-I'm in a destination that everyone loves, an elegant city where the Spanish moss drips and historic squares that are just off a vibrant riverfront.
But what it is known for could be misleading for what the city actually is, like an epicenter of art and design education, where creativity flows in acts of service to others, where history is not settled, but still being excavated and forged.
[ Clang ] It's where strong acts of leadership got their first start and still flourish today.
I'm in Savannah, Georgia.
[ Upbeat tune plays ] I'm Samantha Brown, and I've traveled all over this world.
And I'm always looking to find the destinations, the experiences, and, most importantly, the people who make us feel like we're really a part of a place.
That's why I have a love of travel and why these are my places to love.
Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" is made possible by... -Exploring the world for over 150 years.
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♪ ♪ ♪ -So, the last time I was in this city was maybe 10, 12 years ago.
-Mm-hmm.
-And this, to me, is completely brand-new, this section of the riverwalk.
How new is it?
-So, this is the Plant Riverside District, and it opened in July of 2020.
-Oh, my... -So it is phenomenal for Savannah.
-What did it used to be?
-An old power plant.
And it's such a good addition for the town.
-And you have potentially thousands of people walking by you... -Yeah.
-...almost every day.
And it's just this small little glass box of -- of joy.
-Yeah, as soon as someone steps right into this space, that's -- my arms are wide open.
-Amelia is a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, or SCAD.
The college has helped transform the city into a vital community of art and artists.
Amelia's own art focuses on women and inspiration.
"Inhale the future.
Exhale the past."
We all need to do that.
Right?
Right?
-People say, "Oh, that's -- that one resonates with me!"
-Yeah.
-Just a really special thing to have someone connect over.
Like, we're always say we're on the same page.
And it's really special, too, when people -- It inspires other people.
They'll say, "You've really made my day!
I'm gonna bounce around Savannah and share that joy!"
I'm like, "Hey!
That's what it's all about!"
-Savannah is famous for its neighborhoods and your ability to wander from one to the next.
-Well, this neighborhood is called Starland District, and it has a beautiful blend of SCAD students, the locals, the tourists.
You can see even the architecture of the houses.
You know?
It's Victorian.
It's absolutely just a great blend of everything wonderful about Savannah.
I'm Kay Heritage.
I'm from the "other South" -- South Korea -- and we created Big Bon to have a community space that serves wood-fired bagels and wood-fired pizza.
-So, I'm sure you've gotten this before, because you've got a good Jewish community here in Savannah.
-Yeah.
-What's a nice girl from South Korea -- What does she know about making a good ethnic Jewish bagel?
-Right?
-Did you get any kind of blowback from that?
-Oh, yeah.
All the time.
Like, "What?
You know, South Korean making bagels?"
[ Laughter ] They just couldn't, you know, comprehend.
But I had no idea how hard making bagels was.
[ Laughs ] -So, why did you go with the bagel, then?
-Because we didn't have it in Savannah.
We didn't have wood-fired bagels.
So, these bagels are Montreal inspired.
So, Montreal bagels, you know, they're hand-rolled, wood-fired.
-It's not like the New York bagel, which is a lot more dough.
-Correct.
Yeah.
-But these are thinner.
-And when I saw the video for the first time, I'm like, "Oh, my gosh.
We've got to bring that to Savannah."
-Yeah.
Whenever I talk to people who are in the food business, whether they're restaurant owners or chefs, they always talk about the fact that their ingredients are the key to their success.
-Yeah.
-But you really feel like your success begins with your employees.
-Oh, yeah, absolutely.
-You actually open your books to them so they can see what it means to... -We do.
Yeah.
-...to own a business, run it, see the profits coming and going so they have a greater knowledge.
-They're just figuring things out, and I was figuring things out, too, and I thought, if I can just share a little bit what I'm learning as I go, whether it's business or life skills, you know, how to communicate with each other a little bit better, how to have a little bit more respect for each other, if we can just instill that a little bit, you know, to these young people that everything is about relationship, I think they'll do better, you know, make the world a little brighter place.
-Travelers will say Savannah is a great walking city, but locals... -Now is the time for you to show what you've got.
