11/8/2015

Weekly Update 11/8/2015

These are actually photos I took on some of my walks at the Y last week, but I had so many other stories and pictures then, I saved these. The Y has a preschool, and I've had to share my path with a hay wagon on a few occasions. The kids are so cute - they all wave. I've never seen a mushroom quite like this - colorful and pretty. And during the Saturday morning soccer games, a wayward soccer ball or two gets sent flying into the pond. A staff member has to man a canoe for retrieval.

Monday this week I met Lisa at Foxy Loxy for coffee in the morning. We're both trying to get back into a walking routine, so she walked to this coffee house near the main library, while I drove in from Whitemarsh Island. Then we went to her house where we left the car and took a walk of about an hour around downtown. We needed to go to the events box office to purchase tickets for the Christmas Cabaret that several of us want to go to in December, so we did that. I had time for a little rest before going to library book club. I was pleased because there seemed to be more than the usual number of people (I can't say women, because Vic, our token man, is a regular) to talk about The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. I'd read it quite a while ago, and didn't remember much of it until they began the discussion. 

 

On Wednesday, I went back downtown - twice. The series on historic Savannah churches visited Independent Presbyterian Church this week. I thought I had never been inside it, but once I had my memory jogged a little, I realized I have been there maybe two times - once when I attended a service when I first moved to Savannah, and once when I attended the Anglican Compline. IPC was organized in 1755, and this is the third building for the congregation, erected in 1891 after other buildings were destroyed by a hurricane and a fire. It is notable because it is a fine example of American Church Architecture style. Ellen and Woodrow Wilson were married in the parsonage of the church in 1885 while her grandfather was the minister here. 

Independent Presbyterian Church, famous for the "feather" scene in Forrest Gump

the inside is very plain, to allow  worshipers to focus on the message, not the surroundings

 

I had planned to attend a free concert at the Ships of the Sea Museum that was to kick off the Savannah Music Fest. That museum is on MLK Blvd, on the edge of the historic district near Yamacraw, which is not a very good area. I got there more than 30 minutes ahead of time, and the parking lot was full. With the increased gun violence in Savannah, I wasn't about to leave my car on a side street, and then walk to the museum since it was dark when I got there and it would darker when the concert ended. So I just went back home without hearing the music. It's too bad that the city is going lose the support of people like me because of fear. I have not been afraid in the past, and don't really think too much of it. But there's been some very bad incidents lately, and it's spreading to the non-drug and gang parts of town. The politicians here will have to find a way to stop this, or the tourists will find safer places to visit, and old people like me will remain in the their gated community rather than venture out for an evening. 

 

Thursday evening was the Bonaventure Historical Society annual meeting. It has been held at Johnny Harris, a famous eatery here, for the past few years. They really know their fried chicken and mac and cheese! The speaker was a map-maker, Michael Karpovage. He has created a lovely, almost 3-D map of Bonaventure that will be available for sale at the Visitor Center, and he was at this meeting to promote the map. He has also done maps for other cities and areas of interest. So, imagine my surprise when his power point presentation showed a map of the Seneca Army Depot and the City of Waterloo, NY! How familiar! I talked to him after the meeting, and (since I was wearing my Buffalo Bills shirt - go figure) we talked about the Bills and the Sabres. I asked if he had added picture of the white albino deer in the Seneca Depot, and he knew exactly what I was talking about! And they are on the map! He is originally from Buffalo, but now lives in the South. Small World.

Friday was a busy, but interesting day. It began with a DH “field trip” and walking tour of the neighborhood around Columbia Square. We went inside the house directly across Habersahm St, which is for sale (it's lovely, and has a lap pool in the very private back yard and an income producing apartment in the basement for anyone who's looking to purchase an old home with modern updates in the historic district and has $1,000,000 to spend). Then we went to anew museum that has recently open, the Webb Military Museum. It is small, but has many uniforms and interesting personal items from the Revolutionary war through current times. Next, we went to a woodworking shop that specializes in restoring antiques and creating unique pieces of furniture. But, finally, we went to the Berrien House! The Berrien House is one block from DH, and has been dilapidated since I've moved here. About a year ago, a descendant of the Berrien family purchased the building and it's undergoing extensive remodeling and restoration. The outside looks totally different, and is nearly complete, but the inside is still in chaos. I've wanted to go in just to be nosy and see what going on, so this was my chance. The person who is doing the research and renovations was there to answer questions. The street level will be retail, and ther will be living quarters on the other floors. It was wonderful!

July 2013

November 2015

 

Then I did my usual DH Friday afternoon tours. Since this was the weekend of the rock and roll marathon in Savannah, we had a lot of visitors, and the tours were full. Since Donna is still in Maine, I skipped The 90 again. Instead, I went out to a church on Wilmington Island that presents a play once a year. A friend of mine, Sylvia's husband Charles, has often had a part in the production and another friend from book club used to be the director of the presentations and she is still involved but in a lesser role. The play was George Washington Slept Here by Moss Hart and George S Kaufman. It was very funny, and Charles was outstanding!

Charles, aka Uncle Stanley

 

 

Saturday, I was out and about for a short time in the day. I had the top down on the car as I ran my errands, and then left it down in the condo parking lot until time to go downtown in the late afternoon again. You know where this is going, don't you? It began to rain, so once again, I got a free inside car cleaning job. It wasn't too bad as I noticed just after the rain started, and I was able to secure the roof before it got very wet. I went to a low country boil dinner that was the kick off of the Savannah Food and Wine Fest. Donna had a ticket, but since she has been out of town, she gave it to me. Helen and I went together. I had hoped to take the ferry across the river to the convention Center where the dinner was, but it was raining, so we drove and parked there. The rain let up before we ate, which was a good thing since we were seated outside on the lawn. The tables and chairs were pretty wet, but it was a nice relief from the terribly muggy weather we’ve had lately.

Sunday, the weather changed dramatically. The temps fell, the sun exited, it was yucky. And, instead of spending a wonderful Sunday afternoon at Coach's watching the Bills beat the Dolphins, I was giving a tour in the cold and rain at BC. So, you know what kind of mood I was in when I had to go to the barbeque at the MP clubhouse when I got home again. Some wonderful people here keep on trying to create a feeling of community and they set up a picnic for this evening. Originally, it was to include swimming in the pool and grilling on the patio, but with the rain and cold, the swimming was canceled. The grill was fired up and we had some good eats. But the best thing about this gathering was that so many showed up, and that it was an interesting, diverse, friendly group. It really was nice. My only complaint was that I got there too late and someone else had already turned the tv to the soccer game. No one watched, and I wouldn't have watched the football either, because we were all too busy talking and getting to each other better.