Day 11

Our last day in Savanah, so we started early with baguettes and coffee at the French bakery, "Cafe M"

Leaving the cafe, we drove to the Owens-Thomas House which was built between 1816-1819.  The house includes many architectural firsts for our country, including indoor plumbing.  More information about the house and the architect are displayed in the plaque below.  

The Marquis de LaFayatte, whose assistance in our Revoutionary War was by all accounts very significant stayed here in 1825.  He never approved of slavery, but after witnessing it first hand while staying in Savanah, he said he would never have helped the Americans against the British.

 

View of the back side of the main house.

The floor in the main entrance is actually painted oilskin on top of wooden planks.

The gardens, carriage house and slave quarters.

Slave quarters which accommodated as many as 12 family members at some points.

Our next site was the Tellfair Academy of Arts & Sciences.  Opened in 1885, this building was also designed by the architect William Jay.  It was the first public art museum built in the Southeast.

This statue, "The Bird Girl", was originally located in the Bonaventure Cemetery, and is best know since its photo was on the cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  It was moved to the Telfair Academy museum because too many visitors were creating a disturbance in the cemetery.

A thought provoking painting in two parts depicting changes in the lives of the young girls on the left.

The First African Baptist Church and the oldest only Black congregation in the U.S., it was built solely by it members.  Later used for many civil rights meetings, it was also used in the Underground Railroad to hide runaway slaves.  Holes were drilled in the floorboards of the main floor of the church in order to provide fresh air for those hidden below.

"The Pink House" gets its color as the red brick bled through the stucco.  The oldest mansion in Savanah, originally a private home, it's now a pub.  

The Jepson Center for the Arts; out lunch spot for the day.  

Chicken salad for Joni

Bacon, pesto, and mozzarella panini for me.

We ended our stay in Savanah regrouping with Joy and Paul with whom we went out to dinner at the Crystal Beer Parlor.  Our dinners typical bar food, but very well done and included:  hamburgers, shrimp, and shrimp and grits.