Sunday, April 14, 2019

Scenes from Savannah, GA

The Mercer-Williams House in Savannah, Georgia
The house was the setting for a great part of the book and the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." The movie was directed by Clint Eastwood and Kevin Spacey played the role of the owner, Jim Williams. 

The Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah -- This place is within walking distance from the Hinckley Yacht Services Marina. 

The Bonaventure Cemetery plays a role in the book and movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," as well. A very historic cemetery with many residents dating pre-Civil War, and some born in the mid-to-late 1700s.
  
Savannah existed as a port town prior to the United States.
We wanted to find a specific grave, that of Savannah resident, poet and writer Conrad Aiken. On his gravestone -- actually a bench -- is the inscription, “Cosmos Mariner Destination Unknown."  We sat on the bench and watched the Wilmington River flow by. Later, as we left Savannah heading North, we passed by that same spot on the river, and gave a toot of the tugboat horn to the residents of the Bonaventure Cemetery. If we ever own another boat, I will lobby to name it the “Cosmos Mariner” --
with the hailing port “Destination Unknown.”

Savannah residents love to throw a party for any reason. When General William Tecumseh Sherman was on his march to the sea, burning every thing in his path, Savannah’s prominent residents went out to meet Sherman and negotiated that they would turn over Savannah to him if he would not damage or burn the city. Sherman agreed and stayed one month, enjoying the food and the run of the town. He then moved south again, burning every city, town and plantation to the ground. (See my post of Tennessee River -- the Civil War battle Shiloh, where people thought that General Sherman was insane.)  In my opinion, his “March to the Sea” was proof of his insanity.  Perhaps the phrase “scorched earth policy” is derived from his
March to the Sea. He presented the City of Savannah to
President Lincoln as a Christmas gift.


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