Have you ever been to Savannah and Tybee Island on the Atlantic coast of Georgia, USA? These two romantic southern towns are the settings for my Savannah Sweethearts series of 11 books. Some of my readers have commented and asked me about these places, so I thought it would be fun to talk about them today.
Note: I’ve added some questions for you along the way. Comment with your answers (to any or all questions) for an opportunity to win one of three ebook copies of Walk You There (Savannah Sweethearts Book 5). This middle-of-the-series book has walking tours (and trolley tours) of historic Savannah, so I felt that it’s appropriate for this blog post.
Chartered in 1732 and founded in 1733 as the last British colony in America, the city of Savannah is located on the banks of the Savannah River instead of directly on the Atlantic Ocean, like Tybee Island is. Tybee is that laidback southern beach town, with a lot of sand and sun and surf. If you want to have an idea of how the beaches feel like at various times of the day, you’ll have to read Savannah Sweethearts because I wrote in my own real life experiences visiting these places.
Questions: Do you like to read about real places in fiction books? Have you read about a city that sounded so realistic, only to find out later that the author had invented the whole place based on another real city? I think authors have reasons they do that. I don’t create an entire town, but I did take a bit of poetic liberty by inventing a fictitious restaurant for my Savannah Sweethearts series. I did not want to use a real restaurant (you’ll find out why in Book 10), so I added a new city block to my fictionalized Savannah and plopped down a restaurant. If you have read Savannah Sweethearts, do you remember the name of the restaurant?
Savannah is a busy port and city. Container ships go up and down the river day and night. It’s a working city filled with local residents and even more tourists. You might not want to be caught in the afternoon traffic jam on Fridays. Also be prepared to walk a bit if you parked your vehicle a distance away (for cheaper parking). You might need to walk some blocks to get to River Street, where I set a number of my scenes in Savannah Sweethearts. You can watch Friday night fireworks right there by the Savannah River, take a riverboat dinner cruise, or find my characters walking together up and down the waterfront.
Questions: Do you live in a small town or a big city or somewhere in between? What do you think about the traffic and busyness of your city? I know that some people love living in a bustling, noisy, honking city. On the other hand, some people prefer the quiet and rural countryside where they can find solitude and enjoy the nature that God has made. What about you?
While the buildings you see in the squares, surrounded by old live oak trees, might look old, many of the buildings that President George Washington saw in 1791 had suffered through a devastating fire. However, the good news is that General Sherman did not burn down Savannah during the American Civil War, choosing to spare it as a Christmas present to President Abraham Lincoln in 1864.
Questions: Do you pay attention to the history of the town or city you live in? Do you try to keep the history alive in your own mind so that if someone asks about it, you have information to give? Even though I visit Savannah, I don’t live there, but I live in the same state of Georgia, and history is all around me. I try not to forget our roots. How about you?
Walk You There, Book 5 of my Savannah Sweethearts series, is about a tour guide trying to save some of the historic homes in town. One of the nicest things about Savannah is the preservation of old buildings. I love walking about the city squares (and they are squares) enjoying the live oak trees and the lovely gardens here and there. There are many walking tours in Savannah, or you can catch a trolley tour to save your feet!
Questions: Have you toured a historic city? Did you take a walking tour, a carriage tour, or a motorized tour (like a car, trolley, or bus)? What did you think about such tours? Which do you prefer? I’ve been on large bus tours at various other tourist sites, but Savannah is small enough for walking tours when the weather is nice. If you have ever been to Savannah on a walking tour, do let me know!
That’s about all I have for Savannah at the moment. I am waiting for the weather to warm up so that I can return to Savannah and Tybee Island. There are some nice restaurants there. And the beach is always lovely.
If you are new to my Savannah Sweethearts series, you can jump start on it by reading Know You More (Book 1). I’m writing Find You Again (Book 8). Call You Home (Book 10) is next. Where is Book 9? A year-round Christmas romance, Wish You Joy (Book 9) has been out for a while. Throughout these books, I hope that my readers are encouraged by God’s love and care. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:10).
