This is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia
and the first capital.
I'm talking about Savannah.
And guess what?
It's also widely known as America's most haunted city.
-Boo! -Ah! [laughs]
Hello, I'm Renata,
and this is my husband and videographer, Gordon.
- Hello! [in Portuguese] - And the scary one, too.
- I'm scary? - You just scared me.
-Oh. - You're scaring me
in the scariest city in America.
Not a good thing, baby. -Ah.
We're on a road trip in the USA,
more precisely along the coast between South Carolina and Florida.
After spending the winter in South Carolina,
we are slowly and carefully making our way back to Florida.
In this series, we're sharing the stops along the way.
I'm linking the playlist here where you can see the previous videos
in Myrtle Beach and Charleston,
and everything that will come from here on.
- Cheers! - Cheers!
We're now in the state of Georgia.
And if you're wondering why this name,
let me tell you now.
Georgia was named after King George II.
He was the king of Great Britain and Ireland at the time.
Just like "Charles Town" was named after King Charles II
about 60 years earlier.
If you're not American, you may not know that the United States
was formed by 13 British Colonies.
Georgia was the 13th and the last.
And right here where I am right now on River Street,
this was the beginning of the original 13th colony.
River Street! Why do you think that is?
River Street today is one of the main places to come
when you visit Savannah.
In fact, when I was doing my research here,
I googled River Street,
and the first thing that came up was "Is River Street open?"
Is it open? - Yes. Yes, it is.
Yes, fully open. Look at this.
The second most common question was "Can you drive on River Street?"
- Of course, you can. - Uh-hmm.
- But do you want to do that?
- No, because it's better to walk. There's so much to see.
- Yeah. Now there's no traffic here.
We're here very early.
But there's normally some traffic, too, right?
- Yeah. - Some traffic jams.
The third and final question that I'm sharing here
is "What can I do on River Street?"
- Keep watching, we'll answer your question.
- Yeah, that's what this video is about.
[music]
River Street is a place to come for sightseeing,
shopping and dining.
There's a beautiful waterfront, look at this,
where you can also take a moment to relax,
see some ships go by, maybe even some cargo ships.
Not something you see every day.
See the cobblestones here?
They're actually from various countries.
They came in the ships
that were sailing into Savannah's harbor.
The settlers realized they were abundant and affordable,
and used in the entire historic center.
What about this side over here? Are these buildings original?
Some of them are.
They are old cotton warehouses.
Today you find here some 70-75 restaurants,
pubs, shops, art galleries.
some candy stores.
-What are you doing?
- It's a hat store, baby.
I'm just going crazy here.
Lighthouses of the Southeast.
Which one we saw here, baby, in South Carolina?
- Morris Island. - Morris Island.
Yeah, that's right.
Sullivan's Island Lighthouse, too.
Which one we're gonna see here?
Tybee. Tybee Island, yeah.
This is the tallest lighthouse in Georgia.
Coming up in a future video.
Some of these shops are now classic,
like Bob's Your Uncle, Fannie's Your Aunt.
That's the name of the store.
"Bob's your uncle," do you have this expression in Canada?
- I'm not aware.
Online it says that it's in the U.K.
and the entire Commonwealth.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
You never heard "Bob's your uncle" before?
- What does it mean?
- It's like when something is really easy.
- Oh! - Easy-peasy.
- Okay. - It's like a piece of cake.
- Really? - Yeah.
- A piece of cake? - A piece of cake.
- Lemon? Coconut? - No, baby. No, no.
- You never heard that in Canada? - No.
- Okay, don't trust the internet on everything that you see.
Ah, they even have the hat here.
- Bob's your uncle.
- Green shirts, baby.
You know that they have a huge St. Patrick's festival here.
This is me.
"Be a unicorn in a field of horses."
- Oh, really? - Yeah. "Born to stand out."
- Oh, yeah? - Oh, yeah.
What about you? Where are you here?
"Overworked and underpaid" [laughs]
That is so you.
- Start here and then go to here.
Read this one.
Time to finally try this famous "She crab soup."
