An antebellum mansion seems an unlikely home for trendy modern pursuits such as “aromatherapy massage” and “microdermabrasion facials.” But when Celeste Hobson, purveyor of these and like services, was looking to move her Savannah Day Spa from quarters it had outgrown on Broughton Street, her instincts homed in on the 1826, five-story mansion she found for sale at 18 E. Oglethorpe Ave.

If you find yourself on a boat during the summer in Savannah, you’d best be prepared with a well-stocked cooler that contains not only plenty of beverages but plenty of edibles, too. For surely, there is no better appetizer than an hour or two on the water. Just pulling away from the dock seems to bring on a hunger that can only be appeased by boat-food traditions that as are entrenched as broccoli casserole at Thanksgiving.

Tulafinny and Tybee. Ossabaw and Ocmulgee. Yuchi and Yemassee. Even the name “Savannah” has Native American roots. Long before General Oglethorpe forged his friendship with Tomochichi, chief of the Yamacraw, coastal Georgia was home to tribes allied with the Creek and Muskogee nations.

It was the first truly comfortable evening after a long season of sweltering heat, too many hurricane threats and too few people downtown.

But this night, the magic was back, and Broughton Street was alive with energy. Couples hustled hand in hand to the Lucas Theatre, and new Savannah College of Art and Design students exuded Bohemian cool as they walked to The Last Supper With Mom and Dad.