Savannah, Georgia is said by ghost-hunters to be one of the most haunted cities in America. According to this list, it's The #1 Most Haunted! I'm not personally a believer in the paranormal, but Savannah still seems like an ideal place to spend an atmospheric Halloween.
Savannah's ancient oaks draped in Spanish moss create a nice spooky atmosphere on any dark night, while almost every old house in the city (and there are a lot of those) can claim reports of paranormal activity. There are a wide variety of ghost tours on offer (including one in an open-top hearse), some of which include special access to historic houses at night. You can even be led by paranormal investigators carrying special detecting equipment.
And like any proper haunted city, Savannah boasts a number of historic cemeteries — most notably the Colonial Cemetery (in the city center) and Bonaventure Cemetery (in the outskirts) — with broken tombs, faded epitaphs, dead-eyed statues, and the skeletons of great oaks arching silently overhead.
I flew into Savannah late on October 30 and initially planned to leave the next morning to spend the first half of my trip in Charleston, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend Halloween in the Most Haunted City in America! So I booked an additional night of lodging in Savannah, arranged my rental car for November 1, and was very happy I did.
Halloween Day in Savannah
I considered booking one of the aforementioned ghost tours, but most were sold out by the time I got around to it, and I wasn't sure if they would have enough history for my liking. So I decided I would wander alone through a cemetery after dark and call it good.
Until then, the sun was shining brightly and it was 85 degrees, so spooky atmosphere was pretty minimal. But I was thrilled to be out of the cold Oregon rain and eager to see everything. I spent my day wandering, exploring, and soaking in the sunshine. I hopped on a trolley tour for a few stops, took a ton of photos in the beautiful warm light, and enjoyed some Halloween decorations.
First item of business was breakfast. This was served in a pretty little courtyard of my B&B, the Eliza Thompson House (1837).
My B&B was on Jones Street, which turned out to be the most beautiful street in the historic district! It is paved in brick (including the sidewalk), lined with lovely houses of the 1850s, and sheltered by huge live oaks.
The oldest homes are found near the center in the 100 and 200 blocks, where Jones crosses Bull Street, but the entirely length of the street is worth seeing.
Many of the homeowners in the historic district did a fantastic job with their autumn and Halloween decorations.
I spent quite a bit of time in the Colonial Cemetery, where I planned to return for a spookier visit after dark. What an amazing place. Now a public park, it is right in the center of town but doesn't feel like it. It occupies six acres filled with trees and spacious expanses of grass.
Many of the permanent residents are Revolutionary War heroes or other prominent citizens of the time, whom you can learn about from a multitude of excellent historical markers.
Being a westerner, I was very impressed by the dates on the graves. Burials began here in 1750 and ended in 1853, which is around the time the oldest cemeteries in the Pacific Northwest were just getting started.
Interlude: Technical Difficulties
By mid-afternoon my camera battery died, and like a dummy I hadn't brought a spare on my walk. So I headed back to my B&B to grab the other one — only to find I was even more of a dummy than I'd realized. The spare battery was also dead. And I'd forgotten to bring a charger. Amateur hour!
I then spent a good deal of my precious time in Savannah searching for electronics stores online, with not a lot of success. I walked for quite awhile, carrying my heavy and useless camera around my neck like an albatross, to a couple of possibilities east of Forsyth Park. But one was permanently closed and the other had no camera equipment.
I was leaving the next day in a rental car for Charleston, where I might have better luck, but I had several important historic places to photograph along the way. This would have been pretty devastating, but Amazon saved my bacon — I was able to order a spare battery and charger for overnight delivery to my B&B. It was scheduled to arrive by 11am, which is checkout time, so I worried that it might be late... but it arrived at 7am. I picked it up after breakfast and had time to charge my batteries before leaving. Phew!
So the next day was saved, but the remaining photos from Halloween in Savannah had to be taken with my phone, so are not so great. This is a real bummer but I still had a wonderful experience. And I didn't have to carry a heavy camera on my evening walk. #hashtagblessed
Halloween Night in Savannah
By the time I'd placed my Amazon order and set out again, sunset wasn't too far away. So I decided I'd walk around a bit more and have an early dinner while waiting for nightfall.
[to do: dusk walk photos]
Dinner was fantastic. I went to Coco and Moss, a small Japanese/Hawaiian-inspired restaurant near Ellis Square. I had decided to have mostly healthy food on this trip until Roland arrived to join me, taking advantage of the variety of options in bigger cities than my hometown. This meal fit the bill perfectly: light, fresh, and delicious. (I enjoyed it so much that I would later bring Roland back here twice.)
As I was finishing up dinner, it not only got dark but started to rain lightly. This was a lovely surprise — it was still very warm out, so I was comfortable in my T-shirt, and it added even more atmosphere to my Halloween night.
[to do: rainy city photos]
When I arrived at the Colonial Cemetery, the atmosphere was not quite what I'd hoped. It was very brightly lit and many other people were there, most talking and laughing pretty loudly. But I enjoyed their costumes and happiness, and it was certainly safe for a single woman wandering around after dark.
Regardless, it's a very cool and very old cemetery, so it was a good time. And I managed to find a relatively dark area behind some trees and along the outer wall, where I could conjure up some small measure of spookiness. No ghosts, though... they wouldn't be any happier about those bright lights than I was.
Then I walked toward home in the warm rain, taking it slow and meandering a good deal. The historic district had wonderful Halloween atmosphere, with gas lanterns shining on wet cobblestones, huge dark oaks overhead, illuminated Halloween decorations, and adorable trick-or-treaters.
[post-cemetery photos]