Our time in Savannah, Georgia is drawing to a close. We'll be heading out tomorrow on a winding path back to Texas, taking in a couple more writing research places on the way.
Savannah's a nice town: very touristy, with prices to match, but a lot of genuine history buried among the neon signs and glitter. Many old buildings (or their exteriors, at least) have been preserved, and are a reminder of not just the Civil War era but of the entire colonial period in North America. There are some good restaurants, plenty of bars, and lots of art galleries and other "arty" things. We've enjoyed ourselves, even though we weren't here primarily as tourists.
I found a lot of information and background for my Civil War trilogy. This morning we took a boat tour of the harbor all the way down to Fort Jackson, and then up the river to the container area, which is apparently one of the busiest in the USA (our tour guide said it was, in fact, the biggest in terms of number of TEU's handled). The old fort was a massive chunk of masonry erected on what was, at the time, swampy marshland - an amazing piece of engineering in those days. Sherman's "March To The Sea" forces captured it in late 1864, using improvised boats and pontoon bridges to cross intervening rivers and swamps to reach it. The other major fortification near the city is Fort Pulaski: I've set one of the incidents in my trilogy in close proximity to it.
I thought we'd find it difficult to cope with the humidity in this area, but near the sea it's been far less humid than I feared - certainly a lot better than inland Georgia on the way down. The heat's been pretty bad, but that's the case almost everywhere on the east coast and in the Gulf at this time of year. We've taken care to drink plenty of water and keep our electrolytes up, so we've been OK.
We're not sure precisely which route we'll follow back to Texas, because much will depend on places we'd like to visit for research purposes on the way. Traffic will be a big factor. I'd love to visit several places in Atlanta, but the roads getting there are usually jammed, and riding around the city's not much fun either. We'll probably take a more southerly route through Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana before reaching Texas. We'll take at least two days over it, and more likely three, because neither my wife nor myself can handle ten- or twelve-hour days on the road as well as we used to. Age takes its toll.
Once again, prayers for traveling safety will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Peter
24 comments:
Try reading 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' by John Berendt. It's present day Savannah, but interesting background/atmosphere.
Sea breezes help keep paces like Charleston relatively livable year round.
It's one of the many reasons to live on the coast.
I've driven in Atlanta. It's worse than Houston.
East to West travel in the South doesn't offer much, except a multitude of small highway, other than Interstate 10 and 20. It takes some time to travel along those highways, but the trip is much more interesting.
Safe travels home!
try to hit the tabasco hot sauce mothership in new iberia, LA. very interesting!
Must stop at Vicksburg.
Spent a lovely weekend in Savannah early in 1999, walking around the old part of the city and the riverfront, after my daughter finished Basic Training at Parris Island. Took lots of pictures of the lovely old houses and gardens in the established squares. It wasn't all that touristy then, as I remember, and the old city was very pleasant and walkable.
If I was in Savannah & heading to Texas I wouldn't go to Atlanta unless there was a good reason for going in that direction.
Come to think about it I wouldn't go to Atlanta at all unless there was a reason...
If your plan takes you near Mobile on the 3rd or 4th, I could show you around USS Alabama. Ft. Morgan and Gaines are also interesting.
You may find Nacogoches interesting.
Glad it's going well! Travel safe!!!
Heh, Charleston, SC is what Savannah wants to be when it grows up.
I'm from Charleston, so naturally I'd say that...
I live about 2 hrs away all my life read of the siege and have visited I hear good things on the radio about the city.
I spent four years in Atlanta, drove during the last year. Aaaauuuuuuurrrrrrrr [gasps]rrrrrrrrrrgh!!!!!!! Not again if I can help it.
TXRed
Yep. A drive around the Military Park is always informative. You can see the trench lines and wonder what those Yankees were thinking attacking uphill in wool uniforms in the middle of a hot and humid Mississippi June. There is also the USS Cairo Museum. Union ironclad sunk by a mine.
If the path allows, try to visit the civil war naval museum in Columbus Ga
For sure, I had an emgency landing that left me in Vicksburg for a few days a while back, the battle feild there is great.
Ref book research… think about being a civil war foot soldier from New York in that heat and humidity trudging along, mosquitos at night so on… then think about weeks of that and the mosquitos eating you alive every night, how exhausted you’d be, and what does 10,000 troops smell like or even look like after a month of that… now add that descriptive color to your book….
Travel to Athens to avoid the traffic. Then run down 316 to highway 20 and take it west.
My wife and I ate at a restaurant on the waterfront that was an old warehouse. The food was good and the view nice, but on the wall was an old map drawn on the original plaster. It had been hand drawn on the wall by one of Sherman's staff and showed the area up to close to Atlanta. It had been preserved under a large plastic sheet. It must have been 8 feet tall. It was discovered when the building was being renovated, and the newer plaster was removed showing the map.
Quite cool.
@Skyler: "If this succeeds, we can go somewhere else!"
I'm working on a book set prior to the Civil War that discusses the role of the British Empire and its fledgling intelligence service and their efforts leading up to the war and through its early days. It's based on research I did at the Huntington Library (complete War of the Rebellion series and other books). There's not a lot about it in the archives so it's set in a historical fiction format.
We found the River Road Plantations very interesting near NOLA. Some have the original furnishings. Oak Alley, Destrehan Plantation, San Francisco Plantation. They are easy to visit being along the Mississippi River. There are local booklets and guides to show the way. Destrehan even showed how they used Spanish moss for insulation. The movie "Interview with a Vampire" used it for several scenes. Oak Alley is a mystery. The building was put up in the 1760- 70s but the trees were planted at least a hundred years before. No body knows who planted them.....
Wonderful cafes in the area. We entered one and wife had to go to the facilities and told me to just order for her. Crawfish season so I ordered pasta with crawfish. She thought it was shrimp and chowed down. I dared not tell her until after she finished......
The last time I was there we stopped for a look in the Square downtown and had some coffee and yet there was a flag hanging above the door of one shop that said, "Girl Scouts for sale" and I was interested in looking further and talking price but the Mrs. was not interested and suggested we keep walking. It is possible that I missed a word or two on the banner but life is an endless adventure....
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