Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Tour for only $13.50

What’s cooler than tooling around Savannah in a hearse with a raised roof, so you can poke your head out the top? How about packing it full of gaping tourists? Yeeeah! Me and my peeps is straight pimpin’ in the Hearsemobile. Holla atcha boy!

I didn’t know what to think the first time I saw this bizarre vehicle night-cruising around Savannah’s squares. The passengers seemed to be having a grand time, drinking out of to-go cups, scrutinizing old mansions, and completely oblivious to my baffled contemplation of them. “On the one hand”, I thought, “that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. On the other hand, my parents are totally going to love it”.

So during their visit, we booked spots on the Hearse Tour and arranged for a pick-up outside the Pirate House. What ensued was an entertaining trip around Savannah’s dark side. Our guide was completely into it, and her enthusiasm for the supernatural was contagious. There wasn’t a dull moment on the entire tour… every house she led us by had its own spooky story, whether a horrific crime or an unexplained phenomena. A lot of the tales were new to me, and I felt chills when we went by the old psychiatric hospital on Abercorn. It might have been the booze, but I swear I saw the outline of a face in one of the hospital windows.

The Hearse Tour is not exactly inconspicuous. I lost count of how many pedestrians yelled “Oooooooh… SPOOKY!” at us. But if you’re able to tune that out, you’ll have a great time, especially since you’re allowed to bring drinks aboard — the hearse actually counts as a limousine service. We had a blast, and can definitely recommend the tour.

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912-965-1578

- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

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Neglected throughout much of its history, like much of the city’s eastern side, Columbia Square has enjoyed a magnificent restoration and is today one of Savannah’s most lovely squares.

The restorative efforts truly kicked off in the fifties when a group of society women, concerned about the demolitions which threatened to destroy Savannah’s historic soul, drew the line at the proposed destruction of the 1820 Isaiah Davenport House. They joined forces as the Historic Savannah Foundation and made it their mission to rescue the storied Federal-style building. Over the years, the foundation has bought and saved over 300 other buildings in Savannah’s historic center. Without their work, Savannah would be a much more common place.

Surrounding Columbia are plenty of other noteworthy houses. The Kehoe Inn, on the western side, is a breathtaking Renaissance Revival mansion from 1829 which operates today as a Bed & Breakfast. Across the square, the ivy covered house on 130 Habersham, still a private residence, is possibly the square’s most strikingly gorgeous.

Columbia Square itself is a work of art. Four massive oak trees at each corner provide shade over the entire square, at the center of which sits the Wormsloe Fountain. Green and grey, the rustic fountain was designed in the shapes of leaves and winding ivy; though it was donated by the plantation’s family in the 1970s, it looks as though it’s been in Columbia Square forever. Like it sprouted from the ground.

This is probably one of our favorite squares in the city. Check out the pictures, and you’ll see why.

Location of Calhoun Square on our Savannah Map

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A historical marker in Savannah’s Colonial Park Cemetery reports that “nearly 700″ victims of the 1820 yellow fever epidemic are buried there. In fact, exactly six-hundred and sixty-six people died of the disease. But the church had issues with putting the Number of the Beast on a sign, and demanded the figure be rounded.

That’s just one of the disquieting anecdotes of the Colonial Park Cemetery, which was originally established around 1750 and closed to burials before the Civil War. Another concerns the original size of the cemetery — today, it fits nicely into a square bounded by Abercorn, Oglethorpe, Habersham and Perry, but it used to be much bigger. Colonial Park had initially been well outside the city, but as Savannah grew, the cemetery’s land was needed. And since digging up and moving bodies is so troublesome and costly, corpses were left where they were, and just the headstones were scooched into the new bounds of the cemetery. So every building surrounding Colonial Park is built on top of the desecrated dead… 666!!!

A number of prominent Georgians are buried in Colonial Park, though I’ll confess to have never heard of any of them… someone called Button Gwinnett has the most impressive monument. After the Civil War, occupying Union troops were garrisoned there, and some soldiers amused themselves by defacing tombstones, changing dates and names. It’s fun to hunt for these… I found one woman who died at 12 years of age, and had a son who passed a year later at the age of 14.

A green, creepy oasis of death in the center of Savannah, Colonial Park Cemetery is the perfect place for a stroll on cold, sunny, winter afternoons… but if you can’t make it there, enjoy our pictures!

Location on our Savannah Map

- Visit also the Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah