#11: Six Pence Pub in Bull Street
“A good local pub has much in common with a church, except that a pub is warmer, and there’s more conversation.”
—William Blake”
Six Pence Pub in Bull Street
Clearly, there is always ‘something to talk about’ where ever you go in Savannah. And the Six Pence Pub on Bull Street, located in the heart of Savannah’s Historic District, is no exception. I have sat in front of this pub countless times, usually enjoying my favorite salad — sometimes with brush in hand.
I’m out in the heart of Savannah often; painting and people-watching are two of my favorite outdoor activities. Most of the time I’m out painting en plein air, so I usually accomplish both simultaneously.
Long ago, the film industry found much to love about Savannah. Something to Talk About starring one of my favorite actresses, Julia Roberts, was a film I first saw while living in Dubai in the late 1990s.
Little did I dream at the time that I would end up attending the Savannah College of Art and Design on a fashion scholarship less than a decade later; and then stay put to make Savannah my permanent home.
Life never turns out quite like it’s supposed to, does it!
The Six Pence Pub is the quaint English pub where Grace, the wonderfully southern, horse-loving, vivacious young woman played by Julia Roberts, pounds on its outside window when she catches her husband inside the pub with another woman.
Later, she stands up at her Savannah Ladies’ Charity Club meeting to ask the members: “I would just like to know if anybody else here has slept with my husband?” and thereby, quite publicly, giving the whole town ‘something to talk about.’
So many other movies have been filmed here in Savannah. My favorites include Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997); Forest Gump (1994); Glory (1989); The Great Santini (1979); The General’s Daughter (1999); Magic Mike XXL (2015); The Conspirator (2010); and, The Last Song (2010).
The Six Pence Pub makes perfect sense as a spot to visit while you’re in Savannah. Having initially been a colony of Great Britain, having played its important role in the American Revolutionary War, and having been a city that owes so much to its English founder and mother-country, enjoying a strong English ‘pint’ with lunch or dinner in one of the most congenial spots in Savannah is a perfect way to spend some quality time with friends and family while here.
Plus, there’s all that history again: For a couple of decades, Wally’s Sixpence, owned by a couple of Brits, was long a popular hang-out for Savannahians before its change in name and ownership in 1999. Dubai, too, was once a British Protectorate, so I learned to love Brits well before coming to Savannah.
Oh, and never forget. If you can’t quite finish your adult beverage before you need to run off and see more of the great sites in Savannah, remember that you can always ask for go cup!
And how can a painter not love the cadmium-red phone box sitting next to the English pub? Adding that color to this artist’s canvas always makes my day just a little brighter and cheerier.
Luba’s Six Pence painting in progress.
