Savannah, The Hostess City

In 1864, General William T. Sherman and his Union troops

slashed and burned their way across Georgia,

but they stopped when they arrived in Savannah

because in Sherman's words, it was "too beautiful to burn."

On occupying the city, Sherman wrote these words to Lincoln: 

"I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah

with 150 heavy guns and also about 25,000 bales of cotton."

(The correspondence between Lincoln and Sherman 

is online through the Library of Congress at loc.gov)

The Fountain in Forsyth Park:

 I have wanted to visit Savannah ever since I first read why Sherman spared it.

Over the years, I would catch glimpses of Savannah in some popular movies filmed there: 

Forrest Gump, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The General's Daughter, 

and Something to Talk About with Julia Roberts, to name a few.

Seeing those fleeting images of  "The Hostess City of the South"

only increased my desire to visit some day.

So this Christmas, we set out for a couple of days in Savannah.

We arrived after dark, the Spanish moss in silhouette,
backlit by Christmas lights and street lights shining from quaint lamp posts.

There wasn't too much else to see 

although we did walk to a local restaurant called the Sixpence Pub--

best chocolate pecan pie ever, by the way.

But when we awoke early Christmas Eve,

we were able to see the jewel that is Savannah shine.

Tomorrow, a tour of the Hamilton-Turner Inn.

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