Yay! The comment left by Sara last week was the winning comment to win my copy of a great Savannah family travel guidebook.
She wrote:
“I am hoping to go visit my girlfriend in Atlanta. She has a three year old and I have a one year old. We want to take a long weekend to Savannah with the girls! This would be perfect!”
Have a great time there with your kids, Sara!
A thoughtful friend of mine in Savannah, Georgia picked up a book for me a few months ago, but I’m just now getting around to writing about it.
Around Savannah – Where To Go And What To Do With Children is a handy guide to family-friendly places all around the city, plus ideas for short trips nearby.
(For more ideas in the Peach State, see my travel with kids in Georgia post or this Budget Travel Trip Coach article for Savannah and Charleston.)
I’ve only been to Savannah once myself, but I was impressed by its lovely, walkable layout, “pocket parks” every few blocks in the historic area, support for the arts at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) / Telfair Museum of Art and FOOD….can you say Paula Deen?
Here’s what I like about this guidebook by Gwen McKee and Kacey Ratterree:
*** Lots of good specific information about each attraction, including all-important bathroom and food availability, plus hints especially for parents and suggestions of other sights nearby. Warning – many outdoor places include the “bring bug spray” hint.
*** Fun quotes from the author’s and illustrator’s children (“I want to see all the birds and I like to fish.”)
*** Plenty of variety: historic sites like Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low’s Birthplace, nature trails and parks, events like the November Savannah Children’s Book Festival, special restaurants like The Pirate’s House (I’ve eaten there….fun Treasure Island tie-in) and gems like the Beach Institute African-American Cultural Arts Center and its incredible Ulysses Davis folk art sculpture collection.
(Updated for 2010) President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was stricken with polio as a young man.
He spent time away from Washington, DC in Warm Springs, Georgia, seeking pain relief and perhaps some measure of recovery in the area’s spring waters.
The house where he stayed became known as Roosevelt’s Little White House, and he died there of a cerebral hemorrhage in April 1945.
Today it’s a Georgia State Park and open to visitors, with New Deal-era memorabilia and the surroundings as he left them, including features like his famous Fireside Chats recorded and played over a 1930s radio.
Late this summer, park visitors can participate in a unusual treat.
The pool where he swam is normally kept empty for preservation, but for three days it will be filled with naturally warm spring water, and for an extra fee, you can jump into FDR’s swimming pool.
The details for A Dip Into the Past, from the park Web site:
Saturday, Sept 4, 2010 to Monday, September 6, 2010 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
1.5 hour swim sessions beginning at 10:00 a.m. Ages 6 and older.
Reservations suggested – space limited to 80 per session.
$20 adults; $12.50 ages 6 to 17. Family package $75.[Phone] 706-655-5870.
There are other unique events, like the annual tribute to his Scotty dog Fala (all Scottish Terriers are welcome to attend, on a leash) and a Warm Springs Thanksgiving, featuring music by descendants of band members who used to play for Roosevelt. (2010 update – couldn’t find these any more on the Park website. There is a Fala Day 2010 through a local Scottish terrier organization. Don’t know about Thanksgiving.)
Still, the chance to swim in that pool sounds really special.
Any of my readers who live near there willing to dive in and send us a report?