Don’t forget to comment to be entered to win an ebook copy of Walk You There (Book 5). We will do a random drawing of 3 names from the comments section only. The giveaway ends on March 18, 2019. If you’re wondering what ebook this is, here is the tagline:
Have a wonderful day in the Lord!
In Christ,
Jan Thompson
USA Today bestselling novelist Jan Thompson writes clean and wholesome multiethnic contemporary Christian romance with elements of women’s fiction, Christian romantic suspense with an air of mystery, and inspirational international thrillers with threads of sweet Christian romance. Join Jan's mailing list for her latest book news: JanThompson.com/newsletter
We’ve been to Savannah once and plan to return this spring. I do enjoy books set in real places so I can go visit them someday. We live in a medium-sized town and love history behind towns. We’ve only visited the big historical cities like Boston and Philadelphia.
No I have never been to either town.
I don’t mind reading about real places, it is kind of fun when it is somewhere I have been. There have been many small towns in books I read that could have been real but weren’t. I have not read your books so I don’t know the restaurant name.
I live in a small town and other than being one of the more main roads which brings emergency vehicles past my apt complex to head north out of town traffic is never bad here, worst I have to deal with is Sunday drivers in the country driving too slow. I couldn’t handle a big city like the twin cities on a regular basis, my road rage would get me in trouble.
Have only lived in this town for a little under 3 years so no I don’t know or care about the history.
No I have never been on any historic tours, and if I did it couldn’t be a walking tour as I can’t stand/walk for more than ten minutes without pain.
I like to read about real places in historical fiction to learn more about the place I am reading. (There are some exceptions). In contemporary I prefer smaller towns which I don’t mind if they are real or not. For bigger cities I prefer real cities.
I come from a small country town of around 5,000 people. We don’t have a huge amount of traffic except on the edges with through traffic. Our town is fairly quiet its safe to walk around even at night . We do have some history in the town but I’m not the best at looking at the history here but do love looking at other places.
We have a couple of places in Australia that were historical areas and have set them up as they use to be back in the gold rush. I love going to Sovereign Hill in Ballarat, Victoria. I have also been to a few places in America including Yorketown, Williamstown, Jamestown, etc
Savannah is such a beautiful place to visit. I loved the history of the town when I visited there. I live in a really small, college town.
Hi Jan, how fun:) Thanks for sharing more about these towns. I have never been to the US so have not been to these towns. The bridge in the photo reminds me a little of the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne- we like to sail or kayak under it!
I live in a small town near a big city- best of both worlds. I love my quiet town, that I know people when I go shopping and it is quiet enough to hear birds and crickets. I do enjoy learning about the history of where I go, and try to make note of war memorials etc. when we visit new places. The town of Ballarat has a living history ‘museum’ called Sovereign Hill that we enjoy going to- the boys love to pan for gold. We enjoy walking or bike riding through the city- it is a good way to see the buildings and monuments.
Blessings:)
Thank you for sharing your ideas about the places you write about. It’s always nice to hear where ideas come from.
I couldn’t find a question to answer, so I’ll try a bit of all… (maybe)
Do you like to read about real places in fiction books? I enjoy ready about both real and made up cities! They are both fun to read about. And yes, sometimes I’ve found a city that sounded real to be made up.
Do you live in a small town or a big city or somewhere in between? What do you think about the traffic and busyness of your city? Big city.. (the last census was in 2010 and we were around 1.409 million inhabitants, so probably more now). I like to have so many opportunities to enjoy myself but my husband and I have also chosen to live in an area with many parks, not too loud at night, yet still well located that we can take public transportation to work and avoid traffic jam.
Do you pay attention to the history of the town or city you live in? Do you try to keep the history alive in your own mind so that if someone asks about it, you have information to give? I’ve played tour guide to friends from other places a few times when I was in college, but my husband is the one that knows tons about our city. I know tidbits about it and I’ve made sure to know all the historical sites, but that’s all.
