Yesterday morning Basil got up and announced, “I want to go shopping.”

When Gorgeous asked him what kind of shopping he had in mind, he would only say, “I want to look at old stuff.”

OK. We got lots of that here in Savannah.

Well I had to work today and Gorgeous still wasn’t feeling 100% so I agreed to drop Basil off near some shops on my way in to the office. I took him up to Broughton Street and let him out of the car. With a quick, “Please don’t get into any trouble,” I was off to work.

Basil grinned and hollered after me, “Don’t worry. I’ve got Ben’s Visa card!”

Broughton Street is an interesting place. When I lived here 10 years ago it was kind of an ugly looking place. Many of the store fronts were boarded up lower floors of dilapidated buildings. When Savannah’s two major shopping malls opened up on the Southside, the shopping downtown dried up.

Recently Broughton Street has done a 180 degree turn. Almost all the buildings have been restored. Many have high price condos in the upper floors. Now there are tons of shops where you can get all sorts of things. Even a non-shopping guy like me can find enough to keep interested. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find that Basil ran up quite a bill before he moved on.

Next Basil moved on to River Street, aptly named since it runs along the South bank of the Savannah River. It is kind of the focal point for downtown tourism. You can stroll down the cobblestone street moving from shop to shop taking it all in at a nice leisurely pace. You’ll find all sorts of treasures there, restaurants galore, and my own personal favorite Savannah’s Candy Kitchen.

I usually go for the chocolate covered Oreo’s. Or, if I’m really feeling like going into a total sugar stupor, I’ll get the chocolate covered marshmallows. Mmmmmm…. Chocolate.

Downtown Savannah is an interesting place because when the city was planned out they put downtown on a high bluff along the Savannah River. Bay Street, which is only a block away from River Street, is some 40 feet or more higher than River Street down near the water’s edge. In order to get down to the lower level you have to either walk down one of the many cobblestone paved vehicle ramps or stone staircases built into the retaining wall.

The cobblestones aren’t local. They came from the fact that Savannah has always been a thriving sea port. Back in the day Savannah primarily shipped exports out, especially cotton. The ships would come in empty, ballasted down with literally tons of stones. The crews would then toss the stones on the shore before they loaded the ships down with their cargos.

Well rather than toting all that stone away, the locals simply used them to build with. They worked quite well for paving material and still cover all the ramps to this day.

Basil commented that he was amazed that women would actually try to walk down those cobblestone ramps in heels. I’ve only seen a couple ladies fall, which I find amazing too. Basil said the ramps were easy for donkeys to negotiate, but he wasn’t willing to even try the steep uneven stairs.

Basil said his favorite store was True Grits because, “They had lots of old stuff.” I like it because of the nautical flavor of the store.

Of course it didn’t hurt Basil’s opinion that they are located so close to Wet Willies. Basil spent a long time in there quaffing the many frozen daiquiris they have ready-made in their machines. He said, “It was hot out.”

Yeah. We’re in Savannah. And it’s summer time. Of course it’s hot! (Oh, and I caught a glimpse of his receipt from there. All I can say Ben is “Sheesh!”)

(Related Tags: savannah, shopping)