Savannah, GA

March 13, 2016 Jess Comments 0 Comment

In this post I’m going to include our itinerary and general photos of Savannah. I will also have separate posts for photos of Bonaventure Cemetery, Colonial Park Cemetery, Oakland Cemetery, and Tybee Island coming soon.

Friday, February 5th 2016
We flew from Seattle to Atlanta then drove 3.5 hours to Savannah. We stopped at Waffle House for dinner. Even though the drive was all in the dark, it was a good one. The trees and the road were familiar and the stars were so, SO bright and there were so many of them. The cottage we stayed in was dreamy and I wish I could have taken the screen porch back with me.

Saturday, February 6th 2016
We had breakfast at J. Christopher’s and shared oreo pancakes, eggs benedict, and banana bread pecan french toast. We walked to through the historic district, went to the visitor’s center, then took the Oglethorpe Trolly Tour. The tour was “eh.” The tour ended at City Market and at this time it was drizzling, as it did on and off for the rest of the day. We stopped in Savannah’s Candy Kitchen (chocolate-covered oreos!), The Paris Market (super disappointing), walked along River Street, and walked up and down, back and forth to try to find food and extra layers to wear. Hoodie in hand, we made our way to the Pirate’s House Restaurant. The restaurant was amazing; the building is from the 1700’s, is haunted, and we had some of the best food of the trip. We headed back to the cottage. We walked about 8 miles this day.

Sunday, February 7th 2016
Breakfast today was at Mirabella Cafe. After breakfast we walked to the Colonial Park Cemetery. The graves were so old and we were able to see where Union soldiers had stolen headstones to help get them through mud on their way back north, leaving them along the way. Along the back wall there are several of these headstones lined up. Our time in the cemetery was cut short due to the temperatures outside being FREEZING. We had to make a trip to Target for hats, mittens, and more layers. Ready for the weather, we explored Chippewa Square and then found out that my parents were there to meet us for lunch. The five of us had lunch at Clary’s, a cafe mentioned several times in the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which I read before the trip. After lunch, my parents left Savannah and the three of us headed to the SCAD gift shop for some shopping. We were happily surprised to find out that it was “Free Museum Sunday” so we were able to go in the Andrew Low house and the Juliette Gordon Low house, where the Girl Scouts were started. It was the perfect timing to be able to buy a box of Samoas right outside. We then made our way to the Mercer-Williams house, also prominently featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. They weren’t participating in the free museum day so we didn’t go in, but we looked at the gift shop and took pictures of the outside. We then walked to Forsyth Park for the touristyist pictures of them all. We then relaxed at the cottage then went to Bonaventure Cemetery. Talk about the stuff that dreams are made of… Screamin Mimi’s pizza and pasta for dinner.

Monday, February 8th 2016
Breakfast at the cottage of croissants, jam, bananas, and leftover fried chicken from the Pirate’s House. We headed east to Fort Pulaski (which is on Cockspur Island) and got there just in time for a free tour. We were the youngest there by probably 50 years. I bought a small southern cookbook, a pin, postcards, and a beautiful teal glass candle holder that is very colonial. The fort was really neat, had great views, and I really enjoyed the tour. We headed the rest of the way to Tybee Island and had lunch at A-J’s Dockside Restaurant. This was by far the warmest day of the trip, around 60 and sunny, so we opted to eat outside on the dock. It was a dive but right on the water with good food and great Key Lime Pie (which I want to make as soon as I see Key Limes in the store). After lunch we went to the Tybee Island Lighthouse and Museum. The caretaker’s house is my absolute dream house. We walked to the top of the lighthouse but the platform outside was so tiny that I couldn’t stand up outside; I got on my knees for a few quick pictures while plastered to the side of the lighthouse and went right back inside. I was disappointed in myself. We then went to the beautiful beach to spend time with the Atlantic. The nice folks of Tybee are kind enough to have SWINGS on the beach so you can sit and relax. We collected sea shells, took a bunch of pictures, and listened to the ocean for a little while. That night we had reservations for the Olde Pink House Restaurant and a hearse ghost tour. The restaurant was one of the nicest I have ever been in and had such wonderful food. The hearse tour was disappointing; also in the car with us was a drunk Jersey girl and her mom. Thankfully they asked to be let off early. Our tour guide was extremely hard to understand and kept making weird comments. It was fun to ride in the hearse but I wasn’t sorry to have that tour end.

Tuesday, February 9th 2016
We ate up the rest of our at-home breakfast then headed back to Atlanta to fly home. Once in Atlanta we went to Amelie’s (based in Charlotte) for lunch then headed to Oakland Cemetery. We didn’t get to spend the time we would have liked to there because it was, once again, freezing and raining. We did get to visit the gift shop (the first cemetery I’ve been to with one, amazing!) where I picked up an urban fantasy book based in Atlanta called The Demon Trapper’s Daughter and a bookmark with cemetery symbolism on it. We took some pictures from the car then headed to the airport to fly back to Seattle.