Altar Call –
Opelika-Auburn News
Walter Albritton
October 23, 2011
Savannah a great place for a short October vacation
If you need a break for a few days I
recommend spending a few October nights in Savannah, Georgia. The weather is
nice. The food is great. It is only six
hours away. And the only long lines of tourists are those waiting to eat some
of Paula Deen’s food.
To insure a great time, take along your
brother Seth and his wife Pearl, your two sisters Neva and Margie, and your
sweet wife Dean, and four tons of luggage. Be sure to pray for your car. No
vehicle was prayed for more last week than our 2001 Chrysler van. We rolled
back into Elmore County praising the Lord for traveling mercies.
Be prepared to fight your way through
spider webs – the artificial kind. In anticipation of Halloween ghosts and
goblins are everywhere. One popular tour takes you to visit the secret haunts
of “America’s Most Haunted City.” We skipped that one. I have visited enough
cemeteries.
We did enjoy the trolley tour and heard
again (we had been there before) the stories of Savannah’s unique architecture
and its 24 charming city squares. There are impressive statues of important
people on each of the squares. Methodists are proud that one of the statues is
of John Wesley, founder of Methodism. Wesley did missionary work there for a
short time but returned to England “a failure,” he said.
Prominent in the city’s history is British
General James Oglethorpe who in 1732 founded the colony of Georgia as a refuge
for Britain’s poor, mainly people in debtors’ prisons. Current residents told
us they proudly continue the tradition of being imprisoned by debt.
Savannah tour guides point out the
birthplace on the corner of Oglethorpe Avenue and Bull Street the home of
Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.
There is no statue of Paula Deen on a city square but she is a treasured icon in
Savannah. We had enjoyed the Paula Deen tour and good
food on a previous visit so we skipped it this time. Paula’s picture and her cookbooks
are everywhere. Perhaps after she has been dead awhile they will erect a statue
of her beside General Oglethorpe or John Wesley.
We enjoyed more than one visit to the City
Market. There we found many interesting cafes, shops, artists, and vendors
selling the trinkets that tourists like to take home to prove they were there.
Seth and I were blessed to find now and then an inviting bench under a shade
tree.
Once we ate at a sprawling old building
called the Pirates’ House that brags of having 13 dining rooms. I have seen old
barns that were in better shape but the food was delicious, especially the
seafood.
Our favorite place to eat was the Crystal
Beer Parlor near our hotel. They had a rowdy crowd of “happy” customers but
their peach cobbler was out of this world. The sweet tea was excellent too just
in case you are wondering.
The highlight of our trip was going to the
Savannah Theatre on Tuesday night to see the musical variety production
“Southern Nights.” It was a delightful combination of comedy, singing and
dancing by a remarkably talented group of young musicians.
Early in the show the master of ceremonies,
“Maynard,” (who was dressed as a custodian) came off stage and greeted several
people down front. We were seated on the third row, my brother Seth on the
aisle seat. Maynard walked over to Seth and introduced himself, joking about
not being able to pronounce “Wetumpka.”
A few minutes later
Maynard escorted Seth on stage, inviting him to sing with a men’s quartet who
were dressed like the Oak Ridge Boys, long beard and all. They quickly put a
western vest, Cowboy hat and a beard on Seth and stuck a microphone to his
mouth.
Though Seth was stunned and excited (the
only person in the audience invited on stage that night!), he must have
surprised the quartet with his singing. They had no idea that Seth sings tenor
in our church choir! We will never forget Seth’s debut on stage in the Savannah
Theatre singing “Elvira” with the Oak Ridge Boys! He brought the house down!
Well, if you take me up on the invitation
to visit Savannah, be sure to make reservations to see a show at the Savannah
Theatre. Seth will be glad to go along with you – especially if the “Oak Ridge
Boys” are performing that night! + + +