Savannah Thoughts

I recall my fleeting instants in Savannah as the taste of a cup charged to the brim.

Henry James

One of my cherished memories of Savannah is a small restaurant and bar called Betty Bombers. It’s located just a short walk from the apartment we rented. It sits in a stately, old, American Legion building along the edge of Forsyth Park. The restaurant has a decidedly soda fountain feel with World War II memorabilia covering the walls and a menu filled with mouth-watering hamburgers, fries and the best milkshakes you remember having as a kid. The adjacent bar continues the military theme with emblems from the various branches of service laminated into the bar. Top shelf drinks are five dollars and as you’re leaving the bartender always asks if you want one to go.

To get a true feel for the place you’re visiting, stop by the local spots and join the people who live there. In John Berendt’s book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, he writes,”If you go to Atlanta, the first question people ask you is “What’s your business?” In Macon they ask, “Where do you go to church?’ In Augusta they ask your grandmother’s maiden name. But in Savannah the first question people ask is, “What do you want to drink?” The citizens of Savannah are gracious and friendly. There are no strangers.

I fell in love with The Bird Girl during a trip to Savannah in 1994. I later purchased this Garry Siegel photo at a local art show. Some might remember her as the image on the cover of John Berendt’s book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Sadly, the book was her demise. Until its popularity, she sat unnoticed next to a grave on a family plot in Bonaventure Cemetery. After the book, people began coming in droves to view her and sometimes chip off pieces of the casting. Eventually, the family had the statue removed and she is now on display at the Telfair Museums in Savannah. We did not go to the museum to see her. I wanted to remember The Bird Girl the way I last saw her, standing humbly, providing food or a bath to the birds in the cemetery.