-- L'il Abner
The scenic historic city of Savannah owes its continued existence to the fact that the Confederate Army ran away from Sherman as he was marching through the South. Because the Rebel Army retreated to South Carolina, the Union left the place intact. And, as the guide on the tour trolley I took (because hey, when will do I get a chance to ride a trolley car?) noted, without that, he wouldn't have a job pointing out the many interesting historic sites.
But, because you have Wikipedia, I won't go into detail about this place's rich history. I'll just point out a few things I found interesting.
1) Savannah was the inspiration for a host of movies, most of which I have little to no interest in. It was the site of the killing that inspired John Berendt to write "Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil," which inspired Clint Eastwood to make the movie. (I passed the house where the deed took place, and the cafe where Berendt got the idea for the film.) It contains an old railway car that has been converted into a restaurant, the Whistlestop Cafe. I think the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" dropped the eatery's name when it turned the book into a movie. The opening scene of "Forrest Gump" takes place in one of the city's many squares. And the inspiration for "Driving Miss Daisy" came from a real Savannah woman who went to the synagogue I visited, described below.
2) See that funny looking message at the bottom of the sign? In New Jersey, the phrase "Stop for pedestrians at crosswalk" would mean "Honk to warn the stupid pedestrians to move back to the sidewalk or face the consequences." In Georgia, people take it seriously. Several times, as I was waiting patiently on the sidewalk for a car going 25 or 30 mph to go through an intersection so I could cross, the driver stopped to let me go through. Either the police really enforce that rule, or this is an example of southern hospitality.
3) I visited the third oldest synagogue in the in the United States, Congregation Mickve Israel, and saw what is probably the oldest Torah in the new world. It was brought over by the original founders in the 1730s, and was apparently a couple of centuries old then. They still read from it once a year. (They don't actually roll the scroll; it's always kept to the same place. The reading is in mid-July, so I guess it's some portion from the book of Numbers. I didn't spend enough time looking at it to figure out which passage it is.) At some point in the 19th century, it became a Reform temple; by the 1860s they were playing organ music during the services. I was also told by the man giving the tour, a transplant from Cherry Hill, NJ, that there are no good delis in Savannah, and it is impossible to get a good bagel in Georgia. "They have Panera's," he scoffed. "We had bagels at our hotel breakfast this morning," said the other couple on the tour, "...and they weren't very good." My biggest regret about the visit is my choice of souvenirs. I picked up a book of photographs. After I had stepped out, I realized that they had a bunch of t-shirts that said "Shalom Y'all," which would have been a much, much cooler memento of southern Judaism.
4) I had lunch at BD Burgers, which has been voted the best burger joint in the city for something like eight years in a row. They do have very nice burgers; the beef tastes rich; it was well cooked on the outside and pink on the inside. The buns are very soft; they almost dissolve in the burger's juices. And the onion rings were straight from the fryer and very crisp.
The scenic historic city of Savannah owes its continued existence to the fact that the Confederate Army ran away from Sherman as he was marching through the South. Because the Rebel Army retreated to South Carolina, the Union left the place intact. And, as the guide on the tour trolley I took (because hey, when will do I get a chance to ride a trolley car?) noted, without that, he wouldn't have a job pointing out the many interesting historic sites.
But, because you have Wikipedia, I won't go into detail about this place's rich history. I'll just point out a few things I found interesting.
1) Savannah was the inspiration for a host of movies, most of which I have little to no interest in. It was the site of the killing that inspired John Berendt to write "Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil," which inspired Clint Eastwood to make the movie. (I passed the house where the deed took place, and the cafe where Berendt got the idea for the film.) It contains an old railway car that has been converted into a restaurant, the Whistlestop Cafe. I think the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" dropped the eatery's name when it turned the book into a movie. The opening scene of "Forrest Gump" takes place in one of the city's many squares. And the inspiration for "Driving Miss Daisy" came from a real Savannah woman who went to the synagogue I visited, described below.
2) See that funny looking message at the bottom of the sign? In New Jersey, the phrase "Stop for pedestrians at crosswalk" would mean "Honk to warn the stupid pedestrians to move back to the sidewalk or face the consequences." In Georgia, people take it seriously. Several times, as I was waiting patiently on the sidewalk for a car going 25 or 30 mph to go through an intersection so I could cross, the driver stopped to let me go through. Either the police really enforce that rule, or this is an example of southern hospitality.
3) I visited the third oldest synagogue in the in the United States, Congregation Mickve Israel, and saw what is probably the oldest Torah in the new world. It was brought over by the original founders in the 1730s, and was apparently a couple of centuries old then. They still read from it once a year. (They don't actually roll the scroll; it's always kept to the same place. The reading is in mid-July, so I guess it's some portion from the book of Numbers. I didn't spend enough time looking at it to figure out which passage it is.) At some point in the 19th century, it became a Reform temple; by the 1860s they were playing organ music during the services. I was also told by the man giving the tour, a transplant from Cherry Hill, NJ, that there are no good delis in Savannah, and it is impossible to get a good bagel in Georgia. "They have Panera's," he scoffed. "We had bagels at our hotel breakfast this morning," said the other couple on the tour, "...and they weren't very good." My biggest regret about the visit is my choice of souvenirs. I picked up a book of photographs. After I had stepped out, I realized that they had a bunch of t-shirts that said "Shalom Y'all," which would have been a much, much cooler memento of southern Judaism.
4) I had lunch at BD Burgers, which has been voted the best burger joint in the city for something like eight years in a row. They do have very nice burgers; the beef tastes rich; it was well cooked on the outside and pink on the inside. The buns are very soft; they almost dissolve in the burger's juices. And the onion rings were straight from the fryer and very crisp.
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