$8 for a cup, $9 for a bowl.
Nice, good prices.
We have been avoiding dining indoors all this time.
But today, we're opening an exception because this place is historical.
And we're here at 11 in the morning before all the crowds
as soon as the restaurant opened.
This was Savannah's first restaurant on River Street,
and it's located inside an old cotton warehouse from the 1800s.
So what did you get, Gordon?
- Blackened fish salad.
- Blackened fish. - Salad [in Italian].
- Wow so flaky, huh?
- Good, very good.
- This is one of the most famous dishes here
along the coast of Georgia, South Carolina, too.
It's the "She Crab Soup."
She because it's a female crab.
It's delicious.
Mmm, it's a very thick soup,
like a bisque.
It's very tasty.
- It's sweet.
- Sweet? You think it's sweet?
No, it's not. Yeah?
Are we trying the same thing? - Yeah.
The "She Crab Soup" is named for the she crab or female crab, right?
And the orange crab roe is a main ingredient.
I guess you can even see a little bit in the color here.
It's a very creamy soup. Look at this.
It could even be like a sauce.
Wow, his fish is fantastic.
You can't be serious that you thought the soup was sweet.
- Yeah, it was. The first taste was sweet.
- No, it's not sweet at all.
- Yeah, it was. - It's crab, baby.
- We have different taste buds.
- South American, mine is Canadian.
- I thought the consistency was almost like gravy
Right? - No
- Very, very creamy. Kind of.
- Kind of? - A heavy cream soup, yes.
- I love creamy soups.
I prefer creamy soups compared to watery soups.
You like them all. - They're all delicious.
- What about your fish? How was it?
- It was delicious, a little bit spicy.
- And you like spicy food? - Yes.
It works for me. - Perfect for you.
We've been eating very, very well along this trip here.
Yeah, good choice of restaurant.
That was on you. - Excellent.
- There are some restaurants with outdoor seating as well,
other rooftops,
so you should have a lot of options when you come here.
I've seen this store in so many cities, River Street Sweets,
and never thought much about the name,
until I got here,
and realized River Street, River Street.
This store was born right here.
It's the oldest candy store in Savannah.
And these candy stores are so famous here on River Street.
There are a few.
And you should check out at least one of them.
Praline.
Oh, look at them being prepared right here.
Oh, thank you.
Mmm.
Mmm, it's still warm.
Praline.
I think that's what this is. No?
- Yeah. - Right here.
- Right here.
It's so good.
[music]
- Renata, you're taking too long. You got sweets, come on.
Yes, yes.
I just want to talk about the smell in that store, baby.
Even with the masks, we can smell everything there, could you?
- Yeah, very caramel. Sweet.
- Oh, my God. Yes.
They're baking.
They're preparing everything there in front of you.
You want to take everything.
- Let's eat now. - [laughs]
- Those sweets that they distribute at the entrance are pralines.
They're famous here for their pralines,
and pralines are very typical from the south.
And I got more pralines because they're delicious.
And I got something else, too, baby, I didn't even tell you.
[laughs]
It was a chocolate with peanuts like Turtles.
He told me it's like Turtles. - Yeah.
- Yes, but, you know, handmade Turtles.
- Uh-huh. - Oh, this will be so good.
Isn't it delicious? - Uh-hmm.
- And it's still warm, huh? - Uh-hmm.
They just made it. They're made of what?
- I don't know. [laughs]
- [laughs]
What do they have? Caramel, nuts, sugar.
- Pecan. - Pecan?
- Yeah. - Oh, yeah.
On their website, they say that they are the leading supplier
of pralines on the planet.
- Wow. - Massive production here.
- Good for them.
- One thing about pralines you may not know.
This sweet is actually European.
It was not invented in the U.S.
- Not here in Savannah? - No.
- Then why do we do the video here?
- In the U.S., it was not even in Savannah.
It was in Louisiana.
- We need to go to Europe to do the video then.
- Yeah, but it's actually famous in Belgium and France.
- Oh, yeah? - It came here to the U.S.
with the French colonization in Louisiana.
