When my best friend moved out of state 9 years ago we made a deal that we would visit each other at least once a year. Through her galavants across the country it often involved me traveling to see her new city with her since she and I both know Colorado like the back of our hand. But as time has gone on, and we had explored all the surrounding areas to where we both reside, we decided to start checking other bucket trips off our list as our yearly girls get away. For many years we've booth been drawn to the spooky and historical nature of Savannah. To be fair I think I drove through the city as a kid, but if I had my memory has long since deleted the information so we both went into the trip with fresh eyes, a lovely air bnb at the edge of an exquisite park, and with the goal of working on our photography skills... me for as a subject for photos, something I not normally am, and Sassy as the ever diligent cell phone photographer who knows just how to capture our true essence (or the essence of me being my usually weird self).
For years now Sassy has lived in warm states that do not excite us during the summer so our trips have been planned around fall. This suited our plans for Georgia because we figured the later into fall we got, the less likely it would be that hurricanes would ruin our plans. While we did not have to deal with an outright hurricane, a late tropical storm welcomed both of us as our planes tipped and swayed in the wind upon arrival. It might have been one of the only times I can ever remember wondering if I would need a barf bag, but it did something magical to the city that we couldn't help but admire our whole trip... once we were safely on the ground.
We had both known that the trees in Savannah are covered in Spanish "moss" an actual non moss with a rough texture, what we didn't know was that the trees are also blanketed in a beautiful fern that only turns green when wet. We had just enough rain the first two days of our trip to experience the city at its most green and vibrant. Walking around in awe of the architecture, history, and beauty, I could see why Savannah is known for its street painters and artisans.
What I didn't know, at least the first day of the trip, was that the beautiful greenery is also covered in something called chiggers, a tiny red mite that likes to burrow into skin upon touch. I spent the whole first night as we strolled in Savannah's most famous park wondering why people didn't climb the trees and lay amongst their beautiful and outstretched branches. The next morning I decided if they weren't going to do it I was.
Lucky for me I did not encounter the tiny pests and was none the wiser until a tour guide further into the trip cautioned people from spending too much time with the beautiful trees, and to absolutely not pick the moss up off the ground (something I also did).
Since I was a kid I've loved cemeteries and I'm incredibly lucky that Sassy is the same... or at least indulges my obsession. Besides historic trolly rides, walking tours, ghost adventures, and river boat cruises, we spent a lot of time checking out the cities many burial grounds. I can't recommend Bonaventure cemetery enough if you are a trophophyll as it is listed as one of the tope 5 cemeteries in the world for good reason. As always our trip ended too quickly and we are already starting to plan our next adventure... this time maybe in a state we don't mind to visit in summer.
