Ghosts & Gravestones Tour

I took a walk on the dark side while in Savannah with the Ghosts & Gravestones tour.  We boarded the trolly at 7:40 pm and toured the same territory I went through on the historical tour, except that this time I got all the dirt on the ghosts and their favorite haunting places.  Our first stop was at the Colonial Park Cemetery where Union soldiers are said to have camped during the Civil War - or the Great Unpleasantness as the locals refer to it. 

Union soldiers are said to have done two unforgivable things while occupying the cemetery.  In a particularly slow period of the war they passed time by swapping headstones from grave to grave.  Leaving poor dead souls to wander the grounds at night searching for their proper marker.

The second unforgivable thing takes a little more explanation. Even though cemetery holds several large mausoleums people in Savannah are not interred above ground as they are in New Orleans.  During the coldest part of winter, the occupying soldiers broke into the mausoleums to sleep so they wouldn't freeze to death.  Creepy but effective. 

It seems the cemetery was also the site of a mass grave.  While the cemetery's official numbers are at about 600, there are records that indicate upwards of 8,000 bodies buried there.  Come to find out there are bodies buried under the sidewalk and under the streets.  My question is what did they do when they installed water and sewer lines and other buried cable.  I'll bet that was a big surprise for utility crews.

Perkins & Sons Chandlery was our final stop of the tour.  It was a good setting for scaring the crap out of adults and kids alike with spooky pirate tales. 

The stories were good, the air conditioning even better, and the effects were awesome. I highly recommend this tour.

Touring Savannah

The Kehoe House

Grand entrance into Kehoe House

The Pirates' House.  For a time, alcohol and "strong spirits" were prohibited in Savannah, except to pirates.  Who would dare tell a pirate he couldn't drink?  Today, the Pirates' House is one of the most popular restaurants in Savannah.

Just an empty lot?  Nope.  This site was the official dueling grounds of Savannah. Terrible offenses and  affronts were settled here.  Immediately to the left of this photo and over a wrought-iron fence lies a cemetery.  Location, location, location!

This home was purchased by a guy from San Francisco.  Shortly after he bought the home, he painted it this gaudy color.  Natives of Savannah were not amused.  In fact, they were shocked.  When asked what he could possibly be thinking, he told people that its called a painted lady and its a popular color in San Francisco.  Even though the architecture is of the period of surrounding homes, it sticks out like a sore thumb because of the color.  To each his own . . .

What we refer to as Spanish Moss, is really not Spanish at  all.  It's buggy, dirty and smelly.  People used this moss to stuff mattresses and would wake up with bites, rashes, etc.  It's where the phrase "don't let the bed bugs bite" originated.  Beautiful to look at but that's about it.  Best left on the tree.

Telfair Hospital.  Originally established for women only.  No men were allowed unless they were born in the hospital.  Today it's a retirement home.  The majority of the residents are men.  Ironic. . .

East River Street looking West.

Walking along West River Street.

A 300 year old oak tree named "Baby."

Dorsette House.  This house was moved onto logs and rolled to its present location in an attempt by the owners to avoid the IRS.  Didn't find out if they were successful.

Mercer House

Oldest Catholic Cathedral in the US

Owens-Thomas Home.  Last remaining slave quarters in the city.

Along River Street

Iron work in Savannah's Historic District

Why it's called Sleeping in Matlock

This August will mark the 15th anniversary of living in Matlock. Matlock is one of those interesting little unincorporated timber communities that is 20 miles from anywhere. It consists of one general store, a post office, two churches, a K-12 school, a fire station, and a Grange hall. Oh yeah, and a recently built mini-storage facility. That's it. It's claim to fame is an over-romanticized outlaw by the name of John Turnow and an annual Old Timers Festival that has recently been renamed Matlock Days. Not sure why it was renamed, but there you have it.

When my children were in the school system there always seemed to be an over-abundance of juicy gossip that found its way to my house. These days though, it's pretty quiet. Just like the dwindling forests the gossip stream has been reduced to almost nothing. I like less gossip, but I'd like more trees.

Matlockians take a lot guff from non-Matlockians for living there. For example, here are the burning questions non-Matlockians have asked me over the years: 1) Did you marry your cousin and that's why you moved there; 2) Do they still find dead bodies in Matlock; and 3) Why would anyone not from there live there? Because I commute to Olympia each day for work, my standard response to these questions is usually some form of "I'm not from there, I just sleep there." Hence the name of this blog.