3/31/2019

Weekly Update 3/31/2019

Another GHS historical marker was dedicated this week. This time, it was in Midway, GA, which is about an hour’s drive form here. I went to watch the unveiling. The markers reads:

Educator, nurse, and author Susannah “Susie” Baker King Taylor was born into an enslaved Geechee family on the Grest Plantation in Liberty County Georgia. Educated as child in secret schools in Savannah, she escaped slavery in 1862 during the Civil War. In 1863 she married Sgt. Edward King of the first all-black U.S. regiment, the 1^st South Carolina Volunteers / 33^rd U.S. Colored Troops. Moving with his regiment, she served as nurse, laundress, and teacher. After the war, she opened schools for African Americans in Savannah and Midway. In 1874, King moved to Boston, returning to Midway in 1879 to marry Russell Taylor at the Medway Chapel and School located here. In 1902, she published her memoir, Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33^rd United States Colored Troops. Susie King Taylor is buried in Massachusetts.

Three lectures this week: each was interesting, and each was very different. The Victorian Society had a speaker who talked about the collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, with a focus on the art works of art that the Queen and Prince collected themselves. At TLC, a wonderfully informative lecture about Georgia NOT being at the forefront of Women’s Suffrage, and why, was presented by Roger Smith, who was our guide on the New Orleans excursion. And finally, Armstrong University (now part of Georgia Southern) hosted two speakers who have done extensive study of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Jane and I decided to try Bitty and Beau’s coffee shop on our walk downtown on Thursday. This is a chain, and it has recently opened a shop at City market. The intent of the business is to give work to otherwise hard-to-employ adults who have mental or physical limitations. We were very impressed. If you get a chance to see if there’s one in your area, I would encourage you to check it out. And get the latte with toasted coconut flavoring.

Saturday was the Savannah Home and Garden Tour.  Each year, as a huge fundraiser, the city garden club hosts a 4-day weekend and offers very expensive tours to see inside some private homes and gardens in the city, and also a few select historic areas.  BC is included and I (and 3 other guides) had to ride on trolley from downtown, give a little background info on that ride, then give the usual tour at the cemetery.  And there were some Special Guests - a horticulture expert who talked of the plants in the cemetery, Little Gracie's mom who told of her story and why she is still so important in Savannah and BC, and a widow from the 1880s who explained some of the Victorian mourning customs that would have been followed by the families of people buried in BC.  The weather cooperated and it was a lovely day.

After the tours were over, and I needed to just sit and relax, I decided to go see Dumbo. It wasn’t nearly as good as the cartoon movie I enjoyed when I was little (they changed the whole story, but I guess it needed some changes: you can no longer condone bullying or the racial stereotypes of the earlier movie), but Tim Burton’s pink elephants were really good!

3/24/2019

Weekly Update 3/24/2019

BC was pretty interesting this week. Last Saturday, when I was at the desk to hand out maps and answer questions, a horse-drawn hearse arrived. It was part of a funeral service service being held at Greenwich, and the horses were resting outside the Visitor Center as the service was being held. I’ve never seen anything like this!

Also, the azaleas are at their peak. Visitors to Bonaventure who visited instead of going to the St Patrick’s Day parade and enjoying green beer, were treated to amazing pinks of the flowers in the cemetery.

I had my own little piece of azalea heaven, too, in front of the building at MP. The little shrub that I’d planted there years ago is blooming again, and greeted me as I returned from New Orleans.  I miss the forsythia and lilacs of Rochester, but I don't have to wait so long for the azaleas.  

Jane and I went out to Fort Pulaski to see an exhibit of art entitled “Picking Up the Pieces”. More than 600 students from 16 schools throughout Georgia, grades 2 to high school, submitted artwork featuring some of the many challenges faced by Fort Pulaski: war, natural disaster, neglect. Some of the best ones were on display. It was very interesting.

After storing all my St Paddy’s Day stuff back in the closet, I got out all my Easter crap. And I made a new egg tree. I don’t know why I keep thinking that I can do crafts like I used to, because obviously, I can’t. Since many of the crafts I make start with an empty toilet paper rolls, I thought about making the egg tree like that, but it wasn’t very pretty. I soon replaced those with eggs from the Dollar Store.