Have you toured a historic city? Did you take a walking tour, a carriage tour, or a motorized tour (like a car, trolley, or bus)? What did you think about such tours? Which do you prefer? Like you, I’ve been on large bus tours, small walking tours, and also toured places by myself. I enjoy the walking options better, but some cities are not adequate for that.
Hi Jan! I have driven through Georgia on the way to Florida, but have only visited Savannah through Hope Callaghan’s Made in Savannah Cozy Mystery series (11 books). She brings the history and mysteries of the town alive. I have read many books set in the Midwest that I know the towns are imaginary. I have lived in 7 different cities of various sizes, but prefer the small towns of SW Michigan directly across the lake from the Windy City Chicago. I enjoy exploring the history of cities I visit. I have taken city tours by foot (Germany, Switzerland, Japan, USA, and Canada), car (driven coast to coast and Canada), bus (Berlin Bus # 101, Heidelberg, Tokyo), and boat (architectural tour on the Chicago River, Mississippi River Cruise near Hannibal, Missouri, Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, cruise on Lake Winnipeg, Canada and more). Each mode of transportation has its advantage. Love to travel and explore whether through books or in person. So much to see and read and so little time. Best wishes. Enjoy your weekend.
Thanks for the virtual tour. I really like reading books that include real locations. However, I don’t mind when fictitious places are added to the mix. Makes sense, since the place mentioned might be confused with what the author writes about it. It could cause the reader to presume things about that place that probably isn’t true about it or those who work there. This also allows the author to write negative things about the place without causing harm to an actual place.
I took a walking tour of Washington D.C. It was nice to do it that way, as it gave me a better understanding of how close all the historic places are to each other.
I think I’ll always prefer a city over a small town, only for the fact that I like being able to run to the grocery/department store or gas station in a few minutes. Most small towns are a bit of a distance from places of convenience.
Although, in small town’s defense, having a self-contained community where everyone supports each other’s trade does sound nice.
Hi, Jan! I absolutely love Savannah! I live in Jacksonville, FL and have been to Savannah several times, there is so much beauty and history there, you can’t get enough in just one visit. I fell in love with your books about the area, and cannot wait to keep reading them!
I love I a small town in North Carolina, a peaceful, cozy town with beautiful streets and homes, that are being remodeled with keeping the heritage of the home! I have lived in the same house all of my 75 years!
Love reading about small towns!
Hi Jan, you’re writing about some of my favorite places! I especially love Tybee where my daughter and I had a wonderful vacation. Thanks for sharing the photos that bring it all back.
I enjoyed the pictures!
The only historical place I recall visiting besides my hometown is Ketchikan Alaska. While I was there I took a trolly tour. LOL Not exactly the same kind of history the south has.
I’ve never been that far south but I’d love to visit someday. It sounds beautiful. I live on a small horse ranch about 3 hours from Seattle, Washington.
I love to read about real places. History is fascinating. I think the books are more interesting to me if the settings are real.
Thanks!
I would love to visit Colonial Williamsburg!
I haven’t been to Savannah but have heard it’s wonderful! I prefer books set in real towns because the fictional ones always make me yearn for something that doesn’t exist.
I live in a city, but it’s not big compared to New York, LA, Houston, etc. To me it’s the perfect size because it’s big enough to have amenities, but not so big that we have the problems of bigger cities with crime, traffic, etc.
My husband and I spent part of our honeymoon in Savannah and enjoyed it greatly! Such a beautiful city with lots of history.
1. I do like to read about real places as well as fictional. 2. I have read about a town I wanted to visit. I looked it up and opps not real. 3. I like to know the history of where I live. 4. I love to share our towns history to those who want to know. 5. My husband and I follow our genealogy. Not much on my side, but a lot of recorded stuff on my husbands side. 6. Yes we have visited historic towns and they have been a lot of fun. 7. We have been on both walking tours and bus tours. 8. Never been to Savannah yet.
