It’s our first full weekend of autumn and we’ve already had tastes of cooler, drier weather, the kind that makes taking a walk something to make time for, and I’m taking full advantage of every opportunity that falls my way.
Our minds and waistlines get a workout as a good walk gives us time to clear our minds, is exercise that we can take at our own pace and requires little more than comfortable shoes.
The proximity of my youngest son’s college, Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, makes the Georgia coastline a destination within reach, and so I wrapped a birthday visit with him around a long weekend in Savannah. An old friend joined me for the jaunt, and we enjoyed a series of strolls through the largest National Historic Landmark District in the country.
Savannah is suited for walking tours with its grid of straight streets lined with gracious homes and architectural eye candy everywhere you look, and all leading to the many park squares, most shaded beneath canopies of live oaks and drapes of Spanish moss.
Rumor has it that the parks absent hanging moss are haunted, perhaps by the legions of people who died during the Civil War or the Yellow Fever epidemics. Reputed as the most haunted city in the country, Savannah offers all manner of organized tours, via trolley, hearse and walking, detailing history and histrionics. But relying only on maps in a city known to enjoy its relative isolation, we took our sense of adventure solo. Hushed whispers say the 17 Hundred 90 Inn, the oldest inn in Savannah, is host to as many as three “live-in” ghosts-in-residence. We didn’t see any ghosts during our stay, but we did experience several unexplained incidents involving the bedside table lamp and noisy, moving inanimate objects.
Although Savannah is only about a tank or so away, there’s no need to venture further than our own community closet to rattle the skeletons in it. Roswell also has legends and tours and I decided that now is a great time to scare up some seasonal other-worldly fun before the perfect walking weather vanishes.
Roswell’s paranormal population stretches over a mile throughout the historic district and there are spirits purported to have been around since the city was young. With both of my sons home on a recent weekend, we took a night walking tour of Roswell’s restless undead, which gave the experience an extra dimensional edge. We remembered having dinner at what was The Public House, unaware then that the building is said to be haunted.
Whether strolling in sultry Savannah, taking a walk on Roswell’s wild side with apparitions after dark, or with family, friends and neighbors for Alive After Five, it’s time well spent.
Vicki Griffin has lived in Roswell for 22 years. You can reach her at vlg1230@hotmail.com
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