作者:郝霄虹 Haybina Hao
The plane landed at Savannah International Airport. This Atlantic-side city in the southeastern United States is the backdrop for one of the most iconic scenes in the movie Forrest Gump: "Life is like a box of chocolates, you don't know what you're going to get." "With a population of about 150,000 and 17 million visitors in 2022, Savannah has been voted the "Best Quality of Life and Travel Experience Destination" by Travel + Leisure magazine. This time, you should immerse yourself in its wonderful, legends and mysteries.
Imprint of history
Founded in 1733, Savannah was the first city in Georgia and the first city in the United States to be built according to urban planning. Downtown retains 22 squares, the largest National Historic Landmark in the United States. The neighborhood has squares, gardens, sculptures, benches, and is surrounded by buildings from the 18th to the early 20th century. Over the years, the square and oak trees have silently carried the joys and sorrows of nearly 300 years.
△州立沃姆斯洛历史遗址 Wormsloe State Historic Site
图源:Visit Savannah萨瓦纳旅游局
I went to the 1755 City Market to experience the city's fireworks. Cast iron clocks, famous shops in the city, horse-drawn carriages, museums, all kinds of meals, warm and permeating. Savannah Candy Factory's fabulous coffee and ice cream wander the streets. Byrd's Biscuit Shop since 1924, Leopold's Ice Cream (1919), U.S. Customs. Custom House, 1852, Central Railroad & Bank Building, 1864, Savannah Cotton Exchange, 1887, then the second largest cotton port in the world, and dinner at The Pirate's House, 1734...... Savannah unfolds a long picture of history......
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
In 1994, the book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" brought Savannah to overnight exposure. John Berendt, a New York-based author who investigated Savannah's murder for eight years, wrote "Midnight," which topped the New York Times bestseller list for 216 consecutive weeks and won the Pulitzer Prize. Over the next eight years, Midnight was reprinted more than 100 times, translated into 23 foreign languages, and domestic and foreign tourists flocked to visit the "most beautiful" crime scenes. "Midnight" also led to concert tours, film shoots, and documentary shoots throughout the United States. The latest musical will be staged in Chicago in June 2024 and on Broadway in the fall.
"Midnight" is about the true events of Jim Williams, an internationally renowned antique dealer, who shot and killed Danny Hansford, a "little gangster", and was tried 4 times before he was finally released. It is a non-fiction genre, but the author tells the characters and details like a story, and depicts the richness of characters from all walks of life, as well as colorful local cultures and anecdotes.
△ Savannah Riverside landscape
图源:Visit Savannah萨瓦纳旅游局
Midnight magically spurred Savannah's tourism industry, with new tourist products, cottage industries and gift shops, and a nearly 25% increase in hotel tax revenue in the city in two years, with the Savannah Economic Development Board awarding a special award to the author of Midnight. The scene of the murder – the Mercer Williams House Museum is still crowded with visitors. I visited the first-floor lobby, Jim's study, dining room, and the extravagant furniture and antiques, and there seemed to be a hint of blood in the air. The museum is located in the Plaza de Monterey, and other notable buildings include the Congregation Mickve Israel, the third oldest synagogue in the United States. Thirty years on, Savannah's charm has not diminished in the slightest, and it seems to be getting fuller.
Savannah's business card: Girl Scouts
Another of Savannah's pride is the Girl Guides of America (GSUSA), founded in 1912 by Savannah half-deaf Juliette Gordon Low, who now has 1.7 million members. She has made a career and influenced the development of the International Girl Scouts. In 2012, Obama posthumously awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest citizen award.
The mission of the Girl Scouts is to "make the world a better place by developing brave, confident and characterful girls." It admits girls, is tutored by mothers, and strictly follows the activity manual of the headquarters. Take the annual biscuit sales as an example, which not only raises funds for the collective, but also exercises individual sales and comprehensive business skills. The annual sales of about $1 billion in biscuits show the strength of the girls' unity!
