Infamous Places

A trip to Savannah – a recap

Published January 26, 2012 | By RottenOne

So here’s a quick recap of Savannah, what we did, what we liked and where I think it could be improved.

First of all, the vacation was wonderful. Savannah is a lovely city full of very nice people and excellent food. Even though I think we planned a bunch of activities, we didn’t scratch the surface of what it had to offer. I had a wonderful time and am looking forward to going back. If I had my way, we’d be heading back before the end of the summer.

But here’s what we did pull of:

Dinner at Pirate’s House – Decent food but way over priced for what you get. There is supposedly a ton of lore about the house, but getting anyone to talk about it was more of a challenge than I expected.

Ogelthorpe Trolley Tour – Interesting, but overall not very practical. The tour lacked any sort of real detail, the tour didn’t stop anywhere and the narration wasn’t anything different than what you get in a guide book. And we never used it for transportation after the tour was over. It wasn’t bad, but on my return trip we’ll either walk or bring bikes. It really wasn’t worth the money.

Ogelthorpe Haunted Trolley Tour – Again, an interesting idea, but it lacked detail and excitement. Unless you get scared when someone turns on the lights, this will probably leave you bored. Not on my list of things to do again. I think I’ll give one of the walking tours a try next time. Mind you, there are about 10 different ghost tours available. At the least I’ll do the one for Bonaventure.

Riverboat Dinner Cruise – Loved it! Excellent food, fun atmosphere, good music, attentive staff that want you to have a good. Would love to do it again and will probably do the murder mystery boat ride next. Well worth it. I think this would be fantastic in late summer.

Breakfast at Goosefeathers – Excellent Eggs Benedict, but the place is packed in the morning. It’s affordable and there’s gonna be a line out the door.

Churchill’s – Nice little pub. Very busy. Very tasty Steak and Ale pie. Not a grand selection of beer though. Worth dinner at least once.

DoubleTree Hotel – Very nice and in a great location. It’s right across the street from the river so it’s pretty convenient to everything. Very friendly staff and a convenient pickup point for tours. Careful though, they do charge $15 a day for their valet parking and you can’t say no. This little charge was added to the bill on the last day. Bit of a surprise. I’d stay there again though because I had no issues whatsoever.

Huey’s – We didn’t have dinner, just dessert and drinks. They apparently have a great eggs Benedict, but again, I didn’t try it. That’s on the list for next time. Not a bad selection of beers and it’s right on the water so that’s not too shabby. They have live entertainment as well. I’m certainly willing to head back and give it a full look.

So there you go, that’s my trip. Probably way more information than you ever wanted to know. But, if you’re planning a trip out there it might be of help or at least some interest. As I said, I can’t wait to get back out there. However, I think we’re going to investigate Blackbeard first.

Why does a coveted piece of real estate stand empty and, apparently, abandoned?

Published January 26, 2012 | By RottenOne

I see this question written a lot and the answer, at least to me, seems rather mundane. It usually in reference to large stately manors. In this particular case it’s about a house in Savannah that no one will occupy. And when someone does by the property the workers leave one day and never return. Is it the ghosts that keep people away or is it something else?

How about this for an explanation?

Let’s take that house at 423 Abercorn in Savannah. A Greek Revival that stands abandoned. Why won’t anyone live there?

First, check out the price, it’s listed at nearly $800k. And that’s down from the millon dollars they were asking for previously.

Second, the house has been abandoned, vandalized and allowed to rot. To fix the house will cost a fortune, perhaps as much as the house itself. That doesn’t include putting furniture back into it.

Third, the house is in the historic district of Savannah. You have to get permission from everyone and their mother before you do ANY work. You’ll have to involve the city, historic society, SCAD and not to mention multiple hearings and months, perhaps years worth of paperwork lay ahead of you. You won’t just buy it an move in.

Fourth, the yearly taxes are around $12k. Every year you will have to pay at least $12k for the upkeep of the house. That’s a $1000 a month on top of everything else.

Fifth, insurance. You’re gonna have to insure it. God forbid something happens to it after you fix it up. For a historic home, in that area, that won’t come cheap.

Right off the bat you’re looking for someone with a lot of cash on hand and who is incredibly patient. That person will need to put up with a lot of shit too. Not just red tape, but haunted tours, sightseers, onlookers and plenty of other publicity. Don’t like the limelight? Don’t build in Savannah.

So why do works mysteriously stop working? Why is the house always abandoned? I’m pretty sure it’s because the money has dried up. No one works for free. And you can’t build without permits.

Anyone agree? Is this more plausible than workers being assaulted by unseen forces?

Bonaventure Cemetery

Published January 25, 2012 | By RottenOne

Bonaventure is a place I’ve wanted to visit for nearly a decade. My friend Randy and I talked about it years ago before he moved to Arizona. He’d been there and spoke very highly of it. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see Bonaventure until the last day we were there, and by then we were running late to get back home. But even in that short time to say the place is breathtaking is an understand. It’s is indeed gorgeous. The trees covered in Spanish moss and the sago palms make it a spectacular setting. It’s an extremely large place as well. It would take hours, perhaps even days to make your way around to everything. I can see exactly why the Bird Girl statue was a chance discovery. The place is so massive and there is so much to see that you could walk right past it and not even notice.

But here are a few pictures featuring the trees, the statues and the memorial for Johnny Mercer.

Images of Savannah

Published January 25, 2012 | By RottenOne

Here are some pictures from one of the cemeteries we passed on the way to Bonaventure. It was truly wonderful to be there and to take pictures on these fantastic structures and statues. I forget the name of the cemetery, it might simply have been referred to as the Catholic Cemetery.