WISDOM-JOURNEYS

Savannah, Georgia

            In a previous post, I wrote about my anticipation of our Mother-Daughter Retreat in Savannah, GA. I had not been to Savannah before and I must say I was not disappointed in any way.  This city is so beautiful and so charming that almost immediately; I began thinking about returning for our next year’s M-D retreat.

            We arrived at our hotel, The Inn at Ellis Square (innatellissquare.com), late Friday afternoon. The hotel was lovely and the rooms were nicely appointed. It was recently redone and the designers won the Historic Preservation Award for their work. After resting awhile, we had light hors d’erves and crudites. Those of us who had been to the city before talked about what to see again, those who hadn't   talked about how excited we were at next day’s prospects.

On Friday evening, we took the Haunted Trolley Tour (savannahtours.us). Savannah is known to be one of the most haunted cities in the country. The driver was so funny and knew all the spookiest spots. Some of us had “ghost hunters” type of experiences, including my husband, who is not given to such things. After that, we took a stroll by the river back to the hotel.

After a great breakfast at the hotel, which consisted of all kinds of southern favorites, we walked down the street to the trolley stop. We boarded and took a morning tour of the city. Again, the driver was very knowledgeable and extremely entertaining. 

We had lunch, during which I had Fried Green Tomatoes for the first time. This is a southern staple and although they were not exactly as I had envisioned, they were tasty.  We returned to the trolley and stopped at sights we had picked out on the morning ride.

Saturday afternoon we took a tour of the lovely and historic Owens-Thomas house (Telfair.org), which is on the National Historic Register. Architect William Jay built the house for a wealthy cotton merchant in 1816-1819.  The same family owned the house from 1830 until 1951. The house and garden is beautiful and gracious. It also has several quirks including doors that go nowhere.  The only complaint I might have is that the guide was uninformed. He could not answer many of our questions.  We visited the gift shop, which is in the original carriage house and urban slave quarters. We then went to the famous Leopold’s (leopoldsicecream.com) for ice cream. I had chocolate with raspberry preserves swirled through, YUM! We continued on our tour until dinnertime, when we stopped at the Pirates House (thepirateshouse.com). This place is on the sight of Savannah’s original experimental garden.  Experimental in the testing of what plants would grow well in the environment.  The building is old and funky.  I had the best salmon since visiting Scotland. An actual “Pirate” led us on a guided tour and gave us a fascinating history. 

After checkout on Sunday morning, we did some shopping at the Market.  We then went to the beautiful Forsythe Park.  Forsythe Park is a large green area in the historic downtown. Large trees, a central fountain, paths and benches adorn this wonderful space. We had our “Honoring Feminine Energy” ceremony led by Shamanic Practitioner, Lisa Rowe (828-645-9155).

Lisa is WISDOM-JOURNEYS chosen guide for this type of ceremony. I so enjoyed this trip for personal reasons. I had a great opportunity to know the women who attended much better, along with learning more about my daughter and even myself.

If you ever get the chance to go to Savannah, please take it. You will not regret it.    I am looking forward to going again and maybe again after that.