-...say it's a great running city.
-Four, three, two... and go, everybody!
Run!
Go get that mile!
Go earn that beer!
-I'm joining the Service Brewing Run Club, which meets every Thursday and welcomes those travelers, as well as locals.
-Craft breweries embed themselves in the community, and a great way for us to bring the community to the brewery is by establishing a run club.
I'm Kevin Ryan.
I graduated from West Point.
Served in the Army for eight years, commanded two companies in Iraq in 2003-2004 and, after I came home, found my way into craft beer.
Our mission with craft beer is to give back to those who served their country and community first.
People took care of me while I was in the service, and now I get to give back to those who served through our beer.
♪ -And if you run the mile, Kevin treats you to a beer.
Service Brewing started only 10 years ago when Kevin's partner in life, Meredith, gave him a home brewing kit on Valentine's Day.
Two years later, they founded the brewery together.
One thing I have found in talking to a lot of people like you is it's never about the beer.
It's about what that beer does in terms of increasing a community.
And what you do is so unique, as well.
-Absolutely, yeah, so, a portion of every pint we sell is going to a charity that we're focused on at that time.
We've done dog-rescue charities.
We've done veteran-owned farms.
You've got a pint of beer here, so you just donated a dollar to charity.
-Nice.
-Everything that's in this taproom is an homage to my military service and others' military service.
So, Meredith listened to the stories that I told her about my military experiences and put them into representations that are humble but recognized.
-Sure.
-The walls up here are parachutes because I was in an airborne unit in Alaska.
The containers -- I lived in a 20-foot container in Iraq for seven months.
So we decided to -- She wanted to have the beer come out of the containers.
She commissioned 22 artists to make patriotic-themed tap handles for us.
So that is our Tap Handle Project.
All unique, one-of-a-kind pieces of art that honor people's service, but also honor our artists and their commitment to the military, as well.
-Even though this is very veteran-centric, the idea that we all serve in some way is really -- really promoted within this brewery.
Like, "How do you serve?"
And people can write.
-Yeah, people don't give themselves credit.
You know, I'll be over at the board, and somebody will be reading it, and I was like, "Well, what have you put on the board?"
They're like, "Oh, I'm not a veteran."
It's like -- But you are serving your community.
You've done things that are helping others.
And they probably just don't recognize it or give themselves credit for it.
Right, right.
-You're having an impact.
-Mm-hmm.
-And it's all we need.
And, then, you know you have those folks that have the bumper sticker on their car that says, "A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work"?
-Yes.
-Well, no matter how bad the day, we have cold beer.
-Mm-hmm.
[ Laughs ] -My name is Rabbi Robert Haas, and I am the 14th spiritual leader in the history of Congregation Mickve Israel.
We're the third-oldest synagogue in America, having been founded in 1733, and we're also the second-oldest house of worship of any religion in the great state of Georgia.
75% of my household believe we're the best synagogue in all of America.
My 2-year-old son is a holdout right now.
-The largest group of Jewish immigrants to the New World, to the colonies, came here to Savannah.
-By far the largest.
I mean, we think they'd heard about what was going on with Oglethorpe.
-Okay.
-He was very open to different people and different religions, very open to people, basically, of everything.
They received 100% full rights.
From the moment they got here, Jews have always had full rights in Georgia, which is almost unheard of.
-Right.
-And really quite remarkable that even after Oglethorpe was no longer here and after he died, these kind of rights still remained.
-How many people know this history when they walk through your doors to get the -- I mean, this is -- this is absolutely unknown, I feel, in my world and the history that I've learned, that there was this group of immigrants, just against all odds, got here at a time that was just perfect.
-The idea that there were more Jews in Savannah, Georgia, than New York is really not even a thought in their mind.
They can't even imagine that.
I mean, there were more Jews in the South than the North until probably the 1840s.
-So this congregation is founded close to 300 years ago, and this room really represents the treasures of those 300 years.
-Most importantly, this one.
This is the first Torah scroll to come to America.
It was brought here in 1733 on the boat with the first Jews.
