We started in Jacksonville; at the zoo! |
Giraffe baby! |
In an aviary |
A newer portion of the zoo; very nicely done! |
I got to feed some birds! |
Gazing at the zoo |
A japanese garden area with a bright green bridge |
Wood storks nest in this tree by the dozens! |
Then we dropped Kathy's art off at a gallery! |
Dropping off with the Orange Park Art Guild |
Next morning, up in Savannah -- these ferns grow anywhere there's a place they can take hold |
City Hall and beautiful sky |
The back of City Hall down on River Street |
Fun!! |
YUM!!! |
Wow! |
An alley down which they used to haul cotton when Cotton was King! |
Kathy going up to the BEST artists shop we've ever seen! |
Tug boat on the river! |
We were fascinated by the river walk; the old stairs, cobblestones, bridges, buildings |
And steep steep stairs!!! |
funny! |
The trees are beyond belief; they are everywhere and luscious with spanish moss! |
Watching the river |
Kathy at the open market |
The Dot -- it runs up and down River Street |
The waving girl at the end of the harbor |
"What IS that" asked Kathy; "I don't know," I replied "but I got a picture of it!" |
This was originally a fort, then became part of the commercial area, now it hold up a park! |
and THIS is the stairway up -- we walked up the street to get up there |
the park on top of that wall; just lovely! |
Statue up there |
And the story of the lamp |
Looking back down those stairs! |
Isn't it just lovely!? |
This park has a lot of memorials -- this is for the Vietnam War |
About the park |
Kathy taking a photo of one of the memorials |
Historical markers were all over the city; very nice for a quick synopsis of what you're looking at |
Factors Walk -- when Cotton was King the cotton was passed beneath these walks and the brokers would grade and buy/sell bales |
Now these warehouses are lovely shops |
With some wonderful antiques |
And pretty darn expensive........but beautiful! |
teacups! |
The view from the shops across the river |
Kathy enjoying the lovely weather and views |
Linen shop |
Antique bottles |
Story of what happened to a statue |
That used to be in front of the cotton exchange |
Lovely! |
The view from our room!! looking across River Street to the river |
Yikes!! Its a cargo ship -- like a city block floating by! |
The view in the other direction |
The view out our window at dinner |
Our dinner --- just beyond wonderful!! |
We took a pedi-cab, which is a bicycle with a seat for two on the back (pause a moment to consider that scene) |
to see this fountain lit up at night! |
The next morning, we're in line to start the garden tour! |
The house we started at; we'll be back later for a tour and tea |
I've taken a lot of photos of the homes and buildings; they were all just so beautiful |
This is the steeple from which the feather falls at the beginning of Forest Gump |
Live oaks and spanish moss |
At the cemetery, where camping soldiers knocked over headstones, they were mounted on the walls |
Colonial-era mausoleums |
They stopped burials in 1853; soldiers from various wars camped here |
The entrance arch |
Savannah has a cathedral! |
Saint Therese |
They finished the cathedral in three years!! |
Stained glass window |
Our first garden -- these are hidden gardens of Savannah, so they're all behind gates |
Crape Myrtle - ancient!! |
Like a jungle, but in a very small lot! |
Nice when walking thru and when viewed from the porch above |
The next garden -- this used to be the girls exercise yard at this school |
The girls bathroom (notice it was outside in the yard) |
The boys exercise yard with visitors and the docent |
A detail of beautiful plants |
Inside the school -- you can picture the children running up and down these stairs |
Old sink at the top of the stairs |
The classroom! |
View from a walkway to the Girls rooms into the girls exercise yard |
The next house |
The skinny downstairs door |
Kathy going into the garden |
This was a tiny garden -- but it had these very tall cypress trees that were wonderful |
The cypress trees were well over the height of the neighbor's house |
A yellow-flowered vine gone wild |
eek! |
We entered many of the gardens thru the alleys; many of the old carriage houses were still in place (as garages) |
Just wonderful ironwork |
Not part of the tour, so no inside views, but beautiful |
A tiny, tiny garden with a lot packed in |
Kathy enjoying the garden seat |
Some homes had not yet been repaired |
There are quite a number of churches -- they were cleaning this one, so we slipped inside while the door was open! |
Stained glass window inside |
This is looking towards the altar; note the balconies |
Stained glass windows in the entry alcove |
The next garden -- vine covered entryway |
Very charming garden |
Kathy with a docent |
The gates around the city, including this garden, were marvelous |
The garden next door - tiny little formal garden |
With a lovely sitting area |
Discussing the garden |
Temple Mickve Israel - Georgia's oldest Jewish congregation |
Stained glass window |
The facing stained glass window |
Above the Synagogue Ark |
The Torahs in the Ark; they had tours and invited us to come forward and take photos (didn't use a flash sorry about the blur) |
Enjoying (Enjoying!!!!) the wonderful parks |
Jim Williams' actual house (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) |
Pretty little niche |
Some of the garden tour participants |
Buddah in the garden |
This one was not on the tour; it was just fabulous |
A peek inside the gates |
Lovely |
A bit contemporary; well done but...... |
The houses nearly all had wonderful and different iron fences |
The next garden; across the street from Forsyth Park |
Side garden |
with a pool in the back |
And a wonderful dinner party setting in the back |
Many views reminded me of Bermuda! |
Kathy enjoying the next garden |
Love the urns! |
