If you’re a fan of anime, you’ve likely heard of Studio Ghibli – they’ve released classics such as My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Ponyo. But one of my favorites is the 1995 film Whisper of the Heart. In it, a young girl named Shizuku takes John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads and rewrites the lyrics for Tokyo, creating Concrete Roads.
Which is exactly how I felt in Atlanta – so I was more than ready to drive through some more rural parts of Georgia, which is what led us to Musella. Musella, Georgia is home to Dickey Farms, Georgia’s oldest, continuously operating peach packinghouse. They’ve been in operation for over 125 years.
We bought exactly four things during our stop: Fresh peaches, peach ice cream, peach cobbler, and pecans. And then we sat in some old-fashioned white rocking chairs to enjoy everything.
Dickey Farms was a little over an hour SE of Atlanta and after our stop it was another three hours to our next destination: Savannah. We didn’t have a lot planned in Savannah, which was good for two reasons. First, the south was experiencing a heat advisory and second, we’d had so much to do in our first four cities, that we were looking forward to a little downtime and aimlessness.
Our first evening in Savannah was certainly aimless. We started with dinner in the Historic District (we finally found some good food after our restaurant debacles in Atlanta!). Namaste Savannah served both a vegan Dal Bhat platter, as well as vegan momos. Then we wandered through the rest of the neighborhood, through many of the stunning 22 park squares.
Next we made our way down to River Street. It happened to be the 4th of July, so the area was packed, but also incredibly festive. We took in the scenery, as well as the boats on the river, before heading over to the Plant Riverside District. As I understand it, it’s all owned by the JW Marriott and it is certainly something to experience.
There was That Great Gretsch Sound! museum, located in the District Live’s lobby. The exhibit highlights some of the most popular and unique pieces of Gretsch’s historic catalog. It includes a visual timeline that displays the evolution of Gretsch instruments dating back to the 1920s. Approximately 100 guitars are on display.
Across the street is the JW Marriott itself. Its lobby also serves as a museum and displays person-sized geodes and crystals, as well as trilobites. But what is most memorable is the 135-foot chrome dinosaur skeleton (a sauropod to be exact). It’s just a replica, not actual fossil dipped in chrome, but it’s impressive none-the-less! We didn’t know how to top that, so we made our way back to the hotel for the night.
The next morning we got an early start (to avoid the worst of the heat) and we visited the Bonaventure Cemetery. We’ve visited a few cemeteries in our travels – the one in Rome comes to mind – but it’s not a typical stop for us. But this cemetery came up on everyone’s “Things to See in Savannah” list, so we decided to stop by.
I’ve discovered a deep love for Spanish moss, which was on full display in the cemetery. Apparently during the spring the azaleas are also spectacular. We took the wander approach, enjoying a quiet stroll that was often, but not always, shaded.
After that, it was time for a snack. We went to an absolutely incredible bakery that we now have mixed feelings about. At the time, we chose them based on their menu – we ordered some fresh bread and enjoyed it immensely. We even made plans to visit a sister-site in North Carolina. But the more we looked into, the less sure we became. The organization definitely gives off some very strong cult vibes – self-governing tribes that collectively share everything who describe themselves as followers of Yahshua. The accusations of child abuse never stuck, but some things you don’t want to chance.
We shook it off and made our way to Forsyth Park, Savannah’s largest and oldest public park. The land was donated in the 1840s and the iconic fountain was installed in 1858. We couldn’t spare much time, because the heat was already rising.
Instead of signing up for a walking tour, we opted for a self-guided driving tour instead! We found this list of 9 Historic Homes in Savannah and mapped out our route.
The Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters was built in 1819 and is famous for viewing the US’s largest swath of slave-applied haint blue paint (said to ward off evil – just not for those applying it). The birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low was Savannah’s first registered National Historic Landmark and is currently owned by Girl Scouts of the USA. The Telfair Academy became the oldest museum in the Southest and the Scarbrough House is now the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum.
Many of the homes are available for tours, but at an average of $10 per entrance, we opted for drive-bys and short stops instead.
Even with popping in and out of the car’s AC, we were quite warm by the end of our tour. The final thing I wanted to do in Savannah was buy a cone at Leopold’s Ice Cream. Something of an institution, the ice cream shop is famous for always having a line out the door, which is exactly how we found it that afternoon.
I grabbed my umbrella and waited in the sun. At one point, they came out with water to make sure everyone was doing ok. I didn’t know what to expect, sometimes hype is just hype and I wasn’t sure if the ice cream would be any good. Clearly, I didn’t have anything to worry about – they’ve been serving their award-winning, homemade ice cream since 1919.
When it was finally my turn, I opted for a reasonably-priced Savannah Socialite waffle cone (milk & dark chocolate ice cream, freshly roasted Georgia pecans, and a swirl of homemade bourbon-infused caramel). It was incredible and the perfect way to end our time in Savannah – the heat proved too much for us and we retired to the hotel for the rest of the evening. I don’t know what more we’d feel the need to do in Savannah, but we had a fun time while we were there. It had been a lovely change of pace from Atlanta.
Abroad With Ashley 