Dog Day Afternoon

After walking around beautiful historic Savannah for days, I’m finally curious about the Trolley Tours and hearing about the history of what I’ve seen.  There are at least 4 different tour operators here, so we drive over to the visitor center for more information.  Savannah Tours is the only one that offers riders an option to come and go throughout the day, allowing for shopping, eating and spending extra time in places of particular interest.  I pay my $20 and collect my ticket.  The bus leaves in 15 minutes.

Back to the truck, I look for the shadiest spot I can find, park, and get the fans set up for the kids. Then run over to the trolley-bus, only to find it’s not leaving yet.  The driver asks what I was doing at my vehicle.

“I was making my dogs comfortable for the day.”

“Well you know you can bring them with, don’t you?”

I get a visual of my menagerie of 3, barking at everything, everybody, trying to jump out the windows at every smell, and Market Square with all the food smells…well…nah, no thanks.

“It’s going to be pretty warm for them. You know you can get on and off if they need to take a break”.

Two true statements.  But no way can I manage all 3 dogs with a bus load of people, and actually see anything.  Maybe just take the girls?  Buddy likes his kennel in back and the fans work well for him. I worry more about the girls being in the cab of the truck, in the sun, with all our stuff….

“I’ll be right back” I say, and run to the truck.

I return, flanked with two blonde  E-Walk looking babies, hair flowing in the breeze.  The tour driver, Julie, burst into laughter.

“They are adorable, they’ll fit right in!”

Off we go with only a handful other patrons joining the tour.  Sunny Girl and Angel rode the Savannah Trolley with me to experience 275 Years of history in 90 minutes.  Or so.

Did you know that The Pirates House is the most historic spot in Georgia?  It is located in Trustees Garden, an experimental garden created in 1733, modeled after London’s Chelsea Botanical Garden.  Not much grew there, but they still built The Herb House for the gardener of the Trustee Garden in 1734, located inside The Pirates House.  It’s the oldest house in Georgia.  The dwelling became built out to become a seafarer’s inn and gathering place for pirates in 1753.  The ceilings are joined with wooden pegs in the Captains Room, and the Herb House still stands with the original brick walls and pine floor.  There are stories galore of sailors visiting The Pirates House Inn, partaking of too much “drink” and waking up the next day on a ship bound to Singapore or Bombay.  It is rumored that there was a tunnel that ran from the rum cellar under the Captains Room to ships waiting in the harbor, and the guys would be dragged through.  How creepy is that?

Did you know that Savannah is one of the most haunted cities in the United States?  Apparently so.  If you are a believer in ghosts, this would be a fantastic vacation destination.

And did you know that back in 1700’s the people of Savannah demonstrated their wealth in iron?  Many of the mansions we toured had cast iron trimming around windows, along steps, and even had rain gutters designed with a fish head at the bottom, spewing out the water, all made of iron.  That was a sign of a wealthy resident.

As for the rest of the history…well you have to take the tour like I did.  We returned to the visitor’s center with no casualties, no issues, no complaints, and some good laughs. 

Back at the truck, Buddy “knew” he’d been left alone.  The girls were prancing around all excited, which made matters worse. Feeling a little guilty, I drove over to our favorite parking spot along Emmet Park where there are plenty of huge shade trees, and took Buddy for a walk without the girls.

I wanted to go back to the Market Square, so we headed that direction.  In the process we came upon “The Grateful Hound” store for dog supplies. They were having a “Yappy Hour” and we were invited.  Perfect!  Buddy and I stepped in, and he proceeded to evaluate every single item, person and dog in the store.  He was served treats, he played with new friends. I was served wine, and chatted with other dog owners.  After nosing everything in the whole store all he wanted was a moment alone with a pretty little Yellow Lab, and an orange Kong bone.  How do I say no to the Kong bone? By the end of Yappy Hour he was strutting out the door with his new orange Kong bone and me with a bunch of squeaky toys for the girls.

Let me be clear, no Christmas ornaments were purchased this time!

We meandered down the street to Market Square and found a wonderful little Bistro—Tapas by Anna, that offered outdoor, dog friendly seating.  Besides being my lean mean hunting machine, Buddy can be a café dog, too.  We dined at Anna’s, talked with a number of people who were enamored with Buddy’s good behavior (it’s all in the training and my rates are reasonable if you are interested) and it was a rare, lovely bonding experience that didn’t include pheasants and shotguns.  He’s my good boy! 

The day was over, and a long walk back to the truck in the dark was yet another new adventure for us, with the weekend traffic and so many people milling around.  Buddy insisted on carrying his Kong the entire way. We must have been stopped a dozen times by dog lovers entertained with his antics. Once we got to the vehicle he pranced around with his new Kong bone to show off to the girls. It’s only fair.  I kennel him and give the girls their squeaky toys, then off we go to the hotel.

The way I see it, today was a good day to be a dog.