through the plastered walls. Today, diners often find themselves on waiting lists for Southern specialties including shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, and cornbread fried oysters. Once a bustling shipping port, Savannah’s riverside today has been transformed into a pedestrian walkway, just steps from River Street’s restored warehouses now filled with ice cream and popcorn eateries, trinket shops, and restaurants. Named after a former city mayor, Rousakis Plaza is where visitors and locals catch a free ferry ride along the river or book a dinner cruise with Savannah Riverboat Cruises’ 1,000-passenger white and red-trimmed Georgia Queen , a traditional-styled, multi- decked paddlewheel riverboat. More of the city’s waterfront history comes alive on a grassy stretch of the riverbank, where the action-like figurine of the Waving Girl statue is based on an actual person. As the story goes, Florence Martus waved at ships approaching and exiting the port, flailing a handkerchief by day and a lantern at night. It’s said she never missed a ship from 1887 to 1931. A short walk south along the eastern edges of the central district, the Pirates’ House Restaurant occupies buildings dating back to 1753 and 1734, the latter the oldest still-standing structure in Georgia. The original blue shutters and doors
were thought to keep away ghosts. It’s where pirates ducked through dank tunnels below the tavern leading to the waterfront, to whisk away drunken patrons who soon found themselves as unwilling crewmembers out at sea. The book Treasure Island mentions the Pirate’s House and is said to have inspired author Robert Louis Stevenson to write it after visiting. Turn any corner and you might recognize some of Savannah’s squares, churches, and homes as settings in great American movie classics. In addition to the Forrest Gump scenes shot here, the 1860’s Italianate-style Mercer Williams House with its burnt red façade and surrounding gate is the centerpiece of both the New York Times best-seller and subsequent 1997 movie entitled Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil . Now a museum, it was once the home of antiques dealer and historic preservationist Jim Williams. My tour of the home includes the front den where, in real life, Williams shot his male prostitute lover. Claiming self defense, he was finally acquitted after four trials. The lavishly decorated home includes some of Williams’ actual antiques and fine arts collections including an 18th-century Gilbert Stuart portrait. Featured on the book cover and at the beginning of the movie is the Bird Girl, a bronze sculpture of a young woman holding two bowls with arms
The Georgia Queen, a multi-decked paddlewheel riverboat, is beautiful at night
Pirates’ House Restaurant is one of the busiest in the city
The Italianate-style Mercer Williams House
Waving Girl statue at night
SAVANNAH
COAST TO COAST MAGAZINE FALL 2022 | 18
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs