A city decorated with century old mossy oaks, thriving with young SCAD students and lined by the vast Atlantic ocean. A tourist destination for history fanatics; searching for the hauntings that consume the essence of the humid air. A beach filled with the craziest locals you may ever meet, truly giving definition to the word. Coffee shops, vintage clothing stores, unique restaurants, even more unique people, my home. Welcome to Savannah.
As I lay here in my college dorm room, watching TV and procrastinating studying for finals, I can't help but reminisce on the days that weren't so stressful - the days that I spent growing up in my hometown. Moving to a different city, I've learned that every hometown breeds different types of people, all with different backgrounds and interests. Every city has its own traditions, and these are mine.
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In Savannah, Georgia, you often overlook the natural beauty that surrounds you, like the peaceful Bluff in Isle of Hope, the eerie shadows of Wormsloe Plantation, the soft waves crashing on Back River while the sun sets beyond Little Tybee. The words "Abercorn" and "Broughton" will always ring a bell in your mind, no matter where you end up. You grow to love the beach and hate Tybee parking. You know everyone within your age range, no matter the school. You gain a certain appreciation for Jalapenos' queso. You've probably people watched, and stayed quite entertained due to the diversity of the city, in Forsyth Park. You know what chaos the 4th of July week on Tybee entails. You've rightfully spent $7 to ice skate around the Civic Center for an hour and a half, with the familiar faces of the town skating around you. You've enjoyed the ginormous pizza slices at Vinny Van Gogo's in City Market, with the lurking smell of carriage horses and the distant sound of live music being played. You've probably gotten a day off of school when the weather dipped below freezing, because well, we're not used to that down South. You most likely remember the last day it snowed in Savannah - February 12th, 2012, because that's how rare it happens. You wake up early every March 17th and dress yourself in all sorts of greens, and join all of the tourists in spectating the world-renowned St. Patrick's Day Parade (Chippewa Square - need I say more?) Your biggest school rivalries are also your neighbors, just 10 minutes down the road. You "hate" the rival school students, but at the end of the day, we all grew up together and evolved as adolescents, through the good and the bad. Dock parties were an every weekend thing from the months of March-October. You went to school with the same people since you were 4 years old. You probably forgot about how popular the Vinnie Maniscalco remix of "Tequila" was during Christmas break 2013/14, for good reason. You probably begged to leave Savannah come your senior year, when you grew tired of the same old people and the same old routine. And now, you probably wish you could go back and do it all over again with a different perspective on the city and everything that it has to offer. Savannah, you have my heart.
