The Lucas Theatre

The Lucas Theatre was built in 1921 by Arthur Lucas and architect C.K. Howell. Howell designed theaters across the country and Lucas owned more than 20 theaters throughout the South, though the Lucas Theatre in Savannah is the only one to bear his name.Built primarily as a movie palace, the theater also incorporated a stage for road shows. During its first year, Arthur Lucas sent birthday cards to Savannah residents containing coupons for free admission. He watched the wedding and birth announcements and sent his own congratulations in the form of free tickets. His promotional efforts paid off, and for the next 40 years, the Lucas Theatre became a favorite venue for talkies, musicals, traveling troupes, revues and theatricals.With the advent of television and the population shift to the suburbs, the theater era began to wane. The Lucas Theatre closed in 1976 after a deserted screening of "The Exorcist." There were several attempts to convert it into a viable space, and it was used as a dinner theater and comedy club. But none of the ventures was successful, and the building was slated for demolition more than once.In 1986, with the theater once again threatened by the wrecking ball, a group of citizens pooled their resources, bought the building and created the Lucas Theatre for the Arts Inc. They began a 14-year campaign and completed a $14 million restoration. Supported by donations from Savannahians and such celebrities as Kevin Spacey and the cast and crew of "Forrest Gump," the Lucas had a grand reopening in December 2000.The theater’s future is now assured by a relationship with the Savannah College of Art and Design. The college supports the theater's overhead and uses it for a number of events including the Savannah Film Festival. The college’s support also allows for a wide range of community uses: the Lucas has presented top-line entertainment including opera from London and Italy, European orchestras, country stars, traveling repertory companies and film series. These events bring in an average of more than 1,000 people per week.

Something I hate to miss!!

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)Saturday, June 16 2007 at 7 p.m.Presented by the Savannah Film SocietyGort! Klaatu barada niktu!An alien named Klaatu (Michael Rennie) with his mighty robot, Gort, land their spacecraft on Earth just after the end of World War II. They bring an important message for the planet which Klaatu wishes to tell to representatives of all nations. However, communication turns out to be difficult so, after learning something of the natives, Klaatu decides on an alternative approach.

Georgia Historical Society

Chartered by the Georgia General Assembly in 1839, the Georgia Historical Society is a private, non-profit organization that serves as the historical society for the people of Georgia.
Headquartered in Savannah, Georgia's first city, the Society is the oldest cultural institution in the state and one of the oldest historical organizations in the nation.

Among the group of visionaries who founded the Society were some of the most distinguished statesmen and intellectual leaders of the day: U.S. Attorney General John Macpherson Berrien; American Medical Association founder Dr. Richard D. Arnold; U.S. Congressmen Eugenius A. Nisbet and Thomas Butler King; planter James Hamilton Couper; and U.S. Supreme Court Justice James Moore Wayne, to name a few. Honorary members included four U.S. presidents: John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and William Henry Harrison.

In order to forge a link between themselves and the earliest days of the state, the founders of the Georgia Historical Society adopted as their logo the old Colonial seal used by the Trustees. And to demonstrate their commitment to public service, they took as their motto the latin phrase employed by the Trustees more than a century earlier: "Non Sibi, Sed Aliis" - not for self, but for others.

For more visit: http://www.georgiahistory.com

Forsyth Park & Fountain

The Forsyth ParkFountain was created in 1858; restored in 1988 (25% recast). The Fountain is located in Forsyth Park, originally called Forsyth Place, on a direct line in continuation of Bull Street, which is interrupted by the Park and its extension, and continues again at Park Avenue. The Fountain was conceived as the focal point of the landscaped park.

