Downtown and Tybee!

We got up rather early for vacation. We thought we would go downtown and see something we had not seen yet.

On our way to the parking garage, we saw this guy. What a cool idea to pain them this way. Lon thought they were way cool!

Lon getting ready for a fun day!

Doing a little happy dance at the old entrance to Silver's 5 and Dime

Details

Ghost signs

we went into this square, Franklin Square. There is a  monument to the Haitian soldiers who served in the American Revolution.  They were in Savannah for the  Siege of Savannah October 9, 1779.
 History Bit:
Franklin Square was laid out in 1790. In 1791 it was named for Benjamin Franklin, who served as an agent for the colony of Georgia from 1768 to 1778 and who had died in 1790.[7] It was also known as Water Tank Square, Water Tower Square and Reservoir Square, having been the site of the city's water supply.[3] Franklin Square almost suffered the same fate as other Montgomery Street squares that were lost to development in the 1970s but was restored during the following decade.[16] Franklin Square is located on Montgomery, between Bryan and Congress Streets, and anchors the western end of the City Market retail area. A memorial honoring Haitian volunteers who fought with Pulaski during the Siege of Savannah, created by sculptor James Mastin, was unveiled in Franklin Square on the 228th anniversary of the battle

We went to lunch at a wonderful place called Belford's. Wow. We ate entirely too much, but it was all so very very good. Mark had a shrimp po'boy. I had she crab soup, and the crab cakes. I could not pass up the white chocolate bread pudding. That was amazing.
History bit from the Belford's website:

Belford’s restaurant is situated in a beautiful old brick building in the heart of Savannah’s National Landmark Historic District.The building is listed in Historic Savannah Foundation’s architectural inventory as a notable example of its style and is praised in architectural surveys for its arched windows, exposed brick walls and doorways with semicircular, segmental arched toplights.

The design is attributed to Hyman W. Witcover, a practicing architect in Savannah from 1897 to 1923, who also designed Savannah’s City Hall, the Main Library Building on Bull Street and many of the fine residences located in the Chatham Crescent section of Savannah’s Ardsley Park.  Witcover, a member of the American Institute of Architects, was the first president of the Savannah Society of Architects.

The structure was completed in 1902 for Savannah’s Hebrew Congregation. In 1913, the Congregation sold the building to W.T. Belford for $23,000.  In the hands of the Belford family, whose early 1900’s portrait hangs on the West wall of our main dining room, the building became an important wholesale food company in Savannah. The Belford signs painted on the west side of the building and under the front awning remain to this day, faded by years of weather. 

The Belford’s Wholesale Food Company was an active and integral part of The City Market, the bustling social and commercial heart of early Savannah.  The actual market, a splendid edifice with soaring brick arches and open-air stalls for the sale of produce, fish, meat and baked goods, was located two blocks East on Ellis Square.  The demolition of that market in the late 1950’s was a tragedy in the eyes of local preservationists and was the catalyst that began the preservation and restoration of the historic district of Savannah. Ironically, the demolition of the original City Market probably saved four blocks of surrounding feed, seed, grain and produce warehouses, collectively now known as City Market, including the Belford building, now known as Belford’s Savannah.

Enjoying a spectacular lunch

Lon being Goofy!!

Enjoying his po'boy!

Lon found a lizard.  A little green guy. He still likes them!

Lon raced the elevator up to the parking garage, and he won.

We decided rather late in the afternoon to go out to the Tybee Island Light.

The marshes

I love these giant turtles they have around Tybee Island

We got to the light house 1 minute after they handed out the last tour tickets. We did not get to go to the lighthouse today.

Lon in his new sunglasses! We forgot his and Mark stopped by CVS and got him a pair of Spiderman sunglasses.  He says he is now ready to find the beach. He told us he would not go into the water.

On our way to the beach, we saw a wedding! How sweet. This was the second wedding of the day, we saw one in Telfair square too, but I did not take any photos of that one.

The water was so tempting!
Lon did not bring his swim suit, but he did get into the water, just a little bit mom. Then he went out farther and farther. Pretty soon he was completely soaked.   He was trying to body surf, he was having fun.

He took off his shirt and I put it in the car. I found a restaurant and bought him a shirt that is Daddy sized, so at least he had a shirt to wear home.

He built some sand fortresses.

We were not quite ready to go back to the hotel room, so we drove down to see about parking at the Cathedral for Sunday morning. If parking looked awful, we would find a plan B.
We were all tired and ready for bed!

This place was behind our hotel. Lon and Daddy walked back there and got a couple cookies for us. They were good! The only thing Lon said was they did not have as many chocolate chips as mommy's cookies.