I’M COMPLETELY OUT OF TOUCH.
Things are different at The Landings. Quieter. Calmer. The world’s problems seem far away here. And while I’m playing my part by social distancing on 108 holes of golf, for me, it’s just another Tuesday.
Oh dream maker, you heart breaker Wherever you’re going, I’m going your way. The Savannah River inspired Johnny Mercer’s lazily hopeful lyrics in the song Moon River, evoking his childhood along its banks dreamily anticipating life’s possibilities. But the song’s melancholic tune seems to accept that there’s sadness in life’s journey as well, and so it has been for Mercer’s hometown. One of America’s most charming cities began as a utopian ideal, quickly entered a monstrous period of success as a center of the slave trade, and then suffered the consequences of the Civil War. Savannah carries all of that in its soul today, and as it works to reconcile with its past so has it rediscovered some aspects of its idyllic foundations. In 2020 Savannah’s charms are as present as they’ve ever been, but there’s also a progressive feeling in the air, a sense that, in some ways at least, it is more like the city it was envisioned to be in 1733— only with much better dining and accommodations.
For evidence of progress, one need look no further than the Perry Lane Hotel. Fresh, clean, cutting-edge luxury awaits in a property that will delight discerning explorers accustomed to metropolitan standards and cultural felicity. The place is bursting with curious art and playful design, the rooms are modern, and the on-site sustenance—via the Emporium and Peregrine restaurants and The Wayward bar—is some of the city’s best. But more than just appealing to contemporary-minded guests, Perry Lane is enjoyed by local regulars, and there are visiting artists, fashion shows, and ties with Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), an institution founded in 1978 that many credit as a force for local culture. One morning at Perry Lane’s Bowerbird Coffee, the young barista at the counter had just finished sketching an incredible illustration on a napkin. A SCAD student, her employ here underlines the connection between the hotel and the college, and the resulting creative energy. In regard to plotting Savannah’s future, spaces like this don’t just accommodate the conversation, they help to drive it and, in a city with Savannah’s possibilities, that’s fantastic.
For its first 19 years Savannah was a bright experiment in Enlightenment ideals. Slavery was outlawed, religious freedom assured, and every settler in the new Colony of Georgia received 50 acres of land, which could not be sold, traded nor borrowed against—policies meant to prevent individuals from concentrating land and wealth. British Parlimentarian James Oglethorpe and a group of investors created Georgia in 1733 by convincing King George to free those in England’s debtors prisons and to give them a second chance. The land laws, prohibition of slavery and religious freedoms were based on Enlightenment ideals and, for a brief time, it seemed to work. Oglethorpe had planned the city before he arrived, designing it around 24 town squares (22 of which remain today). A Jewish community was established, and the future looked good. But a failed agricultural program and discord among residents who felt trapped on their land led to the crown pulling the colony’s charter and taking over in 1752, with the most dire consequence being the permittance of slavery. More than just allow it, Savannah embraced it, and in 1859 the city hosted the largest single sale of enslaved persons in Georgia history. Over two days in March, 436 men, women, and children were sold by plantation owner Pierce M. Butler to satisfy creditors. The auction’s destruction of families became known as “The Weeping Time” and, via its reporting in Northern newspapers, it deepened the then-growing divide in the run-up to the Civil War.
Savannahns of the late 19th century would find the structure and legendary hospitality of their city much as they left it, but they hardly would believe its improved égalité. Four of the last five mayors have been African Americans, the crowds on River Street hail from all over the world, and the emerging arts and culinary scenes transcend traditional Southern offerings. Nowhere else in America, perhaps, does the past so effortlessly house the present and drive the modern. Consider Mashama Bailey, an African American woman and arguably Savannah’s best chef. The Bronx native, who attended grammar school in Savannah then returned to NYC as a kid, was featured on Netflix’s Chef’s Table. On the show, she discussed her return to Savannah to open The Grey restaurant with John O. Morisano, siting it in a restored, formerly segregated Greyhound bus terminal.
“My ancestors were here,” she explained, “and so many struggles have happened in this building. I felt a connection.” When Bailey won the 2019 James Beard award for Best Chef in the Southeast, she was the first Savannah chef in 19 years to take such an honor. The Grey, and her side project The Grey Market, are among Savannah’s most lauded food venues, and are surrounded by others as well, including Repeal 33 and its house-made wonders. Even the city’s staples are good, such as Sorry Charlie’s Oyster Bar. The neon fish sign is from 1947, but the service and fare are wonderfully timeless, like so much else here. (Ask for Marvin Duran, and tip him well.)
SCAD’s influence is but one example of Savannah’s modern and historical cultures coexisting
In 1864, after Savannah’s defiant belles had stood in their crinolines and bows as Gen. Sherman marched into town with his troops—and did not burn the city, instead presenting it to President Lincoln as a “Christmas Gift”—a young girl named Daisy was compelled to entertain Union Gen. O.O. Howard in her prominent Southern family’s home. “You have only got one arm!” she is said to have exclaimed to the General, who replied, “It was shot off in battle,” adding that Southern rebels had done it. “Did they!” Daisy gaily said. “Well, I shouldn’t wonder if my papa did it. He has shot lots of Yankees!”
Daisy, aka Juliette Gordon Low, went on to found the Girl Scouts, and today her home is a museum. Not far from that you can order a “Unicorn’s Mane” at Mirabelle Cafe (2015)—double espresso, rose water, cardamom, steamed milk, and just incredible—only steps from St. John’s Cathedral (1876), then make the short walk to the fountain at Forsyth Park (1858) where you can ponder the fact that the Perry Lane Hotel exists in a new building that seems historic, and that Savannah isn’t as easy to describe as parasols and horse-drawn carriages and the river running through it. All of that is a part of the story, but a bigger part is being written today by people like Chef Bailey, the barista sketching on a napkin, and others who are more aligned with their city’s original plan than its 19th century history. When it comes to the Savannah of tomorrow, count us in as smitten dreamers. It’s waiting ’round the bend, and wherever it’s going, we’re going that way.