  

There was an event to celebrate Flannery O’Connor’s birthday on Sunday. It was a lovely day, and the parking is free on Sunday. So, what’s not to like? The museum waived the admission fees, so I was able to tour the childhood home, and many local booksellers set up sales areas in Lafayette Square. There was a parade and they even had cake!

3/17/2019

Weekly Update 3/17/2019

Well, I’m home again, and it feels good. The flights were, well, what they are. I didn’t like them, but there’s not another way to do this. Each time I swear never again, but I know I’ll get my courage up, try to calm down, and get myself where I need to go next time.

Once in New Orleans, I relaxed a bit and recharged my toys. My room is nice - very nice. I went out and walked around a bit on my own. I stopped at a Beignet Cafe – oh my!  I had an iced coffee mocha and very very fresh and warm beignets.   As I was leaving, I slopped chocolate coffee on my blue lace shirt, and I'd already spread powdered sugar everywhere on my lap. I’m not going to fit in well with this crowd of The Landings residents. There were 12 of us altogether on the trip from Savannah, and all very nice. Dinner that night was a planned meal at Brennan’s Restaurant. The meal was followed by a slide show presentation about the history of New Orleans, and some photos of what we would be seeing. I don't think anyone went out for music, but we just went back to the hotel, which was ok with me. I was back in room 221 by 10. 

my room

iced coffee and beignets

After a good sleep, we began with a walking tour in the French Quarter, and lunch at Muriel's which was good, but too much; I needed a nap.  After that we went to the Cabildo Museum Tour - more New Orleans history, in fact, more of the same info.  And we had to rush through it to get to the 1850 House Tour. Following that, we trekked to the Hermann-Grima House Museum.  Now we're talking - historic house museums!  Others on the tour were kind and asked that I join them for dinner and we decided to go to a place not far from the hotel.  Since I generally don't do much, I was tired, and went to bed early.

Jackson Square

a lot of lovely iron work

the group ready to enter the Hermann-Grima House

the parlor of the 1850 House

On Wednesday, we met the bus at the hotel, and drove about 40 minutes to the first plantation we visited - Whitney Plantation. It was terrifically moving, as it focused exclusively on the slavery experience in the South. As we handed in our tickets, we were given a badge with a name and the photo of a statue on it. At the church (antioch - ANTI YOKE), there were many statues of young slaves. We needed to find the one who matched our picture. We also learned the story of that person. They were all born into slavery, but as old people, told stories of what they remembered to be written down in a WPA project. As we listened to the talk, I had the eerie feeling that the "children" were all watching me. The entire plantation, and the story it told, was incredible. And yet, just as during the Slavery in Savannah Tour last week, I did not get a feeling of anger, of trying to instill guilt, of animosity. I felt healing, the quest for understanding, and the gratitude for being able to tell the story. After that, we went to Oak Alley. That was mostly about the rich sugar cane plantation and exhibiting the wealth of the owners, with only a slight nod to their enslaved people. They tried to incorporate the enslaved people’s stories, but after Whitney, it was lame. Then on to the final stop, Laura Plantation. Again, we learned a lot about Creoles and wealth and sugar cane, with a nod to the enslaved people. But this guide (I thought, and maybe she just seemed this way to me) was patronizing toward the enslaved peoples.

me and my "child", Hunton Love

this is his story, toldin the 1930s

the Big House at Whitney Plantation

some of the slave quarters, and sugar cane trams in the background

on the porch at Oak Alley 

Oak Alley plantation

Laura Plantation

We had free time in the evening and I wanted a picture of the gold statue of Joan of Arc that we had hurriedly passed yesterday. As I was walking, I went past another Cafe Beignet, and decided on supper. I got my donuts to go, but there was interesting jazz band, and (I mean, really, it's not a BAR, it's a donut shop, so I didn’t feel too funny about sitting there alone) I got a frozen mango margarita. I listened for a while then, packed up my drink and walked a little further to find the statue. As luck would have it, I passed a Christmas Shop, and as luck would have it, they had a Mardi Gras nutcracker!  I was not far from Jeanne d'Arc, so I took a couple of photos, then headed back toward the hotel. I was offered to join the group for dinner again, but declined, the beignets were filling enough.

