Savannah – Analog Artist Digital World

Wait and Hope was what was inscribed on this headstone in the Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia. Pam and I visited this cemetery on our recent trip through South Carolina and Georgia with our house guest and two dogs. After our visit with my sister in South Carolina, we headed further south and stayed in Savannah.

We did a late night ghost tour of downtown Savannah and then manged to solve an escape room with only 1 second to spare. We stopped at another cemetery on our trip which surrounded a former church which only has the old brick work to remind us that the church once stood there.

Little Gracie is the most visited monument in Bonaventure Cemetery. I considered sketching her but she is surrounded on three sides by hedges making for a cramped view of the site. Gracie Watson was born in 1882 to Wales J. and Margaret Frances Watson. The Watson family was originally from Boston Massachusetts. They made their way to Savannah after Wales was hired to manage the Pulaski Hotel. This luxurious hotel, was one of the best hotels in all of the south. Managing the hotel was a prestigious position. While working at the hotel his daughter, Gracie Watson, became quite the center of attention. This bright-eyed girl warmed the hearts and brought smiles to the faces of almost every visitor to the Hotel. It is said she would put on little shows for the guests, dancing in the lobby and singing songs. In 1889, at the tender age of 7, Gracie Watson died from pneumonia.

Gracie’s father fell into a deep depression after her death. Gracie’s father had sculpture John Walz carve a monument to his girl. Using a photograph as reference John Walz sculpted the monument which now sits upon Little Gracie’s grave site out at Bonaventure Cemetery.

While Pam and our guest walked the dogs, exploring the cemetery, I sketched a short distance from Gracie. Periodically golf carts would drive up and a tour guide would relate Gracie’s story. I was kind of glad I didn’t sketch that site since it was so busy. Lawn mowers and leaf blowers were also moving up and down the aisles. I didn’t bring my artist stool, so I made due by tying my sweatshirt around my legs and back to create a make shift back support. It worked well enough to help me finish the sketch.

I was traveling through Georgia with Pam Schwartz, John Naughton and a relative of John’s named Ben Wozniak. John had researched Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining room (107 West Jones St. Savannah, GA 31401) and it was the main reason we stopped in the historic city.

A line gathers each morning at 11 o’clock. That line literally wraps around the block. When the doors open, the lunch crowd finds seats at one of the large
tables-for-ten shared by strangers. Tabletops are crowded with platters
of fried chicken and cornbread dressing, sweet potato souffle,
black-eyed peas, okra gumbo, corn muffins and biscuits. We had our choice of some 24 food options all on one table! The menu changes
daily so regulars can have something different every day. There is a unique pleasure of having a meal shared with neighbors and
strangers. Lunch is $23 per person but reservations do not exist. You just need to get in line and hope to get in. The place is closed in January so don’t drive up that way immediately.

This dining experience was the highlight of the trip. You had to pace yourself to be sure you tried everything but had seconds of what you truly loved. It was like having Thanksgiving with strangers. John purchased the Mrs. Wilkes’ Cookbook and Pam took down some of the recipes, so we will be trying some of these traditional southern dishes.

We also explored some of the city’s historic squares in Savannah to walk off the huge meal we had. The final destination of the trip was Charleston, South Carolina where Pam and I visited my sister Shirley Steinmetz. The three of us went to the River Dogs’ baseball stadium where the game was interrupted by a complete solar eclipse. We had the necessary solar glasses to watch the sun as it was eclipsed. When the day turned black everything became completely silent. Then as the sky began to turn light again, the game resumed.

My sister loves genealogy, as do Pam and I, so there was plenty to talk about at my sister’s house. Pam has encouraged me to do research online and I am amazed at the amount of legal documents that are available at the press of a button. I am able to quickly find source documents to verify all the information on my tree. There are still road blocks, but the journey is what is exciting.

The road trip back to Orlando was as much fun as the trip north to Charleston. John Naughton did all the driving. He and Pam discussed recipes in the front seats and I dozed off in the back seat as the miles flew by.