savannah, the beautiful.

one of the most amazing things about savannah, georgia is the gorgeousness all around:  blakey's new favorite spanish moss, the well kept old southern architecture, & the history behind so much of the historic downtown.

on our first day in savannah, we took a bus tour around the city to see as much as we could & learn as much as we could in a short afternoon.  not only was it a great way to get a lay out of the land, our driver was quite the story teller!

{old live oaks with spanish moss are everywhere!}

there is tons of {actually interesting} history in savannah, starting with general ogelthorpe landing in 1733 & establishing the 13th & final American colony.  savannah is laid out in grids with many beautiful public squares, originally for town meetings & business.  

then fast forward to the civil war...  the river at the north end of savannah suffered from sea blockades.  luckily, since savannah was so gorgeous, the union didn't completely destroy it upon capture.  & now there are fabulous buildings that were saved and restored.

{more than you wanted to know.  but i bet my dad loved it.  &, dad, you can read more here :)}

 {blakey & washington's guns}

{john wesley & me.  

big john wesley influence here, which i loved.}

{trinity methodist church}

one of our favorite parts of savannah is forsyth park.  it is the biggest of the squares {huge, really} & is absolutely lovely.  when it finally warmed up, the park became a fun meeting place for soccer games & picnics & dog walks & family strolls.  marvelous!

{the beautiful fountain in the center of the park}

 {more gorgeous, old live oaks + spanish moss}

 {a big amphitheater for concerts in the park}

across from forsyth is georgia's oldest hospital: warren a. candler hospital, founded in 1803.  it is no longer a hospital...& thus is a little creepy in a beautiful way.

& in front of the old hospital is a GIGANTIC live oak, called the candler oak.  it is estimated to be 270 years old!  the circumfrence is 16 feet & it is 50 feet tall!

the savannah college of arts & design {lovingly referred to as "SCAD"} has a big presence in historic downtown savannah.  the college has grown so big that it has been able to buy a ton of older buildings & beautifully renovated them.  what a fun spin on the city.

one morning after a lovely breakfast, blakey & i walked around just looking at houses.  we love southern houses!  & hopefully will get to build a beautiful southern home some day with a wrap around porch.  ahhh...  some of our favorites:

& this is the mercer house.  remember "midnight in the garden of good & evil"?  yep, this is the house.  super creepy!

st john the baptist church is beautiful.  i had no idea there were cathedrals that looked like this in america!

{the breathtaking scene when you first walk in the sanctuary}

{a HUGE stained glass window}

did you know forest gump was filmed in savannah?  well, not the whole thing, but the bench that forest sits on for the most of the movie was in savannah.  at chippewa square.  the bench is now in a museum somewhere {apparently people kept trying to steal it}.  but after looking at tons of pictures, we discovered that this is the exact spot.  neat stuff.

more about savannah upcoming!  {crazy there is more, right?}

love love,

kjp.