Rene Cizio's Blog, page 13

Inside Charleston’s Cypress Gardens it’s the Alligator’s Playground

As I walk, I note alligators sitting on the sides of the swamps, sunning themselves like teenagers on spring break.

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6 Reasons it’s Worth it to Visit Wormsloe Historic Site in Savannah

It’s worth it to visit the Wormsloe Historic Site for a day trip from Savannah if you like beauty, walking, and history. The site boasts one of the best Live Oak allées in the region and the ruins of the oldest standing structure in Savannah. If that’s not enough to entice you, there are also seven miles of trails to walk, hike, bike or meander. Also known as Wormsloe Plantation, it’s a state historic site about 15 minutes outside of downtown Savannah 1 Oak Allée Drive As soon as you pull in, there are 400 live oak trees draped in Spanish lining both sides of the 1.5-mile driveway. It is spectacular to behold. You’ll note it’s called an “allée,” which is a garden feature meant to draw your focus in. It’s usually evenly spaced rows of trees, or bushes along a long driveway or sidewalk. The row leads to a fountain, or, in this case, once, a statley home. Think alley for poor folk, allée for rich. That’s how I remember. After you enter underneath the concrete arches, there are a few parking spaces and a visitor’s information building. Pay $10 and get a map and access to the 1,000+ […]

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6 Reasons it’s Worth it to Visit Wormsloe Historic Site

It’s worth it to visit the Wormsloe Historic Site for a day trip from Savannah if you like beauty, walking, and history. The site boasts one of the best Live Oak allées in the region and the ruins of the oldest standing structure in Savannah. If that’s not enough to entice you, there are also seven miles of trails to walk, hike, bike or meander. Also known as Wormsloe Plantation, it’s a state historic site about 15 minutes outside of downtown Savannah 1 Oak Allée Drive As soon as you pull in, there are 400 live oak trees draped in Spanish lining both sides of the 1.5-mile driveway. It is spectacular to behold. You’ll note it’s called an “allée,” which is a garden feature meant to draw your focus in. It’s usually evenly spaced rows of trees, or bushes along a long driveway or sidewalk. The row leads to a fountain, or, in this case, once, a statley home. Think alley for poor folk, allée for rich. That’s how I remember. After you enter underneath the concrete arches, there are a few parking spaces and a visitor’s information building. Pay $10 and get a map and access to the 1,000+ […]

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6 Things I Saw in the Garden of Good and Evil

Before the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” few people went to Savannah, Georgia. After, everybody went. In 1993, the year before John Berendt published the book, about five million people visited Savannah. In 1995, that number increased by 50%, and by 2022 they received about 14.8 million visitors yearly. Much of it, like me, is still from the book or the subsequent movie. Even those that have never read “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” or watched the movie probably know about Savannah because of them. Since I spent five weeks in Savannah, I decided to find out what all the hoodoo was about. There are five places and one statue in the book and movie that you can still go to or see today, so I did. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil The story is based on a creative non-fiction (he changed names and altered the timeline of events) true crime event that happened in Savannah just before or as the author was visiting. He stayed for some time, met a cast of colorful Savannah characters (including a voodoo priestess, a con artist, a prostitute and a drag queen, to […]

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How I learned New Orleans Yatspeak and Slang

Even English-speaking visitors will have to learn some New Orleans yatspeak and slang to understand everything they hear in the city. I was constantly delighted by the new words and usage I heard during my month’s stay. Despite speaking “English,” between the various colorful dialects and the words I’d never heard before, I was constantly trying to figure out what I’d just heard and what did it mean? I heard many words, sayings, and phrases in New Orleans that I had to look up, figure out or ask someone about. Most of these words derive from other languages, disciplines – like architecture- or cultural activities unique to New Orleans. You’ve likely heard of a few of them. I’m from the Midwest, so much of it was new to me, though we have unique words and phrases too. I laughed with one of my tour guides about it and she said “Yeah, it’s dat yatspeak. Ya get used to it doh.” Even the slang has slang. Banquette A banquette is a sidewalk – if you’re lucky enough to have one – it’s the concrete strip between the house or business and the street. I had to ask what this was the […]

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Anne Rice Fans Will Want to See Inside the Beauregard-Keyes House in New Orleans