It was already old, so we think the congregation that owned it, Bevis Marks in England, sent their oldest Torah scroll, not believing that 300 years later we'd keep it.
-Mm-hmm.
-Because when you stop reading the Torah scroll because it's got damage, you bury it like you bury a person.
It's like the soul has left it.
-Oh, okay.
-But, of course, here they didn't have any other ones, so they kept it, and then four years later, they sent another Torah scroll, their other old one, so we have two 15th-century scrolls.
-Wow!
And you actually have a letter from the very first president of the United States, which really kind of sets the tone of how long you have been here, that you've been here before there was even the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
-This is the first letter ever from a president to a Jewish community.
-But you're also a part of Girl Scout history.
-Which is awesome.
Girl Scouts were founded in Savannah, and when Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouts, she picked five women to be the first Girl Scout leaders, and three were from our congregation.
Probably my favorite piece of history is not the Torah scrolls, which are amazing.
It's not the letters, not the first circumcision kit to come to America.
But it's this one right over here.
That is the first receipt for Girl Scout cookies.
-What?!
-Because Gottlieb's Kosher Bakery won the contest with oatmeal chocolate chip.
So this bakery actually baked the cookies for the first time... -All of them.
All of them.
Yes.
-...here in Savannah.
-And since that time, for the most part, Girl Scout cookies have been kosher, and they're still kosher to this day.
-The Girl Scouts have certainly grown from that original five, and today I've come to the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low to join a few current Scouts for an endearing ceremony called Over Teacups.
Tea and, of course, cookies are served to young women who are transitioning out of the Girl Scouts as they are graduating from high school.
We are right now in the room where it happened, right?
This is sort of where the movement was -- was born, not only the founder, but a movement.
Do you feel that energy being here?
-It feels weird because, like, this was once the place where this was just an idea, and now we are the idea coming to life.
-Yeah.
-I feel so much more, like -- I'm in the presence of somebody.
I feel like I should be proper and poised and, like, proper posture and smile and, "Yes, ma'am, thank you."
-[ Laughs ] You just sort of assume this time period of formality.
So what's one of the favorite things that being a Girl Scout really taught you?
Was it confidence?
Was it empowerment?
-It's definitely the leadership for me.
-I gained a lot more confidence and I got a lot more courage to, you know, speak out and help out around, like, all the things we do in our troop.
-It's more fun to talk to people when you have more confidence in yourself and you can show your personality more.
-I like that.
-Being a Girl Scout, you have to ask people to get the cookies, right?
So you can't just, like, look at them and hope they just come and buy from you.
You have to talk to them.
You have to talk to the people in your troop so you can make friendships and, like, yeah.
Just socialize in general.
-Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
-So many people visiting Juliette Gordon Low's house might have this impression that the Girl Scouts was something that happened in the past.
What would you like people to know, as they tour the house, about the Girl Scouts, about being a Girl Scout that they might not get by going from room to room?
-This is a place of empowerment for women, but also that Girl Scouts is here and Girl Scouts is here to stay because we have a job to do.
And that job is to inspire future generations of young women to be themselves and show the world what we can do.
-Well, I'm gonna eat a thin mint on that.
That's for sure.
[ Laughter ] ♪ Every visitor to Savannah loves to just walk the streets, admire the homes, imagine which home we would buy if we could live in one of these homes.
And we owe all of that daydreaming to this house right here, the Davenport House.
Because without the saving of this home, we would see none of this.
None of this would have happened.
Correct?
-That's right.
You're exactly right.
In 1955, the Davenport House was a beat-up old apartment building slated for demolition.
But there were seven Savannah ladies who were working together to save the old city, and so they decided to buy the property for $22,500.
They took up a collection amongst their friends and neighbors.
They formed Historic Savannah Foundation in 1955.
-The saving of this house began the first effort of the organized preservation movement.
It's now a museum where you can get a clear idea of what it was like for some people to live in 19th-century Savannah.
But you also can't help remembering that Isaiah Davenport originally built it in the Antebellum South and how he had it built.
-I would say that every house built before the Civil War was built with African-American labor and with Black hands.
