Bonaventure Cemetary (Once Upon A Time in the South East, Part III)

After Tybee Island (and a brief consultation with Google Maps) we drove for about twenty minutes to the suburb of Thunderbolt, wherein lies the haunting allure of Bonaventure Cemetary. Made famous when the "bird lady" statue formerly located in the cemetary was photographed for the cover of John Berendt's 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil', Bonaventure's gothic style and immaculately maintained grounds make it a mecca for artistic types seeking creative inspiration.

This one was particularly haunting (and is giving me particular trouble in trying to get the photos uploaded. Perhaps Gracie doesn't want to be any more recognizable than she already is?). A stone marker just outside her fence reads:

Little Gracie Watson was born in 1883, the only child of her parents. Her father was manager of the Pulaski House, one of Savannah's leading hotels, where the beautiful and charming little girl was a favorite with the guests. Two days before Easter, in April 1889, Gracie died of pneumonia at the age of six. In 1890, when the rising sculptor, John Walz, moved to Savannah, he carved from a photograph this life-sized, delicately detailed marble statue, which for almost a century has captured the interest of all passersby.

A gorgeous water feature in the midst of the inscrutable loneliness.

The remarkable beauty of and care put into the upkeep of Bonaventure is a thing to behold in itself. The feeling of peace that you find in just walking through is something that can not be described, only experienced individually deep within one's own soul.