I had been to Savannah once before – back in 2006 when Ashleigh and I made a pre-convention trip by bus to the historic town. Then we had a guided tour to some of the area’s more historic sites, followed by an independent ‘ghost’ tour. This time I was walking the streets with my cousin Chris who once lived in the heart of the downtown district. He and his wife Sarah had a quaint garden apartment built in 1855 that they rented on Calhoun square.
Chris proved to me that Savannah was once the Colonial Captal
So after our Scottish lunch on the afternoon of Thursday, March 13, Chris began showing me a bit around town, concentrating equally on places of historic significance and places that were personal to him in some way – like the one bookstore he refused to frequent. We had had lunch with Lydia, a curator of the Savannah History Museum, so from there she gave us a personal tour of museum. This was part of the Coastal Heritage Society, which also encompassed the Roundhouse Railroad Museum where Chris used to work.
The History Museum was rather small – in fact it was once a former railroad passenger shed – but contained a few interesting items. Of utmost interest to me was seeing one of the park benches used in the film Forrest Gump. This was one of many that were created from fiber glass for the film and then donated to the museum by Paramount Pictures. I also enjoyed the children’s hat display and coaxed Chris into posing for the picture at the top of the posting.
Pseudo-leaning on the Forrest Gump bench
From there, we headed over to Chris’s old turf – after briefly stopping for a photo op at a newly created Revolutionary War battle fort recreation (I challenge you to find me in that picture!) We briefly met up with Becki whose house we would be lodging at that evening and then Chris gave me the personal tour of the grounds. One area that was originally the building in which the trains were being painted was being restored for the first time. We had to wear hard hats in this area, giving us our second ‘hat’ photo op of the day. Chris of course knew several folks working there, so one of the gals named Amanda showed us around the ‘hardhat’ area.
Do you see me?
Chris recreates his old spiel – that which he could still remember (which was nothing)
The train and the caboose
Hard-hatted folk
It was warming up so I decided to change into shorts, and since my new Skechers shoes were starting to get a little painful, I had the bright idea to switch to my brand new Vans. It only took about thirty-four steps to realize that the pain of the new shoes was excruciating. I was a sport though, grinned and beared the pain (longing for an Ace bandage and couple of Advil) and pressed on.
We drove to Calhoun square to stop by Chris and Sarah’s old place, greet their landlady Cayce, and check out one of Sarah’s works of art that she had created for them. It was a representation of their house on St. Patrick’s Day. There we received a wristband that would allow us access to Mark and Cayce’s house during the parade.
Me and Sarah’s artwork
As we walked North toward the Savannah River, my feet bleeding all the way, Chris pointed out the Unitarian Church on Oglethorpe Square. It was here that James Pierpont, composer of the incredibly complex noel “Jingle Bells” was once musical director. Chris noticed a barge going by on the river so we headed that way, stopping at the world famous Leopold’s Ice Cream, home of the stars and Tutti-Frutti, now owned by Hollywood mogul Stratton Leopold. Chris and I each had the peanut butter chippy. I went for the double scoop, which my feet strategized would take longer to eat.
The peanut butter chippy experience
Chris does his ‘Chris-thing’
We finally made it to River Street – where I was in desperate search to find a place that sold green beer. I really wanted to kick off this series of postings with a shot of Chris and I with green beer, but amazingly in this apparent Saint Patrick’s Day capital of the world, we never found any. We meandered around looking for a good flight of stairs where I could pass the ‘falling down’ torch to Chris.
It was more trouble to get to these fenced-off stairs that it actually was to climb them and pose for this photo
As we headed back to our car at Calhoun square, it was nearing 6:00pm. The authorities-that-be were beginning to set up for the parade, blocking off some of the squares. This nearly ruined my shot of me at Chippewa Square (where Ashleigh had posed last time), but I made a game of it by pretending to climb over it in the presence of a law officer, much to the nervous chagrin of my cousin. I also took a photo-op in front of the Mercer Williams house, site of the famous murder portrayed (on the actual location) in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
‘Sneaking into’ the Forrest Gump square
The Mercer house from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
The obligatory ‘face-in-the-cannon’ pose
Chris had wanted to meet up with his friends Krista and Senisa, but they had a guest in from out of town so we didn’t get to have dinner with them as planned. Hungry as hunters, we opted to eat out at Tubby’s Tank House, a seafood restaurant outside of the downtown area. I had the strangest Reuben sandwich ever – made from a chicken breast!
We picked up some beer at the local Kroger after dinner, before heading to the town of Pooler where Chris’ friends Ryan and Becki live. There we met up with Becki, who was busily preparing an Irish breakfast casserole to have before the parade the next morning, and her brother-in-law Shannon. Ryan was in Florida and wouldn’t be back until the next night.
The parade started the next morning at 10am. Becki’s plans were to head out at 4:30am to claim our spot. Chris and Shannon decided we would head out later and try to be there by 7:30. I had no idea what to expect. It was almost midnight by the time Chris got done blowing up his mattress by mouth. You try blowing that hard for that long and you’ll see what I mean.
That’s what she said.
I had another air mattress in the car and its pump probably worked. But once I got started blowing up the other one I was on a mission. I was determined not to let that mattress beat me.
Krista and Sinisa had last minute plans to meat Serbian Sinisa’a Serbian sister who decided to come to town. So all their Serbian Savannah friends decided to have an authentic Serbian dinner for some good ol’ Serbian fun and festivity. So that meant that Brad could not experience the fun times our group had last year at Krista and Sinisa’s house with the exploding fire, drunken Serbian dancing, and Lloyd’s hair catching on fire.
Chris Tangeman
March 30th, 2008
Oh, and unfortunately, the extreme incline of the steps I was falling down was not apparent from the photo. But believe you me that my life was in grave danger throughout the staging of that shot. Don’t worry. I’m okay.
And Brad, you made a common non-ferroequinologist mistake. The Savannah Central #30 is a steam locomotive or an engine, not a train. That’s embarassing.
Chris Tangeman
March 30th, 2008
What is it with your feet and vacations?
Carolyn Gelm
April 4th, 2008