Historic Savannah

This isn't Key West. This is Abercorn Avenue in the Historic District of Savannah.Very nice it is too.Mind you, this should have been Key West, judging by this dude waiting for the bus. Pink Crocs have got nothing on him.Enough of that, we were in Savannah,our third visit, to take Cheyenne for a walk and et some ideas for our garden. Not really, I'd go mad trying to keep up a space as tidy as this.Cheyenne does what she has to do to be with us but I get the feeling that day after day in the car is probably more than she likes. On the other hand she gets her reward. A smelly piece of sidewalk is all she asks for.

It was Flag Day a few days ago so we got some extra color in the land of the sculpted homes and gardens.
They aren't gumbo limbos but they'll do in a pinch.

They make no bones about how old this structures are, either. As old as the oak trees I dare say. I hope Mistress Dibble appreciated the effort.They do not apparently have a Historic Architecture and Review Commission in Savannah. Or if they do it isn't as respected as Key West's. What were they thinking? I hope the payoffs were enormous to justify this municipal eyesore.

Now that's more like it.

And finally we come to the famous squares that litter Savannah's Old Town. They are quite genteel and and more or less tarted up. It all screams Ante Bellum (before the war).

Antebellum or not they have to make concessions to the curse of the automobile. More fake gumbo limbos draped artfully with Spanish Moss to please the tourists. Actually, like Key West this is a lived in town and it is quite amusing to be the gawping tourist for a change.

Put out more flags.

I doubt they have as many churches per capita as Key west but they try hard.

This peculiar arrangement connects buildings in an historic school.

Why, I do believe there is a missing word in there somewhere. Should not the word "white" be inserted before Public?

It's a nice school but in 1856 they were arguing passionately that the Bible stated unequivocally that blacks weren't human. In a way identical to the posturing today about gay marriage.Of course if you are going to live in mansions that lack air conditioning you don't want to be working up a sweat so it stands to reason you need lots of help. And if the help is free you get a burgeoning economy that gives you sufficient surplus to build the spare mansion in the first place. Anyone that tells you the Civil war wasn't about slavery, tell them yup, it was all about the money. Just as it is today.

The thing about those days was they used their money to build things of beauty that lasted through the centuries. Today we don't even get that spin off. Plaster and plastic. They even managed to build streets that did a lot better than our pot holed asphalt excuses for roads.

They have lots of alleys in Savannah so you can tuck the utilities and trash cans more or less out of sight.

We've visited Savannah several times but really we need to spend more time here. We will one day. Midnight in the garden of good and Evil. It really does look like this and quite lovely it is too. Oh and then there's Ed Swift making a buck or two, even here:

And there is the competition taking a turn around the block.

Just like home.