Ghosts, Grits, and Creole Culture: A Special Morbid Anatomy Grand Tour to Savannah with Georgia Native Kelley Swindall
A five-day, six night deep dive into the city that best epitomizes the lush, haunted decadence of Southern Gothic
Dates: December 11 - 16, 2024
Limited to 20 people
$ 4250: 2 travelers, shared room / $2450: single traveler (price includes 5 hotel nights, luxury ground transportation, museum admissions, guided visits, some meals and other amenities. Airfare is not included.)
Please note: Refunds (minus 10% processing and administrative fees) are available until October 7, 2024. After this date, only 50% of the ticket price (minus 10% processing and administrative fees) will be refunded. No refunds available after November 4, 2024. Itinerary subject to change.
Travel beyond Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil deep into the darkly magnificent underbelly of the Hostess City of the South on a uniquely curated Grand Tour of the most haunted city in America.
Georgia-born artist Kelley Swindall will guide you through the moonlight, magnolias, live oaks, and Spanish moss, and into the shadows to revel in the darker side of this Grand Dame city of the Deep South, all while being enjoying fabulous Low Country Cuisine and local spirits unique to the Atlantic coastal region. Assisting her will be local guide and storyist Shannon Scott; personally acquainted with many of the prominent characters of Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil, he will give us a rare peek at the hidden stories behind the famous novel. We’ll also spend time with activist, descendant of enslaved people, and Master Gullah Geechee Truth-Teller Sister Patt who will take us on a deep dive of the fascinating Gullah Geechee culture, an African American culture unique to the coastal regions of the southeastern United States.
Savannah is known as “the city built upon her dead.” Steeped in hauntings, folklore, southern charm, sordid history, Masonic influence, and fabulous scandal, Savannah was the first planned city in the US and, as it grew larger, rather than building out, the city chose to build over its cemeteries and burial grounds. In Savannah, the locals are not superstitious; rather, they know firsthand that the spirits of the dead linger behind on this plane well after their physical bodies give out.
Since its establishment in 1733, Savannah has survived many catastrophes, including war, epidemics of yellow fever, and the decay of the historic district in the early 20th century, only to be resurrected by a small group of local preservationists, including the antique dealer and self made millionaire Jim Williams. Williams would go on to become known the world over as the infamous protagonist of the New York Times best selling true crime novel Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil. The success of the book transformed Savannah from a sleepy, eccentric, and fairly inaccessible Southern town into a thriving world-renowned tourist destination.
Over the course of this trip, we’ll visit the iconic Bonaventure Cemetery—dripping with Spanish moss and overflowing with beautiful funerary monuments—on a private moonlight tour, indulge in the famous food and drink, learn about the fascinating local cultures; we might even see a ghost or two! Our home base will be The Planter’s Inn, an atmospheric haunted former brothel situated in the heart of the city’s beautiful historic district.
Wednesday, December 11: Welcome to Savannah!
Check into our accommodations for the week at the notoriously haunted and beautifully situated Planter’s Inn.
Join us for welcome drinks! Pick your poison (maybe a Chatham Artillery Punch?) at The Pirate’s House, the oldest structure in Georgia, and the site of Captain’s Flint death in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (Savannah was a notorious pirate town after all…) The Pirate’s House is also home to a storied tunnel, where unsuspecting men—after a hard night of drinking—might be Shanghai’d and dragged through the underground passage to ships where they would be forced to labor. Note: Attendees will be responsible for their own drink expenses.
After a dinner at the famously haunted, vibey and delicious 17 Hundred and 90 Inn and Restaurant, we’ll learn more about the ghosts and legends of this famously haunted city on a Supernatural Savannah walking ghost tour. Note: Attendees will be responsible for their own dining expenses.
Thursday, December 12: Colonial Park Cemetery , Midnight X , and Mercer House
Today, we’ll get to know Savannah’s Colonial Park Cemetery which, during the city’s early years, was the site of every town meeting, picnic, wedding, duel and public execution. Sadly, it eventually became the mass grave of thousands of Yellow Fever victims, resulting in its closure in 1853. We will learn about the adjoining “Negro Burial Ground,” poet Conrad Aiken’s birthplace, the old city jail, dueling grounds, and the hanging tree. We will also learn about the fascinating ritual use of the cemetery by Root Doctors, which are traditional healers and conjurers operating within the tradition of Hoodoo, a set of spiritual practices, traditions, and beliefs created by enslaved African Americans in the Southern United States from various traditional African spiritualities and elements of indigenous botanical knowledge.