The city is all about those craftsmen, Davenport, but also the enslaved workers, as well as free people of color that were skilled builders.
-Currently, the museum centers on the upstairs living spaces, but downstairs a new exhibit is being created that will allow the Davenport to broaden their history telling.
-Well, this is a revelation to us.
This was our gift shop and office space for 50 years.
In the past few months, we've taken out the false walls to reveal the history that we didn't know about.
And so this area is going to talk about primarily the people who lived here, the 13 enslaved workers of Isaiah Davenport.
We have a hearth.
We never knew where the cooking hearth was.
-You never knew this was here?
-No!
It was behind a bookshelf for years and years and years.
And, so, we've also got another part of this aboveground basement where we can talk about life when people of the enslaved household were teaching their children how to survive in the enslaved institution, as well as spirituality and things that were beyond their enslaved labor.
-I love it, and the way that you're sort of excavating the walls.
You're excavating a history and letting that come to life once again.
-It gives us lots of opportunities to tell a richer and fuller story about this house and about the city.
♪ -You may have heard of Pin Point oysters, but you may not realize that Pin Point is an actual place just south of Savannah, and that's where the oysters were harvested and processed.
Those facilities have recently been transformed into a museum which also highlights the vibrant Gullah Geechee community, whose emancipated ancestors from nearby barrier islands founded Pin Point in 1896.
-My name is Gail Smith, and I'm a historical interpreter at the Pin Point Heritage Museum.
My great-great-grandfather was one of the original founders of the Pin Point community.
I still live here today.
-So, they're newly emancipated.
-Mm-hmm.
-And they live just over there.
-Mm-hmm.
-But they settle here.
Why did they choose this spot?
-You know, I believe it was a revelation.
The old folks believed that God chose this land especially for them, and they also believed that this land was made for them.
Because the only way you could have gotten to these properties were by boat.
-Mm-hmm.
-Okay?
And they believed that water is soothing and it's supposed to relax you and calm you.
So they believed that all that intertwined with them having this particular property.
-They were very smart.
I mean, this is a beautiful spot.
-It is beautiful.
-And I would imagine being isolated was something you'd want to be at that time after surviving what they did.
And that protection really allowed this culture to thrive to the point where now we can experience it ourselves.
-Mm-hmm.
-Is it hard to have a museum like this that sort of puts your culture out there and you have visitors who kind of come in and have no idea what even Gullah means?
-It took us a while to warm up to it.
-Of course.
-Now people are coming down that road, and they're from all over the world.
-Yeah.
-They are so excited about Gullah Geechee people and how self-sustaining we are and were for so many years and not relying on the outside world for little or nothing.
-Yeah.
Yeah.
-Now, in this room, there would be four tables set up in this area, and the ladies would clean the crab and they would then start picking the crab.
And they would pick crabs in the spring and the summer, oysters in the winter months.
-Mm-hmm.
But in this building, you could have anywhere from 30 to 40 people working in here, women working at one time.
-Wow.
-Every single woman that worked in here was Gullah Geechee women.
-Mm-hmm.
-You see some of the pictures that are on the walls.
The ladies would sit there all day singing gospel songs and picking crabs in this room right here.
The men would build the boats, and they called them bateaus, which is just a French word for "boat."
-Flat bottom.
-Flat-bottom boat.
Mm-hmm.
But we had a couple of men in Pin Point that actually knit the crab nets, okay?
They started off with the crab nets, and then later on, they went to the crab trap.
-My name is Isaac Martin Jr., and I am called "The Net Man."
Right now it'd take me almost 30 minutes to knit a crab net, maybe 20 to 30 minutes.
But during the yonder days, I could knit it in about 15 minutes.
I love it here.
I've been here 74 years.
I don't want to go nowhere else.
-The Gullah Geechee believe that spirits were captured nightly in indigo bottles like these and released with the sunrise.
This bottle tree at the museum was forged by a local artisan blacksmith named Gilbert Walker, and I'm meeting him at a nearby waterfront restaurant called The Wyld.
♪ It's oyster roast tonight, and Gilbert is ready for it.
He's brought his portable forge with him, and he's showing me how he makes his signature cobra-shaped oyster shuckers from iron railroad spikes.