Forsyth Place was the first large park created in Savannah, other than the squares, designed as part of the city plan by General Oglethorpe in the eighteenth century. Stylistically, the Park belongs to a later era, and was influenced by the urban renewal of Paris, in the 1850's. Paris was given broad boulevards and parks for practical reasons: improving access to the new railway stations and important public buildings, clearing slums, increasing fresh air and green space, developing middle-class and working class suburbs, putting in piped water and storm sewers, and financing public works to provide employment, investment opportunities and increase property values in Paris. This greatly influenced city planning throughout the industrial world--every large city in the United States was developing large city parks in the 1850's. Culturally speaking, it is not insignificant that the Forsyth Park fountain was thought to be a copy of the one in the Place de la Concorde, by Hittorff, who completed two monumental fountains in that square only a few short years before Forsyth Place was created. Bull Street was thought of as a boulevard and promenade (both French terms) and the fountain served as a focal point of a long vista, all the way from the Exchange, which was City Hall. In an economic context, the park and the fountain would not have been possible if Savannah were not experiencing economic prosperity. The 1850's were the first consistently prosperous period throughout the South, which admired and emulated the high style of the Frech Empire

Forrest Gump

Yep this is where Forrest sat!!!!

The park bench that Tom Hanks sits on for much of the movie was located in Savannah, GA, at Chippewa Square. The fiberglass bench he sat on has since been removed and placed into a museum to avoid being destroyed by the weather. The church where the feather first falls is about 100 yards just down the street from his bench.

SS Savannah

The SS Savannah was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Built in New York by the shipyard of Crockett and Fickett, Captain Moses Rogers chose the vessel while under construction so changes could be made for the installation of an auxiliary steam engine. The Savannah measured in at 320 tons which was not a large ship for the times. Launched August 22, 1818 her 98ft-6in length of hull could have her sitting across the beam of today's passenger liners. Her historic voyage from Savannah, GA to Liverpool, England to St. Petersburg, Russia then back to Savannah and off to Washington, DC was the first ever taken by a vessel with a steam propulsion plant. Though not a commercial success the experiment (as it came to be called) started the world to wondering and dreaming of bigger plans for ocean travel. The Savannah was sold and her steam plant removed. She continued sailing up and down the east coast until wrecked off Fire Island, NY on a stormy night. Her remains have been looked for but not located to date.

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Savannah

The Congrégation de Saint Jean-Baptiste was established by French emigrants as Savannah's first parish at the end of the 18th century. They went to Savannah after an uprising in Haiti, and many were French nobles fleeing the French Revolution.
On May 30, 1800, the first church building was built on a plot on Liberty Square given to the congregation by the city a year earlier. By 1804, the church was petitioning for more room, but the city could not grant it as there were no empty lots. On August 2, 1811 though, the city granted a petition for a large parcel at Montgomery and Hull, but the church was never built there. Instead, it was built at Drayton and Perry.
In 1876, another new building was built along Harris between Abercorn and Lincoln. In 1898, this structure caught fire and was almost completely destroyed. The then-bishop of Savannah, Thomas A. Becker, said, while looking at the devastation, "The Cathedral must be rebuilt, and as soon as possible."
The reconstructed church was completed in late 1899 and held its first mass on December 24 of that year. It was dedicated on October 28, 1900 by Archbishop Sebastian Martinelli. The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist remains one of the largest church buildings in the South.
Between 1959 and 1963, the building went through a major renovation. The building was upgraded to include modern heating, cooling, lighting, a new plaza, a new pulpit, and a new altar rail. From 1984-1985, the building was again renovated by replacing the old, crumbling wooden foundation of the building with a reinforced concrete one. From September 1998-November 2000, the cathedral's slate roof was replaced, 50 stained glass windows were releaded, and the interior was restored

For more visit: http://www.savannahcathedral.org

John Wesley

John Wesley, the celebrated preacher and founder of the Methodist Church, was a life-long opponent of slavery. His biography is well known, and is told in many places, both on the web and in many published works, so this article will focus mainly on his activities as a campaigner against slavery. His opposition to slavery and the slave trade began long before the issue had received widespread attention, and was sustained throughout his life. Indeed, his attitudes to slavery were formed early. In 1736-7 Wesley visited the then British colony of Georgia in North America where he came into contact with slaves. At the same time, he read Thomas Southerne's play Oroonoko, which was based on Aphra Behn's novel of the same name, and which related the tragedy of Oroonoko, an African prince kidnapped and sold into slavery. On his return to England, he passed the time on the long transatlantic voyage by teaching a young black man, presumably a slave, how to read and write.

