Funny...
First stop - Bonaventure Cemetery was developed on the historically-significant site of Bonaventure Plantation. The peaceful setting rests on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah. The site was purchased for a private cemetery in 1846 and became a public cemetery in 1907. This charming site has been a world famous tourist destination for more than 150 years due to the old tree-lined roadways, the many notable persons interred, the unique cemetery sculpture and architecture, and the folklore associated with the site and the people. It is the largest of the municipal cemeteries containing nearly 160 acres.
The cemetry and the Bird Girl, a sculpture made in 1936 by Sylvia Shaw Judson in Lake Fores, Illinois, achieved fame when they were featured on the cover of the 1994 novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, a non-fiction work by John Berendt.
Michael and I were wondering what the story was with the Bird Girl - as we found small sculptures for sale in most shops in Savannah. Now we know!
Bunoventure Cemetry is amazing and huge - we only find the map after we had gone for a little stroll through the cemetry. We also found a big Jewish section ... interesting!
Jewish settlers from Spain and Portugal arrived in Savannah in 1733, only a few months after the first English settlers. They were the third Jewish congregation in America and they brought with them the oldest Torah in the U.S. Direct descendats of these first Jewish settlers still live in Savannah.
Next stop: Wormsloe Plantation - a very intersting place - it comprises the Jones' family plantation ruins, Noble Jones' grave and some examples of how people lived in those days. The plantation is next to the marshlands. There is also a museum, where I watched a movie about the history of the place - very interesting! Noble Jones was quite the citizen in his day! He even designed a city for a group of German immigrants 'the Salzburgers' who were prosecuted for their religion in the old country.
The first group of Georgia Salzburgers, a group of German-speaking Protestant colonists, sailed from England to Georgia in 1734, arriving in Charleston, South Carolina, on March 7, then proceeding to Savannah on March 12. They were met by James Oglethorpe, the founder of the Georgia colony, who assigned them a home about twenty-five miles upriver in a low-lying area on Ebenezer Creek. The group received support from King George II of England and the Georgia Trustees after being expelled from its home in the Catholic principality of Salzburg (in present-day Austria),where they had endured hardship.
The Wormsloe Historic Site consists of 822 acres (3.33 km2) protecting part of what was once the Wormsloe Plantation, a large estate established by one of Georgia's colonial founders, Noble Jones (c. 1700-1775). The site includes a picturesque 1.5-mile (2.4 km) oak avenue, the ruins of Jones' fortified house built of wood and tabby (a crude type of concrete made from oyster shells and lime), a museum, and a demonstration area interpreting colonial daily life.
In 1736, Noble Jones obtained a grant for 500 acres (2.0 km2) of land on the Isle of Hope that would form the core of Wormsloe. He constructed a fortified house on the southeast tip of the island overlooking the Skidaway Narrows, a strategic section of the Skidaway River located along the intracoastal waterway roughly halfway between downtown Savannah and the Atlantic Ocean.
The fortified house was part of a network of defensive structures established by James Oglethorpe, founder of Georgia, and early Georgia colonists to protect Savannah from a potential Spanish invasion, which was an ever-present threat to the southern English colonies in the mid-18th century. Jones subsequently developed Wormsloe into a small plantation, and his descendants built a large mansion at the site which they used as a country residence. The fortress consisted of 8-foot (2.4 m) high walls with bastions at each of its four corners. The fort house was 1.5 stories and had five rooms.
The practice of slavery had been banned by Georgia's original charter, so Noble Jones used indentured servant labor to tend Wormsloe in the plantation's early years. When the Trustees revoked the ban on slavery in 1749, Jones used slave labor in hopes of making Wormsloe profitable. Jones initially planted several types of crops, including corn, rice, various fruits and vegetables, and possibly indigo. While Wormsloe never proved profitable, Jones managed to amass real estate wealth throughout his lifetime, including 5,500 acres (22 km2) and five town lots in the Savannah area. Jones served the young colony in multiple civic capacities, as judge, militia captain, and colonial legislator.
