Savannah -- a trip into history and music

I became acquainted with the songs of Johnny Mercer (bust pictured below) in the early 1960s. I enjoyed his work, but I didn't know he had written them.

What is wider than a mile?

What will we be crossing in style?

"Moon River" of course.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" was quirky. But the music and actress Audrey Hepburn have bounced around in my head for a long time.

After all these years I do have trouble watching the 

movie. Following the typing of the previous sentence, I went on the Internet to find out what year the movie debuted. It was 1961.

                                                                           

I then went to U-Tube and searched for "Moon River." There was the music, and Audrey Hepburn in front of Tiffany's in the opening scene. My anxiety attack began. I had to turn it off.

"Moon River" is one of my favorite songs.

But the movie is also a time machine  that reminds me too much of how fast life can really fly by.

The year was 1962. The location was Hattiesburg, MS. There wasn't much going on that Friday night. Across Hardy Street from the University of Southern Mississippi was a theatre. The aforementioned movie was playing.

Truman Capote, of course, had to travel in an unusual circle of people to come up with the characters in the movie. A couple friends from the journalism department joined me. I'll always remember the rain. The rain, that is, that was falling outside upon leaving the theatre.  It help to cement the moment in my mind.

But that was then.

During the past year my wife and I planned a trip to Savannah, Ga. We had read the book and seen the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," so we were primed.

And then, one night on Public Television, there was a documentary on Johnny Mercer, who was a native of Savannah. It was at this time we came to realize the contribution he had made to our lives through his songs. Our interest in the city was heightened. 

In addition to "Moon River," he also wrote "The Days of Wine and Roses," "Charade," "I Wanna  Be Around," and many more. He was also a singer and entertainer and a co-founder of Capitol Records.

When we arrived in the city, we found that the native had been honored with a statue which is located in Ellis Square in the historic district.

His remains are in the  Bonaventure Cemetery, which apparently draws a lot of tourists, because of the many we saw there during our short visit. Mercer was born Nov. 18, 1909 and died June 25, 1976.

We also visited the Mercer Williams House Museum  at 429 Bull Street. No one in Johnny's family ever inhabited the structure. His great-grandfather Gen. Hugh W. Mercer contracted with architect John S. Norris to design the house.

Flowers adorn bench at Mercer's gravesite

Construction began in 1860 and at the end of the Civil War, Gen. Mercer sold the unfinished house.

The structure drew a lot of attention in the book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" when it was inhabited by Jim Williams. Williams was one of the city's earliest and most dedicated private restorationists. 

Time is fleeting, life goes on and my wife and I continue to be "two drifters, off to see the world."

Thanks, Johnny

Next post: Sunday, May 23, 2010 

The "Loneliest Road in America" challenge

A night in Reno precedes U.S. 50 adventure

My wife Linda knows I like adventure, to an extent, and going off the beaten path.

On a trip out West, the opportunity arose to take a highway that, on the map, always seemed rather interesting and it met my criteria.

That road is what Nevada Department of Transportation officials term "The Loneliest Road in America" --- U.S. Highway 50.

I read they adopted the name for the highway following an article in Life magazine in 1986. Time tagged the road with such a moniker because of the desolate landscape through which the road traversed.

Highway 50 may be the loneliest road but one does not have to be lonely. If so, it is just for a short period of time.

We did not travel on the entire section of the road in Nevada. We arrived in the "Silver State" on Interstate 80 having visited California. A night in Reno and then it was eastward bound, taking Alternate 50 that ran into the official road.

From the California border to Utah, the former pony express trail covers some 400 miles, with elevations of up to 7,000 feet, climbing through numerous mountain passes.

Interesting tidbits include:

-- The "Shoe Tree" located near Middlegate where a cottonwood tree is host to hundreds of pairs of shoes;

-- A burro ( my wife thinks it was one) that quickly spit out the carrot we offered as a snack;

-- Hickison Petroglyphs Recreation Area and Interpretive Site;

-- Eureka, Nev, which bills itself as "The "Friendliest Town" on "The Loneliest Road in America:"

-- Cave Creek campground where we spent the night;

-- The city of Ely;

-- And the Great Basin National Park.

Another interesting sidebar on the way to the Great Basin park was a roadside area sponsored by the Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition. Adjacent to it was an old rusted jalopy in which someone had managed to position behind the steering wheel, the bleached bones of an animal.

Our trip across Nevada, from Reno to the campground, encompassed a good day. Then it was on to Great Basin and Utah.

"The Loneliest Road" -- a challenge met and conquered.

Hundreds of pairs of shoes on tree

Travelers take time to look, contribute

Shoes -- they're hanging everywhere

Carrot was quickly spit out by desert denizen

Drawings adorn wall at Hickison Petroglyphs recreation area

Town takes advantage of "loneliest road" designation

Vehicles on U.S. 50 are few and far between

Ely offers another oasis in the middle of the desert

Some creatures find the desert debilitating

Next: Savannah and the "Moon River" connection to be posted Sunday, May 16

Short New Orleans trip fills the bill

Entertainers leave no ambiguity

My wife and I had an itch to scratch.

We hadn't had beignets, Cafe du Monde style, in a long time.

Our five and a half hour trip to New Orleans gave us our normal taste of the "Big Easy."

We had the beignets -- cafe au lait for me, and chocolate milk for Linda.

Then it was a walk around Jackson Square taking in a little bit of people watching, checking out the artists and listening to and watching street entertainers.

We wrapped up our stay with a roast beef po-boy and French fries at Cafe Pontalba on the northwest corner of the square.

Sometimes we head over to Magazine Street and browze some shops and then go to the Whole Foods store. And sometimes we take the Algiers ferry.

The first of May was on the cusp of the summer season with the skies heating up.

Two hours in the city and we were gone. The trip over was all on Interstate 10. Our return trip covered a portion of Old U.S. 90 from New Orleans to Pearlington, MS.

This was a short trip. But it did provide what we needed.

Sweet Street Symphony -- an entertaining group

Jackson Square provides an interesting backdrop

Roast beef po-boy and fries at the Cafe Pontalba

Next: Nevada's "Loneliest Road in America" to be posted May 9