朱丽叶的故居和附属建筑，被列入“国家历史地名录”（National Register of Historic Places）。 1953年GSUSA购买了此房，挂牌“女童军第一个总部”（Girl Scout First Headquarters），是热点博物馆，常年吸引着游客和各地女童军。
Over the past 70 years, the museum has faced challenges in preserving and keeping up with the times, such as installing elevators to make it easier for all visitors while the building is intact, reinforcing the timber frame and adding new offices on the top floor. The exterior of the building was restored in 2012 at a cost of $2.5 million, and it still welcomed more than 80,000 visitors that year, celebrating GSUSA's 100th anniversary. GSUSA's dedication to protection has won numerous awards at the municipal, state, and national levels.
Savannah Business Card: HSF
Savannah has faced several disasters in its history, and then turned the corner, and it seems that there is a helper in the dark. During the Civil War, General Sherman's 60,000 Northern troops across Georgia to the East Coast reached Savannah, where about 10,000 Southern defenders had fled, and Mayor Richard Arnold signed a surrender begging Sherman to spare Savannah. Atlanta had been razed by the time, and later Charlston, South Carolina, but Sherman kept Savannah. He telegraphed to President Lincoln: Your Christmas present is the city of Savannah and 25,000 bales of cotton.
In 1955, the first protectors of Savannah appeared, and the cause of protecting Savannah began. The city centre was in decline, the buildings were empty and dilapidated, and a funeral home was demolishing the 135-year-old Isaiah Davenport House. Seven women rose up to form the Historic Savannah Foundation (HSF) and campaigned for support from the community, raising $22,500 to buy the building, repair it and put it back into use. It became a museum in 1963 and is still a masterpiece of architecture today, welcoming 35,000 visitors a year. The HSF office building next to it houses an exhibit detailing the stories of the ladies and the HSF's rescue for decades to come. With their foresight and courage, they led to a new consciousness and action to preserve the city's history, in order to save an old house, and finally a city!
△ Seven pioneers in the protection of historic buildings
Source: HSF Savannah Historical Foundation
The HSF "Revolving Fund" model guarantees sustainability. It finances the purchase of old houses, cleans them up for technical stabilization and protection, and then sells them by tender. The sale comes with an easement certificate, and the buyer undertakes permanent protection and accepts HSF maintenance supervision. The proceeds from the sale of the house are returned to the "revolving fund", and so on and so forth. To date, HSF has saved 420 homes in Savannah, a model that has been replicated by many U.S. cities.
Savannah's business card: SCAD
Legend has it that Savannah was the source of inspiration, and I wonder what feng shui it has, but one thing is certain: it successfully gave birth to Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). SCAD is the largest art school in the United States, with Atlanta and France campuses and an online education academy, with more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs, and more than 17,500 students from more than 120 countries this year. In the Rookies Global ® School Rankings®, SCAD ranked No. 1 creative school in the United States, No. 1 in the world's best product design schools (for three consecutive years), and No. 1 in the best immersive media schools in the United States.
The founder, Paula Wallace, was 29 years old at the time, a high school teacher, who couldn't stand the old-fashioned boredom of school and decided to start her own school. She seemed to hear Savannah's call, imagining that those squares were natural classrooms, and that there was a way out between heaven and earth, and Go!
She bought the dilapidated Poetter Hall from 1892 and remodeled it herself to become the first SCAD building. This was followed by a series of purchases and renovations of old houses, with the participation of architectural design students. To date, SCAD has renovated nearly 80 houses, laying a solid foundation for the college and preserving the historic architectural art of Savannah. The National Trust for Historic Preservation honored her with the Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award, the highest honor.
△SCAD 2023 Film Festival
图源:Visit Savannah萨瓦纳旅游局
SCAD's buildings are scattered throughout the building and are accessible by school buses. Students shuttle through the city all day long, immersed in the ocean of architecture, history, art, religion, and legends, absorbing various artistic elements, without the rigidity and constraints of conventional universities, happy mood, and relaxed brains, is this conducive to stimulating creativity? SCAD has bred many stars, including Pulitzer Prize winner Matt Davies, Grammy Award winner India Arie, etc., and the employment rate and employment + attendance rate of 2022 graduates have reached 99%.
SCAD has injected tremendous economic dynamism into Savannah. The Savannah Film Festival, sports events and competitions, graduation ceremonies, etc., attract a large number of visitors, promote tourism, stimulate consumption and employment. I talked to the local residents and they said: these young guys are very presumptuous, they are still party kings on the weekend, and they are noisy, but we still like them, they make people feel fresh and bring us a lot of fun!
