Saturday in Savannah

Today we spent the entire day in the historic district. It all started at 8:00am in Johnson Square just three blocks from our hotel. Here we met Dirk Hardison from Savannah Rambles for our 'Grand Ramble' of Savannah. Dirk is an architect and has worked in preservation in Savannah for about 20 years. He has great knowledge of the architecture of the city as well as its history. During the tour we visited about 16 (+/- 1-2) of the 24 Squares. We did a zig-zagging through the squares starting from the riverfront and working our way south to Forsyth Park. Each time we stopped Dirk would discuss the architecture and history of the surrounding buildings and square. He also discussed the differences in the buildings and how that was impacted by the era in which it was built. He talked about the different architects and how they were influenced by the times. He also pointed out oddities in some of the buildings and certain features that were added out of a necessity. About half way through the tour we stopped for a short refreshment break. We each got something to drink and snack on and we sat and just talked about things for about twenty minutes then we continued the tour. We ended at Forsyth Park and here is where we stayed while Dirk went on his way. It was an incredible tour and it oriented us to the city and gave us a very good history of the start of Savannah. I think it was the perfect way to start our visit here.
So now we had the afternoon free to do some letterboxing. Since we were already in the historic district and I had clues for a few boxes here we decided to work our way back north to our hotel. We had already been to the areas where the boxes were hidden but we couldn't find them during the tour so we ended up visiting most of the squares a second time. We attempted eight boxes this afternoon. Our first one we didn't find - I am pretty sure we were in the right place because the clues were really straight forward and there was no box in that spot, we even searched a small area around the spot and still came up empty handed. So we just continued on our way. The next four boxes we looked for were found easily and we enjoyed sitting and stamping in while enjoying the beautiful afternoon. Two of the boxes were at a cemetery. The first one we looked for in the cemetery I kind of scoped out from a distance as I made my way to the hiding spot. I realized as I got closer that there were three women very near where I needed to be to look for the box. So I just looked at some of the graves and would look over to the women every now and then, but they just weren't moving. Then it dawned on me that they were stamping - they were letterboxers. They put the box back in place and started away from the area which brought them right past me. So I asked if they were letterboxers (even though I already knew the answer) and we had a little conversation. Unfortunately none of us suggested an exchange and all I know is that they were from North Carolina - oh well. After we finished with these four finds we attempted the next box and came up empty handed. I took the compass reading three times and each time it pointed me to the same spot but not to anything that was described in the clue. So I did a sweep of the area covering an arc of about 30º to either side of where I was getting my reading. We still came up empty handed so we decided to move along. We found the next box without any problems and found a bench to sit and stamp in. After this one was back in place we headed off for one last box. This one was a little bit of a mystery with a photo clue. I had figured out where we needed to be to see the place in the photo and when we arrived there we got ourselves in position to see exactly what was in the photo. Unfortunately we never found the box - so we ended up 5 for 8 - not too bad.
By this time we were ready for dinner. We had planned to hit River Street and do some walking and visit some shops while scoping out the restaurants. We ended up eating at Fiddlers Crab House. It was pretty good and gave us a chance to rest our feet from all the walking we did today. After dinner we walked a short distance along River Street stopping in at a few places for squished pennies, postcards and at River Street Sweets for some chocolate and pralines before making our way back to the hotel. It was a nice day but we are both tired. Tomorrow we are still in Savannah but we are venturing out of the historic district to do some letterboxing.