The Colonial Park Cemetery

The Colonial Park Cemetery is located in downtown Savannah, at the intersection of Abercorn Street and Oglethorpe Avenue. The cemetery is also known as The Old Cemetery and The Brick Cemetery. The Colonial Park Cemetery is the second cemetery in Savannah. It was founded in 1750 and was closed for burials in 1853. It was then reopened as a park in 1896.

Many famous Revolutionary War heroes are buried in Colonial Park Cemetery. Button Gwinnett was buried in the cemetery in 1777. He is one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was also the acting governor of Georgia during the Revolutionary War. He was not on good terms with General Lachlan McIntosh, the leader of the Continental troops in Georgia. Gwinnett challenged Mclntosh to a duel. Gwinnett died three days later of a leg wound suffered in the duel. General Lachlan McIntosh died in1806 and was also buried in Colonial Park Cemetery.
The remains of Major General Nathanael Greene were laid in the Graham vault until they were reburied at Johnson Square in 1901. There were also many ordinary civilians buried in Colonial Park Cemetery. Over 700 citizens died during the Great Yellow Fever epidemic of 1820. They were all buried in Colonial Park Cemetery. Even though there are only about 600 burial markers still standing in the cemetery, over 10,000 bodies are buried there.
During the Civil War, Union troops were stationed at the cemetery because it was ideal for horses. The troops often searched for valuables among the graves. Since most of the soldiers were mischievous, they switched a number of dates on some of the tombstones. If the tampered dates are correct, then the oldest person buried there lived to be 1700!

Savannah Cotton Trade

In 1793 Eli Whitney of Connecticut, who was tutoring on a plantation near Savannah, invented a mechanized means of "ginning" seeds from cotton bolls. Cotton soon became king, and Savannah, already a busy seaport, flourished under its reign. Waterfront warehouses were filled with "white gold," and brokers trading in the Savannah Cotton Exchange set world prices. The white gold brought in solid gold, and fine mansions were built in the prospering city.
In 1864 Savannahians surrendered their city to Union general Sherman rather than see it torched. Following World War I and the decline of the cotton market, the city's economy virtually collapsed, and its historic buildings languished for more than 30 years. Elegant mansions were razed or allowed to decay, and cobwebs replaced cotton in the dilapidated riverfront warehouses.
In 1955, Savannah's spirits rose again. News that the exquisite Isaiah Davenport House at Number 324 East State Street was to be destroyed prompted seven outraged ladies to raise money to buy the house. They saved it the day before the wrecking ball was to swing. Thus was born the Historic Savannah Foundation, the organization responsible for the restoration of downtown Savannah, where more than 1,000 restored buildings form the 2½-square-mile Historic District, the nation's largest. Many of these buildings are open to the public during the annual tour of homes, and today Savannah is one of the country's top 10 cities for walking tours.

Savannah Water Front

Savannah's historic waterfront is lined with more than 100 unique shops and galleries, fabulous restaurants, nightspots, and elegant inns and hotels.

Restoration of the riverfront bluff to preserve and stabilize the historic waterfront, includes a nine-block brick concourse. Savannah, the name conjures images of nights redolent with honeysuckle, warm breezes and the glint of moonlight over the sweeping river and marsh. History, tradition, courtesy and hospitality are at the heart of our Southern culture.

If you visit the south make sure you visit Savannah!

The Mercer House

Midnight is the Garden of Good and Evil's most famous house is the Mercer House.

The Mercer House was designed by New York architect John S. Norris for General Hugh W. Mercer, great grandfather of Johnny Mercer. Construction of the house began in 1860, was interrupted by the Civil War and was later completed, circa 1868, by the new owner, John Wilder.

