Restaurants

Day Four
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Day Four

It’s really beyond the scope of this travelogue to get into Savannah’s history. There is just so much of it and so many major players. I didn’t come for any of that; I just wanted to view the squares, see what Spanish moss is all about, tour the Mercer-Williams house, and take a ghost tour. Rather unusual for me, actually. I only scheduled one full day in the city, and that turned out to be plenty. My day in Savannah was lovely and fun, but I felt off, restless, and uneasy. I didn’t fully comprehend why until the next day.

Since I hadn’t come to Savannah to view a million sights, I knew I would have a more leisurely day than I normally do when traveling. I started off with breakfast at a Denny’s (something I always say I’ll never do again), then I ‘caught a CAT’ (Chatham Area Tranist), a bus, which costs 1$. The bus took me right from my hotel to the steps of the visitor’s centre on Martin Luther King Boulevard. Very convenient!

I’m a huge Forrest Gump fan (movie, not the book!), so please allow me the indulgence of this photo:

My very own Savannah bus stop bench! I even passed Henry Street, which is the street Forrest wanted to get to in the movie.

At the visitor’s centre, I picked up some info on ghost tours, then toured the history of Savannah museum. It had an interesting hodgepodge of exhibits… including one of the benches used in the filming of the Forrest Gump movie, and Forrest’s suitcase (or a copy thereof).

Next, I took a trolley tour of the city. We stopped in front of Chippewa Square, where I would return to snap these pics:

This is where all the Forrest Gump bus bench scenes were filmed. 🙂 Okay, okay, enough Forrest Gump!

I really enjoyed the trolley tour. I picked Oglethorpe Tours because, well, they were the cheapest at 10$ (plus a 5$ tip to our fantastic guide). I liked that they offered a 90 minute tour of the city, and then a jump on and off service that was really more of a shuttle system. You could wait at designated stations with your yellow sticker prominently displayed and a mini-van would pull up and take you to a location of your choice. Downtown is very small, so I only prevailed myself of this service later in the day, when I was getting to be a bit footsore. Very good service and excellent tour!

After the tour, I had lunch…

(EDITED TO ADD: Oh my. I had shrimp at Clary’s Cafe, never realising that this was the cafe prominently feature in both The Book and The Movie! I’m rewatching The Movie right now and can’t believe I didn’t get a sense of déjà vu when I entered the restaurant!)

then went to visit the Mercer-Williams House, featured in the book and movie ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’:

I found the entrance cost of 13$ expensive since we only saw the gardens and some of the first floor, but it was still worth it to stand in the spot where Danny Hansford was killed/murdered and to view the gorgeous sunken garden. The hall that runs the whole length of the first floor is roughly 12 feet by 60 feet… the exact dimensions of my old house. The Mercer-Williams house is huge! This house has a troubled history, but it sure is gorgeous. I was surprised to learn that Jim Williams sister lives there full-time. When I went by the next night after dark on the ghost tour, it was weird to see lights on all over the house, including in the rooms where the tour is held.

Next, I went to the Ships of the Sea museum. Entrance was 8$, but the old codger at the cash decided that this young lass deserved a break and sold me a student ticket for 6$. Awww, how sweet! There really wasn’t that much to the museum, but I really liked it. It featured models of ships that are relevant to the history of Savannah (plus a fantastic one of Titanic which isn’t relevant, but was really impressive). The museum would appeal to anyone who likes maritime history, models, and ships. I qualify for all three. The museum is housed in an old home which has a stunning garden with high hedged walls.

I was tired and a wee bit footsore by this point, so I took the shuttle to River Street, a cobblestone one-way thoroughfare right by the Savannah River’s edge. It is accessible by very steep staircases or equally steep ramps.

There, I took a picture of a typical Savannah sidewalk:

Those white bits are oyster shells.

I enjoyed exploring River Street and even climbed one of its staircases just to say I did. This picture does not convey the steepness of the stairs, nor the height of the risers. My knees were very mad at me by the time I got to the top. This is just a small part of the staircase:

It was very hot out and I was craving iced coffee, so when I saw a tiny stand offering this precious drink, I was happy to stop for a long while and watch the paddleboats go up and down the river. I took video footage of that, but no pictures.

I did snap this picture of a gorgeous bridge that leads to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina:

Before heading off in search of dinner, I snapped a picture of Savannah’s waving girl:

The story goes that she would wave ships in an out every day for about 40 years.

Dinner wound up being too difficult to find so I gave up. My mistake was to seek it in the historic district in the vicinity of where I was supposed to start a ghost tour. I should have eaten at River Street. Oh well, live and learn. The ghost tour wound up being canceled due to inclement weather. I was tired, so I wasn’t too disappointed, figuring I could reschedule for the next night. I bused back to the hotel and ordered pizza!

Alexander Keith Brewery and the Maritime Museum
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Alexander Keith Brewery and the Maritime Museum

Nothing would be open in the morning, so we slept in laaaaaaate, then headed to downtown. There, we signed up for an Alexander Keith’s Brewery tour at 1PM. We killed the time before the tour by walking on the pier a bit.

