool level in the hotel or as an afternoon treat after we'd been touring for most of the day. My frozen strawberry daiquiri became my twice-a-day treat for the last three days - a late afternoon pick-me-up and an after dinner delight as we wended our way home. Thank goodness for liquor laws that let you take booze off premises.
It's been a great holiday and it's not over yet - we start heading home tomorrow but still have a few days left to discover new things along the way. There's nothing like a road trip to break up the monotony of everyday life.
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