Joan of Arc

music at the Cafe Beignet

We didn't meet until 9:30 on Thursday morning. We took a street car to the Garden District and enjoyed an overly long walking tour. You seen one wealthy white man's antebellum Mansion, you seen 'em all and don't need to go on and on. But each really was more impressive than the last. We also wandered through Lafayette Cemetery. I don’t think this is the best one in New Orleans, but it was the only one we got to, and I believe it was typical.We ate at the Commodores Palace, which had the dress code (and I dragged my Clark's with me so I could change). It's historic, it's famous, and the food was really great!

the oldest continually running street car system in the US

each house was more beautiful than the one before

what's not to like about an old cemetery?

not exactly BC

The Commodore's Palace

Then back to the hotel on the street car for a quick refresher. After we had about an hour to freshen up a bit, we met again to walk to the River Boat Cruise. The buffet sucked, but all buffets do. After eating (and 2 whiskey sours), I went up to the top deck to enjoy the views as we paddled away from the city. There was some good Dixieland Jazz to entertain us. After we got back to the dock, a few wanted to go to hear fellow-traveler, Libby's, friend play at the Spotted Cat. I didn’t stay long, but I really enjoyed the music - Johnny Mercer, Ella Fitzgerald, 40s blues.

our riverboat

the Dukes of Dixieland

jazz at the Spotted Cat

Then, Friday was a L-O-N-G day of travel.  I was glad to be able to go to New Orleans, but equally glad to be home again.  

a few more random photos of the travels:

our senior citizens inc. group

with my Doug's Fish Fry bumper sticker

there used to be a statue of Robt E Lee on this pedestal but it was recently removed

we visited just after Mardi Gras, but there were traces of the fun, like all the beads in the trees along the parade routes

one of my souvenirs (the other is additional, unwanted pounds from all the great food)

the New Orleans skyline along the Mississippi River

  

3/10.2019

Weekly Update 3/10/2019

I went to City Hall again on Monday to continue trying to decipher the old hand-written deed records into a data base. I completed the “C” entries of book one. I’m going to go blind. But it is very interesting. Some things I can make a good guess at: land acquisitions for the creation of Daffin Park, sewer lines near 41^st Street where I lived for a few weeks just after moving to Savannah, a few familiar names.

hard at work in the archives office at CH

Since I was getting ready to go to New Orleans, I had a few things I needed to do. I got my first pedi of the season, so now I can wear flipflops for some of the time. And I got my haircut. It was getting a little long, but now it’s too short!

And I got my taxes done. That is an unpleasant job, but there’s no point in putting it off. I knew I would feel better if I didn’t have that facing me when I got home again after a nice vacation. So I sat down and got to it. I used a tax program, and filed electronically. And it appears I’m getting quite a bit back. So, I’ll have to adjust my estimated quarterly payments, but I won’t think about that until later.

DH sponsored a Slavery Walking Tour on Thursday; it was fascinating, and the story tellers did a wonderful job. I don’t know if I learned a whole lot, as I knew most of the history behind the urban slavery in Savannah, but the tour was told in stories and even a few songs.

beginning the tour at River Street

The weekly tours at DH FINALLY were full this week. I find it frustrating to have only one or two people on a tour, especially if they do not seem that interested. And it’s even worse if no one shows up at all and I have to twiddle my thumbs for an hour. But this week, all my tours were full of tourists who asked great questions and were genuinely interested in the information I gave them. It makes a huge difference. Tourist season is upon us, so this should continue for the coming weeks.

At The 90, after DH this week, a friend of Sarah Davenport’s stopped in to have a glass of wine with us. How cool was that? (Jan is a costumed performer for the Tea With Mrs. Davenport special program that is held in March, and she came by in after the show).

I went to the wonderful Lucas Theater to see Savannah Christian School’s production of Newsies. There were over 60 students of all ages who were involved in the show, and it was very good. And, yes, I broke protocol and took a photo during the curtain call. It seems as if everyone else was taking pictures all through the musical, which is distracting, to say the least. There’s a reason this is not allowed.

  

Saturday I was up early again to go to a Lunch Bunch breakfast at an Irish Pub in Richmond Hill. It was an interesting place, and they serve full Irish breakfast, but baked beans and blood pudding are not my favorites; I opted for a nice omelet. And I tried to dress for the occasion.

some of the Irish memebers of the Lunch Bunch

I’m leaving tomorrow for a trip to NOLA. I should have a few interesting pictures for next week’s blog.