A Learning Vacation

Fort Pulaski staff and volunteers fire the
30-pounder Parrott rifled cannon. 

A few weeks ago I shared that our family was planning a short trip to Savannah, Ga. Being a born-and-bred Georgia girl, Savannah is one of my favorite cities. I was excited about finally having a chance to share a bit of the city and her history with our children.

We left home early on July 4. Our first stop once we reached the coast was Fort Pulaski. We spent the afternoon enjoying barbecue and letting the kids cool off in the pool. Then it was off to dinner at the Pirate’s House, people watching and window shopping on River Street, and fireworks over the Savannah River.

We toured the historic district the next day – and even our daughter who claims to not like history enjoyed it despite herself. J One of her favorite things was that the trolley company we used included a couple of reenactments along the way. The funniest was a visit from Forrest Gump when the trolley stopped at Chippewa Square, where they filmed the movie’s wonderful bus stop scenes.

Just to prove that we never know everything, here are a few new things I learned during our Savannah time.

• When James Oglethorpe was exploring the area, the tide was out. The tall grasses swaying in the marsh reminded him of the African savanna. That resemblance – and the fact that he thought “Savannah” was a beautiful word when written – is why he named the city Savannah.

• The Northern victory at Fort Pulaski in April 1862 was credited to new technology. The fort was built to withstand any assault from smoothbore cannons and mortars. But even the massively thick brick walls with masonry piers couldn’t hold up to the experimental rifled cannon being used. Once the Union Army had a straight shot through Pulaski to the fort’s main powder magazine, Confederate commander Col. Charles H. Olmstad felt he had no choice but surrender. Otherwise, he knew every man in the fort would die if the magazine was struck. He surrendered only 30 hours after the bombardment began.

Our daughter working hard to
write with a quill.

• Writing with a quill is harder than I’d thought. We visited the MassieSchool museum (Massie Heritage Center), which turned out to be a little gem among the better known tourist spots. They had exhibits about Savannah’s history but one of the neatest things was the 19^th century schoolroom museum (the Massie School is the oldest public school in Georgia and opened in October 1856). We each picked a feather and tried writing with it. Very tough to do without splotches and without keeping the letters huge! We all had to take turnswith the dunce cap, too.

Savannah's waving girl.

• One of the most famous statues in Savannah is the waving girl beside the Savannah River. I knew the story of how her brother was the lightkeeper and she spent 44 years waving to ships as they arrived. Some legends say that she'd told her true love good-bye when he sailed and that she kept hoping for his return. I'm not sure if that part is true, but it's a nice story either way. The new thing I learned was about her statue. She was originally a barefoot girl, but society ladies were appalled at her bare toes. They asked the sculptor to give her shoes, so he did. You can’t see them very well in my photo, but they’re clunky and look too big for her body. That’s because they had to be made to cover the original feet.

If you’ve ever been to Savannah, I’d love to know what tidbits you learned. Or, if you’ve learned some interesting fact about another historic city lately, share it with us!