MoonPie & Moon River
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008We took at little trip to Savannah this weekend … because you know with the gas shortage here and all, road trips are a good idea.
We arrived at the Thunderbird Inn late Friday night and upon check-in we were presented with a nice little welcome gift of MoonPies. I guess they were out of RC Colas.
The Thunderbird Inn is a newly remodeled classic roadside motel built in 1964 and is located in the historic district within walking distance to River Street and City Market. So Saturday morning we set out on foot to explore the city [read: find a Starbucks].
Peggy, Stephanie and Cynthia
We went in a few stores and galleries and came upon Paula Deen’s The Lady & Sons where a ridiculously long line was forming even though it wasn’t quite 11 am.
The Lady & Sons
When we got hungry we set out to find Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House. Uncle Bubba is Paula Deen’s brother and his restaurant is where “Paula’s Party” is filmed. We sat out back on a deck overlooking a marsh and listened to some Jimmy-Buffet-sounding-barefoot-guy play a guitar and sing. Uncle Bubba was there and signed a cookbook that Stephanie and Cynthia bought, but I didn’t see him.
Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House
At this point you’re probably thinking that I am obsessed with Paula Deen, but you would be mistaken. It’s just hard to go anywhere in Savannah without seeing her mug on a cookbook, jar or bottle. At least I’m not putting a “Y’all” in front of every sentence.
After lunch we headed out to Bonaventure Cemetery where we saw the burial plot of Johnny Mercer, one of the most popular lyricists of the 20th century who wrote songs such as “Moon River”, “Jeepers Creepers”, “Fools Rush In”, and “Hooray for Hollywood”. I could list more but you probably don’t care and that’s okay.
Johnny Mercer’s Grave
By the time we got back to the hotel it was getting late and almost time for our ghost tour. Our guide, Nathan, picked us up in a hearse that has seen 15 years of service. And I’m talking about 15 years of real service … not hauling tourists around.
Cynthia, Nathan, Stephanie and Peggy
If you only do one tour while in Savannah, make sure this is it. It was really fun and Nathan is an excellent guide. He took us all around Savannah and pointed out sites such as The Pirates House; The Mercer-Williams House (the scene of the shooting death of Jim Williams’ assistant, Danny Hansford, as retold in the 1994 John Berendt novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.); entrances to the underground tunnels that are said to house thousands of bodies; lots of haunted houses and several cemeteries. Unfortunately, due to the fact that it’s hard to take photos from a moving hearse and it was pretty dark, I don’t have any visuals for you.
