Savannah Water Front

No trip to Savannah would be complete without exploring the waterfront and docks which was the main reason for its existence. All of the buildings at the docks were used to sort and store cotton for shipment to England. Empty ships would arrive full of stone ballast which kept the ship stable crossing the ocean. Once cotton was loaded the ballast was thrown on the streets because it wasn't needed. All of the streets in this area are made of that ballast (and bumpy as all get out, as well).

As we walked along the docks (which are beautiful), plaques tell about Savannah's history. Did you know Savannah is the busiest port in the US after New York? Well, neither did I. Far in the distance you can see some of the docks which are used to load ships bound for all over the world. Even clay from a small Georgia town is shipped to England because it makes the best porcelain in the world. Nice smooth toilets! The bridge in the background is new because as the ocean carrying ships get bigger, the bridge had to be raised to allow them to pass underneath.

One of the ships that call Savannah home is the barquentine "Peacemaker". Isn't that a cool designation for a ship? Barquentine. Just saying it makes you sound so knowledgeable. You're welcome to use it. Anyway, it was built in Brazil by a family of shipbuilders from Italy using traditional methods. The original owners sailed her to Savannah for final outfitting but for some reason nothing happened and it was finally sold 11 years later. It is now used to teach sailing to rich yuppies.

Tours are offered so, never passing up something free, we took our leave to visit the barquentine (just can't stop saying it). Carmen is inspecting the front (bow) and in the background you can see the tour boat we'll be taking shortly for a tour of the harbour. Her sharp commands "raise the mizzen mast" and "belay the yardarm" rang out. I was getting concerned we'd be either shipping out or sinking shortly.

I was relegated to the rear (stern) where my commands fell on deaf ears. You don't get much respect standing on the poop deck I suppose. I was careful to watch where I stepped, thats for sure!
This was a beautiful ship and immaculately maintained; I guess thats why they asked us to leave.

Eventually, it was time for our tour and we boarded our riverboat. Its not as authentic as the barquentine was but is better suited to carry 200 people I guess.

The buildings behind me were the cotton storage buildings and look as they did 200 years ago. Except for the trendy awnings of course. After arriving here, the cotton was graded and then run through Eli Whitneys cotton gin to ensure only bales of pure cotton were shipped to England. Nowadays most gin comes from the Juniper berry, but thats another story. The top floor of these buildings was occupied by factors who did all the grading, buying and selling of the cotton. Their harried existence led to the term factories. You can thank me later for any new knowledge you have acquired.

This is the other tour boat. You'll notice it had a paddle wheel, ours didn't, but we tried not to let that spoil our day. The dome in the background is Savannah's city hall (coincidentally, its at the end of Bull Street, read  into that what you will). The gold on the dome is now worth more than the original cost of  the whole building. It cost $200,000.00 to build the building in the 1800's; the gold is now estimated at $275,000.00.

The city of Savannah is a few miles away from the ocean up the Savannah river in a huge natural harbour. It is not a bay on the ocean so the strongest storms have little effect on this harbour. It is considered one of the best harbours in the world. You heard it here first folks!