The tour was probably my favourite part of this trip. It was so much fun and hosted by actors who really bought into their act. The tour included two samples of beer and I was feeling pretty good after a full pint of red and a quarter one of India Pale Ale. 🙂 Hey, at least I was reasonable and didn’t have a full second sample! dueSouth fans will be amused that we were lead into a rousing rendition of Barrette’s Privateers by none other than Ian MacDonald. *snickers* I really like Keith’s, and even more now that I know the history and brewing process!

The following picture is my favourite of the Keith Brewery. If you look closely at the right side of the stone arch, you can see a large nick in it. This nick was caused by hundreds of wagons turning sharply as they entered the courtyard and their axles rubbing against the arch.

This sign at the brewery amused me:


We then ambled down to the Martime Museum where the highlight for me was the Titanic exhibit, followed by the Halifax explosion section. The museum is nice; big enough to contain plenty of treasures and surprises, but small enough to be done in a manageable amount of time. I bought a mug in the giftshop, taking advantage of the fact that I’d finally found a mug in a style and size I’d been looking for for months, and for a price I was willing to pay!

It wasn’t even four when we came out, but it was time for linner since our late breakfast had meant no lunch. We went to Salty’s, which is apparently a must-eat-at Halifax dining establishment. I had an amazing seafood casserole–scallops, haddock, shrimp, and salmon in a basil cream sauce covered with crispy mashed-potato rosettes and a hit of cheese. I’ll work off the calories later this week. 🙂

Another early night.

Been twenty-two years since I travelled this way…
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Been twenty-two years since I travelled this way…

and I made Halifax day last Friday (with all my apologies to Stan Rogers).

I have some strong memories of Nova Scotia from my last trip there as a child, but it had been long enough since I’d been for me to feel it was necessary to revisit the area. Also, my last visit to the Maritimes was to New Brunswick, in 1994; just recently enough to remember things clearly, but long enough to coat the memories with romanticism. Even though my decision to move to Manitoba is firmly taken, I felt an inkling of regret at not giving the Maritimes a chance, too, as I love the ocean.

A friend’s move to Halifax and a subsequent request to come visit provided the perfect opportunity for me to test the waters, pun intended, and see if this ocean lover is really a landlubber at heart.

I’ll spoil the ending now: she is.

FRIDAY

An 8:30AM flight required an early start. Up at 5:30. Yawn. Thank goodness for the programmable coffeemaker!

The bus ride to the airport was very quick; in fact I was so immersed in a book that I almost missed my stop!!!

I’d checked in from home, so I only had to deal with security. There, I had to either surrender my hand cream and toothpaste or check my luggage. I picked the former.

Landing in Halifax is comparably spectacular to landing in San Francisco, only this time you land in a sea of conifers instead of salt water. Apparently, Halifax Airport was built where it is located, in the middle of nowhere, because it was never foggy there. Acres of trees were cut… and the fog rolled in.

First stop after the airport: Pete’s Frootique. Apparently, this store was featured prominently on a CBC noon-hour programme about twenty-years ago. It’s a produce store with a large section devoted to British products. It’s definitely an experience!

Next, we dropped off my luggage at Julie’s. Her apartment is huge and located in a coniferous enclave off the bay. There isn’t much around her place, but downtown is about twenty minutes away.

We then drove to Martinique Beach, which is the nicest in the Halifax area. To do this, we had to cross the MacKay Bridge and then all of Dartmouth. There is a fare both ways. I was amused by the fact that the ‘speed pass’ for the Halifax area is called a ‘MacPass’ as the other bridge is the MacDonald.

Martinique Beach was indeed gorgeous and Noel’s ravages were evident in the amount of seaweed on the beaches and the broken docks.

After a couple of hours, we drove home to change and then headed back downtown for dinner.

Julie took me to The Old Triangle, her favourite pub, which was very nice. My meal was an okay veggie burger and a Keith’s Indian, and we shared a Bailey’s chocolate pie for dessert. Just as we were thinking of leaving, a couple sat down beside us and we began to chat. They were retired Americans from Colorado who had traveled extensively throughout North America and seen a good chunk of the rest of the world. We were regaled with tales of their travels through Alaska and the Canadian Arctic. I really enjoyed making their acquaintance.

Day 2
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Day 2

My feet tell me that I definitely over-extended myself today…. 🙂

Unfortunately, I’m still not used to the whole picture thing, so I have tons of pics (and movies) from my morning, but that’s it. I’ll get them on Flickr… eventually.

Here are the day’s highlights, and only highlights because if I put down everything I saw and did, no one will believe that I actually did and saw all of that. It’s been that sort of day. You try to see San Francisco in only two full free days there!