Our weather here is finally starting to warm up. I am seeing tulips and crocus and daffodils starting to come out of the earth.
Nice! Will you be returning to Savannah when the azaleas bloom? They have a tour of homes that I never got around to doing yet. Some day.
Boston is on my bucket list, but I’ve visited Philadelphia. That city is so old, I was afraid to drive along some of the super old roads. I could see history along the roads and almost could imagine horse drawn carriages and tall hats from the 19th century LOL.
Thank you for commenting! Have fun in Savannah when you visit again!
Small towns are nice too, with their own characteristics! There are many small towns in this state that I wanted to write about, but there are only so many hours in a day (or year) for me to do so. I don’t know if I will be able to get to all the small towns, but many of them predate the Revolutionary War, so there are a lot of fascinating markets (I do love history).
I hear you about people driving slowly! I remember driving into the countryside of at least 2 neighboring states, and I was looking for the Minimum Speed Limit signs everywhere because the vehicles drove so slowly that I thought a wreck was going to happen LOL. It was like time stood still in some small towns. Not all small towns are like that, though. Each town does have its own quirks!
Thank you for commenting!
Me too re: “real places in historical fiction” and it’s a lot of fun if I ever visit the place, to be able to say — hmm, I read about this somewhere!
That’s a pretty big “small country town” TBH. Some towns are smaller than that. I think in the town near me, the number of registered voters were only 1000 at one point. Now it’s bigger but not much bigger than your town. Traffic it nuts sometimes. It seems like every vehicle is a single-person vehicle! They do have sidewalks for people to walk and bike, so that helps some. Most of time time, if I am caught in traffic, I just sit there and listen to the news or podcasts.
Gold rush was something else, wasn’t it? In the USA there were 2 major places for gold rushes, one in Georgia and the other in California, back in the 19th century.
Australia is on my bucket list!!
Thank you for commenting!
I used to live in a college town also! I have to say it wasn’t small-small, because there were over 20,000 students or some huge number like that. As soon as summer break came, the whole place was a ghost town. But I liked it in the summer (I took summer classes) because the town was quiet and small and pretty.
I’m glad you enjoyed visiting Savannah. I hope you can go back there again some day!
Thank you for commenting!
Thank you, Wemble! Yes, Australia is on my bucket list, for sure! I know it’s a big country, like USA, but I would love to see a good sampling of all the different areas of Australia. Some day.
Yes, isn’t it wonderful to be able to hear the sweet sounds of nature. I’m at the edge of a forest park myself, so I can hear birds and owls and such. Sometimes we can see deer, tortoises, rabbits, possums, snakes, and other forest creatures.
Nice to pan for gold! I remember when my son was younger, we’d take school field trips to “pan” for gold. Sometimes they had “candy rocks” and sometimes the rocks and minerals are the real things. We’ve also taken him to actual quarries where people dig for minerals and rocks. We were rock hounds for a while! I wish we had kept our sifter and digging tools.
Thank you for commenting!
I have been to both Savannah and Tybee Island , both are very beautiful and I would love to go back, I enjoy finding out about real places in books but I don’t mind reading about fictitious places. I do like history of places I’ve been to and places I’d like to visit
Thank you, Priscila! I grew up in a city on a resort island, so I hear you about being able to get here and there in a jiffy. Now I live in the suburbs, but still within driving distance to a large city (millions of people) where everything is busy and everyone is moving, but it’s easier to get pretty much everything not found in a small town.
That’s wonderful that you had plenty of information to be a tour guide. That’s always fun, isn’t it? I try to remember dates and years, in case any one asks me LOL. The big city near me is very spread out, and did burn down during the American Civil War, so there’s not a whole lot of 18th century landmarks left to speak of. But going further outside the city center, there are still bits and pieces of history to see.
