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Savannah & Her Beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery (Road Trip #3 of 5)

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On the Road Again! For road trip #3, us girls decided to go to Savannah, Georgia. Unfortunately, we were not able to spend a whole lot of time there. In fact, we would arrive in Savannah around 10pm one day, and have to leave mid to late afternoon the next. That's less than 24 hours! You know what that means -- we had to prioritize.

Before I get to our respective objectives, let me tell you what my Aunt did. Before we even journeyed to Savannah, she made it clear that she would NOT go on a ghost tour. Therefore, I didn't bother lining one up. Upon arrival in the beautiful city and cruising the historic downtown area, we saw many tours ongoing. My Aunt then thinks a ghost tour would be OK since there are groups and much is out in the open. Now she often asks, "When are we going back to Savannah to take a ghost tour?" Whatever. We've moved on. ;-)

Back to the main story. The three of us each had an objective, all to be completed before we returned home. First and foremost, Starbucks was needed to start the day. Mom could care less about it, but she goes along because she is outnumbered. Next, my picture-taking Aunt had to get photographs of the fountain in Forsyth Park (yes, we had to pose in front of it). Then the cemetery lover in me HAD to visit the famed Bonaventure. Next, the true sight-seer and people-watcher (Mom) ultimately decided she wanted a simple drive around Tybee Island. She wanted to see how things had changed since her last visit, even though she hates change. (Love ya, Mom!) And our final objective was, of course, food.

Forsyth Park was laid out in the 1850's, and the city of Savannah has done a great job of maintaining it for the past 150+ years. In addition to the awesome fountain (no picture I took could do it justice) and many moss-filled trees, there are monuments for a few Civil War figures. One was for Lafayette McLaws.

Lafayette McLaws
Major General
Confederate States Army
Born Augusta, GA
January 15th, 1821
Died Savannah, GA
July 24th, 1897

Also, at one entrance to Forsyth Park was a memorial for "the United States Marines from Chatham County, Georgia who made the supreme sacrifice in World War II." They were:

Pvt. William M. Achord, Sr.
Gunner William L. Agee
Ssgt Wiley E. Clark
Joseph Colley
1st Lt. Joseph Craig, III
George Healy Dukes
PFC Jack L. Gardner
Gentry W. Hiott
Charles W. Higgs, Jr.
PFC George Pottle Hodges
1st Lt. Robert F. Jones, Jr.
Sgt John M. Kirby
Pvt Martin E. Kirschbaum, Jr.
Pvt Paul E. Lloyd
PFC Albert T. Mays
Ray J. Robberson
PFC James D. Robinson
Sgt Robert A. Rupert
PFC Henry Rudolph Smith
PFC Walter Carl Smith
Cpl Lewis Oliver Starr
Cpl Robert James Starks
Cpl Elery J. Townsend
PFC Raymond T. Westberry

After leaving Forsyth Park, we made our way to Bonavanture Cemetery. I have posted about it a couple time before. It is everything I ever heard about and more. The grounds are so beautiful they take your breath away. The artistry of the gravestones is historic and amazing. I don't know what else to say. We spent hours there, and yet there is so much I didn't see.

All transcriptions I made and photos I took are here at the Southern Graves site. I will include some of my favorites here.


American Legion Field: Veterans of World Wars
















Thanks for following me to Bonaventure Cemetery!

By the way, we did take that drive around Tybee Island, and we later ate at Uncle Bubba's (yep, Paula Deen's brother). I had a delicious crab cake po' boy sandwich. The cocktail sauce was sooooo good! I didn't have shrimp, but it was great on my fries.


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Diane Willard Kaufman said…
Thank you for visiting Tybee! I hope next time you'll stay with us and get to know the wonderful cemetery's even better. I love to go to Bonaventure as well! When you need a tybee fix, please visit my website and blog www.mermaidcottages.com thx you!
February 13, 2009 at 8:41 PM
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SouthernGraves.blogspot.com

The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

So I answered, "O Lord God, You know."

Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!' Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live...'" (Ezekiel 37:1-5, NKJV)