Afoot in Savannah, Again!
Apr. 8th, 2025 10:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerGeorgia Travelog #6
Savannah, GA - Tuesday, 8 Apr 2025, 4pm
As of a few days ago we weren't sure what we'd do today, Tuesday, in Savannah. The weather forecast looked not-so-great, with cool weather and a chance of rain. Well, the weather forecast improved as of late last night. The storms passed through quickly yesterday— though they did make visiting the beach less fun— leaving today with clear and gently warm weather. We decided to do another day of self-guided touring on foot in Savannah today. And what a great day it turned out to be for that!
We started with a simple plan. It was as simple as 1-2-3-: One, search "things to do in Savannah" on the web. Two, filter out from that reasonably short list things we a) already did Sunday or b) generally don't like to do. An example of the latter is anything that feels too touristy... like ride a garishly painted tour bus around town. Three, pick a place to have lunch nearby whatever's left to start with lunch.
So we drove downtown at started with lunch at Clary's. It's a 1950s-ish diner serving a wide menu. And unlike many of the restaurants we turned down in our searching, it's not a gentrified place opened a few years ago designed to look like an idealized 1950s diner, it's a legit 1950s diner with staff who look like they've been working there for 20+ years. Plus some fuzz balls hanging from the A/C vents that look like they've been there at least that long, too. 🤣
After lunch we walked to nearby Forsyth Park.
Like I noted on Sunday, downtown Savannah is studded with small city parks. We actually passed through a small park, about 1 square block in size, just walking to Forsyth Park. Forsyth is much larger. It has long promenades and a few fountains and memorials.
On the promenades to either side of the Forsyth Park Fountain (yes, that's its name) were artists and panhandlers plying their crafts. We chatted with a few of the artists. I met one who's from France and said she likes Savannah because of all these parks in it. "It's like a European city," she said. "Nowhere else in the US feel like home like this."
The other thing we'd picked out to visit today in our 1-2-3 planning exercise was the Basilica of St. John the Baptist. On the way to Forsyth Park, though, we found another house of worship we were curious to visit— the Synagogue of Mikve Israel.
Jewish synagogues aren't as common as Christian churches, or even specifically Catholic churches. But we seem to have a way to find them unintentionally when walking around. It's like Hawk has Jewdar (Jewish radar). Or maybe it's those Jewish mind-control space lasers MAGA-world was ranting about a few years ago. We waited a bit until the temple was open to visitors and then paid to take a guided tour.
This building dates to 1876 but the congregation Mikve Israel was founded in 1733. It's one of the oldest continuous Jewish congregations in the US. The founding families were immigrants from London, most of whom were descendants of Jews who fled Spain and Portugal during the Inquisition.
This house of worship is unusual, architecturally, for a Jewish synagogue. It looks like a Christian church! And not just outside but also inside, where the sanctum is a narrow, high ceiling nave with a transept (so it's in the shape of a cross!), and there's a pipe organ and a choir loft. The guide explained it's because the architects available in 1876 when the congregation was rebuilding after a fire were only familiar with building Christian churches, and neo-Gothic design was also all the rage. So they made it their own and also became the first Jewish congregation to have musical accompaniment with their singing.
When we visited the Basilica of St. John the Baptist later in the day it was hard not to see the similarities. I mean, the religious content of what's in side is different; one's a Jewish temple, the other a Catholic cathedral. But they have such similar shape (though the cathedral is larger) with the same iron pillars inside painted to look like marble (a common neo-Gothic technique) and stained glass windows all around.
One thing I found refreshing about this Catholic church is that it was open to visitors. So many other historical Catholic churches we've wanted to visit charge a fee just to walk in— and many even explicitly say that visitors are not welcome. So the fact that this one was not only free of charge but also free of "Thou shalt not..." rules for visitors posted on signs around the doors, was refreshing. Even better, a few volunteers inside gladly answered questions from visitors like us instead of sternly shushing us as if merely attempting to speak were a profanity. It's like it's a church that welcomes people outside the faith who come with curiosity and a desire to learn. Imagine that!
