Savannah, Georgia

We stayed in the historic downtown district Savannah, Georgia for one night. Did you know that Savannah is the third largest port in the U.S.? It was surprising to us to learn this because Savannah is on the Savannah River rather than directly on the coast.

Savannah is a beautiful city, a tourist mecca with a river walk full of restaurants and shops, an outdoor walking mall called City Market, interesting architecture and a rich history to learn about. There is an ugly history of slavery to contend with and there is also some evidence that the city is moving forward with this. The Mayor and City Council unanimously voted to “unname” Calhoun Square, named after John C. Calhoun, a vice president to John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, and staunch advocate of slavery, supporting expansion of slavery into what would become the American West. The square was also built over a cemetery for enslaved people.The Center for Jubilee, Reconciliation and Healing (an organization worth reading about) is pushing for the square to be renamed for Susie King Taylor , who was enslaved as a girl and became a civil war nurse and teacher.