7/7/2013

weekly update 7/7/2013

In Savannah, city hall historians offer tours on the first Tuesday of every month. I always forget, but somehow I remembered this month, and set off on Tuesday for the tour. It really was interesting. We were told about the history of city government, the building itself, and given a tour of some of the interesting places inside. The city hall that is in Savannah today was built between 1904-1905 on the site of the old City Exchange, which had housed government agencies as well as other offices. At that time, the port of Savannah was right outside, along River Street. Today the port is upriver, on the far side of the Talmadge Bridge, but in the early 20th century, City Hall would have looked over the busy port. We looked up at the stained glass of the dome, were told about the mosaics and the fountain in the vestibule, and were shown the inside of the council chambers. An interesting fact I learned that I didn't already know is that there are two statues near the facing Bull Street near the top of the building. One statue represents Commerce, and the other Art. Having been built in the early 20th century, it's amazing that they would have picked Art to represent this city, when the Savannah College of Art & Design, which is so important to everything in Savannah today, and wasn't even established until 1978.

looking up the stariway into the dome

council chambers

On Thursday, being the holiday, there were many events planned around the city. I got up very early, turned the DVR on to record the tennis, and headed out to Colonial Park Cemetery for a ceremony honoring Lachlan McIntoch and Button Gwinnett. They were two important colonial citizens in Savannah; McIntosh was a military leader who was the brigadier general in the Continental troops of Georgia, and Gwinnett was a politician who was one of three men who signed the Declaration of Independence from the colony of Georgia. In 1777, McIntosh and Gwinnett fought a duel of honor in Savannah, and McIntosh was injured, but Gwinnett died. At the large monument to Gwinnett in Colonial Park, there were speeches, fife & drum, bagpipes, a costumed soldier telling the story of the duel, and ceremonial wreathes laid at the tomb. It was interesting.

a Revolutionary War soldier telling the story of the Duel between McIntosh & Gwinnett

In the evening on the 4th of July, I wandered over to Donna's condo although she is in Maine. I had thought that I might be able to see the fireworks on River Street from her third story screened in porch, but it didn't work out. I sat there in the dark for a while, with a glass of wine, and then decided I wasn't meant to watch any lights in the sky, and walked on back to my own place.

 

I cut my hair. It was getting pretty long, and I don't mind being about to just tie it back with a clip or in a pony tail, but shampooing was getting tiresome. I finally had enough on Friday, so I took the scissors to it. I meant to only trim a little off the ends, but I got carried away. oh, well, it'll grow back.

 

thursday

friday

 

Saturday afternoon, I was looking for something interesting to do, and I wasn't going to go to the pool on a holiday weekend. So, I went to see The Lone Ranger. naturally, I wanted to see Johnny Depp, but I have to admit, Armie Hammer is not bad! It was actually a re-telling of all the Pirate of the Caribbean movies, only the scenes changed to the wild west.

And, of course, what I did most this week was sit in front of the tv and watch tennis. The good tennis fans in UK waited 77 years to have another Brit win the championship, and Andy Murray did not let them down this year. I also watched a lot of Aerial America, one of my favorite series that's shown on the Smithsonian channel. I've thoroughly enjoyed episodes that I've seen, and on the 4th of July, there was a marathon. Each program is an hour long, and shows one state from the air, while telling of history, geography, architecture, and famous people. On the NY State show, there was quite a bit about Rochester, including George Eastman and Kodak. I'm amazed at how much of America I've seen, thanks mostly to Jan Waggoner, who's allowed to tag along on many trips all over the country.