Savannah, GA - Tuesday, 8 Apr 2025, 4pm
As of a few days ago we weren't sure what we'd do today, Tuesday, in Savannah. The weather forecast looked not-so-great, with cool weather and a chance of rain. Well, the weather forecast improved as of late last night. The storms passed through quickly yesterday— though they did make visiting the beach less fun— leaving today with clear and gently warm weather. We decided to do another day of self-guided touring on foot in Savannah today. And what a great day it turned out to be for that!
We started with a simple plan. It was as simple as 1-2-3-: One, search "things to do in Savannah" on the web. Two, filter out from that reasonably short list things we a) already did Sunday or b) generally don't like to do. An example of the latter is anything that feels too touristy... like ride a garishly painted tour bus around town. Three, pick a place to have lunch nearby whatever's left to start with lunch.
So we drove downtown at started with lunch at Clary's. It's a 1950s-ish diner serving a wide menu. And unlike many of the restaurants we turned down in our searching, it's not a gentrified place opened a few years ago designed to look like an idealized 1950s diner, it's a legit 1950s diner with staff who look like they've been working there for 20+ years. Plus some fuzz balls hanging from the A/C vents that look like they've been there at least that long, too. 🤣
After lunch we walked to nearby Forsyth Park.
Like I noted on Sunday, downtown Savannah is studded with small city parks. We actually passed through a small park, about 1 square block in size, just walking to Forsyth Park. Forsyth is much larger. It has long promenades and a few fountains and memorials.
On the promenades to either side of the Forsyth Park Fountain (yes, that's its name) were artists and panhandlers plying their crafts. We chatted with a few of the artists. I met one who's from France and said she likes Savannah because of all these parks in it. "It's like a European city," she said. "Nowhere else in the US feel like home like this."
The other thing we'd picked out to visit today in our 1-2-3 planning exercise was the Basilica of St. John the Baptist. On the way to Forsyth Park, though, we found another house of worship we were curious to visit— the Synagogue of Mikve Israel.
Jewish synagogues aren't as common as Christian churches, or even specifically Catholic churches. But we seem to have a way to find them unintentionally when walking around. It's like Hawk has Jewdar (Jewish radar). Or maybe it's those Jewish mind-control space lasers MAGA-world was ranting about a few years ago. We waited a bit until the temple was open to visitors and then paid to take a guided tour.
This building dates to 1876 but the congregation Mikve Israel was founded in 1733. It's one of the oldest continuous Jewish congregations in the US. The founding families were immigrants from London, most of whom were descendants of Jews who fled Spain and Portugal during the Inquisition.
This house of worship is unusual, architecturally, for a Jewish synagogue. It looks like a Christian church! And not just outside but also inside, where the sanctum is a narrow, high ceiling nave with a transept (so it's in the shape of a cross!), and there's a pipe organ and a choir loft. The guide explained it's because the architects available in 1876 when the congregation was rebuilding after a fire were only familiar with building Christian churches, and neo-Gothic design was also all the rage. So they made it their own and also became the first Jewish congregation to have musical accompaniment with their singing.
When we visited the Basilica of St. John the Baptist later in the day it was hard not to see the similarities. I mean, the religious content of what's in side is different; one's a Jewish temple, the other a Catholic cathedral. But they have such similar shape (though the cathedral is larger) with the same iron pillars inside painted to look like marble (a common neo-Gothic technique) and stained glass windows all around.
One thing I found refreshing about this Catholic church is that it was open to visitors. So many other historical Catholic churches we've wanted to visit charge a fee just to walk in— and many even explicitly say that visitors are not welcome. So the fact that this one was not only free of charge but also free of "Thou shalt not..." rules for visitors posted on signs around the doors, was refreshing. Even better, a few volunteers inside gladly answered questions from visitors like us instead of sternly shushing us as if merely attempting to speak were a profanity. It's like it's a church that welcomes people outside the faith who come with curiosity and a desire to learn. Imagine that!
