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Georgia

Signature City Savannah

Program No. 11376RJ

Discover the charm of Savannah as you visit historic monuments, enjoy a concert of Johnny Mercer’s music, try your hand at Southern cooking and uncover this grand city’s roots.

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6 days

5 nights

12 meals

5B 3L 4D

Check-in, Welcome Dinner, Orientation

Savannah, GA

Savannah History & Trolley Trip, Massie Heritage, Music

Savannah, GA

Davenport Home, SCAD Story, 1st African Baptist

Savannah, GA

Owens Thomas, Telfair & Jepson Museums, Free Time

Savannah, GA

Strong Women, Johnny Mercer Music, Cooking Class

Savannah, GA

Program Concludes

Savannah, GA

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At a Glance

Like a graceful Southern belle, Savannah is where charming public squares and stately live oaks stand alongside meticulously restored, historic homes and enchanting cemeteries with ornate headstones. In some ways dignified and in others playful, the city is uniformly beautiful and goes out of its way to embody Southern hospitality. Hit the streets and squares of Savannah to discover what makes the city special, from Lowcountry cuisine to Civil War history and a mosaic of residents, past and present.

Activity Level

Keep the Pace

Walking up to two miles on city streets, some uneven; stairs at museums, historic houses; getting on/off buses.

Small Group

Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.

Best of all, you’ll…

Uncover history from generals to ghosts during museum visits and expert-led walks through the historic district.
Relax to the rhythms of yesteryear as you pay tribute to Savannah native Johnny Mercer during a private recital.
Taste distinctive Savannah flavors during an interactive cooking class with a noted chef.

Featured Expert

All trip experts

Darin Sehnert

A native of southern California, Chef Darin Sehnert pursued his culinary studies in hotel and restaurant management from California State Polytechnic University, and graduated with honors from Johnson & Wales University. He has been a chef in London’s theater district, at Walt Disney World, and the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. Darin has also served on the faculty of the School of Hotel & Restaurant Management at Cal Poly Pomona, and has conducted culinary programs with Le Cordon Bleu-Paris.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Darin Sehnert View biography

Kim Polote View biography

Born and raised in Savannah, GA, Kim Polote has emerged as Savannah's foremost entertainer. A full-time singer, she has appeared on national television with her accompanist David Duckworth, and has performed with Harry Connick, Jr. She is the only Savannah native ever to win the gold medal for the annual American Traditions Vocal Competition hosted by the Savannah Music Festival. Kim headlines The Kim Polote Trio, which also includes talented musicians David and Alisha Duckworth.

David Duckworth View biography

David Duckworth has been a full-time musician in Savannah since 1992, working as a pianist and a record producer. In this time, he has been one of the city's most prolific producers of jazz recordings. David’s music has been featured on PBS and Georgia Public Radio, and he has traveled to perform in New York and Paris several times. David, along with Kim Polote, and his wife Alisha, make up the musical group, The Kim Polote Trio.

Alisha Duckworth View biography

Alisha has performed the upright bass regularly in venues such as the Mulberry Inn, City Market, the Johnny Mercer Festival, and numerous other locations throughout coastal Georgia and South Carolina. She has been making music with her husband David since she met him in 1992 as his guitar student, and can be heard playing great music around town and performing as the third member of extremely talented The Kim Polote Trio, along with David and Kim.

Jamie Keena, Period Music View biography

Jamie Keena loves to sing old songs, including folk songs of America and the British Isles, patriotic airs, and “songs written to order” by Tin Pan Alley composers. With a bachelor’s in music from the College of William and Mary, Jamie accompanies his singing with guitar, banjo and ukulele, and also plays the fife, hammered dulcimer and concertina.

Joyce E Harvison View biography

Joyce Harvison epitomizes Southern hospitality. A native of Savannah, she has worked for the last 30+ years in Savannah's Historic District, first as an insurance agent, and the last 16 years as a Director of Groups/Charters with a local trolley company showing off the city’s best sights to visitors from near and far. She revels in treating family, friends, and visitors to the best possible time, including hidden gems when they visit her home town. Joyce has two daughters and three grandchildren.

Beverley Citron View biography

Beverley Citron grew up in Bournemouth in the south of England, and currently resides in the great state of Georgia. With a desire for adventure and thirst for new experiences, combining work with travel allows her to enjoy both. Beverley joined the Road Scholar team in 2010.