In 1969, Jim Williams, one of Savannah’s earliest and most dedicated private restorationists, bought the then vacant house and began a two-year restoration. This house is one of the more than 50 houses Mr. Williams saved during his thirty-year career in historic restoration in Savannah and the Lowcountry.

Throughout the house you will see furniture and art from Mr. Williams’ private collection including 18th and 19th century furniture, 18th century English and American portraits, drawings from the 17th century and a wide collection of Chinese export porcelain. Previously open only to benefit local historic and charitable organizations, this is the first time the house has been open to the public since its restoration was completed.

For more visit: http://www.mercerhouse.com

Six Pence Pub Savannah

Beth and I visited the Six Pence Pub the last time we were in Savannah. We both had the shepherd's pie and it was excellent. Six Pence Pub also has possibly the best mashed potatoes I've ever eaten. Combine that with a friendly wait staff and a great beer selection and you've got a winning combo.
You might recognize the red phone booth from the the movie were Julia Roberts caught her cheating husband Dennis Quad have dinner with his new girl friend!

Old Savannah Tours

I highly recommend Old Savannah Tours when visiting Savannah. We purchased ticket for their on and off tour which let us to get off the tour bus when and were we liked. It was perfect allowing us to linger at site we found interesting.

Old Savannah tours is the only locally owned and operated Trolley Tour Company in Savannah. For over 25 years they have been providing both overview and on-off tours of this beautiful historic city. They look forward to providing you with the most stress free, informative experience possible. Their guides pride themselves with their knowledge and experience. A complete professionally guided tour of one of the largest Urban National Historic Landmarks in the United States. Transporting you through more than two and a half centuries of history, see Savannah as the early colonists saw it - - Ride along cobblestone paved streets beneath moss-draped oaks and experience the "Old South" with its stately mansions, beautiful squares, romantic riverfront and abundance of artifacts. Take a comprehensive look at Savannah's fascinating past including "Book" highlights and lots of fun tidbits. Their newest and most popular tour is the "Paula Deen Tour."

For more visit: http://www.oldsavannahtours.com/index.php

Clary's Cafe

From the book and the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil here's the famous Clary's Cafe.

We had breakfast there Sunday morning!

Clary's Café has been a Savannah tradition since 1903, though the ambience today, under the devilish direction of Michael Faber, is decidedly 1950s. The place was famous long before it was featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in its former role as Clary's drugstore, where regulars like eccentric flea-collar inventor Luther Driggers breakfasted and lunched. John Berendt is still a frequent patron, as is the fabled Lady Chablis. Begin your day with the classic Hoppel Poppel (scrambled eggs with chunks of kosher salami, potatoes, onions, and green peppers) and go on from there. Fresh salads, New York-style sandwiches, and stir-fries, along with Grandmother's homemade chicken soup and flame-broiled burgers, are served throughout the day, giving way in the evening to chicken potpie, stuffed pork loin, or planked fish (a fresh filet of red snapper -- broiled, grilled, or blackened).

Hi Y'all!

Here's some happy tour bus riders in Savannah this weekend!

Best Year Yet!

This is the best year yet for our Asiatic Hybrid Lilies. They are absolutely beautiful!

The Asiatic Hybrid Lily Beatrix, 'Lillium', a spring planted bulb, produces orange flowers. Asiatic Lilies are great for borders, beds, and containers. They prefer well drained soil and they will multiply each year, "that has definitely happened!!!" Allow the leaves on the stalk to turn yellow and fall off to provide the bulb with ample nourishment for the next growing year. Asiatic Hybrids are the first lilies to bloom each season and the blooms are long lasting in the garden and in bouquets.

Savannah Here We Come

Friday we travel to Savannah for the Memorial Day weekend. So watch for a ton of pictures next week! We're taking Beth's parents with us and have scheduled a trolley tour, ghost tour and several breakfast/dinner stops including Paula Deen's Lady and Sons restaurant http://www.ladyandsons.com and the famous Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil restaurant Clary's Cafe http://www.claryscafesavannah.com.

