A Bookshop Tour of Savannah, Georgia

As a former junky of all of the travel docs and ghost shows the Travel Channel had to offer in the 2000s and someone who enjoyed Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, I have always wanted to go to Savannah. We only had two days there, but I still managed to swing by two bookshops. And while I didn't see any ghosts in this most haunted of American cities, I did peruse a lot of old books looked over by the ghosts of old eyes.

Too much?


Probably. Let's get to the bookstores.

 The Book Lady Bookstore

As I perused, I listened to the grumpy and matter-of-fact proprietor explain to a customer over the phone, ad nauseam, that the customer's edition of the St. James Bible was not very valuable. This, coupled with the cramped, maze-like layout of the store and shelves, I felt I was in an American version of Black Books, one ran by someone who gave a crap. There was a leather couch, plush gold velvet chairs, and a fireplace full of books. My most exciting find was a reprint of Dickens' prompt copy of A Christmas Carol. Very, very sadly, it was out of my price range.  

Books on Bay

It smelled like the basement of my childhood church. Old carpet, filled with the dirt from so many shoes, wood polish, aging paper. It was a comforting space. The back room and main reading area also reminded me of the sacristy of that childhood church, but this was a holy space I could get behind, a chapel for books. Many of the titles they had were both out of my price range and outside of my interest. 

Highlight? Original cover paintings of Trixie Belden novels.