Our tour guide gave us a memorable tour of the Bonaventure Cemetery wish I could remember her name, but I do have a photo of her from our tour! She knows so much about the history of Savannah, the cemetery grounds that were once a plantation, and those who are buried in Bonaventure. With her vivid descriptions, you can almost see the events and hear the voices of the past! She speaks of the memorable New Year's Eve party at the Bonaventure Plantation, no longer there because it burned down in front of party guests, who were still drinking and dining on tables and china brought out by the servants in the midst of the fire. You will learn the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery, and why the phrase saved by the bell and graveyard shift came from the fear of being buried alive and how this fear was addressed in precious centuries. Of course you will visit Conrad Aiken and Johnny Mercer's graves, but most memorable to me is the beautiful memorial to a 6-year-old girl, Little Gracie, who died of pneumonia and was well known in the city for welcoming guests to her family's downtown hotel. One sculptor, Walz, was in such demand that he could double the cost of his memorial stones if he signed them, created Little Gracie and also other memorials that looked so much like those who had died because of his skill at creating faces and embellishments on the stone.
This is a must-do tour to get to understand more about Savannah's early citizens. Be prepared for two hours of walking and fascinating tales about Savannah's citizens as you traverse the cemetery from its gates to the bluff that overlooks the Wilmington River.