Squares

Not as in cigarettes, not as in nerds, but as in small park in the middle of a street--that's Savannah. Over 20 squares in historic downtown area--and if ever there was a picture of the South, Savannah's historic district would be it. The city's historic area is about 1 mile square--easy to walk from one end to the other in just minutes. The live oaks are huge, the Spanish moss hanging as heavy as the humid air. We started today with a 90 minute overview on a tour bus.This tour guide was a bit different from the Southern gentleman who gave us our tour in Charleston. She knew lots but chose to share about her children and here former profession--a computer analyst. She was flighty and seemingly scattered. She was born and bred in Savannah, Southern drawl as thick as syrup. After we got off the tour bus, we ate at Vic's on the River. On the quest for the best fried green tomatoes in the South, we ordered them here (see pic). They were upscale with goat cheese and a tomato jam or relish, but to me, they were overly breaded. I'm still looking. (See dinner menu.) I ordered shrimp and grits again, (I'm not sure I could get tired of them,) while Tim ordered the oyster po' boy--both were good. From there we checked into the hotel, cooled off, regrouped then headed back to the Owen-Thomas house--one of the finest examples of Regency architecture in the country--designed by John Jay. We took in a few more squares on the way to the city market--stores and restaurants at the other end of the historic district. We cooled off again with some gelato--key lime pie and coconut for me, coconut and mocha for Tim. We picked up a booklet on walking tours and started off on another walk. This one took us along the riverfront past the bench where Captain James Oglethorpe spent his first night in a tent in Georgia, looking for the perfect site to start his colony. We walked by Factor's Row and Walk, where cotton brokers, or factors, quoted prices on cotton as it came by. It was time to eat again (we seem to be doing a lot of that). We ate at Moon River Brewing Company--split fried green tomatoes and a crabcakes. There's history in this building, too, but I'm too tired to look it up, and I can't seem to remember it right now. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel for the evening.