Savannah is proud to be home to one largest National Landmark Historic Districts in the United States. This 2.5-mile district, which runs from River Street to Forsyth Park, features plenty of quaint shops, charming boutiques and world-class restaurants nestled beneath a canopy of Live Oak trees. Georgia’s First City also features stunning examples of Federal, Italianate, Georgian and Victorian architecture.The Historic District’s 22 squares, which formed a vital part of General James Edward Oglethorpe’s original city plan when he founded Savannah in 1733, serve as the heart and soul of downtown Savannah and have been widely praised for their beauty. Southern hospitality still reigns supreme in Savannah, a city with three centuries of history. Take the time to stroll down cobblestone streets and enjoy all that the Historic District has to offer.

Watch for pictures, lol!!!

Georgia Forest Fire Smoke

I'm not sure if you can see the smoky haze over our neighborhood in this picture however there is a stong smoky smell in the air!

For the second time in a week, southeast winds brought smoke from the wildfires near the Georgia-Florida line as far north as Atlanta early Tuesday.
A smoky haze - along with the smell of burning wood - hung over the area, causing slowdowns on crowded interstates and roads leading into Atlanta as motorists drove through the heavy cloud of smoke during morning rush hour.
South of Atlanta, the haze blanketed Interstate 75, reducing visibility to a couple of miles for motorists headed to Perry.
People headed in from outdoors complained of watery eyes and difficulty in breathing.
Smoke from the wildfires burning in southeast Georgia, including the Okefenokee Swamp, began showing up in Thomaston, about 50 miles south of Atlanta, between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Beasley said. Smoke also covered Columbus in west Georgia.
Beasley advised people with respiratory problems to stay inside.
"Right now we don't have a lot of wind circulation," Beasley said. But he said the smoke would lessen when the sun came out and the wind swung to the east later in the day, picking up speed.
Beasley said a front moving through the area Wednesday also should bring some relief.
"We should get fresher air off the Atlantic and from the Carolinas, where they're not having fires," he said.
The Weather Service said smoke from the wildfires would remain over much of north and middle Georgia through the afternoon and reduce air quality, especially in metro Atlanta, Columbus and Macon.
Susan Zimmer-Dauphinee is program manager of the unit that monitors the quality of air people breathe for the state Environmental Protection Division. The EPD issued a Code Orange smog alert for the Atlanta area Tuesday, meaning the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
"Part of the reason for the Code Orange is that we knew we would have smoke coming into the area, but we've had a little more than we expected," she said.
She said the smoke is made up of minute particles that can enter the blood stream through the lungs, making the air dangerous for people with heart conditions and respiratory problems.
The forecast calls for no rain for at least the next seven days. Beasley said an exception may be the mountains in extreme northeast Georgia, which may see a few thundershowers Wednesday.
"It looks like the rest of May will have little or no rain at this point," Beasley said. "There's a slight chance the very last day of the month or so."
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the smoky haze reduced visibility at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to about a mile and a half but caused no real problem.
Tuesday's haze was not the first time Atlanta area residents were touched by the far away fire.
Last week, 911 dispatchers in metro Atlanta received dozens of calls from residents who smelled the smoky odor and thought a fire had broken out in a neighbor's home. The smoke drifted as far east as Augusta and north to the Carolinas.
The wildfires have blackened more than 473,000 acres of parched forest and swampland in drought-stricken southeast Georgia and north Florida. Commercial timber losses are estimated to be at least $30 million.
On Tuesday, a task force monitoring the blazes for the two states said wildfires in Georgia have burned more than 350,556 acres, and fires in north Florida have burned 122,643 acres.
The two big Georgia fires - started April 16 and May 5 - have merged in the Okefenokee Swamp.
The April fire started when a tree fell onto a power line near Waycross. The second blaze was started by lightning in the Okefenokee Swamp and spread into Florida.

New ducks, planters and lights.

Here's a picture of our new ducks, planters and outdoor lighting.

The three new planters and ten low voltage outdoor lights were found at a garage sale! The ducks were from Kohls.

