Savannah; A Christmas Present to Abraham Lincoln

Oh, I don't know how could fully describe the wonderful enchantment of Savannah, Georgia. It's a beautiful city, full of history and charm. When walking through the streets, time didn't matter. Even after walking 20 blocks, I felt like I couldn't get enough of the city. I think I could have spent a whole month there if my pocket book was a little bigger, if you know what I mean. The city's design is wonderful. Every few blocks there is a park square with 150+year old oak trees coated with Spanish Moss, velvety green grass and intricately designed historical monuments/statues reminding you how Georgia got it's roots. Surrounding the park squares are buildings and homes that are either built in the Georgian era, or Victorian era. The city of Savannah has tried it's hardest not to turn into a "tourist theme park." It is actually very hard to find souvenir shops, you really have to look really hard if you want to buy any Savannah souvenirs. I think it really makes the city feel like a real city when there aren't souvenir shops on every corner. I tried to soak in every moment as Alex and I strolled down the streets.

Savannah's park squares

Many of the sidewalks are made of brick; Spring time is in the air; Beautiful Wisteria flowers on an old Victorian home

Savannah was the first city founded in the Colony of Georgia. In my last blog I talked about Colonal Oglethorpe, well, he was the founder of Georgia. He had many dreams and inspirations for the Colony, but due to the distraction of war with Spain, opposition from settlers, and opinions from the northern settlers in Charleston his dreams were never fully carried out. He was very much a humanitarian and a moral liberal of his time. When he was back in England a very close friend of his died from Small Pox while in Debtor's Prison. He was so upset with the system of Debtor's Prison that he petitioned to the King of England to start a colony in the Americas where people who owed a debt could be sent to the new colony and work off their debt rather than rot in prison. It came to be known as Indentured Servitude. The King accepted his petition, but not for humanitarian reasons, but rather for England to have a Colonal and his Regimen settle in a place that would be close to fight the Spanish. Colonal Oglethorpe brought 107 people with him in 1733 to settle in Savannah and the new Colony called Georgia. He was the leader of the Colony and outlawed slavery, prohibited hard liquor(beer and wine was okay), and gave the right to man to defend himself in a court of law without the use of a lawyer. Well, as you know if you read my last blog, just three years later in 1736 he had to go to St. Simon Island to build a fort and fight off the Spanish. After Spain was no longer a threat, Colonal Oglethorpe was asked to step down from his leadership role in Georgia and asked to return to England; that was sometime in the early 1740s. He returned to England and never came back to the Colonies.

A very famous Battle was fought in Savannah during the Revolutionary War. Savannah was overtaken by British soldiers and the battle where the American Rebels tried to take it back was the bloodiest in all of the Revolution.The American Rebels didn't win this one. 800 men from the Rebel side died and only about 50 British soldiers died. It was the first battle that The French allies fought in with the Americans. The landscape of the field where the battle was fought has been recreated to how it might have looked during the time the battle was taken place.

The most recent grave in this graveyard is from the 1850s; the writing on many of the gravestones is no longer legible

Savannah is also a very artsy town. It is home to the largest Art and Design College in the entire country. What is neat about the college is that the campus is not only in one location in Savannah. Back in the 1970s a woman named, Paula Wallace, came to Savannah with her husband and children. They were a pretty well to do family. Her children convinced her to buy up old Victorian and Georgian style homes and buildings all over Savannah and restore them. She then turned all those buildings into places to hold college art classes, which then turned in to the College of Art and Design. Tons of shops all over Savannah sell art and items created by the college students. Walking into one of the shops felt like walking into an online Etsy shop. We even ate lunch at a place that acted as an art studio/restaurant. I loved the vibe of the artsy atmosphere.

So, I guess I should explain my title to this blog, "A Christmas Present to Abraham Lincoln." Back when the American Civil War was going on, the Union Forces took hold of Savannah. Colonal Sherman was so impressed of Savannah's beauty that he decided not to destroy the town and offered it as a Christmas present to the President, Abraham Lincoln. I don't know how much I can express how beautiful Savannah is and I 'm glad Colonal Sherman thought so, too.

When Alex and I got to Savannah, we had no idea that it had the 2nd most largest St. Patrick's day celebration in the World. Number one is New York City. St. Patrick's day is a week long celebration here. They even have a committee dedicated to planning all year long for St. Patrick's day. So, we got to join in some of the festivities in the city. With all the celebrating going on it made me interested in why we even celebrate St. Patrick's day. So, I did some research. Only two letters of St. Patrick remain in existence and they really don't describe a whole lot of his life. He was British/Roman and the first letter describes how he was captured by some Irish and made a slave for six years. He escaped his slavery because he heard a voice telling him to leave and that there was a boat waiting for him. He did in fact find a boat, but they weren't waiting for him. The crew was actually very offended that he was trying to get on the boat without paying. So, he started to walk away and then all the sudden the crew decided they did want him to come on the boat. He sailed back to Britain dedicated his life to serving the Lord and became a pope for Britain. The second letter describes some of his joys and struggles serving as a missionary in Ireland. The rest of his life works is from "word of mouth."  Supposedly he was sent to Ireland because a different pope was too scared to go. The Pagans and Druids in Ireland were really violent and scary. St. Patrick had an advantage because he learned how to speak the language of the common Irish during his time in slavery. He went to Ireland and was very popular. He played a major role in eradicating Druidism and Paganism. He often used the Shamrock to describe the Holy Trinity to the Irish. He was known to perform miracles and they think he died on March 17th. So, when we celebrate St. Patrick's day we are celebrating his life. He seemed like he was a pretty legit missionary, if you ask me.

The rules are very loose during St. Patrick's day celebration