Savannah's business card: Savannah Theatre
Perry Lane 酒店的屋顶露天酒吧通透温馨。 天际线一抹落日红霞，配着红酒加烤鸡翅，美得醉人！在此小憩，等待街对面“萨瓦纳剧院”（The Historic Savannah Theatre）的夜场演出《萨瓦纳动感》（Savanna Live）。
△ Perry Lane Hotel rooftop open-air bar
Oooooo
This is an old theater that opened in 1818, with about 550 seats, burgundy curtains, and 1940s décor. The music sounded, high-intensity cabaret performances, performing Broadway musicals, rock, the hottest singers and songs of the decades, hi for 2 hours, but the song and dance troupe was less than 20 people!
Twenty years ago, Michael and his son came from Missouri in search of an opportunity to discover the dilapidated and unused theater. The negotiations were successful, the contract was signed for 10 years, and the renovation project began. In the background, I saw the original brick wall from 1818, dark red and vicissitudes, and the handwriting carved by the predecessors.
The opening of the theater was very popular, enriching the lives of residents and adding tourism projects. Time flies, the second 10-year contract and the third 10-year contract are signed. Today, it is run by the second generation of Matthew Meece, and the professional actors come from all over the country. Two generations of Mr. Meece have brought the stage back to the stage, gifted the audience with art, and created a new business card - "the longest-running theater in the United States".
Savannah's creative talents
Savannah may have a real aura, and it has produced many creative talents that have shocked the United States, such as the following: Johnny Mercer (Johnny Mercer) was a thunderous Hollywood musical all-round talent in the middle of the last century, a lyricist, composer, singer, and co-founder of a record label, who wrote more than 1,400 songs and lyrics, died in 1976 and is buried in Bonaventure Cemetery. The "Midnight" movie uses 14 of his compositions. The house built by his great-grandfather, General Hugh W. Mercer, in the 1860s, happened to be the scene of the crime in Midnight. Tourists often opt for a package trip to Wende Cemetery to visit the graves of Johnny, antique dealer Jim, "Gangsters" and others.
△海鸟蛎鹬
图源：Visit Tybee Island
Flannery O'Connor, a famous short story writer who wrote satirically and penchanted to use grotesque characters, died at the age of 39. After his death, Complete Stories won the 1972 National Book Award. My childhood home was a museum, and I was surprised to see her report card, and her strongest subject was always mathematics! What a brilliant woman! Many of her golden sentences hung on the wall, and her writing was sharp and philosophical.
Opened in 1989, Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady and Sons, specializes in Southern American cooking, with signature dishes such as meatloaf, shrimp bisque and peach pie. She has published cookbooks, TV shows, magazines, special merchandise, skincare cosmetics and gifts, and won the first prize of the National Small Business of the Year. She renovated a 200-year-old building, which integrates restaurants, offices, and shops, and is an inevitable check-in place for domestic tourists. Paula, 76, is still juggling the restaurant and beyond.
There are all kinds of creative cows and gods, is Savannah really a city of aura?
Savannah's Business Card: The most ghostly town
My unexpected calling card was "America Most Haunted City," according to research by the American Institute of Parapsychology, Duke University. Duke University, a pioneer in the field of parapsychology research, has studied all of the nation's famous "ghost towns" and officially awarded Savannah the plaque.
"Ghost" is used to describe the soul of the deceased, that is, "spirits" in English. Many Savannah people have encountered "spirits" and believe in their existence. They explained that the "spirits" had not been properly housed due to unjust deaths and simple mass burials in the past, so they were sending a message over and over again. Several wars, many infectious diseases, fires, murders, slavery, etc., in the history of Savannah, caused a large number of unnatural deaths. After the group burial, many houses were built directly on the ground, "Savanna is a city built on the died." ”
Interestingly, the Savannah Tourist Office does not shy away from the title of "ghost town", but pushes the boat with the flow. The website of the tourism office recommends the scariest hotels and cooperates with the industry to promote the "Night Ghost Tour" (there are more than 40 night ghost tour products in the city, all of which are creepy). The tourism bureau does not deny that "ghost town" is an important feature of its own, and it is also aware of its business opportunities, many tourists love this, and there are many hot searches on the Internet "Top 10 Most Haunted Places in Savannah" and "Top 10 Most Haunted Theaters in Savannah", and the price of famous haunted hotels is higher than that of ordinary hotels. Incorporating "black tourism" into the tourism promotion strategy has an additional selling point, and the presentation of the city is more complete and real. Kudos to Visit Savannah!
