David Hilgier Photographs

A strand of mini lights adorning the end of a Charleston Single Home porch extends twilight into the nighttime.

Making our way through the city on foot, the Charleston Single Houses immediately caught our attention. Varying from immaculate to states of disrepair, this style of home was peppered throughout or walk downtown and gave the neighborhoods a unique charm, especially those painted in pastel hues with privacy doors shielding the lower level porch from the street.

A marker of memorable cities from my travels are house numbers that utilize a blue and white color scheme adorned to a ceramic or metal placard.

A common aesthetic thread we encountered as we transversed the South was texture. A pristine finish being a state of mind. The climate of the region making its mark on everything within view.

As if our personal tour guide, this type of palm tree would be the friendly familiar face leading us from one point to the next durning our exploration of Charleston.

Simply put, the South is made for porch sitting.

As a native of the west, a typical road trip is dominated by vast expanses. Horizon line and white puffy clouds visible for miles. With this being my first road trip in the south, I wasn’t prepared for the lack of reference points measuring distance travelled. Here the roads and highways knife their way through the countless trees of the forests, swamps, and marshland we transversed.

The aesthetic appeal of Savannah extends well past sundown with many of the streets and passers by dimly illuminated by the city’s numerous theater marquees.

Standout meal of the trip was at The Grey in Savannah. Set in a meticulously restored Art Deco Greyhound Bus Station, the restaurant serves contemporary cuisine sourced from the region and inspired by Southern Food. Highlights of our meal included the clams with bacon, rye with ricotta and mushrooms, pasta with crab and peas, and their take on beignets. All simple, flavorful, and complementary to the hot spring evening.

Two southern live oak trees frame a brick residence in downtown Savannah. As the evening progresses towards nighttime, it is as if three old friends are sitting on a porch telling stories of days long passed.