'Run, Forrest, run': A trip down memory lane 30 years after film 'Forrest Gump' released
In July 1994, Forrest Gump ran into the hearts of people across the nation in the dramedy about an Alabama-native with less-the-average intelligence with an above-average capacity to find himself in the right place at the right time. Based on the 1986 novel by Winston Groom, Gump, played by Tom Hanks, recounts his life story to the strangers he meets on a bus stop bench in Savannah's Chippewa Square.
In honor of the Acadamy Award-winning film's 30th anniversary, we went on a tour of the spots that set the scenes of Forrest Gump's screen life.
St. John's Episcopal Church
The opening scene of Forrest Gump follows a white feather floating downwards from the sky, and in the background, we can see glimpses of Madison Square, St. John's Episcopal Church, and the steeple of Independent Presbyterian Church.
With movie magic, there is an invisible cut to Chippewa Square where we meet the titular character awaiting the No. 9 bus to Richmond Street.
Chippewa Square
Gump sits on a bench in Chippewa Square and offers strangers chocolates and stories. While the space where the bench was located in the movie is a garden, the sign for Chippewa Square remains.
The bench on display at the Savannah History Museum on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is not the bench that you see in the movie. In fact, it's one of a few replicas made and distributed by the production company after the movie wrapped. The original bench is on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles.
Debi's Restaurant
Debi's Laurie's Restaurant, formerly on Wright Square at 10 W. State St., is where Jenny, Gump's childhood friend and eventual wife, worked as a waitress. Debi's has since moved to 225 E. Bay St., and the building where the restaurant once lived for decades, its windows painted with quotes from the film, has been refurbished and houses a bagel shop as other shops and offices.
Love's Seafood Restaurant
In an earlier scene in the movie, when Forrest comes to see Jenny perform Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" while naked behind her guitar, she's at Love's Seafood Restaurant, where set designers transformed it to look like a truck stop. Although the "GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS" sign that you see in the movie isn't there, you can still check out Love's for the seafood.
Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at dambus@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah GA 30 years after Forrest Gump
