And .... another movie.

In "Something to Talk About" (1995), Julia Roberts' character catches her husband (Dennis Quaid) with THE other woman in this restaurant.  In real life, it is called the "Six Pence Pub".

Johnny Mercer - Savannah's favourite son

Johnny Mercer is a favourite of the famous people that is known to Savannah's people.  Here are two of his awards.

The Mercer house previously mentioned?  It was built by Johnny Mercer's grandfather, but he never lived in it.

More from Forrest Gump

And here is the bench that they put in the park for the movie, "Forrest Gump".  This is where Forrest sat, waiting for the bus to take him to Jenny's apartment and he told all the passerby's his story.  The movie showed the traffic in front of it as being a "two-way" street, but it is, in fact, a one way street with the traffic that would go past the bench from left to right.  The bus stops in front of him as it moves from right to left.  There were 4 specially made benches; one of which was returned to Savannah at the Mayor's request.

Church Steeple ..... a movie icon

Have you seen the movie, "Forrest Gump"?   At the beginning,  a feather falls from a church steeple.  Here it is.  It's the steeple off the previously mentioned oldest church, the Independent Presbyterian Church.  I heard it took over 60 attempts to get the feather to fall correctly ... the wind was not co-operating.

The oldest Church in Savannah - of personal interest to LDS members

We attended the Independent Presbeterian Church in Savannah.  It is noteworthy for several reasons.  Firstly, it is the oldest church in Savannah and that it was formed in 1755 as the Presbyterian Church of Savannah for the Scotsmen who landed with James Oglethorpe in 1733.  The land was granted by King George II for a place of worship based on the Doctrines of the Church of Scotland.

It is was of particular note to me because the The noted composer of sacred music, Lowell Mason, was the organist of the Independent Presbyterian Church between 1815 and 1927. While Lowell was the organist, he set to music Bishop Reginald Heber’s hymn, “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains.” It was sung in this church for the first time in 1824.

Lowell Mason’s later well known compositions are “My Faith Looks up to Thee” and “Nearer, My God, to Thee” (1856).  The latter hymn is a favourite of mine.

More on this church to come.

Savannah - Little Hollywood

Savannah has been the background of many movies.  The most iconic one is "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil".  This is the house that was the focus.  It is the story of a murder in the "Mercer House" (at left).  The events were true, the characters were true to Savannah.  The tours point out tons of stuff in relation to this movie.

More movie stuff to come.

Charleston's Grace

The old town of Charleston (on the Harbour) has no high-rise buildings - not even offices.  Because they didn't resist during the Civil War, they were spared much damage.  Some were damaged during the shelling of Fort Sumter (they shot back, too), but there are streets lined with graceful houses.  Most are privately owned; s few have been turned into Inns or B&B's.  Here are a couple right along South Battery.

Beauty in the swamp

The land around Charleston is quite swampy in various places.  Here is a small piece of the beauty we saw.

After 2 days of shelling

Here is one wall that was fired on from the Batteries that were on the shore behind.  The shells went over the wall and then hit the backside of the inside wall on the opposite side.  Just below and to the left of the bricked cannon hole is an unexploded shell (close-up in the lower picture)

After the Civil War

Originally Fort Sumter was 2 floors higher than it is now.  Because of the damage sustained, several sides were reduced to rubble.  Note the mark on the flag pole.  That is the height that the walls were originally  constructed to.

Civil War's First Shot

Fort Sumter was first held by the Union Army (OK, they snuck over there with 80 men and only a few working cannon).  Because it was smack in the middle of Charleston Harbour, this infuriated the citizens of Charleston - who were die-hard Southerners.  There were armed Batteries on all shores.  At 4:00 in the morning, the first shot was fired.  The Confederates opened fire on all sides.  The union had ships sitting 2 miles out with supplies, men and more cannon, but they couldn't get in.  After 2 straight days of non-stop firing, the Confederates allowed the Union to leave.  The union won it back 3 years later and held it until the end of the war.

Everybody's Clean

All 3 in the picture just had a bath.  The two white fluffy ones take FOREVER to dry, so they were getting some help snuggling up to the larger one who had his shower last.