Savannah. The name itself evokes myriad associations and colors for me: a favorite Erasure song (blue), hot African grasslands (orange), a Spanish moss-strewn seaside Southern city (green) and home of one famous design school (light yellow). It was already beautiful in my mind before I visited for the first time last week.
We drove the first leg of our Southern family vacation on Saturday night (Oct. 10), passing places and ghosts from my past at highway speed. We arrived in Florence, South Carolina near midnight and slept like like logs at our hotel. In the morning, we headed down to Savannah for a mid-day break. Parking right next to the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), I knew we were in a friendly place. SCAD was one of the places I might have gone if the stars had been aligned slightly differently, which would have been fine except that I think I prefer my current life.
Q went ahead into the visitor's center and mapped out a route for us through lovely Savannah. And the downtown was everything one might expect: charming, graceful, historical, slightly quirky, hip, and dripping with Spanish moss. We walked through lovely squares, down grand avenues, and along the waterfront where locals and tourists basked in the beautiful sunshine. A stately riverboat awaited passengers at the dock while friendly, sunburnt, tattooed folk peddled roses and crosses made from palm grass. We strolled back across town and enjoyed the interesting doorways, old cemeteries, and Southern architecture.
Piling the six of us back into the van, we continued on for many more hours. The girls logged all the distinct license plates they could find and (by the end of the trip) found 43 states and 3 foreign countries or provinces. Not bad at all.
Next stop: the beach!
3 comments:
Hey Maren! You came this far south and didn't drive through Aiken :) I love your posts, by the way...especially all your cool photos! Next time, you should come in February for the "Battle of Aiken."
Did I also read that they have a great food festival- or was that another fine SC town? Sorry we didn't get to the western part of the state- but I thought of you all that day, and maybe we can do another southern tour someday.
How uncanny, I just had a discussion yesterday with a friend saying how neither of us had been to Savannah but want to when we return to the States. Now I have your pictures to look at!
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