When we bought our tickets for the Old Town Trolley last week, we elected to purchase a second day pass at a discounted price. We decided to use that today, and hopped on the bus, Gus, at the Visitors Center. Our tour guide, Coleen, is a Georgia Peach, having been born and raised in Savannah. Her wealth of knowledge and her southern accent made for a particularly enjoyable ride! We had planned on getting off at stop #7, but went on for awhile, because it was so perfect to hear her talk! Did you know that six "Ya'll's" can be put together in the same sentence and have it make sense? A wonderful display of Southern Charm!
Coleen is of Irish descent, and we didn't know that Savannah has the country's second largest St Patricks Day celebration after New York City. Many Irish immigrants settled in Savannah, and descendants still have a huge presence here. Coleen told us that St Patrick's Day is the only day of the year that the trolley's don't travel into Savannah due to the immense crowds that swell the town's population from roughly 145,000 to over a million!
One of the interesting things Coleen showed us today that we had missed previously was the smallest house in the city dating from colonial days.
We finally hopped off the trolley near Factors Walk. This row of former cotton warehouses along the Savannah River has been transformed into a shopping paradise. Our first stop was the Savannah Candy Kitchen. This landmark has been featured in a number of television shows and is a huge tourist attraction.
The candy is made in house, including colored rock candy, taffy, and chocolates. This is, after all, the city where most of the movie Forrest Gump was filmed!
I saw the sign, and was hoping that the chocolates were part of the "Father's Day Items", but no luck.
After torturing ourselves in the Candy Kitchen, we trotted down the street to the Cotton Exchange for lunch. Donna and I shared a seafood quesadilla and had a glass of sweet tea and decided that we still had room for dessert!
So back to the Candy Kitchen! A Pecan Gopher for Donna and a traditional Praline took care of our sweet tooth (teeth?)!
Savannah is the fourth busiest shipping port on the east coast. The river is in the process of being dredged to that the largest ship in the world, a recently launched cruise ship, can dock here. At present, most of the port activity is with container ships. The largest container ship docked to date carried 10,000 containers!
Up a set of historic steps got us to the upper or Bay Street side of Factor's Walk. Consider hundreds of workmen running up and down these steps, jostling businessmen and merchants as they go.
The upper side of the row of cotton warehouses is known as Factor's Walk. Accessible from the top of the bluff overlooking the Savannah River, these offices housed the Factor's, or brokers. These factors acted as agents for the growers inland, providing crop buying and selling advice and even buying goods and services for their clients and arranging for shipment to inland locations.
The Cotton Exchange was the center of the cotton shipping industry. Protected by a legendary Griffon, the Exchange was the "bank" for the port.
The upper level offices were accessible only by bridges from Bay Street. The bluff that originally occupied this area of the river was a huge obstacle to the shipping of goods through the port, requiring the use of winches and small boats. When this series of buildings was constructed, a long dock was included so that ships could tie up close to the cargo warehouses.
We couldn't wait any longer, so after about four hours we went back to Hipster Hound to rescue Sasha. She came out running and happy, and immediately fell asleep in the car. She has been asleep most of the evening, so she must have had a great time! Her mood has improved, and she's alert and interested. She has been missing her Pug Bud!
So, all is well. We have exciting plans for tomorrow, so stay tuned!
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