Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Savannah, Bobanah
6/3/07-6/6/07 Savannah Trip
Two weeks ago (5/25-27), I had just returned from the East Coast, and hadn't yet recovered from the long flights, one of which was a red-eye. Now I was flying out to the East Coast again, this time, for a conference in Savannah, a town famed for its "Southern charm and hospitality."
As part of my trip preparation, M checked out a book by John Berendt and a movie based on that book. That book is called "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," later I learned that this is also referred to by the locals as "the Book." The book was based on a real story that took place in Savannah; and the movie came out in 1997. Clint Eastwood was the director. It has a strong cast with Kevin Spacy, John Cusack and Jude Law. Jude Law was still a young boy in that movie. It wasn't an earth-shattering movie, but I can see why it is being touted as "the Book" in Savannah.
The movie did give me a good sliver of what Savannah is like. Some scenes were shot in the famous Forsyth Park. The architecture - distinctive brown stone and red brick houses - added extra allure to the movie.
To allow myself some time to walk around this city, I flew in on a red-eye via Atlanta and arrived at the Savannah-Hilton Head Airport around 10:30am. Dark clouds were hanging low above tree line. It was muggy, yet not too hot. A lady taxi driver picked me up. I tried to strike up a conversation with her, but my first attempt in getting a taste of "Southern hospitality" met with a shield of ice - she was more into her super-sized Coke and pungent cigarette hanging off the corner of her mouth than me, an out-of-towner. Worse than that, she charged me an extra $4 for calling in to charge my credit card.
I was anxious to check in at the Hyatt Regency Hotel so that I could take a nap. Again, neither "southern hospitality," nor Hyatt standards were given. My room was not ready, and I had to camp out on a couch in the lobby...Called SK, my colleague who came here ahead of me.
We did a loop around the historic district looking for a place to have lunch and taking in some city sights and sounds. It's Sunday. People seemed to have all disappeared into churches. The sun came out dancing through leaves and Cathedral spires. The Spanish moss hanging low off trees reminded me that I was not in the Pacific Northwest. We walked past many monuments and squares, pausing to take photos. Soon, we had an impressive collection of monuments. They look so distant and somber. It makes me feel this city is still living in the past and actually cashing in on its past by bringing tourists to its historical landmarks.
The architecture in the historic district, as promised in guidebooks and movies, is outstanding. Newly renovated old buildings, block after block, evoke a sense of a lost era, with style and quality; even some dilapidated houses still carry time-honored charm and grace.
Forsyth Park, the signature park of Savannah, stretches out grand and quietly in front of us. Several tourists were taking their best of shots of the Park Fountain from every possible angle. The park was quite empty. We hoped to run into a good restaurant. But "Closed" signs were everywhere. After asking around, we finally walked back towards an area closer to our hotel and ate at a cafe. It turned out to be a good choice - pleasant food and sweet tea! The sweat tea is basically sweetened lemon tea, and has become a local specialty very popular among tourists too. We ordered sweet tea for every meal we had there.
On the way back to the hotel passing through the City Market, it seemed that most of the people, local or tourists, had come here. There were people everywhere in a stretch of about 2-3 blocks, there was music, stores crammed with artifacts etc. It's a bit like Seattle's Pike Place Market without fish and fresh produce.
Another attraction is Riverfront Street. It is lined with restaurants, candy shops, ice cream parlors and souvenir shops. Very touristy! Imagine in the 18th and 19th century, this street was basically a row of warehouses waiting to send cotton to domestic and overseas markets! We walked up and down the Street a couple times and realized that the city, or rather the historic district, is really small.
Monday and Tuesday were spent mostly indoors at the World Trade Conference Center. The Belles Water taxi took us to the other side of the river for the Conference. Wednesday was spent on the road getting from Savannah to Seattle via Cincinnati.
The "southern hospitality" might be just an urban legend or Tourism Bureau's campaign message. But Riverfront Street, the multiple squares and monuments, the City Market and Forsyth Park, beautiful architecture and chunks of Spanish moss swinging in the breeze are all real and unique to Savannah, a Southern jewel.
