Deep South Tour - Fall 2011 - Day 16

We had the usual buffet breakfast and set off into Savannah, Julia’s internet research had yielded Savannah Dan who did daily walking tours of the city. We found his starting point and waited. Julia had spoken to his wife on our mobile so we knew we were in the right place and several other couples arrived to reinforce our belief. Just after ten Savannah Dan appeared, He was slightly large than life, dressed in a pale cream seersucker suit and matching Panama hat, he introduced himself and saluted another man in our group who had also been in the US Military, when he got no real reaction from the ex-soldier he kept his salute in position and remarked, “I never drop mine until I get one back!” His victim threw him back a salute and the briefing continued, “As we will be on crossings cars should stop for us, but let me get the traffic stopped before you cross. They will yield to seersucker!”
His outline of the development of Savannah was very illuminating, he pointed out that the city was a grid of squares joined by streets; he claimed that at each square two sides were devoted to banking and commerce while the other two were housing. We were starting at Johnson Square, named for Governor Robert Johnson of South Carolina who had supported the colonists in their early stages.
The walk took us to the next square which was where Tomo-Chi-Chi, was buried. He was the great chief of the Yamacraws, the local tribe of native Americans, who had befriended the settlers and on his deathbed he announced that he wanted to be buried with his new friends. Some years later his gravesite which formed a monumental mound in the center of Wright Square was destroyed to make room for the erection of the Gordon Monument. The wife of the governor of the time took it upon herself to take up arms in defense of Tomo-Chi-Chi and managed to get a memorial placed in the square. On it an inscription reads: "In memory of Tom-o-chi-chi. The mico of the Yamacraws, The Companion of Oglethorpe, and the Friend and Ally of the Colony of Georgia." it is possible this is the only memorial erected for a Native American by descendants of European settlers.
SD told us that the ground around the stone is beaten flat and kept weed-free by the many Girl Scouts that he takes on tours, he gets them to run round the stone three times chanting, “Speak to us Tomo-Chi-Chi great Mico of the Yamacraw” when they complete their circuits he tells them to put their ears against the stone to hear what he says.
He then asks what they heard and someone always says, “Nothing!” To which he replies, “He always says that!” SD went on to say that there is always one Girl Scout who doesn’t get it, “Bless her heart” he remarked.
The best bit of the tour is Forrest Gump’s bench. First SD pointed out the iconic white steeple which the feather drifts past on the wind, then we reached Chipawa Square, there is a flowerbed by the roadside but no bench. This was where they filmed the opening scene, when Forrest is waiting for a bus. The first bus approaches from the right of the shot and Forrest remains seated. As SD pointed out, the bus arrives coming the wrong way down a one way street, this meant that in addition to all the other arrangements made for the filming the traffic was rerouted. There were most of the Savannah police and Sheriff’s department was at the shoot. There was no great excitement about the whole thing at the time; in fact most people felt that Tom Hanks looking stupid was not news. However, when the film broke box office records and won Oscars, Savannah regretted their previous indifference and wanted as much credit for their part in the venture as possible. They requested a bench to be placed in the municipal museum and the film makers obliged with one of several they had produced in fibre glass for studio takes. Meanwhile the original bench was unaccounted for, SD told us that when shooting was finally over and the circus was moving on, the props master faced with the choice of packing the bench away or offering it to anyone who wanted it he took the easier option, which is why it is in the back yard of a Savannah police sergeant to this day.
We had preceded a couple of blocks when Forrest Gump ran down the other side of the street, without breaking stride SD remarked, “That there is Forrest Gump. Coach. Just a local idiot.” Quoting straight from the movie.
We passed the home of the American Girl Scouts where they were founded. Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low assembled 18 girls from Savannah, Georgia, on March 12, 1912, for a local Girl Scout meeting. She believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. With the goal of bringing girls out of isolated home environments and into community service and the open air, Girl Scouts hiked, played basketball, went on camping trips, learned how to tell time by the stars, and studied first aid. It also, as SD told us, gave her something to do while her wealthy husband ignored her and brought his mistress into their house.
The tour was one of the best things we did on our entire trip; I would have loved to record the full commentary. When we passed the cemetery he told us two stories which stick with me.
When Henry Ford launched production of his Model T Ford he used a plentiful natural resource, Spanish Moss, to stuff the upholstery as it was so much cheaper than horse hair. Within weeks the mites in the vegetation had bitten all the drivers causing itching and soreness, this led to the first ever total recall, all 32 vehicles.
When Savannah was taken by the Union army their troops were billeted in the cemetery, they made space for their tents by breaking the headstones off at ground level and stacking them against the outer walls. They also evicted the remains from mausoleums in order to sleep inside. Less understandable was the looting from the bodies and the vandalism of headstones for humour, apparently by altering letters and numbers with their bayonet points they produced people who had died before they were born. SD was still quite bitter about all this and he remarked, “The North won the war but we got Sweet tea, Nascar and Lynyrd Skynyrd so its all good!”
While I was amused by his quip I actually take issue with the idea that the sort of hardened soldiers who had fought through the Civil War and seen all its horrors could be criticized for not being sensitive to the long dead in the territory of their enemy.
