SAVANNAH, GEORGIA

I LOVE SAVANNAH. I spent the day starting with a 90 minute trolley ride and then walked for 5 hours just exploring the waterfront shops and the squares of the historic district. Savannah really is a “walking” city. The people were lovely, lots to see and some quiet spots to just sit and think.

Savannah is the largest city and county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important Atlantic seaport. It is Georgia's fourth-largest city and third-largest metropolitan area.

Each year Savannah attracts millions of visitors, who enjoy the city's architecture and historic buildings: the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America), the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences (one of the South's first public museums), the First African Baptist Church (one of the oldest African American Baptist congregations in the United States), Temple Mickve Israel (the third-oldest synagogue in America), and the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex (the oldest standing antebellum rail facility in America).

Savannah's downtown area, which includes the Savannah Historic District, the Savannah Victorian Historic District and 22 park-like squares, is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States (designated by the U.S. government in 1966). Savannah was the host city for the sailing competitions during the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, Georgia.

The "park bench" scene which opens the 1994 film Forrest Gump was filmed on the north side of Chippewa Square. The bench was a fiberglass prop, rather than one of the park's actual benches. A prop bench used in the film is on display at the Savannah Visitors Center. Chippewa Square is located on Bull, between Hull and Perry Streets.