Gators, Ghosts and the Vamp of Savannah

If you like history, good juicy history, you must visit Savannah.

My first and favorite stop in Savannah was to see the beautiful and talented Ms. Nancy Hillis aka Midnight Mandy.  I can go on and on about this sensational woman, so I’m going to give you an idea of who she is and her importance to the history of Savannah.

If you haven’t read the book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, get started.  It’s by far one of my moms favorite books and had her in love with the city of Savannah years before she was ever able to visit.  Ms. Nancy plays one of the key roles in this top selling novel.  In the novel her name is Mandy.

She owned a piano bar, Sweet Georgia Browns, where she was a Dixieland Jazz singer.  She also owned a bed and breakfast at the Hamilton-Turner mansion both in the heart of historic Savannah.  This exquisite 10,000 sqft home was built in 1893 and was the very first home in Savannah to have electricity, soooo cool!! Here is a picture of it below:

Nancy and I were friends for years before we met.  I always wanted to meet her, but I thought the day would never happen.  Fortunately, my new life afforded me the chance.  She is currently working on her new book called, The Vamp of Savannah-Nancy Hillis.  I can’t wait for it to come out on the shelves.  Thank you Nancy for being so awesome!!  Can’t wait to spend some more time with you.

Stud selfie! This is my boy Wes, Nancy’s son. We’ve been friends for over 4 years. Thanks for treating me like a king!

We also celebrated the birthday of our great friend Sheila Bonner and it was a hard one to beat. We started off by going on a haunted tour of Savannah. If you were unaware, Savannah is the most haunted city in the US. The tour was given in a retired funeral home hearse which added to the eeriness of the evening. We didn’t see any ghosts, but boy are there some stories to hear!

After our haunted thrill ride, we wine and dined at the Old Pink House in Historic Savannah. Nancy surprised Sheila at dinner with a birthday telegram, Black Betty. She was absolutely hilarious. She had the look, the voice and the best drinking songs. This woman rocked the dining room!

The Old Pink House

Black Betty, Sheila (Birthday girl) and Mom

For all you campers at heart, Skidaway Island State Park rocks!!  The campground was perfect and had plenty of things to keep this guy busy and happy.  My favorite thing at Skidaway was my long walks on the various trails through the marshes.  There’s an alligator pond, but thankfully we never saw any gators! The people camping at this campground were welcoming too.  Its been great meeting other “full-timers” like our family.  I never realized how many people did the same thing.  The only difference in our family and the other full-timers is about 3 decades!!  Here are a few pictures of Skidaway:  

Stay tuned…on to the next stop!!