Bucket List :: Savannah

I have an extensive bucket list of places I want to see. I realize the title of my blog is kind of a give away to my love of travel, so it should come as no surprise that I have a list. I have two lists actually, and they are over on Pinterest. The first one is for the places I want to see, and a second for the places I've been. I guess we all have our silly collections, mine just don't tend to be 'things' (unless we're talking about beads) usually they are experiences.

I have been to several of the places on my Blog Header; London (Big Ben), New York (Statue of Liberty), Seattle (Space Needle), Paris (Eiffel Tower), New Delhi India (Gandhi Museum), Hilo Hawaii (King Kamehameha), San Francisco (Transamerica Pyramid and Rodin's The Thinker). Some of you who have seen The Thinker might say, "that's not where that statue is." And you'd be right, and wrong at the same time. Apparently several casts were made, and so this statue actually sits in the courtyard of about 9 museums in the US, and another 8 outside the US. So for me, I saw Rodin's sculpture in San Francisco's Legion of Honor. And while that sounds like a lot of statues, there are almost 50 of Mahatma Gandhi around the world. As for my Shiva, this is a statue that sits on my book shelf that I brought back from a little town in the foothills of the Himalayas. You can read more about it here.

So back to the list. I can now tick off one more place I've been that is on both my bucket list and travel icons for my blog header: Savannah. I read a book years ago called Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which intrigued me enough to make my bucket list of places I wanted to see. On the cover is a popular statue, Bird Girl, in an old cemetery just outside of Savannah called Bonaventure. The statue was originally made in 1936 using an 8-year-old girl as the model, and was meant to be a bird feeder. Four statues were cast from the original, which ended up in four states with one purchased by a family in Savannah who put it in the family plot in Bonaventure. The statue has since been moved to a local museum due to its popularity from the book. I am not one for visiting graveyards, but this one was intriguing. It is on 100 acres with lanes of trees crisscrossing through the cemetery and framing up the statuary. It is a worth the trip for any photographer.

We enjoyed our week in Savannah, and nearby Hilton Head. While there is a lot of history in this little town, we honestly just enjoyed the endless places to walk, or hike around. The streets are tree-lined and full of Spanish moss hanging down. The main park, Forsyth Park, is gorgeous with a cast iron fountain in the center. We met a local man who was out walking his dog who showed us a picture on his phone from 4 weeks ago when they have a quick drop in temp and the fountain completely froze over. They can't turn the water off as the cast iron would crack so the fountain froze with the water looking as though it stopped just shy of bubbling over. We spent one morning down along the old river walk and found a local favorite for pralines called River Street Sweets. I don't think I've ever had one before, and boy are they good.

The neighborhoods are full of Georgian style houses that are gorgeous to check out. And in one little neighborhood we found our favorite restaurant, The Crystal Beer Parlor, which is an old speakeasy. You wouldn't know from the outside that it was a large pub on the inside, but I suppose that was the point. Our second favorite restaurant we found out on Hilton Head called Scott's Fish Market, which had delicious fresh seafood. I think if I tallied the rest of the family The Distillery would come in third.

Savannah seems to have it all. There are also some wonderful beaches. In the city you can head to Tybee Island which is about a 20 minute drive. The beach has a long boardwalk out over the water (which is how I took this picture from this angle). Or for a bit more upscale experience try Hilton Head which is about a 40 minute drive. The sand is soft and there is an abundance of shells for those who love a little shelling. We brought home several bags, so I'm hoping to do a little beading with some of those. Finally, I think my personal favorite was a walk around Pinckney Island just off Hilton Head which is a wildlife refuge. There were marshes in every direction full of tiny mud crabs, local oysters and muscles. But even more amazing were all the birds. I lost count on how many types there were. There was a gorgeous great blue herring just standing there looking at us. Unfortunately (for me) the picture is on my husband's camera, so I'll have to come back later to show you all that one. But I'll leave you with a quick video of bird chatter we heard out on the island. Blogger wouldn't load this one, so just click over to my Facebook page.