Day 5: EASTER in SAVANNAH

Day 5: Savannah – Easter Day

Thanks to those who have let me know they are successfully on the blog and are enjoying it.  I will endeavour to update it every few days.  We have the following instalments coming up:

NASA
Pittsburgh
Falling Water
New York
Niagara Falls
Ottowa/Toronto/Montreal/Boston
Nashville
Gracelands
New Orleans

While Damien had the children away for their early morning Sunday routine, Robyn played Easter Bunny, planting the American version of Easter eggs in the garden. The bunny had left green ones for Thomas and pink ones for Belle. These are plastic eggs that break in the middle.  Inside go any treats that the bunny chooses to leave – in this case some with chocolate but others with small toys including small Lego which Thomas is starting to use quite adeptly. The Easter bunny left a note saying that there were ten for Thomas and ten for Belle, but mystery and consternation surrounded the fact that Thomas could find only nine.  After a substantial hunt, Robyn remembered that one had definitely been planted in the fork of a tree, with the only reasonable explanation being that a squirrel had taken it!

   

For an Easter Day service we could have tossed up between several churches, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian (Anglican) or even good old southern Baptist.  I was very tempted with the southern Baptist experience but deferred to Roger’s choice of Wesley Methodist church in the city centre.  I certainly did not regret the choice.

 This church community commenced after both John and Charles Wesley visited the area in 1736. In the entrance is a cross made from the timber of the tree under which they preached.

We approached a few minutes before the 11 o’clock service was to commence.  Around 750 people filled the church, all of them in their very best clothes.  Men wore bow ties, ladies their dressiest garb, some of it sparkly as though they were going to the opera.  Little girls turned up with ribbons and bows, dressed up like we did in the 60s for the Sunday School anniversary.  Little boys were in suits, many brothers in matching pairs.  I was very interested to notice sitting a few seats infront of us, a very obviously gay man, dressed in a spangly, sparkly top over his dress pants.  Bible in hand, he was obviously with his mother and nothing seemed at all awry.  Obviously this is a very accepting congregation as apparently is Savannah as a whole.

A police car and two armed police watched over the church as people ascended the steep steps and entered for the service.  We were warmly welcomed as we sat in a seat towards the front.

The church looked magnificent with wonderful floral arrangements.  The tradition is apparently for family to donate money in memory of a loved one in order to fund the flowers for the day.  The order of service included a whole page of names for which the flowers had been donated.

  

We stayed in the city for a delicious lunch at Griphon, a beautiful Art Nouveau restaurant in a building restored by SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) and staffed by their students.  It was most reminiscent of the high quality food and service that can be found at St Georges, the training restaurant for my TAFE college.

 Before calling Robyn to come and pick us up, we wandered along iconic Jones St, a street of luxury houses pre-dating the Victorian ones that we had seen earlier. These all dated from around 1860 and although magnificent, are somewhat plainer than the later Victorian ones.

The day finished with us watching the movie ‘Hidden Figures’, a must for anyone about to visit NASA Florida as we will do in two day’s time.