Hey Y'all!
Trip Start
Jul 11, 2011
1
4
Trip End
Jul 22, 2011
Where I stayed
Savannah, Georgia
Sunday, July 17, 2011
The trolley driver guides you through the historic district with fun facts and historic information. My first stop was at Chippewa Square, where Forrest Gump sat on a bench and told us all the story of his life. The feather in the opening credits, falling from the sky, fell from the Independent Presbyterian Church just across from the square. Then I stopped at Madison Square and walked around St. John's Episcopal Church, which I found was not open for viewing because service was still being held.
My next stop was at City Market where I walked to Lady and Sons restaurant to say hi to Paula Deen, but it was fully booked. Lucky for me, I had spotted a Jimmy John's near City Market earlier in the tour and planned to eat there. I know, I know: I'm in the South and I should be trying southern food, but it's Jimmy John's, people! I can't help it!
City Market is great place for shopping and entertainment. There was a live band and plenty of people around. I bought some gelato and headed on my way to the Sorrel-Weed House. This was a house featured on Ghost Hunters where they captured an EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) of Molly, a slave that died in the home.
The Sorrel-Weed House was owned by a wealthy man and his wife. The man was having a long-time affair with a favored slave named Molly. The wife was a frequent party planner and often asked Molly for help with her extravagant gatherings. The wife went out to the carriage house (where Molly had her own apartment), looking for her one day and found both Molly and her husband engaging in a little more than household chores. The wife was furious and humiliated. The party was the next night, but the wife carried on with it as if nothing had happened. Right in the middle of the party, she climbed the stairs to the third story balcony and jumped to her death. Her body landed just outside the back porch. Before the husband could even make arrangements for his deceased wife, somebody broke into the carriage house, attacked, beat and hung poor Molly. The EVP that the TAPS team allegedly captured was Molly saying "Help! Please go away!". They say that the house is haunted by the wife and the carriage house is haunted by Molly.
After my haunting tour at Sorrel-Weed House, I boarded the trolley for the Cathedral of St. John. The church was absolutely stunning inside. I had a hard time getting good shots because of the lighting and the stained glass. I had to make my visit breif because I still wanted to see Colonial Park Cemetery.
The town's oldest cemetery sits right next to the old dueling grounds. Whoever lost the duel, didn't have very far to go, so it was very convenient for the coroner (insert laughter here). During the war, soldiers camped in the cemetery, even breaking into tombs to get out of the cold for the night. It is said that they would just push the bodies out of their way and make their beds up inside. I don't know about you, but I would rather be cold! The young soldiers also broke many of the headstones off to avoid tripping over them or having their horses trip. The ones that they didn't not destroy, they playfully re-carved dates into. Some people's headstones say they died before they were born, lived to be 600 and whatever else they could think of that would look funny. The Daughters of the Revolution came years later and tried to bring the cemetery back to it's original state. They had difficulty locating the correct homes for many of the broken headstones, so they decided to display them along the brick wall in the back of the cemetery, lest they not be forgotten.
I had a truly memorable trip through Savannah's historic district, but I did have a 3.5 hour drive ahead of me, so I called it a day and rode the trolley back to the visitors center. On my way out of town, I took the ginormous bridge (its so tall my ears popped) over the Savannah River and looked back on my day as I drove back into South Carolina.