Two weeks ago (5/25-27), I had just returned from the East Coast, and hadn't yet recovered from the long flights, one of which was a red-eye. Now I was flying out to the East Coast again, this time, for a conference in Savannah, a town famed for its "Southern charm and hospitality."
As part of my trip preparation, M checked out a book by John Berendt and a movie based on that book. That book is called "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," later I learned that this is also referred to by the locals as "the Book." The book was based on a real story that took place in Savannah; and the movie came out in 1997. Clint Eastwood was the director. It has a strong cast with Kevin Spacy, John Cusack and Jude Law. Jude Law was still a young boy in that movie. It wasn't an earth-shattering movie, but I can see why it is being touted as "the Book" in Savannah.
The movie did give me a good sliver of what Savannah is like. Some scenes were shot in the famous Forsyth Park. The architecture - distinctive brown stone and red brick houses - added extra allure to the movie.
To allow myself some time to walk around this city, I flew in on a red-eye via Atlanta and arrived at the Savannah-Hilton Head Airport around 10:30am. Dark clouds were hanging low above tree line. It was muggy, yet not too hot. A lady taxi driver picked me up. I tried to strike up a conversation with her, but my first attempt in getting a taste of "Southern hospitality" met with a shield of ice - she was more into her super-sized Coke and pungent cigarette hanging off the corner of her mouth than me, an out-of-towner. Worse than that, she charged me an extra $4 for calling in to charge my credit card.
I was anxious to check in at the Hyatt Regency Hotel so that I could take a nap. Again, neither "southern hospitality," nor Hyatt standards were given. My room was not ready, and I had to camp out on a couch in the lobby...Called SK, my colleague who came here ahead of me.
We did a loop around the historic district looking for a place to have lunch and taking in some city sights and sounds. It's Sunday. People seemed to have all disappeared into churches. The sun came out dancing through leaves and Cathedral spires. The Spanish moss hanging low off trees reminded me that I was not in the Pacific Northwest. We walked past many monuments and squares, pausing to take photos. Soon, we had an impressive collection of monuments. They look so distant and somber. It makes me feel this city is still living in the past and actually cashing in on its past by bringing tourists to its historical landmarks.
The architecture in the historic district, as promised in guidebooks and movies, is outstanding. Newly renovated old buildings, block after block, evoke a sense of a lost era, with style and quality; even some dilapidated houses still carry time-honored charm and grace.
Forsyth Park, the signature park of Savannah, stretches out grand and quietly in front of us. Several tourists were taking their best of shots of the Park Fountain from every possible angle. The park was quite empty. We hoped to run into a good restaurant. But "Closed" signs were everywhere. After asking around, we finally walked back towards an area closer to our hotel and ate at a cafe. It turned out to be a good choice - pleasant food and sweet tea! The sweat tea is basically sweetened lemon tea, and has become a local specialty very popular among tourists too. We ordered sweet tea for every meal we had there.
On the way back to the hotel passing through the City Market, it seemed that most of the people, local or tourists, had come here. There were people everywhere in a stretch of about 2-3 blocks, there was music, stores crammed with artifacts etc. It's a bit like Seattle's Pike Place Market without fish and fresh produce.
Another attraction is Riverfront Street. It is lined with restaurants, candy shops, ice cream parlors and souvenir shops. Very touristy! Imagine in the 18th and 19th century, this street was basically a row of warehouses waiting to send cotton to domestic and overseas markets! We walked up and down the Street a couple times and realized that the city, or rather the historic district, is really small.
Monday and Tuesday were spent mostly indoors at the World Trade Conference Center. The Belles Water taxi took us to the other side of the river for the Conference. Wednesday was spent on the road getting from Savannah to Seattle via Cincinnati.
The "southern hospitality" might be just an urban legend or Tourism Bureau's campaign message. But Riverfront Street, the multiple squares and monuments, the City Market and Forsyth Park, beautiful architecture and chunks of Spanish moss swinging in the breeze are all real and unique to Savannah, a Southern jewel.
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