A church, a cemetery and a river

 This morning we attended mass at Cathedral Basilica of St John the Baptist.  Located in Lafayette Square, the twin spires and multiple stained glass windows welcomed us.  The first build was started in 1873, the spires added in 1896, ravaged by a fire in 1898 leaving the exterior walls and spires only and redecorated over the following 14 years.  A magnificent job!

Bonaventure cemetery was our next stop for the day.  With 40,000 graves and growing, we took a golf cart tour.  There was no way we were walking it in this heat!  Plus all the fun facts our guide relayed to us.

 

This is the Mongin monsoleum purposely shaped like a pyramid.  Brought to Bonaventure from Daufuskie Island with 11 skeletons inside, it was broken into and all 11 skeletons went missing.  The coffins were left intact and there has never been an answer to where the remains disappeared to.  Who needs 11 skeletons!

This poor guy was moved here from a different cemetery after flooding and wound up in the middle of the cemetery road.  Of course he died during the civil war so he probably doesn't care.

The white porous marble absorbs dirt and pollution.  People who paid a lot of money for the biggest headstones didn't seem to think this through very well.

Lots of angels depicted.

Gracie Watson, 6 year old daughter of a hotel manager, died from pneumonia.  Her father had a life size replica made and placed over her grave.  She is said to haunt the area and prank the unsuspecting.

This synagogue was erected so that the Jewish community could bury their relatives at the cemetery.  The most touching story was the death of Scmul Szcerkowski.  He and his daughter Mania livied in Germany during WWII, and taken to different concentration camps where Scmul was killed.  Mania survived and wound up finding where her dad's ashes were along with 343 others.  One third of the ashes were brought to Bonaventure and laid under a memorial. It is the only grave on American soil of holocaust victims.

                                                       

 

Tonight we took a sunset cruise on the Georgia Queen down the Savannah River.

Traffic jam on the Savannah!

Maddy saw her first dolphins and there were plenty of them!  It was a relaxing ride with very few people and lots to view.