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Savannah, Georgia MUST DO's www.TrustedTours.com |
1.)
See Savannah aboard the Old Town Trolley Tours®
The
best first thing you can do is set aside the first 90 minutes of your visit for
an interesting narrated tour of historic Savannah. From your vantage point
aboard the trolley you’ll see sights you might otherwise miss. You’ll get an
insider’s view of Savannah: the charming, the grand, the refined, the
intriguing, the unusual, the mysterious, the unexplained. You’ll hear tales of
pirates, of the colonial silk experiment, of Civil War romance and tragedies, of
duels and mysterious happenings, of the waving girl and the bird girl, of
secrets, specters and unusual events. You’ll not miss the significant historic
houses and you’ll notice the architectural details. Take the express tour: one
loop around, without getting off. Or, get off and back on again at 17 convenient
stops to explore on your own. You’ll have fun, get informed, get oriented.
2.) Walk the Squares
Take your map, mark your starting point and head out! Savannah’s sensible layout
is easy to follow from square to square and surprises await you around each one.
You’ll be awed by the architecture, charmed by gardens, fountains, magnolias and
live oak, and delighted by all you’ll find to see and do.
3.) See the Houses
The exquisite jewels of Savannah, around every square, down every street. Locals
live and work in them; visitors are drawn by the history they hold. Admire the
private ones behind intricate ironwork fences. Here is what you’ll find at the
ones open as museums:
- Isaiah Davenport House (1820) Federal style, the very American architecture of the time. Interior is elegant, but not overly so, predominantly painted in “federal blue” with slender interior marble columns, black and white marble entrance floor, marble mummy head mantle and furnished in period furniture.
- Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace (1818) is a Girls Scout touchstone. English Regency, in somber in shades of brown and furnished in late 19th century period pieces of the time of her birth, it offers a glimpse into Victorian family life.
- Telfair Mansion (1819) evolved into the Telfair Academy of Arts & Sciences , Savannah’s premier art museum. The magnificent neo-classical, vast and opulent Regency style house with its Octagon room and restored rotunda gallery is filled with 18th and 19th century American and European art.
- Owens- Thomas House (1819), the finest example of English Regency style architecture in the US is resplendent with exquisite interior details: brass inlaid staircase, a bridge spanning the central stairwell and the Greek key patterned amber window.
- Scarborough House (1819) Yet another Regency masterpiece converted to museum. Inside its curved walls and under distinctive cornices, the important 18th and 19th century maritime industry is gloriously exhibited in the Ships of the Seas Museum. Admire the fine scrimshaw collection; walk through the largest garden in the historic district.
- Andrew Low House (1847) Delicate Italianate architecture, filigree-framed in iron balconies, epitomizes pre-civil war Savannah affluence. The interior, with imported mahogany and rosewood furniture, gold fabric and gilded accessories, interior pilasters with capitals carved in lotus and acanthus reflect the wealth and worldliness of its cotton factor owner.
- Green Meldrim Mansion. (1850) Neo-Gothic, architecturally imposing and significant, with furnishings a collection of donated pieces, it was famously General Sherman’s Savannah headquarters.
4.) Find the places mentioned in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
If you’ve read the book, you’ll want to find some of those landmarks. Center
stage of the book, the Mercer-Williams House on Bull Street, is open for
tours. Others, the Oglethorpe Club, the Hamilton-Turner House and Clary’s Café
on Abercorn the Armstrong House on Bull Street, to name a few, are walk bys.
You’ll find the Bird Girl, not at Bonaventure Cemetery, but in the
Telfair Museum of Arts and Sciences.
5.)
Take a Ghost Tour if you dare.
Whether attributable to the paranormal qualities emitted by the sandy soil on
which it sits, the ghosts of those who suffered its tragedies, the souls who are
though to be buried beneath its streets, or the spiritual and cultural mix of
those who have passed through it, Savannah is one of the “Scariest Places on
Earth.” See for yourself on trolley, carriage, walking, or even hearse tours. Be
frightfully entertained aboard the Ghosts & Gravestones® Tours of Savannah
with stops at the Colonial Cemetery and a tour of the spirited Sorrel Weed
House. Venture into parapsychology on the Sixth Sense Savannah Ghost Tour or see
the ghostly side of the city on carriage tour by candlelight.
6.) Climb through the Forts: Old Fort Jackson (1808), the oldest standing brick fort in Georgia; Fort Pulaski (1846) built in the marshes as a state of the art coastal defense system and was occupied by Union forces in 1862. What little remains of Fort Severn (1898), has been incorporated into the charming Tybee Island community, with the exception of one battery open for tours.
7.) See the river town on a Savannah River Cruise, by day, by moonlight; for lunch, dinner, or Sunday brunch. Enjoy a narrated day tour; be entertained on a gospel dinner cruise; participate in a murder mystery dinner cruise. Experience the mysterious marshes on nature tours, the Marsh
8.) Discovery Walks and Beach Discovery Walks from the Marine Science
Center on Tybee Island, whose aquarium showcases local sea life, or take the
once a week 4-hour Savannah National Wildlife Refuge tour through the
fascinating ecosystem of the endless dense grasses.
Trust us, we've been there!
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