I agree re: not all cities can have walking tours. Maybe it’s the size, maybe it’s a lack of sidewalks, maybe the streets are too busy, and so forth. I guess it also depends on city planning. So many reasons.
I remember a smaller town about an hour from the big city here, and the town is so small that after walking for a while, we almost always ended up back in their delicious chocolate shop. I don’t know what happened :-)
Thank you for commenting!
I have never been to either Savannah or Tybee Island. Maybe one day?? I love visiting real places in books, even if they have fictional buildings or streets. We visited Genoa, Italy and hopped on a bus tour that took us around the city. We could get off at any stop but by the end of the day, we just rode the entire loop twice. Got to see all the sites without more walking and free wifi to boot! lol We bought a similar pass in London that allowed us unlimited access to the tube and the bus system. When we were tired, we hopped on a double decker bus and rode until we saw something else we wanted to explore. It’s a great way to see more of the city.
Hello, Renate! Wow, you’ve been all over the world! That’s nice that you get to travel and see places. I’ve been to some of the places you mentioned, but not all. I wanted to see more of Switzerland, but had to catch a flight, unfortunately (somewhat poor planning that day LOL). However, in all fairness, it was rainy that particular day with overcast skies, so I couldn’t see the skyline, anyway. Maybe next time.
Oh, that boat tour sounds like fun. I do love to see architecture. I agree that there are pros and cons to travel modes. Sometimes you see a lot, sometimes there’s too much to see, and no time to catch it all. Maybe a second trip is needed to “fill in the blanks” LOL!
Thank you for commenting. You have a wonderful weekend too!
:-)
Good points! Sometimes cities and places don’t like authors to write negatively about them. So I can see that it makes sense to create a fictitious town (especially for mystery and thrillers). Or imaginary buildings and city blocks.
In at least two of my novels, I wanted to use real restaurants because the food there was delicious, and I wanted to do a shoutout to the yummy cuisine. I wrote to the restaurants and asked for permission. They were actually delighted. One of them, however, wanted to see the chapter in which their restaurant was mentioned before they give me permission. And I sent them the chapter so they could see that I was pretty much giving them free publicity! Alas, no, they did not give me free meals for life. Sigh. :-)
Thank you for your comments!
Wow! That sounds like fun! DC has been on my bucket list for years. I heard that if you contact your local congressmen (or women), they could possibly get you a tour of the Capitol. I don’t know if it’s possible to tour the White House via a senator too, but all that has to be later. I hope to visit all 50 states in my lifetime, but so far I’ve only managed to visit half a dozen LOL.
Thank you for commenting and hope you have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
Indeed, even small towns vary. I think if the town is super small, I can see that it’s going to be very hard to even find a doctor nearby. I don’t know if there’s a scale or gradient for small towns, but I would think that if the grocery story or gas station is far away, then the place qualifies as a rural area or unincorporated, perhaps?
The small town I’m in is small enough to be called a small town, but decent sized enough to have grocery stores, gas stations, veterinarians, and so forth nearby. Also, since several small towns are close to one another, they share some of the shopping facilities (that is, we drive to the other town to get stuff and they drive here to get stuff). But no, one can’t walk to and fro, so yes, it does require driving and getting on the road.
Thank you for commenting!
How nice that one of the restaurants was willing to let you use their name in your book. Odd that the other restaurant said no.
I didn’t find out days before my visit that what you suggested was a possibility. That would have been a great experience to be able to do that. If I ever choose to visit three again, I will definitely see if I can take a tour of the Capitol.
Thank you, Paula! Ooh Jacksonville is rather nice too! You have the weather, the sea, the sun… Everything! I was on Jacksonville Beach some years ago. Further south than that is a beautiful string of beaches as well, and I’ve visited some of them in years past. I hope to go back to the Atlantic Coast of Florida soon. Last year I went the Gulf Coast!
I am so glad you enjoyed my books and the Georgia coast setting! You remind me that I’m due for a trip back to Savannah and Tybee. I thought of those places a lot when the winter was cold here where I am LOL.