So…

From Neil’s, conveniently located in Russian Hill, near Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39, I trekked to:

1) the famous Lombard Street, touted as the crookedest in SF. Apparently, the locals know that’s not true, but the real crookedest street is in an unsavoury part of town…. At any rate, the crooked part of Lombard is beautiful, paved with bricks and immaculately landscaped. I have no idea how residents of this part of the street manage to navigate in and out of their driveways. I’m no photographer, but I think this pic is pretty good!
2) Pier 39. There, I used my CityPass to visit the Aquarium of the Bay. I got a stamp on my hand that would have given me in and out privileges for the day, but I saw everything in one visit and didn’t return later for shows. Highlights included a tunnel surrounded by water in which we could see sea stars, leopard sharks, bat rays, skates, big sea bass, and much more. Very cool. I walked through twice. A highlight of this walk was a display where there was an open skate pouch (‘mermaid’s purse’) with a live developing embryo in it. Followed an awesome touch pool where I got to feel leopard sharks, skates, sea cucumbers, sea stars, urchins, etc. I have to say that except for the sharks, I could have been at a similar establishment on the east coast, the species are that similar.

3) After the aquarium, I had time to catch the 10:45 Bay Cruise, also courtesy of my CityPass. When I got on, I thought it was going to be a bit hokey, but no. We got an awesome tour of the bay, going all the way under the Golden Gate Bridge and then circling Alcatraz (which I’ll be visiting on Saturday with Neil). I took some awesome pictures of the bridge from many angles and most of Alcatraz. The weather was beyond cold and I was so glad I’d brought a sweater. One lady had just a tank top and I swear she was turning blue, until a gentleman took pity on her and handed her his jacket. Some people are just silly. A highlight of the tour was seeing the sea lions of Pier 39 who used to be chased away but are now a tourist attraction (as is just about everything in SF!). The narration (by Jules Verne’s character Captain Nemo, believe it or not) was pretty funny and very informative.

Here is the underside of the Golden Gate Bridge (choosing that one because it’s not a view you often see of this bridge!):
and here is Alcatraz (I can’t wait to be able to remove the people in the foreground from all my Alcatraz pics!):

I was surprised by how beautiful and lush the island is. Saturday’s visit can’t come soon enough!

4) It was noon when we got back and I had just one more stop to make at Pier 39. My CityPass had a bonus ticket for the Boudin Bakery, which produces the most famous sourdough in San Francisco using ‘mother dough’ that’s been fed since the 1800’s! This museum was fabulous and really set the history of the bakery into its historical context. The thing I’ll remember the most is the story of how during the earthquake of 1906 the owner of the bakery had just enough time and presence of mind to scoop the starter into a bucket before running to safety as her business burned to the ground. Saving the starter meant that she could restart her business and, essentially, lost nothing. Now bad for some flour and water! The self-guided tour ended at a tasting room where I got an amazing snack of sour dough, ciabatta, and chocolate and raisin breads, with various toppings like marinated parmesan.

5) My traitorous map made it seem like the Exploratorium was close-by, so I decided to hike there next. Let’s just say I arrived an hour later extremely footsore. 🙂 I hadn’t spent any money yet today (!) so I decided to not look for lunch and just ate at the museum before exploring. The Exploratorium is so much fun. For those in Ottawa, just think of what the Science and Tech museum used to be like, and then multiply the fun factor by at least 1,000. Every single exhibit is interactive and teaches you something about a different branch of science. One of the cooler exhibits were a ‘shadow camera.’ I have no idea how it worked, but a flash of bright light would capture our shadows. Really, really cool effect. There were also some developing chicken embryos in the same style as the skate pouch. I spent a full three hours at this museum until I’d had my fill of fun. I’m such a kid. 🙂 A final note regarding the Exploratorium is an hysterical find at the gift shop–an Einstein action figure. Love it! Coming out, I went around a lovely lagoon bordered by ‘palace’ ruins. I’m adding this so I can mention the only moment I regret not thinking to pull out my camera. A family of mallards was swimming close to shore looking for handouts. In the middle of the family, nonchalantly trying to fit in, was a sea gull. I’ve never seen a gull behave like that and I wasn’t the only one to find the sight pretty damn funny!

6) I was completely burnt out by this point, but I had a rogue ticket left in my book for a downtown attraction. The other two were for Golden Gate Park. I wasn’t sure I’d have time to see the downtown one any other day and it was open till 8:45 today. Since it’s something I wouldn’t have paid to see, I decided that a half-assed, ‘been there, done’ that tour would be sufficient. Which it was. You see, I’m not a fan of modern art, as in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (or SFMoMA for cute). Now, there were some things I actually liked and I really enjoyed the Martin Munkasci photograph exhibit, but, otherwise, modern art exasperates me!!! The big going on today was the ‘Matisse as sculptor’ exhibit, but I just breezed through it since I’m not a huge fan of Matisse. At any rate, I did the SFMoMA in 45 minutes flat and I can’t imagine I would have spent more time there had I not been so burnt. I’m embarrassed to admit that the best part of going to the SFMoMA was the LONG bus ride from the Exploratorium. Hey, I can’t like everything!

7) After dinner at a nearby diner I realised that I wasn’t going to be able to walk home, so I hired a cab. Now, that’s exhaustion for you.

My left little toe is currently double its normal size thanks to an impressive blister and my SPF 60 failed me around mid-day, so I’m a tad cooked (but not burned, thankfully) and very footsore. What an amazing day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ll just add that Neil came home with an impressive earthquake survival kit, given to him by Google. Obviously, Google knows something we don’t know, and I’m quite nervous. 🙂