- Oh, yeah? - Uh-hmm. And then...
- How did they make it to Savannah? - It just expanded.
- It became a thing of the south. - Oh, okay.
- The American pralines are considered softer and creamier...
- Oh, really? - ...compared to the Europeans.
- Yeah? - Yeah, it's more like a fudge here.
Yeah, right. - Yeah, like a fudge.
- This is the second one I got.
Ohhhhh!
- Chocs!
- Oh! [laughs]
You can go ahead, go ahead
- Mmm, it's really soft.
- Is it? - Yeah.
- It's caramel.
Chocolate and caramel.
- Caramel and what? Peanuts?
- Uh-hmm.
- Oh, this is so delicious.
The best you can do here on River Street
is don't get dessert at the restaurant where you have...
- Oh. - ...where you eat, right?
Come to these sweet shops.
- In fact, don't eat anywhere else, just eat at the sweet shop all day.
- [laughs]
"Historic steps, use at your own risk."
How hard could it be?
This is really tough. [laughs]
[music]
This is a place now basically hidden behind River Street.
This is the Factors Walk.
The name is, again, related to the cotton industry.
In these buildings, men used to bail, factor, and sell cotton.
Old Savannah Cotton Exchange,
this building was so important historically.
It was completed in 1887
when Savannah ranked first as a cotton seaport on the Atlantic
and second in the world.
The cotton exchange was the center of the activity here
dominating the city's economic life.
Today this is the Savannah Chamber of Commerce.
These are the backs of all the former warehouses
on River Street.
"Historic steps, use at your own risk."
I love these.
Now imagine driving on these streets like those buses are going.
This is tough. Look at this.
It's not just simple cobblestones, right?
Even for you to walk, it's hard here.
Look at those things.
Do you think it's the same thing to hold together
like earthquake bolts, right?
- Yeah, just like those that are over there
- Those in Charleston.
- See how the walls come out? - Yeah.
[music]
There are also some famous monuments along River Street
that I'm going to show you as we walk by.
The first one is this one right here.
It's the African-American Monument.
This is a homage to all the Africans that were enslaved here.
It's a sad past in Savannah's history,
and it's important not to be forgotten.
Many of them died right here,
and these are believed to be some of the spirits in this area.
Remember I said in the beginning that this city is haunted?
Well, River Street has the fame of being one of the most haunted places
in the entire Savannah.
Now one of the great things about the Historic District
is that here there is free transport:
free shuttles, free ferries.
You can get this free ferry to cross the river
or to go to the other end of River Street.
[music]
It's a great way to get pictures of the city, too.
Here we're on the stop across the river,
now we continue all the way to the end of River Street.
The kids are all waving.
Bye, thank you.
- Have a good day both of you. - You, too.
So impressive how big it is
And everyone is taking pictures here.
Look at it, close to ours.
The service here is provided by a company called Savannah Belles.
"Belle," beautiful in French.
All their boats are named after the beautiful women of Savannah.
Beautiful, meaning strong and noteworthy women
here in their history.
Our boat was named Florence Martus.
Now, meet Florence Martus.
Savannah's waving girl.
For 44 years, she greeted every single ship arriving here in Savannah
by waving her handkerchief during the day
or a lantern at night.
She was in search for a lost love.
It was like this until the 1930s.
Her fame spread and ships started saluting her back,
and then all of a sudden, the story was being told
all over the world from port to port.
Today a few ships still blow their horns when they pass here.
And this is the 1996 Olympics cauldron.
Yes, the Olympics were in Atlanta, also Georgia.
But the yachting competitions were right here in Savannah.
Atlanta is just like four hours driving from here.
[music]
[laughs]
It's crazy how hot it is, right?
- It's not that hot. It's warm.
- When you stay under the sun, yeah.
- Why are you under the sun when I'm under the shade?
- Because someone is shooting a video here.
- I shoot. I got many lenses.
I can stay here all day.
- I go up close and personal.
- Okay.
- Seriously, imagine during summer here.
- Yeah. - Wow, it will be tough.
- That's very creative, your jeans.
