Sweet Home Savannah
Doesn’t everyone have a living bucket list of places and things they want to see? Savannah, Georgia was at the top of the list for us. Maybe it was the thought of the architecture, cobblestone streets, history, food, Southern hospitality or lichen filled trees.. but this dreamy place was a dream. You must add it to your list!
Forrest Gump, the movie, and other Hollywood theatrics was partly to blame. The movie takes place in Greenbow, Alabama but is filmed in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and the lovely, Savannah, Georgia. Anyone else craving a Lowcountry boil now? Yum-me! Parts of Savannah are used in Hollywood including historic sights such as Wormsloe Plantation with the famous row of draping lichen trees down to the ‘house’ which is a historic landmark – ruin.
The city is full of soul; every street, building, park is oozing with history, stories and memories of the past. At times it gave us goosebumps thinking about the beginnings of this beautiful city. Established in 1733, Savannah was Georgia’s largest and only preplanned cities of its time. Savannah endured a lot challenges including (to name a few..) during the American Revolutionary War in 1778 the British and Loyalist took control (a lot of lives lost), or the Siege of Savannah in 1779 when American and French military fought to regain Savannah, or in 1820 when a fire broke out and destroyed a large section of the city, or in 1854 when yellow-fever swept through the city (some of the reasons for Savannah’s iconic ghost stories & tours), or in 1958 during military training the Mark-15 Nuclear Bomb was lost off the coast of Savannah and more recently in 1986 the oil spill from Savannah’s Port (still the largest single-terminal container facility of its kind in North America) resulting in 500,000 gallons of oil spilling into the Savannah River. Savannah also celebrates many firsts, oldest, as well as she stands at the forefront for growth and change including (to name a few…), the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences which is the South’s first public museums, the Central of Georgia Railway Roadhouse Complex which (to this day!) is the oldest standing antebellum rail facilities in the United States, the birthplace of Juliette Low the founder of the Girl Scouts of America, the many religious organizations such as the First African Baptist Church which still holds the oldest black Baptist congregations in the United States as well as the Congregation Mickve Israel, the third-oldest synagogue in the United States. In 1966, Savannah downtown area became one of the largest historic landmarks in the United States. And, we are going to be real with you… you can see it, feel it and experience all of Savannah’s rich culture, heritage, pain and joy as soon as you arrive.
Savannah was an unforgettable trip for more than just the beautiful city – but also while there last year – we got engaged! We wanted to share with you all of our favorite spots in this cherished city…
🦪 Flight –
Fly, Delta. We have flown a lot and when going to the South, where Delta’s hub is located, is worth the extra money. The number of flights, times and service one receives on Delta, we believe exceeds the rest. We had the luxury of flying First Class after using our superb negotiating skills. Call the airlines, talk to them, be nice, they can pull strings. www.delta.com
🦪 Hotel –
Hamilton-Turner Inn. You. Will. Swoon. One of the most historic, luxury hotels in the Old South, you shouldn’t do Savannah any other way. The Bed & Breakfast-style Inn has unique rooms on three stories, stairs only, four-poster beds, claw foot tubs, in room fireplaces, floor to ceiling windows, original hardwood floors and seemingly endless crown molding. Did we mention… romantic? Yes! Bringing kiddos? The Hamilton-Turner Inn hosts folks with children in the 3 bedroom carriage house behind the main house.
The hotel owner and staff prepare breakfast daily in the sitting room, early evening wine and hors d’oeuvres in the parlor and Port and fresh baked cookies available when arriving back to the Inn in the later evening. We booked the Noble Jones suite, which (was a surprise) included a gift card to the Husk, horse and carriage ride around the city, bottle of wine and fresh flowers in the room. Each morning we enjoyed breakfast with the owner whom we got to know over coffee. She talked to us about how the Hamilton-Turner Inn was previously a single residence mansion and how she eventually purchased the renovated estate. The Inn is about 8 blocks (walkable!) from the bustling River Street, with shops, restaurants, parks, historic landmarks and other hotels. www.hamilton-turnerinn.com
🦪 Bonaventure Cemetery & Wormsloe Historic Sites –
Both Historic Sites were on our ‘must do’ lists while visiting Savannah. You will not see photos of the cemetery below but Wormsloe is scattered in the photos above and below.
