10/14/2018

Weekly Update 10/14/2018

On Tuesday, I got up at the unheard hour of 6 am to take the wreath that I’d picked up from the florist the day before to the Battle Field Park at the History Museum for the Battle of Savannah Memorial service. I’ve been in other years, but this was the first year I’ve been responsible for the Bonaventure Historical Society wreath. The rain held off long enough for a march along the path that the allied Independent forces took to engage the British in the bloodiest hour of fighting in the entire Revolutionary War. Then, wreaths were placed by civic organizations, a short speech was given, and new stones were dedicated.

One lecture that I had wanted to attend was canceled due to bad weather (it wasn’t that bad, but everyone over reacts to hurricane predictions). I did go to a couple of very interesting ones at TLC. One was on Charles Lamar, who owned the slave ship The Wanderer. There is a connection between that and DH, since Cornelia's Davenport’s husband, General Henry Roots Jackson, was the federal prosecutor who tried that case against his friend Lamar for the illegal shipment of over 400 Africans to Jekyll Island in 1858. Another lecture also has a tie to DH, as it was about the renovation at the Berrien House on Broughton St. I can see that building every Friday from the porch as I finish up my tours, and the wallpaper in the hall at DH is an exact replica of wallpaper found in the Berrien house hallway when restoration began.

And the third lecture that I went to was to find out more information about a planned 5 day trip to New Orleans. The older I get, the more I realize that most of my travel days are behind me. There are places I’ve always wanted to go to (Chicago, Memphis, the maritime provinces in Canada), but I know now that will not happen. New Orleans was also one of those places. When I heard about this travel, I decided to look into it. And I signed up. It won’t be until next March, but I paid my deposit. It will be easier for me to be in a group, with a leader, who will have everything arranged.   

I moved back into the beach room from the blue room, where I’ve been sleeping for the summer months. I’ve turned the a/c off, and opened the windows, so I’m back in the end room, hoping for a cross breeze. I was horrified when I slept there the first night because the sheets were so uncomfortable. That’s where I made Jan sleep when she visited a few weeks ago, and I didn’t know how bad it was. I bought new sheets, but I still feel awful about being a bad hostess. I didn’t want to just toss the sheets in the garbage, so I dragged out the sewing machine. I made a sundress and a pair of pajamas.

Hurricane Michael never hit Savannah. Some beaches in Florida were devastated, but here we only had some high winds and some rain in the night. The temps have fallen, however, and I didn’t get to the pool much this week. I was forced to begin my walking routine again, and I went to the Y twice. I’d rather be in the water.

Friday was opening night of the Yellow Fever program at DH. I volunteered to be in the program this year, and got the coveted role of Lady 2. I have four lines, and I don’t wear a costume. You’d think I couldn’t mess up four little lines, but we’d had few rehearsals; I did ok. We also did it again on Saturday night. The program will be every Friday and Saturday for the month of October. Many locals come to the show, and I knew a few people each night. If I’m not asked to participate next year, I guess I’ll know that I wasn’t that good.

Randy Webb and his sister, Jeannette, visited Savannah on the weekend. I used to work with Randy at City Hall in Rochester. I was busy all day Friday with DH, and they had sites to see on Saturday. We did meet up on Sunday, when they came to Bonaventure to take the tour. The tours were all large, and the weather was just right. After that, we went to the Crystal Beer Parlor, where we met Jeannette’s two adult sons. Rather than have me bore them at the cemetery in the afternoon, they opted to watch the NFL games at Wild Wings. Good choice, but most of the games sucked and I was not unhappy to have missed them.