Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Savannah, Georgia's Historic River Street

Last week we had the pleasure of visiting some of the Islands along the Florida, Georgia and South Carolina East Coast.  We began visiting Amelia Island, and then drove on to Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island.  

All along the way there was amazing Southern natural beauty to be found in and around these beautiful coastal barrier islands.

Many years ago my husband and I had the opportunity to visit the charming old Southern city of Savannah, Georgia.  We remembered the beautiful parks and ornate antebellum architecture along with the cobblestoned historic district.  We thought it would be very nice to visit again.  Our GPS told us Savannah was only an hour-and-a-half drive north from St. Simons Island.  So off we went .....

If you look closely at the map below you can locate the City of Savannah in about the middle of the map just to give you an idea where it is located.

Map of Barrier Islands of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina
Map from the Internet

After arriving in the city of Savannah, and getting settled into a hotel,  we were beginning to lose most of our daylight. Our hotel was walking distance from the famous Savannah River Street,  so off we went.  Of course, as usual, my camera went with me to try to capture some of the charm of this old city.

The City of Savannah lies on the Savannah River, approximately 20 miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean.  This is a major river in the southeastern United States and acts as a border between Georgia and South Carolina.


In the background you can see portions of the Port of Savannah 
which is the largest port in the state of Georgia. 


Huge cargo ships can be seen on the river making their way to and from the huge port.  We were told these ships from around the globe provide an exciting spectacle for the folks visiting along River Street.  I know we sure were surprised to see how big these ships were.  

As this particular ship passed by in the below photo, the cargo looked like multiple semi-trailers all stacked up in multiple rows; you know, the kind you see driving all along the highways ... You know how big they are, so that will give you an idea of how huge this ship was.


Looking back from the river we see some of what is referred to as the Riverwalk area.  These century old buildings seen in the below photo were once cotton warehouses.   

Some 80,000 square feet of empty abandoned warehouse space was transformed into a colorful array of shops, restaurants and art galleries


As we were walking along the Riverwalk these very old steps caught my eye.


These steps looked like they had been around for a very long time.  
I guess the sign in the bottom photo says it best.


Portions of River Street are still paved with 200-year-old cobblestones.


I have never forgotten the amazing candy shop from our first trip to Savannah many years ago.  
I felt like a kid again getting to go into this amazing candy store which is located along River Street.




I loved the way you could see some of the old original brick from the cotton warehouse from so long ago.  And, how pretty, the way the beautiful old Ivy vines are growing up and surrounding the window.


And, then we step inside.  Wow!  

There were barrels and more barrels of many different choices 
of all kind of candy,  even including bubble gum.





And then in the display cases seen below, there were all kinds of 
other candy of all sorts, even including candied apples.



This Savannah's Candy Kitchen store on River Street occupies over 4,200 square feet and every square foot is filled with the best candies, cakes and confections in the South.


They have sweets including cakes, pecan pies, pecan log rolls, glazed pecans, praline layer cakes and much more.  They call themselves the largest candy company in the Southeast.



And this sweet man in the below photo was behind the counter making some of the Savannah's Candy Kitchen famous Pecan Pralines.  He was very kind and gave me a sample.  Well! you can just imagine!


Are you hungry yet!


We do occasionally receive a mail-order catalog from this company and it comes in handy around Christmas time for gift-giving.  Just in case you would like to visit the Savannah's Candy Kitchen website you can click on the below link.


No, I am not connected with this company in any way, but thought I would tell you about their wonderful website.


Now!  What you see in the above photo is what I came into this store to purchase ... remembering how delicious they were from all those years ago when we visited.  Oh! My gosh!  Later on in the evening, sitting back in the hotel room, reading my book and munching on these Milk Chocolate Gophers was completely heavenly.

In case you have not had one of these before,  they are made up of pecans on the bottom, caramels in the middle and the most delicious-ever chocolate on the top.  They tasted as fresh as could be, as if they had just been made that day.


Yes, and they did have the Dark Chocolate Gophers as well.  And, I just noticed what looks like possibly White Chocolate there on the extreme right in the photo below.


With our little package of Savanna's Candy Kitchen purchase in hand we moved on to sightsee on farther on down River Street.

Again in the below photo we see bits of the old brick from the old cotton warehouse.  This was a little gift shop we popped into just to take a quick look.  There are many charming little gift shops all along River Street.

Can you see that colorful painting in the window?
Wish I had gotten a close-up photo of that painting.


Inside I spotted these cute "Southern" signs.
And just in case you can't read these signs I included the words to my favorite sign below.


A SOUTHERN GIRL

SOMEONE WHO…
KNOWS MACARONI  & CHEESE IS A VEGETABLE. 
MAKES BEIN’SASSY A LITTLE BIT CUTE. 
LIKES HER OKRA FRIED & HER TEA SWEET.
KNOWS PEARLS MATCH EVERYTHING.
THINKS BISCUITS ARE ALWAYS BETTER WITH GRAVY.
REPLIES WITH A POLITE “YES MA’AM.” 
PUTS DAISIES IN A MASON JAR & MONOGRAMS HER TOWELS.
CAN TELL Y’ALL STORIES FOR MILES ABOUT HER HOMETOWN.

LOVES HER MAMA AND THINKS HER DADDY HUNG THE MOON.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There were about 20 restaurants to choose from along River Street.  We did not have to think twice when we spotted this seafood restaurant called The Shrimp Factory.  It just had that look like it would be very good.


I took a photo of the menu while we were waiting to be served.  As you can see there were many delicious items on the menu.  My husband ordered crab legs and I ordered my usual Fried Shrimp.  We were so hungry by the time our meal was served I forgot to take a picture ... It was very good.


The next day when we returned to River Street as you can see the weather had cleared and was glistening and beautiful.  

Someone told us not to miss seeing this statue of "The Waving Girl" statue down toward the east end of River Street,  located in Morrell Park.

The Waving Girl Statue
Florence Martus

There is kind of a touching story that goes with this statue.  They say:  For forty-four years Florence greeted every ship entering the Savannah port by waving a cloth from her home on Elba Island.  She was the sister of the Elba Island light-keeper and from 1887 to 1931 she was well-known for her welcoming to all the ships arriving.


Miss Florence surely did understand the true spirit of Southern Hospitality.


In the above photo we see a tugboat passing by the Waving Girl Statue.

There is a popular tale associated with this statue ... They say Miss Florence was engaged to a sailor, and that she waved at every ship that arrived in port in hopes of being the first to welcome him back home. But, as the story continues, it seems he never returned.

Come along with us next time as we walk through the beautiful old historic streets in the heart of the Historic District which is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States.

Wishing you a very happy last day of August and many blessings for the week wherever you may be.


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