Savanah, Gerogia

In 1733, James Oglethorpe and 113 Colonists

from England established the Colony of Georgia.

The Charter for the new colony at Savannah
"prohibited slavery, lawyers, Catholics and hard liquor."
Over time all these prohibitions were eliminated.

 

 

 

 

Forsyth Fountain built in 1858 is thought to be patterned after 
Place de la Concorde Fountain in Paris, France.



 

 

The city has 22 park squares surrounded by elegant homes.

 

Lunch at Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room in a former boarding house 
in the West Jones Street neighborhood. 

 

The crowd standing in line waiting to eat at a great lunch spot.

 



 

 Family style lunch with no menu.

 

 

 

More than 15 side dishes plus fried chicken, meatloaf and pork.

 

Sweet tea and two desserts...you leave very full!

 

 

 

Confederate Monument to honor soldiers who died in Civil War
located in Forsyth Park.

Monument was made in Canada in 1874 and transported
to Savannah by ship so it would never touch
"Yankee" soil.




  

 

 

Madison Square built in 1837. Monument of

William Jasper who was Revolutionary hero.





 

Sorrel-Weed House 1841.

 

 

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist 1896. 

 

 

Andrew Low House 1849. His wife Juliette established

the Girl Scouts of America.

  

The first Girl Scout Center.
 First meeting in 1912 with 18 girls.

  



 

The Colonial Park Cemetery established 1750.

 

 



Also known as The Old Cemetery and The Brick Cemetery.

 



 

Chippewa Square was the location of the bench in the Forest Gump movie.

 

 Actor Tom Hanks told Forest Gump's life story on this bench.
 It is now located in a museum.

 







 



Many colorful flower gardens in front of neighborhood homes.

 



 

Isaiah Davenport House 1820.  Note the double front entry stairs.

 

The Pirates' House 1754.

 

This building used to be a seaman's tavern in the days

of wooden sailing ships and pirates.

 

Rumor was that an underground tunnel connected

the rum cellar to the river where drunken men

were placed aboard ships.

Later they awoke at sea as kidnapped crewmembers. 

 







 

The Herb House 1734.  This home is considered

the oldest surviving home in Georgia.

 

Historic stairs lead to the waterfront.

Use at your own risk!

 



 

Savannah River busy with tour boats, ferries and ship traffic.

 

 

Rustic buildings with shops and restaurants.

 

 

Rousakis Riverfront Plaza. A city project took a rundown

collections of old shipping wharfs and converted the area

into an attractive public place.



 



Beaufort, South Carolina

Beaufort is a picturesque town you hope to

discover when you travel the southern states. 

 

 

Downtown matches the historic district of homes.

 

The waterfront park is an easy walk from the business district. Great spot for picnic lunch with swinging park benches.

 



 

Many blocks of historic homes.  Note the blue porch ceiling

 as seen in Charleston.

 

Small touches such as carriage step.

 

 

 

Hitching post for horse carriage.



 

Large ancient oak limbs hanging over the roadway.



 



 



Charleston Tea Plantation and Angel Oak Tree South Carolina

Southeast of Charleston on Wadmalaw Island

in Lowcountry is Charleston Tea Plantation.

 

 

The hot and humid climate here is the only place in the United States

where tea plants are grown and processed into tea products.

 

 

Visitors enjoy relaxing on the porch rockers

enjoying the view of old oak trees and tea plant fields.

 



Bigelow Tea Co. owns 127 acres on the Island.

 

The plants require at least 75 days of 100 degree temperatures

to produce a new crop.  The lighter green

new growth is ready for cutting.

 

 

This one of a kind tea harvester cuts the tea bushes

7-10 times during harvest season.



 

Inside the plant, the tea branches with leaves

are cut and sorted. 

 

 

Cut tea leaves are sent to a dryer.

Three types of tea are made in this plant.

 

Green tea - no drying time

Oolong tea - 15 minutes

Black tea - 50 minutes

 





 

Tea going to the oxidation dryer.

Each batch weighing 5,000 lbs., rests for 18 hours

before packaging.

 





 

Tea is sold under Bigelow and Charleston Tea Plantation brands.

 



Nearby,The Angel Oak Tree is estimated to be 300-400 years old and is

claimed to be the oldest oak tree east of the Mississippi River.

 

The tree is 65 ft. high and towers over Karen.

 

 



Sweet Grass Baskets at Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

Charleston welcomed us with Sweet Grass Baskets.

 

On highway 17 north of the city were miles of

vendors at wooden stalls selling their homemade baskets.

 

 

 

 

This is the site of the stalls where the road improvements were made.

 





 

At Mount Pleasant across the bridge from Charleston, we learned

the history of the Sweet Grass Baskets.

 

Marilyn at the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Center

told us the history of the basket making. 

 

The Gullah People are direct descendants of Africans brought

to the United States and enslaved for generations.

 



 

This culture expressed themselves through many crafts

 including basket making. 

 



Marilyn proudly showed her collection of newspaper articles

about her crafted baskets.

 

 One of her baskets is on display

at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC.

 

It is the basket in the top center with a pointed lid.

    

 

Coiled basketry is one of the African crafts in America appearing

in South Carolina in the late 17th century.

 

The craft has been handed down for generations.

 

 



The early baskets were used to gather rice crops. They were

also used to plant seeds for rice, cotton and other crops.

 



 

Marilyn said this is an elephant ear design.

 



 

Baskets are made from bulrush, sweet grass, palm, 

split oak and pine needles for color. The grasses grow

everywhere in the lowlands.