Floral Inspiration Trip September 2012
I took a quick trip to Savannah, Georgia, last week, to inspire you. What I found were lots of intriguing stories, people and places. Here’s my summary. . .
Before going, I wanted to get a feel for the city, so I did two things: First, I started reading “The Book”. This is how the people of Savannah refer to John Berendt’s book, “Midnight In the Garden Of Good and Evil”. And, two, I downloaded some podcasts about Savannah’s haunted history, since the city’s known as “America’s most haunted city”, and “City of the Dead”. Apparantly, the reason for this is because the town was built on thousands of graves. My husband and I listened to the podcasts on the ride down.
Once we arrived and got situated in our modest but very clean hotel, we asked the concierge which after dark ghost tour was the best. Mary, the concierge, was a native of Savannah, and she had plenty of ghost stories to tell, herself, which really piqued our interest. Here’s a picture from the tour, where I felt for sure I saw a woman holding a baby. 
Turns out my picture was taken in Wright Park, which has a colorful haunted story involving a woman and a baby. In the light of day, I’m not so convinced, but it sure made it exciting!
From a florist’s perspective, the most enthralling detail about Savannah is its squares (or parks), which are every few blocks. Each park is unique from its sisters, including some had tons of hanging Spanish moss whereas others, very curious, had none.
We walked through one of the infamous cemeteries, Colonial, and it doesn’t compare to Greenville’s downtown cemeteries or Charleston’s. 
However, we did see some crazy colored mushrooms growing there, and we wondered if that had anything to do with the ghost sightings. . .
Much of the Antebellum (pre-civil war) architecture was still intact, because the mayor of Savannah greeted the Union army at the port and 
gave the city up immediately, so the city wouldn’t be burnt to the ground.
Berendt, the author of The Book, mentions that Savannah is considered “the Hostess City”. I found this to be true, in that everyone and anyone would say “hi” or strike up a conversation without a moment’s thought.
The roses made out of palm leaves by Gullah men and women are as fascinating as the story behind them. Supposedly, during the Civil War, the roses were given to soldiers to remind them of home. I suggest buying one right away, so you can tell the next 50 vendors that try to get you to buy one, that you’ve already made your contribution to Savannah.
Unfortunately, the floral shop “Madam Chrysanthamum” was closed when we stopped by, but I peeked in the windows, and found it to be absolutely adorable!
My sweet tooth was satisfied at Lulu’s Chocolate Bar. The lemon and blueberry cake was scrumptious.
I hope my little description here fascinates you enough to visit Savannah for yourself. Once again, though, I couldn’t help but to be reminded how pleased I am that I live in such a gem of a town, myself.
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