After mom & Mark’s wedding, they insisted on keeping the grandbabies for a few days while hubby and I went exploring! My mother has talked of Savannah for quite some time now, and knowing what big foodies Joe and I are, she and Mark knew we’d have a ball dining at some fantastic places and soaking up all of the rich history of the South.
Mark brought us to the airport so we could pick up our rental and then we were off! We were quite hungry, as we didn’t have breakfast and by now it was time for lunch. We used TripAdvisor to find us some down home southern cooking, and find it we did!!
We had fried okra, hush puppies, fried shrimp, scallops and the best garlic & butter soft shell crab ever!! (this is the point in the trip where I started giving ZERO cares to calories; you only live once right?!)
There were no public restrooms and the little old lady came out and showed us how to eat it; we must have Northern folk written all over us. It was quite the experience and we enjoyed ever second!
We soaked up the kid free time by listening to history on you tube about how Civil War went down. We were intrigued to learn about Savannah’s history and were fascinated by the stories.
We chose The East Bay Inn for our stay.
It was beautiful!! We got the King Suite and the decor was to die for. I felt like royalty!
This charming old city has a lot of spook to it, if you ask me. Joe doesn’t believe in it, but as rumor has it, there is a ghost named Charlie here that stays on the 3rd floor (our floor). I was a little obsessed with learning more about him and apparently he worked in this building in his young 20’s and died falling out of the window of the 3rd floor. (Not our room though!) We did get to look inside ‘his room’ and it smelled so weird! Our room smelled fresh and light…
As for any encounters with the ghost, I believe that I did. I did not recognize it when it happened though; when we checked in we were seated in chairs at the front desk. Joe was sitting to my left. At one point, it felt like someone grabbed my right side as if to tickle, and I looked around and saw nothing.
It wasn’t until I was riding up the elevator later on that it dawned on me, that could have been Charlie!! The staff said he was fresh with the ladies…
This architecture though!!
We loved the room, it was a little noisy being right on the street. Other than that, everything was very well kept and the staff was amazing!! (I even left my new ipad mini there, and they shipped it back up to me!!)
We need to travel more…it’s so good for the soul!
We walked around a little bit and of course I grabbed a Matcha frap from Starbux.
We walked down to Riverstreet and man, ladies do NOT wear heels haha!
The old buildings were so cool to look at. We had dinner at Vic’s on the River the first night.
The Spanish Moss and the trees…
Our Inn has a complimentary happy hour.
Cheers to a hot hot day!!
I got all dressed up and just felt an odd presence when I snapped this photo. I think it came out kind of eerie too!
Horribly blurry, but Hot Damn!! These Shrimp and Grits were to die for!! I may have licked the plate…jk..maybe.
We asked around where we should grab a drink, non tourist style and we were sent to this basement of a place! It was pretty cool, and they only had “red or white wine” so I decided to be brave.
I ordered the bottom drink, as it was the only truly native drink to Savannah. I could not finish it, or I may have puked, but goodness it was cool to drink history! According to the paragraph below, it was served to George Washington and he awoke with a hangover so severe after drinking too much of the punch, he vowed never to return to Savannah ever again. He never did!
Voila!
The next day we knew we wanted to hit up the Trolley tour as we heard nothing but great things about being able to ride around and listen to the stories and then you can hop on and off all day.
The fountains!
We had a fancy little lunch in what used to be a funeral parlor…
Sweet y’all…it’s the real deal!!
I loved the decor and furnishings…
We did do a mansion tour and wow, how incredible it was to hear and see! This house was one of the FIRST to have indoor plumbings for bathrooms–even before the white house! Calhoun Mansion.
You could feel the history, the butlers, the slaves, the rich…
That night we dined at The Olde Pink House. (Thanks again to Katie & her hubby for the recommendation!) Best. Dinner. EVER. The server was absolutely fantastic and did an excellent job at explaining all of the fabulous dishes and history of the house.
This fish was out of this world–literally I have never had something this like. Tangy, sweet, buttery, smooth–incredible. Not pictured, the collard greens, the most amazing mac & cheese, grits and whatever Joe ordered!
This was from the Ming Dynasty!
Breakfast the final morning was a little French bistro, Café M.
Delicious chai latté!
Fancy cheese & egg on a croissant…
Our final stop was back to River Street Sweets for some pralines and peanut brittle. I shed a tear when I finished the chocolate praline.
There’s much debate over which city is better, Charleston or Savannah? While we adored Savannah, Joe and I agreed that Charleston still has our hearts in the South. Someone said Savannah’s like Charleston’s little sister. It’s hard to compare them as they are both so different, but we enjoyed every second! I can’t wait to bring the kids back when they are older and can appreciate the history and the culture.
I want to go to Savannah!