SAVANNAH, Ga. — If there is one thing that Savannah knows how to do, it’s showing off her romantic side. From cobblestone streets to beloved squares to the unreal springtime beauty, Savannah seems tailor-made for romantics.
Long a visitor to Savannah’s Historic District in springtime, I cannot imagine that any other Southern city blooms more beautifully than in this place, nicknamed the Hostess City of the South most notably because of its millions of azaleas, some as fragrant as the sweetest perfume. They blossom anywhere from late February to April in thousands of hues of red, pink and purple. Think: baby pink, vermillion, fuchsia, soft orange and amethyst. The avalanche of azaleas blends in perfectly with streets lined with dogwoods, hydrangeas, crepe myrtles and camellias in almost as many colors. Savannah is sensory overload in the spring.
Much of this coastal city was built on cotton fortunes, and a few of its original cotton warehouses still line fabled River Street, the cobblestone avenue that parallels the Savannah River and whose stones are worn slick by untold millions of visitors who flock to the city every year for the pageant of spring flowers, St. Patrick’s Day Parade — it is the second largest St. Patrick’s Day parade only behind New York City’s — and sometimes just for its Southern charm alone.
