We arrived in Savannah around 3PM on Saturday afternoon after suffering bad beach traffic the 50 miles between Columbia and when I-26 crosses I-95 where we got onto I-95. We had been told that one of the best ways to see Savannah was by carriage tour, so that was the first thing we set out to do. We drove to downtown and got tickets. The tour covered 25-35 city blocks.
We got to see great buildings and hear a history of Savannah from the tour guide. The carriage is pulled by two horses and the ride is right in the streets with the cars. The guide told us that the horses do about 5-7 tours per day for 90 days, then go out to the country to rest for 30 days before doing it all over again. They respond to verbal commands, so the guide can tell them to stop at lights and stop signs and to stay to a certain side of the road when there are cars.
We got to go by Juliet Gordon Low's house, who is the founder of the Girl Scouts. This was cool for me since I was a Girl Scout for 12 years. Her house was tan with brown shutters and the guide said the colors for Brownies were taken from her house colors. We also passed by the first Girl Scout Meeting Center which they still use for big events today. The Girl Scouts will celebrate their 100th anniversary next year and there will be a celebration in Savannah.
The architecture in Savannah is truly breathtaking. There are no skyscrapers, which is so refreshing and all the buildings constructed before 1955 can not be torn down, so there are many buildings from when Savannah was founded as a buffer colony between Charleston and the Spanish in Florida. There was so much greenery and the tree cover made everything shady and cool. I had heard so many wonderful things about Savannah and was so glad we got to experience it.
Love Savannah! We did a bus tour while there, it was so fun! Tom and i keep saying we'd love to live there and own one of those gorgeous homes on the squares! Looks like you had a really fun trip!
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