Savannah, Georgia - October 17, 2009

Work sent me to a conference in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Hilton Head was an interesting place, but I was more interested in checking out Savannah, Georgia. I had been interested in Savannah since seeing the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I visited on two different days. One day I took the Gray Line bus tour and spent the day walking around Old Savannah. I did the initial bus tour to get an idea where things were and what looked interesting to walk around. With the Gray Line you can get off along the route, so I walked in certain areas and then took the bus to get me to a different area. That approach worked well.

A second day I visited sites outside Old Savannah that required more driving. I visited Fort Jackson, a War of 1812 and Civil War fort. I also visited the Battlefield Memorial Park, where earthworks from the bloodiest Revolutionary War battle were preserved. Nearby was my main interest, the Georgia State Railroad Museum. This museum is housed in the former Central of Georgia Railway Repair Shops Complex and Terminal Facilities. I prefer railroad museums that are part of the original properties, as the buildings and structures provide so much additional context.

I also traveled north of Hilton Head to Charleston, South Carolina, where I went to the Hunley Submarine Museum, Charleston Harbor, and Fort Sumter National Monument. The Hunley submarine had been found in 1995, raised in 2000, and then put on display. The crew's remains were buried in the nearby Magnolia Cemetery, a Civil War cemetery. I didn't find their graves, but it looked like a fascinating place to spend more time if I get back. I hopped on a tour boat to visit Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.