The side yard was designed to walk thru and to be looked at from the balcony above |
More urns |
and in the backyard, large pots |
Bottom of a balcony over the sidewalk |
More fences and gates |
All of the rusty looking froufrous are iron! |
Where we had lunch; the Gryphon Tea Room |
An old apothecary |
Mmmmmmmm ham and pea soup, quiche for me, tuna sammich for Kathy, and shared sweet potato fries |
And the view out the window in front of us; wonderful! |
In the next garden; potted succulents |
In the garden |
Water feature with boxwood and wonderful geraniums |
To enter the next garden, we walked up these skinny tall steps |
The owner's view from their front stoop to the church on the square |
Inside her lovely home |
On the back porch; lovely touches (she deals in antiques) |
And the view from the porch down to the garden |
We walked down this spiral staircase! |
More potted succulents |
Cute door to the toolshed |
In the next garden; a great pool overgrown with vines |
A soothing area |
Kathy by the pool |
Looking up or down, the views are really beautiful |
The churchyard next door -- just look at those snapdragons! |
In the next garden, a nice nice little planting |
Enjoying the garden |
Back at the first house, they had docents in each room for a tour; this woman was just lovely and cheerful |
In that room; each window had this amazing cornice |
This was right in the middle of the house in the hallway and created an airflow (before air conditioning) |
Out back, a little music for the tea |
The carriage house at the back of the garden |
And the tea being served (finger sammiches) |
A nice building |
This fabulous store - The Paris Market |
They also had a vintage Child of Prague ($$$) |
One of the 60+ buildings housing the Savannah College of Art and Design |
We walked back down to the River Walk and noted how some of the stones used to build the ramparts had eroded |
Warehouses converted into apartments, businesses, and inns with scary little iron balconies |
Look, another city block is floating by! |
We saw several people start to go into this alley, look at the stairs on the other end, and turn around |
Dessert at a fabulous Italian place; we had dinner there the next night |
The next morning; we took the trolley tour and got off at an incredible 5-star resort |
Their front garden where the statue is |
Inside they had a display of old (really old) hats |
Victorian hat |
Ice skating hat with fur and feathers |
Civil War memorial in Forsythe Park |
This is a fragrance garden for the blind |
Saturday morning and it is, um, locked |
There was an Earth Day festival as well as a Susan G Koman race (see the woman behind Kathy) |
Enjoying a quick lunch (pizza!) in front of the natural food store |
Back at the festival; lots of great hands on displays (rain barrels, recycling) and dozens and dozens of dogs! |
In front of the Forsyth Fountain |
Historic Hall |
The last garden, we didn't get to it yesterday |
Hey, those are the plants mom has, but these are planted outside! |
Looking up |
Nice planter! Mondo grass was used in nearly every garden; very nice! |
View up to their porch |
Across the street, these agaves and the view! |
Could not get enough of the live oaks..... |
One of the squares with an interesting use of plant materials |
Looks like part of a building.... |
Interesting detail |
The Book Lady was a tiny but jam-packed used book store |
Ah, THERE is the square with that round thing! |
Side of a church |
Bride and groom posing for photos outside the cathedral |
Back on the tour bus enjoying the views |
I will not urp I will not urp |
Another bookstore (back at the River Walk) |
the owner admitted she almost runs it like a hobby than a business |
Hat store! |
Don't you love the evening sun on the sides of buildings? |
Like this?? |
We walked through the colonial part of the city; tiny wooden houses |
Nice |
Kathy would have found these more charming at, say, noon rather than when it was just getting dark and creepy |
Ivy gone wild |
These carriages were everywhere and they truly were charming |
Great house |
This house was slated to be torn down in the 1950s and became the first house to be saved and preserved |
A peek in a gate |
Wow! |
And the church across the street |
Another square, another statue |
Shop window |
Loved the light on the steeple against the sky |
The next morning we drove over the Bonaventure Cemetery --- WOW |
It reminded us of the cemetery we visited in Vienna! |
We could have spent hours there |
Most of this style were made with a creamy marble |
Fascinating |
So serene and wonderful |
Everyone was different |
and represented its time period |
This entire plot was covered with old concrete with the flat marble in the middle and just the family name engraved |
Every single view was just wonderful |
Many plots had substantial fences |
And many, many memorial statues |
Nice.... |
Several headstones had military items in bronze |
Bunker style mausoleum |
Almost life size |
With a view to the river |
Amazing |
Beautiful |
Nice |
Hello central casting? I need a scary cemetery plot..... |
I have probably another 30 photos.......... |
Hey, lets not go on 95, lets go backroads and see things like this Fort that, um, doesn't open until later in the day...... |
View of the fort thru the gate |
Kathy reading the sign |
A church nearby |
What an interesting interesting design |
And the story of the church |
The bridge just south of Brunswick Georgia |
You could see for miles around |
Swamps and marshes as far as you can see |
Kathy with koi outside a cute shop in Fernandina Beach, Florida |
This set of two engines pulled up to pass a switch then just as everyone got their cameras ready it backed up into the trainyard |
Lookit all them boats! |
Book signing at a cute bookstore |
The post office in Fernandina Beach |
And back to Kathy's house safe and sound! |