[ Clang ] For Gilbert, this work is personal.
-I look at it as part of my DNA.
-Mm-hmm.
I was born and raised here in the South amongst the Gullah Geechee people, and I used to ride horses with the City of Savannah Police Department.
-You were a mounted police officer.
-I was a mounted police officer.
-[ Laughs ] Wow!
So... -You're our favorite police officers.
Everyone loves a -- -All the kids love me.
-Everyone loves a police officer on a horse!
-The kids love me.
[ Crackling ] -What did you learn about your ancestry, your ancestors and -- and blacksmithing?
-Even though I'm a historian, you know, by choice, I started thinking about the enslaved.
So I'd think about the enslaved Africans that were imported here for that skill level.
The heritage itself is very important for me, the culture itself.
-Mm-hmm.
-The endurance of the Africans... -Yeah.
-...you know, to last and still show their skill level.
It's very important to me that I participate in things like this just for history's sake, if anything else.
[ Clang ] -Here they come.
-Wow!
-Oh, yeah!
-Alright.
I have no idea what to do.
-Okay.
Here you go.
-Just slide 'em on by.
-There's no rhyme or reason.
Just go for it.
-Just go for it?
-That's it.
-The oysters are ready, and joining me are some of the great people I met on my trip here.
-You go out and you grab 'em and you bring 'em home for dinner.
-Nice.
I also got to try out one of Gilbert's cobra shuckers.
And he's right -- it fits perfectly in my hand.
-Oh, like that?
-There you go.
-And now I've got it cracked open?
Alright.
And I might find a pearl?
-And you might find a little crab.
-And then just eat?
-There you go.
-There's hot sauce.
-Oh, my gosh!
This is wonderful!
-♪ Don't wait by your cellphone ♪ ♪ ♪ You should just go to sleep ♪ -Pass down the lemon and horseradish.
-Do you eat the crabs?
I eat the crabs.
-I eat the crabs, for sure.
-♪ I need a stiff drink ♪ -You can't get a better setting than this right here, being here at this restaurant with this view, this weather.
-Mmm!
-Oh, my gosh.
-This is like Thanksgiving.
-♪ Anymore ♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] -And, so, when you come to Savannah, you're gonna find beauty everywhere.
I mean, the trees are beautiful.
The architecture is beautiful.
There's so much to do.
I've even heard they may even sell alcohol somewhere in town.
Not sure, but I think so.
-And, of course, people love to come here because it's a very walkable city.
These squares are like a green necklace throughout the Landmark District.
They're quite pleasant on a human scale.
-It's always moving with creativity, and it's fascinating.
People from all over the world.
Just the different things that people are talented with.
It's inspiring on its own.
-We want to show the talents.
We want to get back the dignity of these people because before they were enslaved, they were family members... -Mm-hmm.
-...people who had everyday lives just like anybody else.
-But, you know, it's an incredible place because it's so welcoming, and it has been.
And my wife has been very supportive.
She said, "You know what?
If you want to move to another place, that's wonderful.
Just come and visit me and the kids here whenever you want."
-When we interact with courage and leadership from all ages, when we enjoy strong communities built on creativity, when our connection with the past is through the passion of people today, that is when we share a love of travel.
And that's why Savannah, Georgia, is a place to love.
-For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com.
Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" was made possible by... ♪ ♪ ♪ -The world is full of breathtaking destinations and experiences.
AAA wants to help turn vacation dreams into reality.
Wherever you want to go, AAA has services to help you before, during, and after your trip.
Learn more at AAA.com/LIVETV.
-The endless deserts, canyons, and stunning vistas between Denver and Moab deserve to be traveled.
Rocky Mountaineer.
Proud sponsor of "Places to Love."
-Exploring the world for over 150 years.
Guests cruise to nearly 400 ports of call around the globe, exploring over 100 countries.
Live music at sea fills each evening.
Dining venues feature selections from a Culinary Council of chefs.
Offering mid-sized ship experiences with handcrafted itineraries, personal service, and connections to the destinations guests visit.
♪ ♪ ♪
