Easter, Ft. Jackson, The Crab Shack & A Ghost Tour

4/1/18

The kids woke up excited for Easter morning.  Our egg hunt with 4 kids lasted about a minute and a half.  After breakfast we headed to Ft. Jackson.  We arrived in time to check out the fort before they did a canon firing.   We ate lunch at The Crab Shack on Tybee.  This was one of the coolest places we ate at.  We sat outside with a view of the marsh.  They also had an area where the kids could feed baby alligators.  Following lunch we hung out at the beach for a bit and tried to rest up for our Ghost Tour.  We drove into Savannah around 8 for our 9 pm walking ghost tour.  The tour was amazing, we however did not think about a 9-11 pm walking tour with 4 tired kids!  Owen was the only one who made it through the whole tour without falling asleep!

Easter Morning waiting to start their egg hunt!

Easter baskets where sand pails this year 

Ft. Jackson with the Confederate actor 

Ft. Jackson

Blake holding a cannon 

Owen holding a canon 

This was our second fort with a moat in use!  

Claire was so excited to get to keep the igniter from the cannon 

View into downtown Savanna 

Blake holding the empty crab shell from Erik's lunch 

Feeding the gators 

Gorgeous Beach Day

Blake warming up in the sun 

Dolphins were swimming not far from shore!

Ready for the Ghost Tour

Downtown Savannah 

Waiting in Johnson Square for the Ghost Tour to Start 

We learned that this square is where Nathaniel Greene is buried.  Once he was buried here all of the Spanish moss stopped growing in this square.  It is said that people have "seen things" going from tree to tree removing the moss.  According to history he blamed the yellow fever on the Spanish moss and was actively trying to get the city officials to remove it from Savannah at the time of his death.  This was the only square we visited in the city where there was no moss.  

This is the Marshall House.  This is currently a hotel in downtown Savannah.  This was used as a hospital during the civil war.  We learned that during renovations they uncovered lots of arm and legs bones that apparently were put under the floor boards after amputations during the civil war!  The rooms right above the Marshall House sign are extremely haunted.  It is said that guests report the sheets being ripped off of them in the middle of the night and getting bit on the ankles.  Needless to say we will never be staying here! 

This is the Owen-Thomas House.  This is known as the Gray Lady's house, a former owner of the house.  She is one of the most famous Savannah ghosts.  There are reports of her being seen in the back garden tending to her flowers. 

A photo of her gardens, Owen is convinced he sees a ghost in this one.  

1790's house is a current hotel, and is the oldest hotel in Savannah.  They have a mannequin in the window representing a ghost story. The story claims a young girl, Anne Powell, was married to a much older man.  She was confined to her room, except for one day a week where she could go to the market.  She ended up falling in love with a sailor and getting pregnant.  Once her husband found out he threw her out the window.  It is now said that she haunts the room she was confined too. She is very loving to any man who stays in the room and guests report waking up to a kiss.  Women however she tends to go through their stuff and there have been reports of women guests clothing being thrown out the window! 

Colonial Park Cemetery  I stopped here to take a photo of the cemetery with the full moon because it was so gorgeous looking. While I was taking this photo I saw something through my lens and thought I somehow got a finger smudge on my lens.  I looked up and could see see the blurred image in real life.  I quickly lifted the camera and took a couple photos (the next two below) where you can see orbs... needless to say I think I might have seen a ghost in the cemetery!  

And then it was gone!

McDonough's Pub was another stop on our ghost tour.  This pub had bear fighting in the ally next to it.  The pub owner had a young daughter who did not like the bear fighting and went to release the bear.  The bear ended up killing her and it's said that she still haunts the pub.  

Foley House Inn is another haunted Savannah hotel.  This use to be the house of  Ms. Foley.  She was young and rich which led a man from New York to pursue her.  She was not interested in this man, but he continued to ask her to marry him.  One night he showed up in the middle of the night yelling outside her house.  It is said that there was a fight and he was never heard from again.  Her house was at the time under construction. Later renovations of this house found the bones of a man in the wall with a ring.  The ring was traced back to the ancestors in New York!  There are supposed sighting of this man in the black hat nightly. 

Wright Square is where we ended our Ghost City Tour.  This story was the most haunting!  This square was formally the hanging square.  It sits across from the former jail and courthouse.  A young girl, Alice Riley, was hung here for drowning her husband.  When she was arrested she claimed she was pregnant.  She was forced to sit in jail until she gave birth. Once she gave birth they took her baby away without letting her every see the baby.  She was hung the next day.  There are many claims on young mothers in the square having a frantic woman come up to them and ask if they have seen her baby.  This occurs so often the police will only send their rookies to deal with the 911 calls to wright square.