(PHOTO: Tom and Rob at a huge fountain at Forsyth Park)Savannah's streets are built in a grid format, making it easy to walk anywhere. It's also pretty safe to walk around (as long as you're in by midnight we assume). We walked everywhere until around 10pm without a problem.
There are about 23 "squares" within the grid. A "square" is a green area with houses surrounding them. They're filled with "Live Oak" trees (the name of the tree) that harbor "Spanish Moss" that hangs from their trees. Oddly, it is neither spanish, nor moss. It's a member of the pineapple family that propagates airborne. It was named "Spanish" after the long beards of the spaniards that once roamed the area, and "moss" because it resembles a moss. It's also loaded with chiggers, or little bugs, so it's best left alone.
(PHOTO: Spanish Moss hanging off live oak trees in Pulaski Square)We took a Trolley Tour on our 1st full day there. I was in the gift shop with Gary while Tom and Jeff were checking out the trolley tours. There was one for $10 and one for $25. When I got to Jeff, he was talking with a very flamboyant young man (who was flirting with him) and convinced Jeff that we need to take the $25 tour... That was "Old Town Trolley." Well, the black woman who was our tour guide was wonderful. Unfortunately, we got off at stop #3 to see some houses and never wound up getting back on it again (out of 17 stops), so the money wasn't well spent...but that's our fault- we loved walking, and Jeff loved flirting. :)
We did take the trolley to Forsyth Park, which is the southern-most point in the historic district, so it was good. In 1733, the lands around Forsyth Place (now Forsyth Park) comprise much of the designated 5-acre Savannah garden lots of colonial Savannah, Georgia's earliest British and European settlers. During the Civil War, Union soldiers encamped there. The Fountain was created in 1858 and received extensive restoration in 1988. (PHOTO: Gary, Tom and Jeff at the fountain)
A number of the squares have monuments on them of the people the squares a named for. The monuments are either sculptures of the people (always men) or architectural monuments. (Photo: Monument in Wright Square- I think!)
For those who saw the movie "Forrest Gump" - the bench he sat on is at the Savannah History Museum. The bench is actually one of several fiberglass props made for the movie. However, if you go to the northern part of Chippewa Square, that's where it was originally placed for the movie. We stopped there, and Gary took a picture of it, with the church behind it that was in the movie's opening scene. That's where a feather slowly drifts down from the church steeple to the ground. (PHOTO: Forrest Gump on his bench in Chippewa Square- from the movie!)
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