I have two more books left in the Savannah Sweethearts series, but I do refer back to Savannah and Tybee Island even in the other sister or spin-off series. I can’t wait for you to read Roger Patel’s story in Book 8!
Thanks again for commenting and hope you have a delightful weekend in the Lord!
That is amazing, Rebecca, to be in the same house all this time! My own family has moved every now and then when I was growing up, but there is one house that I always look back fondly as the place where my brothers and I had a lot of fun as kids, back when the city was not as busy as it is today (so much traffic now and over-commercialized, etc.).
I think it’s a wonderful thing to preserve the history and remember the heritage of the house and home. Restoration can sometimes cost a lot, but the end result is the preservation of history for future generations. I try to reflect on that a bit in Book 5 of my Savannah Sweethearts series (the ebook I’m giving away in this blog), when tour guide Tamsyn tries to save her grandmother’s old Queen Anne house from developer Ryan. Sparks fly…
Thank you so much for commenting!
Hi there! So cool that you went to Tybee. Nice to hear of happy memories! I know it’s a small little beach town, and not as spectacular as Palm Beach or Pebble Beach, but I love it a lot (except maybe during hurricane season LOL)!
Thank you for commenting!
Both restaurants said yes. Sorry I wasn’t clear. One didn’t ask to see the chapter, but the other did. I don’t know why they wanted to read the chapter prior to publication when I wrote very favorably about their delicious food. I forgot to ask them whether they’d like to display my book next to their pies. I should ask next time! :-)
I hope you can go back and be able to tour inside the buildings. If I do go, it will be my first time there. Hope it’s not crowded!
That’s on my bucket list too! Someone gave me a set of blank cards from Williamsburg, and I kept them to remind me that I need to visit that place. I hope they continue to keep it operational and the living history alive.
I have a colonial fiction series on my back burner (shelved it for now since I don’t have enough time to write everything) and if I ever visit Colonial Williamsburg, I might dust off those manuscripts and finish them thar books!
Thank you for commenting!
That’s a good point, Ellie! I think some authors do write a note to their readers to talk about a real-life town that they have based their story world on. Maybe that can be helpful in matching the places in real life to the places in the books?
I do agree that a real town is preferred (though not always possible). It’s always nice to be able to see places that you have read about in a book.
Thank you for your comments!
I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO EITHER PLACE BUT THEY SOUND AMAZING AND I LOVE SMALL TOWNS ALSO I LOVE READING AND VISITING REAL PLACES IN BOOKS !
Gotcha, regarding the fact that both did say yes.
LOL regarding displaying your book in their restaurant next to their pies!!
Ketchikan is a cool place! I’ve been there twice, but didn’t get to see the salmon hatchery, unfortunately. I just walked about the little town. I’ll have to remember a trolley tour next time. I did a boat tour, though. Yes, it’s different than the south. But the weather there is nice! Not humid like the south. I don’t know if they have mosquitoes like we do here in Georgia.
Thank you for your comment!
Hello Dalyn! Seattle is nice! I’ve been there about 3 times, IIRC. The last time I was there, it was sunny all day, and the locals said it was unusual. Well, the first two times I was there, it rained a lot, so it was nice to see some sun. :-)
There are some horse ranches here in Georgia also, but I’ve never actually visited one. I’ve driven past them on my way somewhere. However, I’ve seen pretty pictures on Facebook and Pinterest of horses grazing on green grass.
I agree that history is fascinating! I do like to know the history of the place I’m writing, even if I don’t bring too much of the historical background into my contemporary Christian romance. In Book 5, I do go in quite a bit. In Book 1 of another series of mine, Seaside Chapel, I did talk a bit more about Savannah and mention the 17th century as well as the 18th.
Well, I hope you get to visit the south some day, but you might want to avoid the hot and muggy, humid and mosquito-ridden summer months — unless you’re going to the beaches where the air is cooled down a bit by the ocean.