I didn’t go to the Beauregard-Keyes House looking for vampires, but they found me there anyway. I wanted to see the house because I love old architecture and Francis Parkinson Keyes, the last owner, was an avid traveler and the author of 50 books, two I’ve read and liked, including the popular “Dinner at Antoine’s.” I didn’t even know about the vampires, but that would have sealed the deal. The house, a National Historic Landmark built in 1826 and restored Keyes in the late 1940s, is a raised Creole Cottage. It is the only home of its type available to tour and it’s the biggest in the French Quarter. It’s also the oldest structure in the French Quarter and maybe the region, aside from the Ursuline convent across the street. It’s also unique for its vast garden in an area where houses are stacked next to each other like condos and gardens are rare. Inside the Beauregard-Keyes House I’d been traveling in the south for several months and had gone to many old southern homes. Darn near everyone I’ve passed that has allowed it anyway. I’m always surprised by their contrasts: grandeur and simplicity, not to mention the utter lack […]

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Four Reasons to Walk the New Orleans Garden District

The New Orleans Garden District is best on foot. Neither car nor bike or any other mode of transportation can satisfy how walking will. Only a stroll allows your senses the time to take in the sights and smells and let your mind wander in the matchless sensation that is uniquely New Orleans Garden District. I spent a month in the Lower Garden District in a little shotgun house. Each evening, for an hour or more, I walked the streets from Magazine Street with all the shops and cafes to St. Charles Ave. with the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world and all the lovely houses in between. Here are the things I reveled in. The Architecture of The Garden District As a whole, the entire neighborhood of the Garden is a National Historic Landmark. It’s that spectacular. It was developed between 1832 and 1900 and is one of the best-preserved collections of single-story Creole cottages and grandiose historic mansions in the Southern United States. It was named the Garden District because at first the homes were all massive with extravagant gardens. Now, the lots are smaller and colorful cottages and gingerbread Victorian houses are in between the […]

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Three New Orleans Parks to Walk Off Beignets and Hangovers

New Orleans parks don’t get as much attention as neighborhoods like the French Quarter and Garden District, but they should because they’re spectacular. I recently spent a month in the city, eating red beans & rice, beignets, and king cake so I had a lot of walking I needed to do. Outside of the Garden District, these three parks were my favorite places to do it. Audubon Park This 350-acre park is Uptown, not too far from the Garden District. It is edged in by the Mississippi River and St. Charles Ave., which means you can have the added treat of taking the world’s oldest continuously operated streetcar line to get to it if you’re staying in the French Quarter as most visitors tend. Once there, grab your parasol and chaperone and get ready for a splendid afternoon stroll. There are many things to see and do in this large park, including the Audubon Zoo and Golf Course – and I saw neither, but many people will say they’re wonderful. I leave that to you. What I did do, was spend a lot of time walking around the paved trails between Magazine Street and St. Charles Avenue, which, in my […]

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What One Year of Solo Travel Does to You

One year of solo travel has seen me through many states, including Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina, and Mexico. After a year of solo travel, I’ve had some experiences and learnings worth sharing, so I’ve collected questions from some friends and readers, and here are the ones I could answer. What I’ve learned about traveling What I’ve realized about this last year of traveling is that not only are the places new, but I am a different person in those places. I think that’s why we fantasize about moving to places we vacation; because we see ourselves anew when we travel. It’s a different version of us, and it’s so refreshing to see ourselves differently. Every place I go, I discover something about myself I never knew, or some new aspect is born into me that would have never been otherwise if I hadn’t traveled. I discover new flavors, smells, tastes, sights, textures, and sounds in each place and learn new likes, dislikes, and behaviors in response. Isn’t it fascinating to see what we will do or how we’ll feel? My favorite picture from a year of solo travel One […]

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Reflections on One Year of Solo Travel

One year of solo travel has seen me through 12 states, including Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Washington, Oregon, California, Mexico, Arizona, Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina, and Mexico. After a year of solo travel, I’ve had some experiences and learnings worth sharing, so I’ve collected questions from some friends and readers, and here are the ones I could answer. What I’ve learned about traveling What I’ve realized about this last year of traveling is that not only are the places new, but I am a different person in those places. I think that’s why we fantasize about moving to places we vacation; because we see ourselves anew when we travel. It’s a different version of us, and it’s so refreshing to see ourselves anew. Every place I go, I discover something about myself I never knew, or some new aspect is born into me that would have never been otherwise if I hadn’t traveled. I discover new flavors, smells, tastes, sights, textures, and sounds in each place and learn new likes, dislikes, likes and behaviors in response. Isn’t it fascinating to see what we will do? My favorite picture from a year of solo travel One of the […]

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