Skidaway Island State Park, Savannah, Georgia
When Jesus heard that John (the Baptist) had been put in prison, He returned to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali – to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah (9:1-2): ‘Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.’ ~ Matthew 4:12-16 Have you ever wondered why Jesus moved from Nazareth to Capernaum? Did you even realize that He did? It was many, many years before I discovered that! Anyway, not only was this move necessary to fulfill prophecy, but it was directly on the main thoroughfare between Damascus to the north and Egypt to the south. It was here that many people – Jew and foreigner alike came to buy, sell and trade. It was from here, people from all over would’ve had access to at least hearing about Jesus, and many probably saw Him at work, teaching and healing. By the way, based on Mark 2:1 and 9:33, scholars have concluded that Jesus lived/stayed in Peter’s house. How far would you go to hear/see Jesus? Today, we need look no further than our Bibles and our own hearts. We are so very blessed!
How apropos (why is there an ‘s’ at the end of that word???) that today’s scripture mentions John the Baptist, when we visited Savannah today and included a visit to The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist. When we were here in previous years, it wasn’t a Basilica, it seems that just happened in 2020. But more on that later.
Savannah was America’s first planned city, established in 1733 by British General James Oglethorpe. Or so I read. I don’t know how they can say that. There were plenty of cities planned in the New World before General Oglethorpe came along and laid out Savannah.
Some guy named Waldseemüller named the new lands “America” on his 1507 map in recognition of Vespucci’s understanding that a new continent had been uncovered following Columbus’ and subsequent voyages in the late 15th century. We’re talking late 1400’s. Remember “In fourteen hundred and ninety two Columbus sailed the ocean blue”?
In 1565, the Spanish founded St. Augustine. I’m pretty sure that turned into a city before 1733 since it’s been continuously occupied. And then of course, there was Jamestown in 1607 (I know it didn’t last, but still…) And if you look it up, there’s a whole list of others.
So, maybe what they mean is that it’s the first in Georgia?
Whatever the case, it’s a beautiful and very historic city. I could spend hour upon hour researching the history here! But I’m not going to. Sorry, you’ll have to do your own this time.
We didn’t spend today doing the ‘traditional’ things in town. Mostly, we just walked around and mailed a birthday card. It was a gorgeous day, with cooler, less humid temperatures and a light breeze and sunny skies.
We think it’s the Live Oaks.
I wonder if anyone has plans to refurbish it??
Maybe the sign just marks the spot where it used to be?
Isn’t God incredible?!?
It’s more of a monument to all who served in the Civil War.
It’s the one with the large fountain.
But we did make two interesting stops – the Basilica and the JW Marriott Hotel. Did that pique your interest? 😊
I’m going to allow you to check out the Cathedral Basilica’s own history page if you’re so inclined. Since it began in the late 1700s, there’s quite a bit. And quite a few rebuilds and renovations. The most recent one the volunteer docent at the church shared with us, cost over $14M. I don’t remember what year that was, but it wasn’t long ago.
It’s one of those places where you see the outside and say, “Wow! That’s beautiful!” and then you step through the door and are speechless! It almost makes us Protestants want to take a knee and cross ourselves. It’s hard to imagine that a manmade thing could invoke that type of response, but it does. And that’s the purpose, we were told today. To make us feel awe and draw us in to our Creator God.
And we say that even though we’ve been in here before!
After the fire, all but one had to be replaced.
They were made overseas (Austria, I believe) and brought here.
When they were made, the pieces were ‘plain’ colors, then an artist painted all the nuances on them with specialized paint. The purpose of the windows is to tell stories,
because back in the day, many couldn’t read nor understand Latin.
This one depicts Jesus’ ascension.
The Twelve are surrounding him (although at least one looks awfully feminine).
Their halos depict them as saints.
The two red cherubs depict the guardians of heaven and as such, look very stern and serious.
And God has His Arms outstretched to welcome Jesus back Home.
It depicts Jesus’ mother, Mary when she died, and Jesus ready to place a crown on her head.
We can’t remember who all the ladies are supposed to represent, but they all have halos,
so they must be saints.
Another fact we’ve never heard before – – In Catholicism, Mary always wears blue on her somewhere.
Moving on from the Basilica . . . .
They bring it up from beneath the floor while the organist plays. Very cool!
Wonder if they have that capability here?
They’ve fixed it all up in this portion and turned a former power plant into all sorts of shops, etc.
Also, see that caged-off pit? A guy was in there doing some type of electrical work.
There were wires and stuff everywhere!
Looked like a big ol’ mess to me, but Blaine seemed to have an idea of what he was doing. : )
I had mentioned to Blaine that I’d briefly seen a picture of the lobby of the JW Marriott downtown and thought it looked interesting, so when we walked by it on our River Walk, we stopped in to check it out.
Inside that tube (which was actually a former smoke stack),
there was seating for private dining, but it was too dark to take a picture of it.
I think if they close that door, I’d feel pretty claustrophobic!
It was nothing like the picture I’d seen, and it absolutely was nothing like we were expecting! It was, quite literally a museum full of outstandingly beautiful and very large geodes as well as prehistoric things. We ended up spending much more time here than just a quick peek at the lobby!
And everything you see here, was waaay more awe-inspiring than any picture can show!
We didn’t take any other pictures because there were patrons sitting in front of stuff.
The next picture is the other half.
But no signs to tell you about them. : (
Many things in this small museum seemed to have come from Morocco.
Dinner was at a pizza place called Vinnie-Van-Go-Go’s (a play on Vincent Van Gogh’s name). It was recommended by the volunteer who checked us in when we arrived at Skidaway, was good, but not nearly as good as she hyped it up “fantastic New York style pizza!” She’s evidently never been to New York. 😊 Still, it was good and we took some home for another day. And it was so nice out, we were able to eat outside and people-watch.
Tomorrow we move on – ever closer to home!