At the end of the tour we paid SD and he said that please feel free to write positive reviews of him on the various travel sites but could we please not claim he had any supernatural powers for fear of his next customers being disappointed that he couldn’t fly.
Our first stop in Savannah now we were free to explore was Leopold’s Ice Cream Parlour, SD had told us its story as we had passed, it basically combines the best ice cream in the world with movie memorabilia. Having originally opened in 1919 by three immigrant brothers from Greece: George, Peter, and Basil Leopold who learned the art of candy and dessert from an uncle who had already settled in America. The brothers perfected the secret formulas and created the world famous Leopold’s VeriBest ice cream. The original Leopold’s Ice Cream shop closed in 1969. Stratton Leopold, the youngest child of Peter Leopold, kept many of the original fixtures in storage while he pursued his dreams of working in Hollywood. On August 18 of 2004, Stratton and his wife Mary officially reopened the legendary family business. The original fixtures Stratton had kept were used, including the black marble soda fountain and wooden interior phone booth. The shop has a beautiful old-fashioned flair with some modern decorative additions – posters and props from Stratton Leopold’s film career.
We opted for a double scoop on a cornet and immediately realised that a single scoop would have been enough but it was so good.
Next we headed down to the dockside and walked along, as we strolled there was a fly past of two WW2 bombers and I got a great shot of the B17 Flying Fortress but the Liberator was almost out of range.
We next walked up Martin Luther King Street to the tourist information office, Julia went in and asked about the planes and the staff suggested going to visit the Museum of the Mighty Eighth Airforce.
We drove out to Pooler and found the Mighty Eighth Airforce Museum, it took me some time but I worked out eventually that the Eighth was a large combination of all the USAF aircraft operating out of the UK. These aircraft were either long range bombers or their escorts. The RAF undertook the night operations over occupied Europe and Germany while the Americans did the day light operations. Both forces suffered horrendous casualties, the RAF Bomber command suffered 55% losses over the duration of the war and the USAF were similar. I recently watched a programme on TV about the famous Dambuster raid, the Squadron Leader was Guy Gibson, he not only dropped the first bomb but he then followed the rest of his team down their bombing runs to draw some of the enemy antiaircraft fire, anyway his plane and crew returned safe from that raid but by the end of the war they were all dead.
Bomber Command has a personal significance for Julia’s family, her uncle Geoff, her mother’s brother aged 20, was killed on a bombing raid when his plane was shot down, of course that meant that Julia never knew Geoff, Uncle Albert survived the war despite being shot down over Holland. His story needs to be told, when the plane was on fire and doomed, he could not persuade another crew member to jump, and eventually he had to leave him. After being looked after by a Dutch family for several days, Albert decided that he could not keep putting them at risk and left their house. When he was captured and interrogated he asked innocently about which part of Germany he was in, hoping that this would imply he had been hiding from everyone since he had landed. It may have worked because I know he went back to visit the family after the war.
It was poignant then that the museum has an Escape and Evasion Exhibit which is housed within a helper’s home known as a safe house, which allowed many downed fliers to escape from Nazi-occupied countries and return to England.
The POW Exhibit explores daily life for those fliers captured by the Germans, including an examination of their treatment and living conditions, Albert was involved in a “Death March” as his POW camp was evacuated in the face of the allied advance but he survived again.
The exhibits were impressive; I always enjoy the real planes so the Museum’s very own B-17 Flying Fortress being restored as the “City of Savannah” had a special appeal. This time however I enjoyed as much a model of a USAF base showing the base of the 401st Bomb Group. Each 8th Air Force Bomb or Fighter Group had its own air base in England with a similar layout. I found it helped me understand what we had seen in York when we visited RAF Elvington which was a wartime bombing station and is now home to The Yorkshire Air Museum. The control tower at Elvington has a situations board displayed which shows a flight of Halfax bombers, listed by their call signs, that have just undertaken a mission, one failed to set out, engine trouble, several had returned at various times dependant on their damage, and at least three were overdue, feared lost. It brought home something of the true feelings of the time.
In the same way at Pooler visitors have the opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices made by the veterans as they visit the Chapel of the Fallen Eagles. This beautiful stone chapel is built to resemble an English chapel and is meant to give visitors a place of quiet reflection it may in fact do more since not all Americans travel abroad and they may have little clear idea where loved ones spent their last days.
Incidentally while speaking to one of the veterans at the museum I was introduced to the legend of Major General Lewis E. Lyle, he was instrumental in getting the museum up and running but as a younger man he flew a record number of missions from England, I was told he flew many more than were recorded due to his habit of briefing the squadron then as they arrived at their aircraft to make final preparations he would pick a pilot, and give him the night off in order to fly in his place. Since he always brought his plane back the rest of the crew were quite happy with the swap. He did survive the war and in building the museum he joined a group of veterans pledged to honor the courage and commitment of more than 350,000 members of the 8th Air Force. Of this number, 26,000 were killed in action and 28,000 became prisoners of war during World War II.
We returned to the hotel and later drove along to the same area as we were the previous night but we ate at a more expensive venue, The Longhorn Steak House – when we got the credit card bill at home it still looked very good value.