Suggested Reading List (9 books)

Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop

You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.

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Signature City Savannah

Program Number: 11376

Spectres and Other Strange Tales/Savannah

by Margaret W. DeBolt

Good dose of regional history and insights into the lives of people living in and around Savannah for decades-and of course-local legends/ghost stories.

Slavery and Freedom in Savannah

by Daina Berry (Editor, Contributor), Leslie Harris (Editor, Contributor), Jonathan M. Bryant (Contributor), Bobby J. Donaldson (Contributor), Jacqueline Jones (Contributor), Timothy Lockley (Contributor), Susan O'Donovan (Contributor), Janice Sumler-Edmond

"Slavery and Freedom in Savannah" is a richly illustrated, accessibly written book modeled on the very successful "Slavery in New York," a volume Leslie M. Harris coedited with Ira Berlin. Here Harris and Daina Ramey Berry have collected a variety of perspectives on slavery, emancipation, and black life in Savannah from the city’s founding to the early twentieth century. Written by leading historians of Savannah, Georgia, and the South, the volume includes a mix of longer thematic essays and shorter sidebars focusing on individual people, events, and places.

A Guide to the Georgia Coast, The Georgia Conservancy

by Suzanne McIntosh

Natural, historical, cultural, and recreational sites along the Georgia coast are described in detail. Includes driving maps and directions.

Rebels, Saints, and Sinners: Savannah's Rich History and Colorful Personalities

by Timothy Daiss

Since its founding in 1733 by James Oglethorpe, the city of Savannah has experienced many triumphs and disasters. Its citizens have endured hurricanes, fires, and epidemics, and they have dealt successfully with social injustice and political corruption. Savannahians have also experienced both sides of war-winning as colonial rebels in the American Revolution and losing as Confederate patriots in the Civil War-and they have welcomed many heroes and stars to their city such as George Washington, Elvis Presley, and Shoeless Joe Jackson. In Rebels, Saints, and Sinners, Timothy Daiss tells the story of Savannah through captivating anecdotes about the city's past-a past full of intriguing characters and astonishing twists of fate. This book offers a wealth of detailed historical research presented in easily accessible prose, and it is a must-read for history buffs, travelers, educators, and anyone else interested in America's greatest cities.

The Complete Stories: Flannery O'Conner

by Flannery O'Conner

Native Savannian who won the 1971 National Book Award for Fiction. Thirty-one tales depicting the humorous, of near tragic conditions of life in the Deep South during the fifties.

Savannah Style: Mystery and Manners

by Susan Sully

Savannah is a city of mercurial history and enigmatic charms. Home to cotton barons, shipping magnates, antiques dealers, and tireless preservationists, it has helped define Southern elegance, manner, and style for more than two centuries. From the slightly faded grandeur of the Second Empire baroque Thomas Levy House, filled with antique maps, prints, books, and other curiosities, to the phantasmal, Proustian decor of the high style Greek Revival Knapp House, the 20 houses featured in this book express the city's alternating moods of decadence and decorum. Quite often, a serene exterior-- designed in a Georgian, federal, or restrained Greek Revival style-- will relinquish its polite composure to an ingenious play of interior whimsy or flight of decorative fancy. Elegant town houses designed by William Jay, John Ash, Isaiah Davenport, and William Gibbons Preston, gracious plantation manors, and unpretentious summer cottages are featured in detail in word and image. A delightful foreword by John Berendt acts as an informative addendum to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and an excellent introduction to this book.

Saving Savannah - The City and the Civil War

by Jacqueline Jones

In this masterful portrait of life in Savannah before, during, and after the Civil War, prize-winning historian Jacqueline Jones transports readers to the balmy, raucous streets of that fabled Southern port city. Here is a subtle and rich social history that weaves together stories of the everyday lives of blacks and whites, rich and poor, men and women from all walks of life confronting the transformations that would alter their city forever. Deeply researched and vividly written, Saving Savannah is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the Civil War years.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

by John Berendt

Referred to in Savannah as "The Book"-non-fiction, adult language-account of a local antique dealer, Jim Williams', four (!) trials for the same murder in the 1980's-also a Clint Eastwood movie released in 1997.

Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts

by Stacy A. Cordery

An in-depth biography of the multi-talented Savannah native and founder of the Girl Scouts. Available on Amazon.com and the J.G. Low Birthplace.

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