Thank you for commenting!
I love reading stories set in real cities because I enjoy learning little details about those places and experiencing them along with the characters. I visited Philadelphia several years ago and, while I didn’t take an actual walking tour, I did enjoy walking around and taking in the historic sites and buildings
I might muster up enough courage to ask the next time I’m in town. They do have delicious-looking pies, although I’m on a diet :-)
I need to get back to Savannah for another visit one of these years! Travelled there a couple years ago with friends, and remember the wonder of taking a gardeners walking tour in March, when it was still wintry at home. Was introduced to the foreign concept of camellia being a winter flowering shrub, and parks having to plant tulips like annuals after refrigeration. Squares and historic houses were amazing, if course.
That’s the best kind of city, IMHO. It has everything you need for daily life, but it’s also probably not polluted with smog and traffic noise problems.
That could be one reason many families move to the suburbs. You’re far enough away from a metropolis to enjoy small town living.
That’s wonderful that you honeymooned in Savannah. It is listed by some travel magazine as one of the most romantic cities in the world. I do like writing about it for my contemporary Christian romance for that reason. I also write about another beach town about an hour south of Savannah, but that is a smaller, even more laidback town than Savannah.
Thank you for commenting!
Thank you, Lori! Isn’t spring time just beautiful? I saw daffodils a couple of days ago, plus a lot of pollen on my car. So I know that spring is almost here. I haven’t seen any crocus or tulips yet but I’m keeping my eyes open!
That’s wonderful that you’re into genealogy. I think it’s important to know our roots. My side is harder to trace beyond my grandparents, but my hubby’s side is more traceable all the way through a number of generations.
Glad you had a good time visiting historic towns and also sharing your own town’s history with others. I hope some day you might be able to visit Savannah. If you like super old towns, St. Augustine in Florida is supposedly the oldest city in the USA. Some years ago, I went there and saw the oldest schoolhouse building there. The fort there was also quite fascinating.
Thank you again for your comments!
Hi Bonnie! Nice to hear that you have been to Savannah and Tybee! Yes, I would like to go back to those two places too. For me, they are definitely vacation places not to miss.
Me to re: “history of places” — I find them fascinating.
Thank you for commenting! Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
Thank you, Arletta! What a wonderful idea that is to get city passes. I saw that in Charleston where you can just hop on and off buses, whenever you see a city block you want to explore. And then you can get back on the bus.
I’m confident that Savannah has city passes like that because it has many trolleys. However, I am used to just parking somewhere and walking everywhere, or park and stop.
However, it seems that London and Rome might be candidates for city passes. I’ve flown through the London airport (Heathrow), but have not gone into the city. That’s on my bucket list (which is getting longer and longer).
Thank you for your comments!
Hello, Sarah! Real places in fiction books are so much fun, aren’t they. Small towns are nice too!
Tybee Island is a small beach town. So small that if you want fancy, you have to drive across the bridge to get to Savannah so you can have some city night life (as in restaurants, theaters, fireworks, riverboat dinner cruises, night tours, and many other activities).
Thank you for commenting. Have a great weekend!
I love history and reading historical Christian fiction.
I love learning things about places and prefer real places or towns that seem real. I have lived in all sizes of cities from St. Louis to a tiny college town in North Dakota. We retired to a smallish town that is 1hour away from a midsized city with lots of shopping. We do have our own fast food row!
As a child, Mother planned trips to historical sites as day trips from Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, my Dad’s home town. And as newlyweds, hubby and I lived in Portsmouth, Virginia , for a Navy duty station. We did lots of sightseeing there. The house I grew up in was built in 1836 and is now a museum. What can I say? I live history!
Thank you, Jessica! Philadelphia is such an amazing place, isn’t it? While I was there a while back, I saw some of the historical parts of town, but I knew I didn’t even begin to see a small section of it. I also didn’t take a walking tour. I hope to go back there and tour the rest of the old city.
Yes, I do like real cities in fiction books!
