Savannah

Savannah, Georgia, is the American South at its most gracious and atmospheric — a city of shaded squares, Spanish moss-draped live oaks, antebellum mansions and a genuine slow-paced charm that makes it one of the most pleasant cities in the United States. The historic district, with its 22 park squares in a grid pattern laid out in 1733, is a UNESCO World Heritage Tentative Site and a masterpiece of urban planning. River Street along the Savannah River, the Forsyth Park fountain, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and the beautiful residential streets of Gaston and Jones are architectural highlights. The Jepson Center for the Arts (contemporary) and Telfair Museum (19th-century art) are both excellent. The Bonaventure Cemetery, made famous by Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, is hauntingly beautiful. The city's food scene is excellent — shrimp and grits, fried chicken, peach cobbler. The Georgia coast's barrier islands and Hilton Head are accessible nearby.