Chapter 2: Shopping and Sight Seeing in Savannah...

~ Petticoats and Parasols ~

hosted by the Queen of the South...

the one and only Jennifer Hayslip.

Teachers included:

Tiffany of Shabbyscraps and Christine of Dollybelle

Guest Speaker:

Jo Packham of Where Women Create

*****

I'll call this post Chapter 2 as I still have shopping and sightseeing to show you before we get to the PINK stuff so just be patient with me for one more post before we really start "the pink party"...okay?

With a map in one hand and a camera in the other, Karen and I faded into the busy sidewalks of Savannah surrounded by lush greenery and Live Oaks dripping with Spanish moss.

We were on a treasure hunt. Karen and I are doing a trio swap with Julia of Vintage with Laces and we really wanted to find her something special. Julia lives in Germany so we wanted to find her something special from the South but instead, we went to PARIS!!!

The Paris Market that is...it's to die for.

This store alone took up at least an hour and a half of our morning and it was worth every minute of it.  I found some awesome goodies and loaded my arms full.

This is my shopping philosophy:

One for Julia, Two for Me. One for Karen and Two for ME...

do you get the picture? :)

I could only take a few steps, then I'd stop...a few steps, then I'd stop again. There was so much to see and (take a deep breath through your nose) ~ aaahhhhh!!! Did it ever smell good in there!

Some things I would have almost killed to have...but no. 1, they wouldn't fit in my suitcase and no. 2, I couldn't risk being committed for life because I didn't want to miss the party! So I behaved in the store like a good girl.

(Thank God spending LOTS of money is not a crime)

Come to find out...just when I thought I had done my damage and was about to check out, I realized they had a basement floor too!

That blinking arrow that led me down the stairs reminded me of the movie Beetle Juice. I was so in a trance, my heart was pounding, and I was thinking to myself  "how could the bottom basement out-do what I just saw on the top floor, I'm sure I have all what I need, right?"  Hmpf! NOT!

There were old photos, tin types, negatives, cabinet cards, old velvet covered photo albums, old books, old everything!

{sigh} I was in heaven.

Again, I picked up a few more things down there, but from the weight in my arms, I knew I was still under my 27 pound weight limit for my returning luggage :) My arms were full but I was still in GOOD SHAPE for more goodies!

So with that thought, we checked-out and we were off again. We stopped at Goodwill, picked up a few more things (like we really needed anything else ;) and then we walked back to the hotel to unload the loot and grab a bite to eat. After stuffing my face...it was taxi time as I wasn't about to walk any more or carry anything else for blocks and blocks...ever again!

Karen and I took a Pedi-Cab back into the center of Savannah. The scenery was great but I sure felt sorry for that little guy that had to peddle us around. He sure was in shape as he didn't huff and puff not one time!!!

He dropped us off at the Mercer House and we went on the tour. The home was designed in 1860 for General Hugh W. Mercer, the great grandfather of singer/song writer and Savannah native, Johnny Mercer. Because of the interruption of the Civil War, the house wasn't complete until 1868 by it's new owner, John Wilder.

The home fell into despair and was purchased again in 1969 by Savannah's respected antiques dealer Jim Williams and became known as the Mercer-Williams House. Pictured below is the home that originated John Berendt's best seller and Clint Eastwood's movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", a non-fiction story of sex, murder and tribulation that happened in this house in the 1980's. The true story is fabulous! 

I was pouty because we couldn't take ANY photos of the inside NOR the outside courtyard! So this is the only photo I took of the front...

Don't you just LOVE the ornate details over the windows and the wrought iron balconies?

On the cover of the book is the famous grave site statue that was once located on a family plot in Bonaventure Cemetery. She has nothing to do with the story of the Mercer-Williams House nor it's murders.

Her image is now very well known and all credit of her photo (& popularity) for the book cover goes to Savannah photographer, Jack Leigh.

She is now known as "Bird Girl".

Because of her popularity and the traffic that she has brought to Bonaventure Cemetery since the release of the book in 1994, she was relocated to the Telfair Museum in Savannah in 1997. 

I just love history. I have read the book and watched the movie. If you love true stories about sex and murder, this is a "must read"/"must see" if you haven't done so yet.

While sightseeing and shopping, Karen and I got really brave and took a taxi across Savannah to an area that had some more vintage and antique shops and...WE SCORED! You just have to take my word for it because I can't show you all what I got. Some of it is going to Julia and some if it will be used as surprises/gifts here and there. Sor-ry!

Instead, I'll show you some more of Savannah while I sit down and rest a moment...

 

 

 

Alrighty then...

Next post...PINK! I promise! Lots and lots of PINK!

Chapter 3 will be about the Welcome Dinner, Jo Packham, Sugar Bar and the Ghost Tour. 

There are lots and lots of photos already out there of the event from some of the girls who attended this awesome retreat. I hope that you've been enjoying some of them already as it's hard to hold in all the beauty that Jenn put into this retreat just for us girls.

I can't believe it's already Thursday and I'm only on Chapter 2! I'm still not unpacked and I'm still sifting through hundreds of photos.

I haven't gone through my mail yet so if you don't see me on here again soon, I haven't paid my bill and my electricity has been cut off. Just be patient...I'll go and pay it on my 15 minute break that the Man gives me (yea...I've been working so hard at the shop...it's payback time) haha

And most of all though...I haven't visited you in over a week. I am going through withdrawals...trust me. I want to visit you soon and I WILL...just let me get through this Savannah trip and I'll be peeking through your window again soon...I promise! :)

To make it up to you, I'm going to have an "End of Savannah Giveaway" in honor of you being so patient with me and listening to my travels and my stories. I think I may have two or three more chapters to write so stay tuned, you're almost off the hook! haha