Next, we will embark on a Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil walking tour led by Shannon Scott who, as a young art student, met Jim Williams, the book’s charismatic protagonist, and spent many days around his beautiful home. This walking tour will delve into the real life characters and unrevealed stories beyond “the book.”
We will also visit the former home of Jim Williams, The Mercer House, named after its former owner, a great great grandfather of songwriter Johnny Mercer. With construction dating back to 1860, it is one of the grandest homes in Historic Savannah, taking up an entire city block, and it is filled with pieces from Mr. Williams’ private collection, including Regency and Empire furniture, 18th and 19th century portraits, a lavish collection of Chinese export porcelain, and curiosities from around the globe.
It is also the site of Williams’s infamous wildly extravagant parties full of fascinating characters, and the murder, in 1981, of Jim’s assistant and lover, Danny Hansford. Hansford was a prostitute with a complicated past and Williams was, after four trials, ultimately acquitted. Six months later he died in his palatial home of heart failure. Local legend asserts that he collapsed near the spot where Danny had been shot and killed. To this day, nobody has been charged with Hansford’s murder.
After our tour of the Mercer House, we’ll dine at Husk, a restaurant housed in a historic building and famous for its locally sourced ingredients and excellent southern cooking. Note: Attendees will be responsible for their own dining expenses.
Friday, December 13: Gullah Geechee History + Iconic Bonaventure Cemetery
The Gullah Geechee culture is a unique African American cultural heritage that developed in the coastal regions of the southeastern United States. Today, we’ll join Master Gullah Geechee Truth-Teller Sister Patt (AKA Georgia Patt Gunn)—an activist and descendant of enslaved Africans—for an an exploration of the history of African Americans in Georgia, from slavery and liberation to the unique Gullah Geechee culture, formed by descendants of African slaves of the lower Atlantic coast, which has unique arts, crafts, spiritual expression, foodways, music, and language. We’ll round out the tour with a catered Low country lunch and storytelling with Sister Patt.
No visit to Savannah, the old saying goes, is complete without a visit to Bonaventure, the iconic, Spanish moss draped cemetery. And this Friday the 13th, storyteller and guide Shannon Scott will lead us on a night time, after-hours tour of the cemetery lit only by the full moon. He will share stories going all the way back to Bonaventure’s plantation beginnings in 1753, with tales ranging from the amusing to the macabre. We will look at the “taboo tales” of Bonaventure, revolving around secret societies, root doctor ritual work, gangsters, bootleggers, murderous lovers and other clandestine story gems. We’ll also see the graves of characters from Midnight in The Garden of Good & Evil, and enjoy an exclusive reveal few have the privilege of observing!
After our cemetery tour, we’ll stop in at Erica Davis Low Country, a restaurant famous for low country specialities such as seafood, BBQ, Po Boys, Lowcountry Boils, Oyster Roasts, Barbecue, and Southern Home Cooking. Note: Attendees will be responsible for their own dining expenses.
Saturday, December 14: Jim William’s Christmas Party Luncheon + Tybee Haunted Tour
Jim Williams, the protagonist from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was, not just a major player in the renaissance of Savannah’s decaying historic district; he was also famed for his extravagant, legendary, and very exclusive high society Christmas parties he held each year at his meticulously restored Mercer House. In this spirit, we will enjoy our own fabulously inspired holiday party luncheon at the equally historic (and haunted!) Revolutionary War Era Olde Pink House, another grand home restored by Jim Williams. There, we will sample a wide array of the Olde Pink House’s famous southern specialties with a multi-course meal. We’ll end our luncheon with the sampling of one of Jim Williams (and Savannah’s!) favorite spirits, Madeira, and learn about Savannah and Madeira’s long and mutually beneficial relationship. We’ll also pay a visit to the cellar, notoriously haunted by the ghost of the original owner, Sons of Liberty member James Habersham Jr.! Note: Food and Madeira tasting included.
Next, we’ll visit nearby Tybee Island and its famous haunted lighthouse. Visitors have reported witnessing spirits—including some in light-house keepers’s clothing, and one in the form of a young girl who warns visitors not to go up the lighthouse steps—and hearing unexplained whistling and other eerie sounds. After our visit, we will share a dinner at a local favorite Tybee Island Seafood Restaurant. Note: Attendees will be responsible for their own dining expenses.