With the death of Noble Jones in 1775, Wormsloe passed to his daughter, Mary Jones Bulloch (c. 1730-1795). Jones' death occurred just as the American colonies were on the verge of breaking away from England. Jones remained a loyal supporter of King George III throughout his life, a stance that often brought him in direct conflict with his son, Noble Wimberly Jones (1723–1805), who was an ardent supporter of Patriot causes.
It is time to farewell Savannah and start our drive to Charleston, South Carolina. It takes about 2 hours and is a very pleasant drive. The countryside again is beautiful - a lot of marshland everywhere.
Almost a third of the Atlantic Coast's tidal salt marshes are located in Georgia's Lower Coastal Plain, as are thousands of acres of rare tidal freshwater marshes. The salt marshes stretch in a band four to six miles wide between the mainland and coastal barrier islands. A major reason for Georgia's extensive expanses of salt marsh is that its coast experiences the highest tides along the southeastern shoreline. Estimates of Georgia's total tidal marshland acreage are 429,294 acres of tidal marshland, more than any other state on the East Coast.
And finally, we travel over The Talmadge Memorial Bridge, which spans the Savannah River between downtown Savannah, Georgia, and Hutchinson Island. The bridge provides 185 ft (56.4 m.) of vertical navigational clearance for oceangoing vessels. Its horizontal clearance is 1,023 feet (312 m), with a main span of 1100 ft (335 m.) and a total length of 1.9 miles (3.06 km.), the new Talmadge Memorial carries four lanes of traffic.
We meet a friend of Michael's who is a nurse. (Michael used to live in Charleston for 3 years about 6 years ago!) She takes us to yet another German restaurant for lunch and then we walk through downtown and market street. Charleston is also quite a historic place - a medium sized town - again with lots of tourists! And again lots of lollie / sweets and chocolate shops.. what is it with the South and their sweet tooth?
Charleston is the second largest city in South Carolina.The population is at 120,083, making it the second most populous city in South Carolina, closely behind the state capital Columbia.
By the mid-18th century Charleston had become a bustling trade center, the hub of the Atlantic trade for the southern colonies, and the wealthiest and largest city south of Philadelphia. By 1770 it was the fourth largest port in the colonies, after only Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, with a population of 11,000, slightly more than half of that slaves.
Charleston was the hub of the deerskin trade. Trade alliances with the Cherokee and Creek insured a steady supply of deer hides. Between 1739 and 1761, the height of the deerskin trade era, an estimated 500,000 to 1,250,000 deer were slaughtered. Deer skins were used in the production of men's fashionable and practical buckskin pantaloons for riding, gloves, and book bindings.
Colonial low-country landowners experimented with cash crops ranging from tea to silk. African slaves brought knowledge of rice cultivation, which plantation owners made into a successful business by 1700. With the help of African slaves from the Caribbean, plantation owners learned how to raise and use indigo in the Low-Country in 1747. Supported with subsidies from Britain, indigo was a leading export by 1750.
These baskets are made by African Americans and are a tradition here, however they are expensive - tourist prices.... oh well... I don't really need another basket...
There are also quite a few horse carriages... and then I notice: the horses have poo bags! Very funny! but environmentally friendly!
Michael's friend has to leave and Michael shows me the historic part of town and the river area, with a view of the Navy airport carrier (a museum now). Charleston has the most amazing mansions... the grand South! and a beautiful waterfront.
Among the many reasons for Charleston's universal appeal is the historic architecture of its downtown neighborhoods. The extent of classic Georgia, Federal, Adamesque, Greek Revival, Italianate, and Victoria homes is unparalleled anywhere else in America, but is featured block after block throughout the Charleston peninsula.
After our little break, we drive to another of Michael's friend's home, who lives a bit outside of Charleston, to stay the night there. His friend is a hobby / professional? hunter... with the big guns... a bit scary! It is very nice of him to let us stay the night though!
It's been another long and very interesting day!
Good night... oh I need to plan our day tomorrow.. where to go and what to see!!!
S & D
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