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Georgia

Christmas in Savannah

Program No. 22515RJ

Experience Savannah and its one-of-a-kind Christmas traditions. Explore the city’s historic district, learn its Civil War history and enjoy holiday traditions from Savannah’s past.

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6 days

5 nights

12 meals

5B 3L 4D

Check-In, Register, Orientation, Welcome Dinner, Performance

Savannah, Georgia

History, Massie Heritage, Old Fort Jackson, Johnny Mercer

Savannah, Georgia

Strong Women, Christmas Performance

Savannah, Georgia

Historical Bonaventure Cemetery, Special Lunch, Night Movie

Savannah, Georgia

Meldrim Home, Mickve Israel Temple, River Boat Cruise

Savannah, Georgia

Program Concludes after breakfast.

Savannah, Georgia

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At a Glance

Christmas in Savannah is a sight to behold — twinkling lights line the city streets, massive evergreens are decorated top-to-bottom in ornaments and bows and the city’s trademark Southern hospitality shines through. Celebrate the holidays while discovering the city’s Gothic mansions, beautiful cathedrals and mouth-watering cuisine. Explore the city’s historic district, learn its Civil War history with local experts and visit historic houses dressed in period decorations. Enjoy an evening of dinner, entertainment and an unforgettable riverboat ride along the historic city waterfront city.

Activity Level

On Your Feet

Walking up to 1 mile on uneven terrain. Standing for lectures in museums. Historical structures have stairs/no elevator.

Best of all, you’ll…

Experience a production of “A Christmas Tradition” in one of the country’s oldest continually run theaters.
Take a field trip to the historic Isaiah Davenport House to learn about local holiday traditions of that period.
Explore by trolley the lovely squares, cathedrals and the annual Gingerbread Village Competition.

Featured Expert

All trip experts

Joyce E Harvison

Joyce Harvison epitomizes Southern hospitality. A native of Savannah, she has worked for the last 30+ years in Savannah's Historic District, first as an insurance agent, and the last 16 years as a Director of Groups/Charters with a local trolley company showing off the city’s best sights to visitors from near and far. She revels in treating family, friends, and visitors to the best possible time, including hidden gems when they visit her home town. Joyce has two daughters and three grandchildren.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Joyce E Harvison View biography

Beverley Citron View biography

Beverley Citron grew up in Bournemouth in the south of England, and currently resides in the great state of Georgia. With a desire for adventure and thirst for new experiences, combining work with travel allows her to enjoy both. Beverley joined the Road Scholar team in 2010.

David Duckworth View biography

David Duckworth has been a full-time musician in Savannah since 1992, working as a pianist and a record producer. In this time, he has been one of the city's most prolific producers of jazz recordings. David’s music has been featured on PBS and Georgia Public Radio, and he has traveled to perform in New York and Paris several times. David, along with Kim Polote, and his wife Alisha, make up the musical group, The Kim Polote Trio.

Kim Polote View biography

Kim Polote, born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, is a full-time singer who has appeared on national television with her accompanist, David Duckworth, and has performed with Harry Connick, Jr. She is the only Savannah native ever to win the gold medal for the annual American Traditions Vocal Competition hosted by the Savannah Music Festival. She leads the Kim Polote Trio, which also includes talented musicians, David and Alisha Duckworth.

Suggested Reading List (7 books)

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You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.

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Christmas in Savannah

Program Number: 22515

Rebels, Saints, and Sinners: Savannah's Rich History and Colorful Personalities

by Timothy Daiss

Since its founding in 1733 by James Oglethorpe, the city of Savannah has experienced many triumphs and disasters. Its citizens have endured hurricanes, fires, and epidemics, and they have dealt successfully with social injustice and political corruption. Savannahians have also experienced both sides of war-winning as colonial rebels in the American Revolution and losing as Confederate patriots in the Civil War-and they have welcomed many heroes and stars to their city such as George Washington, Elvis Presley, and Shoeless Joe Jackson. In Rebels, Saints, and Sinners, Timothy Daiss tells the story of Savannah through captivating anecdotes about the city's past-a past full of intriguing characters and astonishing twists of fate. This book offers a wealth of detailed historical research presented in easily accessible prose, and it is a must-read for history buffs, travelers, educators, and anyone else interested in America's greatest cities.

Slavery and Freedom in Savannah

by Daina Berry (Editor, Contributor), Leslie Harris (Editor, Contributor), Jonathan M. Bryant (Contributor), Bobby J. Donaldson (Contributor), Jacqueline Jones (Contributor), Timothy Lockleyby (Contributor), Susan O'Donovan (Contributor), Janice Sumler-Edmo

"Slavery and Freedom in Savannah" is a richly illustrated, accessibly written book modeled on the very successful "Slavery in New York," a volume Leslie M. Harris coedited with Ira Berlin. Here Harris and Daina Ramey Berry have collected a variety of perspectives on slavery, emancipation, and black life in Savannah from the city’s founding to the early twentieth century. Written by leading historians of Savannah, Georgia, and the South, the volume includes a mix of longer thematic essays and shorter sidebars focusing on individual people, events, and places.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

by John Berendt

Referred to in Savannah as "The Book"-non-fiction, adult language-account of a local antique dealer, Jim Williams', four (!) trials for the same murder in the 1980's-also a Clint Eastwood movie released in 1997.

Saving Savannah - The City and the Civil War

by Jacqueline Jones

In this masterful portrait of life in Savannah before, during, and after the Civil War, prize-winning historian Jacqueline Jones transports readers to the balmy, raucous streets of that fabled Southern port city. Here is a subtle and rich social history that weaves together stories of the everyday lives of blacks and whites, rich and poor, men and women from all walks of life confronting the transformations that would alter their city forever. Deeply researched and vividly written, Saving Savannah is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the Civil War years.

Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts

by Stacy A. Cordery

An in-depth biography of the multi-talented Savannah native and founder of the Girl Scouts. Available on Amazon.com and the J.G. Low Birthplace.

The Complete Stories: Flannery O'Conner

by Flannery O'Conner

Native Savannian who won the 1971 National Book Award for Fiction. Thirty-one tales depicting the humorous, of near tragic conditions of life in the Deep South during the fifties.

Savannah Style: Mystery and Manners

by Susan Sully

Savannah is a city of mercurial history and enigmatic charms. Home to cotton barons, shipping magnates, antiques dealers, and tireless preservationists, it has helped define Southern elegance, manner, and style for more than two centuries. From the slightly faded grandeur of the Second Empire baroque Thomas Levy House, filled with antique maps, prints, books, and other curiosities, to the phantasmal, Proustian decor of the high style Greek Revival Knapp House, the 20 houses featured in this book express the city's alternating moods of decadence and decorum. Quite often, a serene exterior-- designed in a Georgian, federal, or restrained Greek Revival style-- will relinquish its polite composure to an ingenious play of interior whimsy or flight of decorative fancy. Elegant town houses designed by William Jay, John Ash, Isaiah Davenport, and William Gibbons Preston, gracious plantation manors, and unpretentious summer cottages are featured in detail in word and image. A delightful foreword by John Berendt acts as an informative addendum to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and an excellent introduction to this book.

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Christmas in Savannah

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At a Glance

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