It was business as usual for a select number of downtown shopkeepers who braved the bluster and opened their doors Wednesday to the few tourists and locals strolling Savannah’s empty streets.
More than half of the shops were closed along Broughton and in the surrounding area, with parking ample, sidewalks bare and icicles clinging to sign posts and tree leaves.
Kee Eck, 24, a server at B. Matthew’s Eatery on Bay Street, decided to stop in The Coffee Fox on Broughton — coffee shops being one of the few beneficiaries of a cold snap. He typically works the breakfast shift but was told they wouldn’t be opening until lunch or maybe dinner, depending on conditions.
He said he hadn’t decided what to do on his snowless “snow day,” except perhaps walk his dogs.
“This is my first time in Savannah during a ‘snow’ day,” said Eck, who moved from Columbia, S.C., a year ago. “I’m actually kind of jealous. Back in Columbia, they got four inches, and I’m seeing all my friend posting pictures of snow.”
Among those open were restaurants, coffee shops and chain stores mostly, with a few local shops in between.
“This is a joke to me … I’m surprised no one else is open,” said Marc Dunston owner of The Magic Puppet toy store. Dunston moved from Philadelphia about two years ago and said he was hoping to catch a little foot traffic of people staying downtown.
“This is cold for the South and the bridges can get icy, so you understand all that,” said Dunston. “This is my first weather disaster down here.”
Aundre Lark sat huddled and alone inside Old Town Trolley Tours’ gazebo in a deserted City Market. He said no one had come through so far, and the few tours that went out that morning were mostly empty.
“We have plenty of parking!” joked Dan Smith, an artist at the Kobo Gallery just off Ellis Square. “People in hotels and staying downtown, they’ll be looking for something to do.”
Smith, also from the Northeast, said he wore his sneakers with grips in case it got icy.
A few tourists trickled out of their hotels, like Tom and Nadine Weber from Chicago, who were staying at the Hyatt Regency.
“When we left Chicago, it was negative 13 degrees with a wind-chill of 35 below,” said Tom.
“This is balmy, actually!” added Nadine.
They said it seemed like a “ghost town” Tuesday night, with only one or two other tables dining next to them at the Boar’s Head Grill and Tavern. They hoped to head to Tybee Island later Wednesday if the bridges were open.
“We’ve never seen the streets of Savannah so abandoned,” said Nadine.