Thank you so much for your comments!
Hi, Amy! That sounds like a nice gardening tour. My mother is the gardener in the family, although she doesn’t plant anymore. I tried container gardening a while back, but not these days. However, I would love to take a garden tour in Savannah. IIRC they have some signups now but the dates don’t work out for me this time.
I’m glad you mentioned the squares and historic houses. By April, almost the entire city will be filled with flowering azaleas. The oak trees are as huge as ever. It will be a photographer’s paradise!
Thank you again for commenting!
Thank you, Paula. That’s amazing! Wow. That is just something else that your childhood house was built in 1836. Recently I drove past a house that was part of a pre-Civil War farm. The house and what was left of the farm was for sale. The rest of it had been parceled out over the decades for other houses and shops. That would have been something to own that house. I think it was built in 1821 or thereabouts.
Such wonderful memories of your childhood days visiting places rich in history. Even where I am in this area, I could see some 19th century history here and there. Not only the gravestones in the city cemetery, but there are also a few rows of houses that were over 100 years old, each of them with different architecture.
Thank you for reminding us that history is all around us, if we only but look.
Your small town right now sounds wonderful, and pretty close to a city. I am sure the atmosphere and the air in a small town is better than the exhaust-filled cities.
Thank you for your comments! Have a great weekend!
Thanks for the pictures and a tour of the city. One of the things I like about reading is when an author takes you to a different location and includes the history of the location in the novel,
Jan! i have visited Washington DC numerous time. Twice my family visited the capital. Never contacted my Congressman to,do so. There is a tourist center near that handles some of these events. So much history.
Yes, I have visited Savannah and Tybee Island. Loved them both, and I always enjoy reading books set in places I have actually visited.
I love Savannah but have never visited Tybee Island.
Charleston is another favorite city for me!
Jan, thank you for sharing these beautiful pictures! I’ve read pictures about real and fictional towns…I don’t think it makes a difference to me…I live and relive in both along with the characters! I don’t like big cities,,,traffic, noise… I actually did an underground old town historic tour in my small town :) It was fun!
Savannah has been on my bucket list for AGES!! I’ll be looking for your books! They sound great!
I’m an armchair tourist now. Loved the pictures of Savannah!
Thank you, everyone who has commented! The three random winners have been selected, and you should be getting an email soon!
Thank you, Kerri! Yes, I agree. It’s always nice to know a bit more about the real cities in fiction. I’ve always been fascinated with local history, so I find it easy to write them into my books!
Thanks again and have a wonderful weekend!
So glad you have visited Savannah and Tybee! Yes, me too. And when I visit those places after I’ve read the books, I will often recall what I have read if the description is detailed enough. Otherwise, it could have been a generic city in the south, and it would be hard to tell the difference.
Thank you for your comments!
Hello, Dianna! That’s nice that you have visited Savannah! Isn’t it a lovely city?!
Tybee is across the bridge on its own island, but I hope you can visit it some day.
I like Charleston too! I have some upcoming books set in Charleston, so stay tuned!
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Thank you, Natalya! Oh that sounds fun re: underground tour. I’ve never been to one, but it sounds fascinating!
Yes, big cities are always noisy (if it’s not honking it’s sirens or something). Out in the suburbs and country, birds chirp…
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I hope you can visit Savannah some day, Regina!
Thank you for wanting to read my books. I hope you enjoy them! I have 5 series currently, with 3 of them being contemporary Christian romances:
Savannah Sweethearts
JanThompson.com/savannah
Vacation Sweethearts
JanThompson.com/vacation
Seaside Chapel
JanThompson.com/seaside
Happy reading!
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Thank you, Betty! I’m also an armchair tourist a lot of times. Whenever I see travel photos on social media, I’m like, wow look at that!
Glad you enjoyed the Savannah photos! Stay tuned for the rest of the books that have Savannah in them.
Thank you for your comments!
Updated! Email sent to all 3 winners. Congratulations!