Savannah pt 2

24th November 2012

 

We visited the Bonaventure Cemetary and it was a nice cemetery with quite a few tombs.

Wormsloe Historic Site was a place that was on every "must-see" list for Savannah. The historic site consists of part of the Wormsloe Plantation which was an estate by one of Georgia's colonial founders. Truth be told, I expected more from the place. The best part was driving under the oak-lined avenue with Spanish Moss.











We headed back to Savannah for lunch at Forsyth Park and had amazing bread.I couldn't stand the bread in the US. Who knew that sliced bread would taste sweet. And bread without high fructose corn syrup would still taste sweet. It was even harder for all the Europeans who were used to 'real' bread and not the crap sliced bread that was readily available. Even the bread from the bakery tasted terrible. After months of grocery shopping, I ended up purchasing food without high fructose corn syrup. There is something quite worrying when the ingredients list both high fructose corn syrup AND corn syrup, as if though one wasn't enough.




After, we headed back to Tybee Islands for Fort Pulaski , which was a fort that was severely damaged by the Union Army.One side is riddled with canon holes, like Swiss cheese.








Back in Savannah, we explored more of the city (as it was our last day there).






Savannah is also famous for the in-store made candy that it produces on River Street such as pralines and fudge. It was ridiculously overpriced and the smell of the store was actually quite sickening. But we managed to get a free piece of candy immediately after it was made. I actually wanted to purchase a toffee apple, but at $6 (without tax) I really couldn't justify it.






It was soon time to leave Savannah for Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. It was very pretty as the sun was starting to set, behind the fields of cotton and farmhouses.

My mess. Whoops. My shoes, a trillion pamphlets and maps and my trusty disposable camera. What I found interesting in the US was that film and film cameras were everywhere. If you went to any tourist location, there would be boxes of Kodak film and disposable cameras which I found quite interesting. And odd.

My Overall Thoughts
It was as lovely as I expected it to be, although very small. I was quite disappointed in Bonaventure cemetary and Wormsloe, considering the reviews online. In hindsight, maybe we should have just visited Savannah for a day before heading up to Charleston, S.C, which was a place that we sadly had to omit due to lack of time.

Would I re-visit?
No. It was lovely and quaint, but not a place that I would visit again as a tourist. If I lived in Georgia, it would be a place that I would visit often as it is slow-paced and a nice break from the city life (although, I wouldn't really consider Atlanta to have a big-city feel).

Savannah pt 1

23rd November 2012
Over Thanksgiving break, Sunbear and I travelled to the coast of Georgia to visit Savannah and Tybee Islands, before heading up to South Carolina for Hilton Head Island. I first became interested in visiting Savannah after having a discussion with a gentlemen at one of the clubs in midtown. I am not much of a clubbing type of person, yet I still went and it just reaffirmed my dislike for the whole environment. I sat in the corner the entire night and started a conversation with the person next to me. He said that Savannah was one of the top places in the USA to see before you die. Similarly, another exchange student (who had visited the US on multiple occasions in the past) also said that Savannah was the second prettiest city in the USA, with San Fransisco as number one.




Savannah was the first city in Georgia and its appeal is due to the historic public squares, streets lined with oak trees and Spanish Moss and the architecture and historic buildings. The is also the scene from Forest Gump which was filmed at one of the squares. Savannah is a 4 hour drive from Atlanta and it was a pleasant drive (well, I found it enjoyable as a passenger). We drove around the historic district and by the riverfront before driving off to Tybee Islands. It was such a gorgeous day (Georgia has amazing weather, except in summer).






We visited the lighthouse and in line to climb up, there was a family behind us who were from Tennessee originally but later moved down to Georgia. The father was wearing a cowboy hat and cowboy boots with an amazing accent. It was amazing.

This is honestly one of my favourite shots of all time.

My first time seeing and 'touching' the Indian Ocean. I also saw a few guys waiting to catch some waves and wearing interesting attire; backward baseball caps and t-shirts.

My dish. This was so good!

Sunbear's dish. It was quite nice, though I am not much of a fan of fish.

We headed back to Savannah and had dinner at a restaurant on River Street. The server was so rude however the waitress was super lovely. We ordered garlic bread as an entree and she gave us extra bread. Also, it was so awkward when I just just come back from the bathroom and used their free handscrub that smelt of lavender and Sunbear was smelling my hand when she came to get our order. Awkward. As tipping is expected in the US unlike in Australia, I got so irritated when I was forced to tip a waiter who didn't deserve it at all. In those situations, I would pay the minimum of 10%. However, the woman was so attentive and so lovely and I believe we ended up tipping her 20% of the bill.

That night, we stayed at a motel which was terrible. *shudders* There was hair in the bed (!!) and the white towel was stained (!!!). I became so paranoid and honestly believed that there were bed bugs and I became itchy (there weren't any bugs, just paranoia).