Savannah Day 2

Friday the 3rd

The sun came out bright and early this morning and the temperature is headed for the mid 70's. After our normal morning routine we take the dogs for one last walk before heading back into Savannah for some more exploring. By 9:45 AM we're in the car and heading off Tybee Island. With map in hand we got into old town and stopped at the Visitors Center next to the Railroad Museum. We had some questions for the tourism specialist about possible activities. We also wanted to confirm the location of several museums. Once that was taken care of we went back into the historic district where I dropped Tina off at Paula Deen's restaurant, "Lady and Sons" to make lunch reservations. While she got our lunch date settled I drove around the block and picked her up on the first circuit! Pretty good - heheheh. Then we parked down by the City Market to begin our second day of explorations.

Our first stop was at the Telfair Museum of Art , the oldest art museum in the South. The Telfair is an important regional and national resource of the arts, culture, and history. It encompasses two National Historic Landmark buildings, the Telfair Academy and the Owens-Thomas House. Also part of the Telfair complex is the Jepson Center for the Arts. The mansion was built for Alexander Telfair, whose father, Edward Telfair, was governor of Georgia and a Revolutionary War patriot. Mary Telfair, a highly educated and culturally-minded woman, was to be the last of the Telfair line. In her will of 1875 Mary endowed numerous charities and founded the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences which included the original Telfair Mansion designed by English architect William Jay. In 1883 the Telfair mansion was enlarged with the addition of the Sculpture Gallery and Rotunda with the formal opening in 1886.

When we went in the original sitting room and family dining room were on our left off the main entry hall. On our right was the formal ball room. Straight ahead and down a short flight of steps is the marble floored sculpture gallery. Above the sculpture gallery is the Rotunda Gallery where numerous works of art by many noted American artists. The entire mansion is filled with a wide variety of art with Kahlil Gibran the current featured artist. Of Course, after my first two photos in the family area one of the docents let me know that photographs weren't permitted so to see the inside go to the Telfair Academy web site, http://www.telfair.org/ .

From the Telfair Academy we walked to the Jepson Center for the Arts. Built three years ago it is an expansion of the Telfair with almost 65,000 sq ft of space in a beautifully designed building with glass everywhere providing a light and airy feeling. Dedicated primarily to modern art, the Jepson currently features two fascinating exhibits, one by Robert Colescott (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Colescott) who uses bright colors to explore contemporary social and political issues, the other by Elizabeth King (http://sheldonartmuseum.org/slideshows/index.html?pgi=8) who uses wire frame imagery to explore the mind within. We enjoyed all the exhibits at the Jepson but especially the work of Elizabeth King.

From the Jepson we walked along the streets past many of Savannah's city squares which were originally intended as places where the militia could drill. Today the squares function as mini-parks with open spaces, trees, gardens, walkways and public art. Originally there were 24 squares laid out throughout the city with 22 survivors and two being rebuilt. One stop was at the Colonial Park Cemetery, a five block square area with crypts, headstones and mausoleums from the early days of the city. Originally placed outside the city, over time the city expanded to include the cemetery and it was kept as a monument to many of the cities earliest colonists.

Eventually we got to the Owens-Thomas House considered the finest example of English Regency architecture in America and was originally built for cotton merchant and banker Richard Richardson and his wife Francis Bolton. The home passed through several hands with many famous guests, such as Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette who was a guest of the city in 1825. Eventually the home was bequeathed to the Telfair Museum of Art. Today the home is maintained as a representation of how people lived in the 1800's with many original pieces of furniture.

By now it was getting time for us to get back to the Lady and Sons Restaurant for our lunch engagement. So we followed a different pat to get back towards the City Market area. We got there a little early but since we had reservations the staff got us inside and gave us a table. The place is very simple with many small tables in a very casual setting. Tina ordered Chicken Pot Pie while I had the Savannah Meatloaf Sandwich. Both were very good!

While I waited for the check, Tina went next door to the gift shop to see what she could find. Low and behold she was able to get her picture taken with Paula Deen herself!! Pretty Cool!

A quick hop back to the car and we drove uptown to explore Forsythe Fountain and Park, another very large park located in thee city. The fountain, created in 1858 is a large, ornate, two-tiered cast iron fountain surmounted by a classically robed female figure standing in extreme contrapposto, holding a rod. This is an especially beautiful fountain and basin with the gentle spray of water from over 30 different orifices falling into the pool making it very inviting to go wading here on a warm day.

While there I got into a conversation with a gentleman fro the area and we talked about the area for a while then h took our picture. Later I found out he was one of the cities homeless and living at the Bread of Life mission. The park itself is a huge expanse of lawns bordered by gardens and trees. We walked through the park and down to the Mercer House home of singer songwriter Johnny Mercer (Moon River). The house was also the setting for the movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Only the first floor is open to the public as the second floor is still a private residence. It was closed today so we weren't able to go inside but it is definitely a beautiful home.

By now it was nearly 3:30 PM so we called it a day and drove home.

To see all of today's photos, click on the following link:

http:/picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski