Waving Girl, Florence Martus in Savannah

Florence Martus the daughter of German immigrant is memorialized here in Savannah, Georgia.  There is much folk lore about this woman, and a fair amount of confusion/mystery about her.  Some information indicated she was born in 1869 and other information reports the date of 1868.  Her father immigrated to this country at the age of 14, served in The Civil War and later a Sergeant at Fort Pulaski.  

She was born in Elba Island, not Savannah and lived the bulk of her life in Elba.  However, stories indicate she had a fascination with ships in the harbor.  She waved a white handkerchief by day and lantern by night for 44 years.  She greeted the ships and the sailors.  She may have been in love with one that returned, say some; though others question that...as there is nothing documented that indicates this was in fact, fact.  Either way, she is fondly remembered as the women who welcome ships into the harbor.

She lived with brother, George who for a time was The Lighthouse Keeper at Cockspur.  There are tales where she and her brother saved many a life.  A fire out in the water caught their attention, as did several wrecks and they rowed out in their Dorry and saved as many lives as they could.  Those stories are documented and deemed to be factual.

This statue by Felix DeWeldon, indicates her faithful Collie was her feet.  That seems to be well documented, except she apparently had 2 dogs who helped wake her during the night when they heard ships coming.  Felix is known for his famous sculpture, Iwo Jima.  

A local tour guide told us to notice her shoes.  Not sure this picture (taken from the moving tour trolley) let's you see them.  But, when you see them in person, you realize how irregular they are.  They're much to large for a person with such a small frame.  We were told, she wasn't wearning shoes originally, and people took offense and so shoes were added.  It's unlikely a poor single girl would have worn shoes except on special occasions in a warm climate.  Shoes were often considered a luxury back in the day and expensive to own, thus saved and not worn sun up to sun down.

After she and brother retired they lived out their lives at Bone Bella outside of Savannah.  She is buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery, North in Chatham County, Georgia with her parents and brother.  Interestingly, I noted her father was born in Baden, Wurttemberg (don't remember how to make  the umlaunt over the u), same place my Great Great Grandfather, Wilhelm Heinrich Mader was born.

**Be sure and check out this beautiful sculpture when you're on the water front in Savannah, either walking or taking one of the many tours.  You know her waving all those years is something like our current Pay It Forward**  

Savannah, Georgia

A cool damp mist fell as we made our way about Vintage Savannah, Georgia. Red brick and cobblestone streets and walkways add to the vintage feel of this beautiful old historic city. Oak Trees and Spanish Moss complete the picture. Park your car and walk, or ride of bike if you want activity.
If walking isn't your cup of tea, hop on on of the Trollies for a guided tour of the vintage area, or a horsedrawn carriage. There are many ways to tour this charming city. We opted for a map and did our own self guided tour. Since it was raining we did what we could outside and darted in when possible. This is just one of the many vintage police cars in front of the police station.
Stories and historical data indicates Savannah was presented to President Lincoln by General Sherman as a Christmas Present, and thus was spared from Sherman's March to the Sea. Because of this, the amount of historical buildings vintage buildings is great. Some are beautiful, some in need of paint, some in the middle of being restored. The city of Savannah was founded in 1733 by General Oglethorpe. It's considered to be the first planned city in America. General Oglethorpe landed on a bank of The Savanna River with 120 passengers of the good ship, "Anne". He named Georgia for King George, II. He designed the city on grids with 24 squares to serve as meeting places. Today 22 of the original squares are still in existence. The original charter forbid Rum, Lawyers, and Slaves.

You can start your tour at the Visitors Center located at 101 E. Bay Street. Feeries and other mass transportation connect Savannah to surrounding areas. Savannah is located in the Coastal Low Country of Georgia and attracts 7 million visitors annually.
There are many beautiful and historic churches,
and old interesting cemeteries to tour. This wall, dark and gloomy; was rather eery the day we were there. Many stones badly weathered, and not well cared for in the early days are unreadable. Add to that vandalism, broken stones, covered with dark slippery moss make some of the sites rather sad. This little walk way was located in dark back area of one of the cemeteries and is made up of pieces of gravestone cemented into a red brick wall. Sad, that the names of some buried here are forever lost to history. Some though are remarkable well preserved and tell us stories of these original families.

I highly recommend touring Savannah, and hope to go back again myself and spend more time to explore. I suggest this touring for adults, for families with older children. This is not an appropriate place for small children. Really nothing there for them to enjoy, or to understand. I also believe many would be frightened.

*Z-A Challenge, this is my V post, V for Vintage**
**U post is HERE

River Street, Savannah, Georgia

*remember to click to enlarge pictures
Historic River Street in Savannah Georgia is fun even on a cloudy, rainy day. You can walk the coastline of The Savannah River and enjoy watching the boats and ships come and go. You can see pleasure boats, cruise boats/ships, and cargo ships coming and going from this busy seaport. You can sign up for a fun filled Pirate Ship Tour. This is a particularly good activity for families, the small children love it.
This quaint slippery, steep cobblestone street is closed off. We're at the waters edge looking back up the hill.
Can you begin to see how steep this hill is? How old and uneven the cobblestone is? I was glad I had tennis shoes on for walking; everyone we saw with sandals and less sturdy shoes was having a time of it. It had rained and these aged and very worn stones were treacherous.
Looking down the row of old businesses, you can see how narrow the street is. Savannah you might know is one of the cities saved when Sherman's troops marched through Georgia. It was deemed to pretty to destroy, so the city has many historic streets, houses, and businesses. This would have been the original main street when the port was busy transporting cotton and other trade goods.
We're on a bridge of the now main street looking down watching the old meet the new. This narrow, slippery cobblestone street and parking lot present quite a challenge for today's modern vehicles. Note the Budweiser truck and what little space he has to turn. Note the sawdust. He had made his deliveries and could not keep up the ramp due to the steepness and how slippery the roadbed was. They had quite a team working to get parked cars out of the way in case the truck flipped, slipped, and or needed more space. They had been working on this for over an hour we were told by other interested visitors.
The 2nd truck driver is also watching closely, assuming he'll have the same trouble. Another reminder if you haven't already done so; click on these 2 truck pictures so you can see the situation.
We spent a couple of hours walking this area, stopped for lunch, hit a few shops. A fun way to spent time in Savannah. I do hope we're able to return for a longer visit. We had driven over from Hilton Head and the weather was getting bad, fog rollin in and we felt it best to get back. The road to and from is narrow and curvy; not the best place to be in the low country when the fog moves in.

Recommendations wear comfortable supportive shoes, if you have small children use a stroller; there's too much difficult walking for them. Do a child friendly activity like the Pirate's Cruise.