One of the main reasons for attending Helene’s workshop on Saint Simons’ Island last autumn was the chance to spend some time exploring Savannah, Georgia.
It had long been near the top of my list of places I wanted to go to in the US (together with Charleston, which I sadly didn’t get to) and I was so not disappointed.
It was the textures and shadows which struck me – and made me realise how much I crave, and can’t get, old stuff here in Seattle, where not much goes back more than a hundred years.
In Savannah, even the bricks and paving stones have antique stories to tell, history seeps out of the very fabric of the city, and it all made me dreadfully nostalgic for England.
The area round the river, with its general piratical yohoho-ishness reminded me a bit of the Thames.
And it was so lovely to encounter beautiful old churches once again.
We didn’t have much time to explore, but one of my very favourite places was the Paris Market – a gorgeous homewares store with a stunning small café and superb macarons.
I stayed for a night in glamorously sexy Bohemian hotel, which had the tones and textures thing down pat and also featured a gorgeous roof terrace overlooking the river and excellent grits for breakfast.
Savannah, I truly can’t wait to return.
Marisa says
Beautiful pictures Paola! And you’ve really touched on how I feel about living in Seattle. Everything is so very new compared to other parts of the world. As a lover of history and tradition and a sense of time and place – I’ve always been drawn to the old world (you know what an Anglophile I am!) and rued being born in such a young part of the world culturally. So you will entirely understand how I instantly fell madly in love with Charleston the first time I visited and immediately knew I’d live there one day. And now that I’m back, I so miss living there – SO miss it! Hopefully you will also get to visit Charleston one day. While I love Savannah, very, very much – I admit to being biased to Charleston! And if you do visit – it is very interesting to take note of how the two cities are so similar – yet so very different. Savannah is all broad squares and shady streets. And Charleston, having been a walled city, is all crammed together with angled roads and small little alleyways. A planned versus an organic city. I always recommend visiting them together if you can! And again, I loved looking at these pictures – they really take me back to that beautiful, languid part of the country 🙂
Paola says
Yes, I MUST get myself to Charleston soon, and I will be fascinated to see the differences between it and Savannah. I can understand why you miss it so.
Funnily enough I was not expecting the streets and squares of Savannah to be so broad and spacious – I was definitely imagining somewhere more how you describe Charleston to be – but I’ve been told that Savannah is grittier, which I really liked. I definitely want to visit them both together, and SOON.