I spent yesterday wiring the low voltage outdoor lights that are hooked to an outdoor timer. Last night at 9 PM the lights came on lighting up our garden and patio area.

We ate dinner and watched Heroes on the deck last night.

More and More!

This is only a small part of this years Lily display. Our friend Molly suggests separating them next year and replanting along the back of our garden close to the deck. That would create a wall of Lilies.

New Ducks!

Beth found these plastic ducks on sale at Kohls Saturday. They make a great addition to our garden.

You can visit Kohls at http://www.kohls.com/main/home.jsp

Sunday Morning Patio Breakfast

Here's part of the pack waiting for their breakfast Sunday morning! It was a beautiful morning to enjoy our new patio furniture.

We ate our breakfast, drank our coffee and enjoyed catching up with "Heroes".

If you haven't been watching Heroes its worth a watch. Great SiFi. Check it out at http://www.nbc.com/Heroes

Woodstock Morning

I took full advantage of another beautiful morning by having my breakfast on the deck.
I could sit out there all day!

Darth Squirrel

In my continuing efforts to keep the evil under lord “Darth Squirrel” away from my bird feeders I have installed a personal feeding station in a galaxy far, far away on a tree at the edge of the yard. Darth Squirrel waits impatiently every morning while his lowly slave cleans and refreshes his feeding station.
“Beth don’t we have a pellet gun around here some place????”

Help!!!!

Janie somehow got her tongue stuck to her nose this morning however I was able to remove it with a kiss.
Somehow I always catch these dogs doing something stupid, lol!

Yellow Daylilies

Our yellow Daylilies are starting to bloom too!

More and More!

This morning we had several new blooms!

First Bloom!

The first bloom on Mr. Stempson's lilies appeared this morning. I have counted over 50 blooms almost ready to open!

Beautiful Morning In Georgia.

Was just enjoying my coffee this morning and thought I'd share how beautiful our garden and new patio furniture looks.

I'm shopping for a patio umbrella later this afternoon and wiring the outdoor lights.

We plan to add more brick trim to finish the edge around the garden this weekend.

New Patio Furniture

New patio furniture for our deck. We also bought Beth a new lounging chair so she can lay back and read.

We had dinner on the deck this evening.

New Extended Garden.

We spent today working on the extended garden located off our deck steps. We started by laying 2 rolls of garden fabric, 25 edging stones, 13 bags of bark, 8 patio stones, 4 outdoor lights and transplanted 3 bushes that were to close to the woods and were be shaded out.

We moved the BBQ off the deck to this new area which left more room for the new patio furniture we bought today.

Hummingbird Feeding Season

We spotted two Hummingbirds last week end so the feeders went up today. We added this new feeder hanging among the flowers.

Canadians Walking!

Last night Beth and I took Judd and June to dinner at Stoney River for Mothers Day/Judd's birthday.

While walking to the car after dinner we noticed these Canadians walking in the parking lot, lol!!!

Atlanta's Olympic Torch Viewing Pavilion

I took this picture of Atlanta's Olympic Torch Viewing Pavilion the other day while driving downtown.

The 1996 Games were given a dramatic start when the cauldron was lit by Muhammad Ali. On 27 July during a concert held in the Centennial Olympic Park, a terrorist bomb killed one person and injured a further 110 people, but the Atlanta Games are best remembered for their sporting achievements. A record-setting 79 nations won medals and 53 won gold. Carl Lewis became only the third person to win the same individual event four times and the fourth person to earn a ninth gold medal. Naim Suleymanoglu became the first weightlifter to win a third gold medal. Michael Johnson smashed the 200m world record to complete a 200m and 400m double.

Lola Enjoys Days Outside

Lola is enjoying her new transportable hutch. I wheel her out in the morning to a shaded area beside the garage door where after breakfast she naps away the day.

Digitalis Foxy In Bloom!

The Digitalis Foxy that I planted a few weeks ago for Beth's Hummingbird garden are blooming also.

Beth reported her first Hummingbird yesterday.

Daises Galore

Beth's daises are in full bloom on the front porch.