After this, we enjoy a Tybee Island ghost tour, led by intuitive tour guides who will lead us on a journey through some of the haunted and historic sites of Tybee Island with the assistance of dowsing rods, EMF meters and spirit boxes.
Sunday, December 15: Brunch at The Grey+ Shadow and Drums Tour through the South Carolina Low Country
We’ll start the day with a wonderful Southern-Style Sunday Brunch—with classic southern dishes such as crab beignets, biscuits and gravy, and grits—accompanied by a live jazz band at The Grey, atmospherically located in a restored 1938 art deco Greyhound Bus Terminal. Note: Attendees will be responsible for their own dining expenses.
After brunch, we’ll venture across the border into Coastal South Carolina, where, on winding back roads, we’ll traverse diverse landscapes from coastal areas to swamp runs to woodlands to cotton country, encountering atmospheric ruins, root doctor graves, abandoned churches and cemeteries, forbidding mansions, and ancient trees. We’ll also learn about the history of the area, from ancient mound builders and Native Americans to early Europeans and the Gullah & Geechee culture and traditions. We’ll cross battlegrounds of many wars, and see where real people lived, and continue to do so.
We’ll end our day with dinner at a TBD local low country restaurant. Note: Attendees will be responsible for their own dining expenses.
This Trip Includes:
Five nights accommodation at the famously haunted Planter’s Inn next door to The Olde Pink House
A grand luncheon of Southern cuisine at the Old Pink House in commemoration of Jim
Transportation to all sights outside of historic downtown Savannah
Low country lunch and experience of authentic Gullah Geechee foodways and storytelling with Gullah Geechee Truth-Teller Sister Patt
Admission to all historic sites, homes, and tours on the itinerary
This Trip Does Not Include:
Plane Ticket: Round-trip airfare is not included.
Most meals: Participants are responsible for most of their breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
Hotel Breakfast: Hotel does not provide breakfast
Insurance: Travel insurance is not included and must be arranged individually.
Extra Hotel Nights: Any additional nights beyond the five nights included will be your responsibility to book.
PLEASE NOTE: The Historic District of Savannah (where we will be staying) is a walking city, so there will be a fair amount of walking. Please wear comfortable footwear for the various walking tours, as well as when you explore the historic district on your own. This is a walking city, best experienced in this manner.
Kelley Swindall is an Atlanta born, NYC based artist who first fell in love with Savannah as a young girl, while visiting the low country with her family each summer. She would look forward to crossing the looming Talmadge bridge connecting South Carolina to Savannah with her dad, a history buff who would quiz her on various Georgia, Revolutionary, and Civil war history while taking in the unique and storied architecture and squares around town. As she frequented Savannah—eventually living there for a time—she became interested in the darker and haunted history of the town, after hearing so much about it from the locals she’d come to know. Upon reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, her lifelong obsession with the city and its eccentric residents and colorful history was cemented. Bonaventure Cemetery, a character in itself in “the book” is near and dear to her heart, so much so that she was married there in “the eye of the skull”... It was at this time she met and struck up a friendship with local storyist Shannon Scott, who will feature prominently on this Tour.
Savannah and the surrounding Low Country has heavily influenced Swindall’s art through the decades, whether it be in the form of her story songs with Southern Gothic leanings, or writing the story for the Amoralists Off-Broadway play The Cheater’s Club (2013), very loosely inspired by the notoriously haunted 17 Hundred and 90 inn and the ghost tours so famous in this town.
Shannon Scott has soaked up Savannah and The Low Country at every level for over 30 years. Arriving as a Fine Arts student of The Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), he became a regular at The Georgia Historical Society and, as a conversationalist, earned the graces of many locals—from the richest to the poorest —and absorbed their stories and those of their friends and family. During these nurturing hours, Shannon acquired his first tour guide license at age 19 and drove carriages, buses and trolleys, and he worked as a step-on guide for major tour bus companies. As it was somewhat impossible to live solely as a tour guide, Shannon became a cook and caterer, refining his talents in many a restaurant and private club.
In 2002, Shannon opened his own ghost tour company and self-financed, produced and starred in his own documentary film, “America’s Most Haunted City,” based on his own experiences and those of friends and neighbors in Savannah. In 2010, Shannon sold his tour company and opened Shannon Scott Tours & Events, placing major emphasis on cemeteries and unique cultural events related to them. Future plans include tours and events in other Southern cities with cemeteries that need a greater spotlight.