Bonaventure was incredible and still the largest municipal cemetery containing over 100 acres. We were able to walk freely through the property and take in the architecture and history of all those that lay to rest under the enormous lichen filled trees.
Wormsloe as we’ve mentioned above is a historic site, landmark and famously portrayed in Hollywood films. There was a small fee to drive down the road under the aw-struck trees and tour the Plantation ruins. We were instructed that we were unable to stop our cars on the road or get out of our vehicles to take photos. Savannah and the state of Georgia is very adamant about preserving the site, specifically the road leading to the ruin, which we appreciated. We snapped photos on the (ok to do so!) back side. Those living on the Planation did not live an easy life. Near the entrance of the walking path to the ruin was a small gift shop and walk-through museum. At the beginning of December, last year, there was not too many visitors, which was nice.
🦪 River Street –
Oh what fun we had on River Street! We walked down to River Street to enjoy, twice, during our five day stay. Two things in particular… SHELL FISH and BLOODY MARY’S. Oh my heavens. We had oysters every way – raw on the half shell, fried, Rockefeller.. we were in heaven. We sat at the bar on the Riverwalk outside of the JW Marriott Hotel and watched the ships carrying containers into the Port of Savannah. We walked along the Riverwalk and got Pralines, stopped into the Savannah Bee Company and other local artist shops. We walked through the JW Marriott Hotel as we had heard they had a large geode and art exhibit. The owner/operator of this particular Marriott is a collector and filed the lobby with a life size model of a Brontosaurus that hung from the ceiling whilst below was filled with 6-foot geodes and other oddities. We were impressed and thoroughly enjoyed.
🦪 Forsyth Park –
A short walk from our hotel was a variety of parks. There was seemingly park squares every block, some small with trees, ferns and walking paths and others were grand with statues, fountains, and large grass areas for games and dogs to run around and play. Forsyth Park was beautiful and one of the largest making up 30-acres in the center of the historic housing district. After our delicious breakfast provided at the hotel we would walk with our coffee around the park in the morning. We did this a few times. We took in the sites, historic quintessential houses, churches and even the local swindlers who tried to sell us paper flowers while walking from side to side. Homelessness is very low in the city – we learned on our horse and carriage ride that the city just doesn’t stand for it and takes them away to homes once found in the surrounding parks. Just on the other side of Forsyth was Jones Street and the origin of the saying.. ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’.
🦪 Top Eats –
3. River Street
4. Husk
5. Fox & Fig
Elizabeth on 37th was our favorite, hands down. We didn’t enjoy Elizabeth’s on 37th until the last night and it couldn’t have been a better way to wrap up the trip. Our waiter grew up in Savannah and was trained professionally in the older, refined way of dining. He was very knowledgeable about the area and South, history and the entire menu and wine list. We appreciated his candor and absolutely exquisite service. He continued throughout the meal to bring us noshes to taste and wines to try. We gathered a crowd as the table next to us, an older couple from New York, dripping with money, pulled their chairs up to talk and enjoy the wine our server brought over. They chatted with us about their wine buying habits and mostly buy imports due to their perspective of California wines. You could say, we had a lot to talk about. Bring your wallet – but worth EVERY penny.
Olde Pink House was a house in the historic district between our hotel and River Street. It was brick when it used to be a single residence but the owners painted white plaster over the building without realizing the moisture from the river would make the pink hue from the brick change the color. Each of the dining areas were in different rooms of the house, we ate on the second floor after winding up a circular staircase with 5″ stairs. We thought, “…this isn’t ADA compliant!” And, in all honesty, we were both worried for the way down after a glass or two of wine! We had a wonderful time, food was delicious, service good, since it was our engagement dinner – company was better! Wine… check out our last social media post. We choose a sparkling brut rosé!
River Street.. oysters, oysters and more oysters! At a third of the price as California – load up!
Husk – did not disappoint. We’ve been to both the Charleston and Savannah locations – upscale dining with a great wine list.
Fox & Fig was our lunch choice! Most days we got away with breakfast and dinner. A vegan, plant-based cafe, we enjoyed their vegan Chipotle Mac & Cheese, their take on Avocado toast and lavender lattes. De-lish.
We hope you understand the Georgia state of mind like we do… until next time (because there will definitely be one for us!)… Anniversary, maybe? What will be your reason? (Shh… our secret? You really don’t need one!)
#locatedhere
Brian and Sara
