Tybee Island was the first stop my friend and I visited on the four hour road trip from Atlanta to Savannah on Memorial Day weekend! It was a hot and humid day, and the beach was crowded with a rainbow of color from swimsuit clad sunbathers. We only stopped for a few minutes to walk along the shore line and get our feet wet, but I longed to jump in the water and join in the joy and laughter of the happy children frolicking in the salty waves. Clusters of children busied themselves digging in the sand with their plastic shovels while their parents mingled with their friends over picnic lunches in the shade of bright umbrellas. It was a great day to enjoy the therapeutic ocean waters, and we even spotted a fun light house on our way out of town.
We finally reached Savannah, and we were hungry after that long drive! We grabbed some yummy Sandfly BBQ in this fun streamliner! It was really tasty, and a fun old fashioned diner experience! Sadly they didn't serve jalapenos and pickles with the bbq, but I guess we are a little spoiled with our bbq condiments in Texas and I'm making up for it by eating pickles while I write this so....when in Rome... :) It was a delightful little place, and very popular, so get there early or pick up some take out!
After checking into our hotel, we headed out to explore the lively river walk. We climbed down the somewhat questionable historic stairs (looked like the aged stone could crumble at any moment), and made our way into the crowd lining the river front. We popped in and out of the little shops offering samples of their tasty treats, and of course I couldn't resist buying a southern made pecan praline and some delicious honey from the Savannah Bee Company! Slowly we made our way up the street where tourists were waiting to board the old steamboats for an evening cruise, and people were enjoying laughter and libations at a nearby pub. Live jazz music drifted from a distant solo musician as we strolled from booth to booth at a pop up craft market.
Soon the shops were closing, and we climbed up another set of really steep and questionable historical steps back to the busy streets. It was hot and humid, and the perfect time for ice cream! We stood in the long line outside for the famous Leopold's Ice Cream! Leopold's ice cream was founded in 1919 by three brothers from Greece! The business would soon end up in the hands of Stratton Leopold, one of their sons, and after closing the business for awhile to pursue his dream in Hollywood, he reopened the business in a different location using many of the original fixtures along with posters and movie props from his Hollywood films. I had the Savannah Socialite which was one of their flavors of the month, and some of the best ice cream I have ever had! Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, caramel and nuts all mixed together in a waffle cone! Truly amazing and worth the wait!
The next morning we stopped briefly at St. John's Cathedral before meeting up with our tour group!
We met our fellow foodie tourists at Smith Brothers Butcher Shop for our first tasting of the Famous & Secret East Side Food Tour! Most of our new foodie friends were from southern states, and we all enjoyed a variety of tasty sausages with lovely baguettes and beet dip with feta crumbles! I even bought a tasty bacon toffee cookie to go! Delish!
Next we were off to Cha Bella for a delightful fried cornmeal-portabella mushroom appetizer on their outdoor garden porch! This place had a fun atmosphere, charming dining rooms, and a fun porch swing near the garden where they grow their vegetables!
Our next food stop was a brief visit to Walls BBQ for their famous pulled pork sandwich. Yummo! This family has been serving up great bbq from this whole in the wall since 1963, and it's soul food worth stopping in for!
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| Walls BBQ |
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| Mirabelle's |
After the tour ended we had a short walk to the Juliette Gordon Low house. Juliette Gordon Low (Daisy as friends called her), broke down class and ethnic barriers by founding Girl Scouts here in March of 1912. It was a spin off of the Girl Guiding groups of London which was first formed to keep the girls from dressing as boys to try and sneak their way in to the fun Boy Scouts camping trips. This was a bit of a sentimental tour as I was a girl scout for a few years in elementary school and still have quite a fondness for this amazing organization! It was so fun getting to see all these little Girl Scouts who were on the tour with us! It definitely brought back memories!
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| Girl Scouts |
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| Juliette Gordon Low |
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| Bottle glass window behind the staircase |
That evening we enjoyed some yummy seafood at the Savannah Seafood Shack. My friend enjoyed a yummy sausage and shrimp boil bowl and I had fish tacos. It was a casual order at the bar kind of place, and the really popular thai inspired Below Zero ice cream stand inside served up rolled ice cream which is all the rage according to that long line that wrapped around the corner of the shop! We popped into Mabel's Cupcake Emporium for one of their award winning vanilla butter cream cupcakes, and it did not disappoint!
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| Mabel's famous cupcake |
After I had my sugar fix I headed to Chippewa Square to meet up with my group for the Savannah Shadows Ghost Tour by Blue Orb Tours! If any of you have ever taken a ghost tour before you know that it's a lot of history and folklore and that your chances of seeing an actual ghost are slim to none. Savannah has been deemed the most haunted city in America and is famous for it's ghosts and ghost stories, so I was really excited and anxious to hear some great history and folklore.
