Trolley Traipsing Through Savannah

Today we took the opportunity to act as tourists, which is important for us because we want to get a historical sense of the city as well. We took a trolley tour, a tourist staple of the city. Not only did the tour allow us to indulge our fandom of John Berendt's Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil (the trolley tour pointed out several locations repeatedly mentioned in the book), but it gave us a historical scope of the city, a part of our project we had been missing. We are finding that the more we know about the place we are in, the easier it is to understand the people of Savannah. In one sitting we were able to see apartments built in 1809 (then renovated into SCAD housing), and some of the cities most celebrated squares. We got off the trolley by the river and wandered around the more touristy area. It was good that we got to see that side of the city, but we decided we want to stay closer to the moe genuine areas. We think that is where we'll find the best material for our pieces: with locals. Overall the week was very productive because we were able to get a feel for the city and establish when and where we want to conduct our interviews. The historical information we compiled this week will provide an excellent backdrop for the more intimate subjects we approach with individuals of the city next week. Since we have developed a basic understanding of the city and where we will have the most success, we are turning ourselves loose next week. We'll frequent locally owned coffee shops and art galleries, churches and community staples, and hopefully get some phenomenal material. On we go!