△ Cocktail "Bloody Mary"
Source: B. Watthews Restaurant
The Paranormal Society of Savannah was born when the Spirits' frequent activities had a negative impact and the community was in need to investigate and even solve problems. I had an interesting conversation with Patrick Welsh, the founder of the association.
He first met "Spirit" when he was 6 years old and was his great-grandfather. Out of interest, he founded an association 30 years ago to serve the community for free, with peers interested in the paranormal. The association provides training to help more people master investigative skills. Everyone goes to work during the day, checks for "ghosts" at night, purchases professional equipment at their own expense, and solves traffic at their own expense. By detecting tools and skills, identifying the needs of the "spirits", and then intervening accordingly, such as rearranging furniture or tearing down a wall, the "spirits" may stop harassing. Patrick has appeared on several television shows, First Look on NBC and Haunted Hotels, all reality shows. The 2021 film "A Savannah Haunting" is the true story of producer Mark McCullough himself, with Patrick also participating. This type of show is very exciting and has quite an audience. Patrick says he feels fulfilled by these activities. I think for him, these have nothing to do with science, nothing to do with philosophy, just to solve some practical problems in the life of the community, it is enough.
Tybi Island – a continuation of Savannah
Tybee Island, located 30 kilometres from Savannah, is home to the Tybee Island Marine Science Center, an important institution for the protection of marine life. Endangered sea turtles come to the island from May to October each year to lay their eggs, and the centre is involved in conservation, rescue and rehabilitation, as well as the rescue of the Malaclemys terrapin centrata. Animals are rescued and sent to a veterinarian or Georgia Turtle Center for treatment. When a pregnant turtle dies in a car accident, the center takes the eggs and transports them to the state university for incubation. Chantal Audran, the director of the center, took me on a tour of the center's marine animal aquarium and talked about the responsibilities and fun of marine scientists. She said that the center's baby turtle "Ike" was rescued when she was born, and she has lived in the center for three years and has seen 300,000 viewers. It was released into the sea in September this year, and the islanders were reluctant to see it off. May the chip on its body provide data for the study of marine life.
△ Protect the Carolina diamond turtle in rearing
Oooooo
There are more than 200 species of birds, and the beach is 5 km long, where visitors can enjoy cycling, surfing, sailing, dolphin watching, inshore or deep-sea fishing, and charter sailing adventures. There are more than 30 hotels and accommodations on the island. Famous for seafood, wild shrimp and oysters are a must-try. Don't miss the "Sundea Café" at our lunch "Sundea Café", which is a country cuisine with strong flavors and fresh ingredients!
△ "Captain's Crab Platter" at The Crab Shack at Tybee Island Restaurant
图源：Visit Tybee Island
The island's historic attractions include the 1773 Lighthouse for a view, Fort Screven in 1898 listed on the National Register of Historic Records, the Tybee Museum with its collection of more than 400 years of the island's history, the Black History Trail for the lives and heritage of slaves and their descendants on the island, and the UNESCO designated "Place of Memory" in 2019 as one of the ports where slaves arrived during the slave trade （Site of Memory）。
△ Tabi Island
图源:Visit Savannah萨瓦纳旅游局
It seems that the trip is complete when you arrive at Tabi Island. In addition to the land, there is also the sea, in addition to the protection of buildings, there is also the protection of life, in addition to the closed-loop tranquility of the park, there is also the infinite sky. As I say goodbye to Savannah, I should say that there has never been a city that has left me so intrigued. It seems to have enough energy and aura to accommodate differences, so that the smart and the grotesque coexist, the noble and the mediocre coexist, the world and the underworld coexist, and the individual coexists. This is a city with magical energy and a high degree of tolerance, where there are infinite possibilities between heaven and earth, visible and invisible.
The author is a former vice president of the National Travel Association of the United States, former director of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Greater China, and is currently a media professional in the tourism industry and a distinguished expert of the International Mountain Tourism Alliance.
First trial: Rao Juan
Second trial: Wu Dan
Third trial: Zhang Yijing