While this tour had some history and haunting stories, it was quite repetitive of the basic history and stories you can read about on the internet. Most of it was not new to me at all, and therefore I got a little bored and was very disappointed. The air was hot and humid that night and we walked for an hour and a half around a few squares, the perimeter of a cemetery, past a lock shop that the famous Houdini got his locks from, and into a few neighborhoods so our guide could point out a couple of houses that had been featured on popular ghost hunting shows. I was not impressed by this at all. I felt like this tour was overpriced and overrated. It might be fun for kids, but if you're hoping for some spooky stories maybe try one of the late night adult only tours or buy a guidebook with the stories and walk around for free. I was doing this tour and walking back to the hotel solo, so I opted for an earlier tour. The guide did show a video clip on his ipad of a Victorian dressed ghost passing along the porch of the infamous Sorrell-Weed House, so that was some spooky fun.
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| Chippewa Square |
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| Haunted shop where Houdini got his locks |
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| Colonial Park Cemetery |
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| Sorrell-Weed House |
Sunday was our girl-funday! We started off with brunch at The Collins Quarter where we split the smoked salmon toast with layers of herbs and seasoned cream cheese and the brioche French toast with drunken fruit compote, bourbon maple syrup and candied pecans. The food and coffee were amazing!! This was a very cute and trendy place and you will want to get there early to avoid a long wait. They don't split checks or make any substitutions to their menu. They have something special going, and they are proud of it! :)
After brunch we walked the historic district shopping along the way in cute boutiques filled with tasty edibles, designer housewares, eclectic antiques, and charming gift items. Much to our dismay some of the shops were closed for the holiday weekend, but we managed to fill our arms with plenty of fun souvenirs anyway! It was really hot but a beautiful day, and we enjoyed the gorgeous architecture and landscapes of the historic homes and squares of this charming southern city.
We ventured down Jones Street noted by Southern Living Magazine for being "the most beautiful street in North America", and I took a leisurely stroll around the mansion lined Forsyth Park and observed the tourists taking pictures in front of the magical white fountain.
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| Paris Market & Brocante (my favorite) |
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| Mead tastings at Savannah Bee Company |
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| Forysth Park |
After all that walking and shopping we cleaned up and headed to dinner at the famous, historical, and haunted Olde Pink House. Originally called the Habersham House in 1771 this property was granted by the crown of England to James Habersham Jr. who held many secret meetings that helped secure the independence of the 13 colonies from England. The home was originally white, but the brick began to bleed through the plastered walls until the color had changed to a soft Jamaican pink.
In 1811 the house became Planter's bank, the first bank in Georgia, and locked all the colonist's money up in it's massive cast-iron vaults with dungeon doors that are now used as wine cellars. It has housed military generals and Sherman once presented it to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift. The house changed hands many times before it's restoration in 1992, and is now a historical restaurant with excellent service and candle light dining. It is said to be haunted by a variety of past residents, and our waiter was happy to share the most recent ghost story experienced by his fellow co-worker.
We had a reservation here, but still had to wait thirty minutes to be seated, and the placed was packed and a bit chaotic in the entryway. We split a blt salad that included a fried green tomato on a bed of greens with candied bacon and yummy ranch dressing. So good! I enjoyed southern sweet tea, chicken fried chicken with blackberry bourbon sauce, grilled asparagus, and sweet potato with molasses and candied pecans. A bread basket filled with tasty biscuits and corn muffins accompanied our meal. This wasn't just a dinner, it was a historical event! After dinner we explored the different floors of the house, and the fun tavern in the basement where several ghosts are known to hang out. They must love the lively atmosphere around the piano player and bar! It was a fun vibe!
The famous place we wanted to have brunch at was closed on Memorial Day morning, so we walked and shopped and eventually ended up at Ordinary Pub. I had a scramble bowl that was eggs, sausage, gravy, cheese and potatoes all mixed together. It was very heavy and too rich for my taste, but the cave like atmosphere of this speak easy type place was fun!
We collected our baggage and headed to the outskirts of town for a short hike through the hot and swamp like woods of The Wormsloe Historic Site or as the locals call it Wormsloe Plantation. These ruins were once a prominent home and fortress of one of the first colonial settlers, Noble Jones, back in 1733. The Wormsloe Plantation is located in the Isle of Hope and was given it's name from the worms that gathered around the mulberry trees that grew there. Noble Jones probably had high hopes for these worms making him rich in the silk industry.
These ruins are the oldest standing structure in Savannah, but there really isn't much left to see. After paying our entry fee of $10 we drove along the beautiful tree canopied avenue (which is the best thing about this place) and parked the car at the tiny visitor's center. Not much was there, so we ventured off on a foot trail and found the remnants of this old plantation house which was nothing but a few crumbled stone walls. We hiked a bit further into the woods and along the marsh before coming to the burial site of Mr. Jones. A few minutes of more hiking took us to a small reenactment camp where costumed actors demonstrated loading their firearms with gun powder for shooting in unison. I was melting in that heat, and I felt really sorry for these guys wearing old wool uniforms for the handful of tourists present. It was a fun and historical way to spend Memorial Day though!
Our last stop was through one of the waterfront neighborhoods of the historical Isle of Hope, one of the most affluent communities in the state and known for it's beautiful homes and historic plantations. The island is completely surrounded by water in high tide, and many children have searched for the legendary treasure supposedly buried by Pirates long ago. The island contains many historical sites, and has been featured in a handful of movies including the original Cape Fear, Forrest Gump and The Last Song. We just took a slow drive down a few of the streets to get a closer look, and this finished up our trip to Savannah!
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