- Actually, these jeans, shirts, I made myself.
- Okay. - That's what I do for the jeans.
- Okay. - And I came from Boston.
Boston, Massachusetts. - Boston, Massachusetts.
- Yeah, I used to lived here like 21 years ago, so...
- That's nice.
- It's time to move back over again. - That's nice.
- And what's your name? - Jose.
- Jose. - Jose Binet.
- Jose Binet. Thank you very much, Sir [in French]
- Oh, I don't know French. - [laughs]
- The only thing I know is "my name is Jose" [in French].
[laughs]
- Take it easy, guys. - Take care.
There's also an old-fashioned open-air market here on River Street,
so that you can feel the breeze while you shop.
[music]
The sheds are replicas of the real sheds that existed
here on River Street in the mid-1800s.
[music]
I'm shopping and look at Gordon.
Ah.
- You can go shop all you want.
- You're so nice.
[ship honking]
Everyone comes to see it, huh?
It's so funny. Everyone taking pictures.
The horn is still a salute to the waving girl.
- Yeah. - That's lovely.
A lot of shops over here, you can get a lot of souvenirs,
but this place is also haunted.
And guess by who?
By the waving girl.
Florence, the girl with the handkerchief and her dog.
[music]
Hey, baby. Where did you get this beer?
Over there.
- Over there.
- Cheers! - Cheers! [in Portuguese].
This is totally unique about Savannah.
You can get a beer or a cocktail to go here.
Gordon basically just went across the street,
and what did you do?
- I got my beer. - Beer to go.
And they sell just like that, no questions asked?
- No, I'm old enough.
- [laughs]
Yes. Now, if you're not American, you may not know.
But this is not allowed in most of the cities here.
You cannot walk on the streets carrying a beer, for example.
Savannah is very unique, and because of that,
there are lots of bachelorette parties here.
There are lots of pub crawling.
People come here for the party.
And, of course, Savannah is known as a party city.
- Party!
- So cheers again, cheers again.
- There you go. Cheers! [in Portuguese]
- Cheers with my strawberry- banana smoothie.
- Vitamins of barley and hops
-[laughs]
But it was not always like this, you know,
River Street was abandoned for years.
They had an outbreak here of yellow fever
in the beginning of the 19th century,
and it was basically abandoned until the 1970s.
And if you look back when Savannah was born,
not even liquor was allowed here.
There were a few things, you know, that were forbidden here,
unlike in the other British Colonies,
rum, lawyers, and slavery.
And it worked at least for a time.
I saw someone saying that Catholics were not allowed either.
- Why?
- Because it was too close to Florida, and Florida was dominated by Spain.
- Oh, the Español, España. - Yeah.
So they were afraid, you know, Catholics could turn.
- Could flip. - Could flip, yeah.
- Why no lawyers?
They didn't think lawyers were good people, baby.
- I want an answer tomorrow morning
- Lawyers didn't deserve to go to the colony.
- Yeah. - They didn't deserve to populate
the new world. [laughs]
- Criminals were, not the lawyers.
Even the lawyers have jokes about lawyers.
- Yeah, yeah. - [laughs]
Every profession does. - Yeah.
- Even the YouTubers have jokes about YouTubers.
- Yes. - I can't tell you mine.
- [laughs]
- It's not for YouTube
- It's so interesting how Savannah and Charleston
are similar, right, in a way.
But the riverfront is like the opposite, right?
- What do you mean? - Charleston is all residential,
and here is all commercial. - Yeah.
- It's my impression. Right? - Yeah.
- That is I think is the major difference.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
It's very interesting to be able to see both cities like this one after the other.
- Yeah. that's all I can say.
- Okay. - That's all I got.
- End of day. Yeah.
Whatever. Yeah, I'll agree.
- [laughs]
- Bob's your uncle. - Bob's your uncle.
- Probably heard it somewhere. - Yeah?
- Somewhere, sometime, I don't remember.
- Maybe it's just not your part of Canada,
maybe it's somewhere else?
- No, probably not.
- Okay. [laughs]