Savannah: Beauty, History, and Tasty Eats

Savannah is, as I've said before, one of my favorite cities, and I like it more every time I visit.  Now the girls have caught the bug, too, with Miss Priss ready to pack up and move there.  And we were there fewer than 24 hours.  All photos are courtesy Miss Priss, since I left my camera behind.

We arrived Monday around 5:00 PM.  Our hotel, the SpringHill Suites, could not have been more convenient: I-16 turned into Montgomery Street in the historic district, and the hotel was a couple of blocks down on the right, really close to City Market.  The girls had a quick swim, and then it was back out to the car for the short and scenic drive out to Tybee Island, Savannah's beach community.  We sighted several types of sea birds in the salt marsh on the way.

We ate supper at the Crab Shack, which is bigger and a lot more touristy now than it was when Himself and I dined there about 15 years ago.  But the food was good, and the girls enjoyed the alligator habitat and the exotic bird collection (two entertaining African grey parrots and several raucous macaws).  And the view of Chimney Creek was the gorgeous same.  Afterward, the girls insisted on driving to the beach itself, where they ran in the sand and surf and "accidentally fell" into the water.  I recall doing that as a child, myself.

The next day, the girls and I hit the town while Himself suffered through business meetings.  We arranged for a carriage tour through the hotel's concierge right after breakfast.  The carriage tour was fabulous.  There were the three of us and three elderly ladies from Tennessee, who merely ooohed and aaahed over the scenery.  The girls sat up front with the tour guide, who addressed most of her comments to them.  It was like a private tour!

Then we headed straight for the Juliette Gordon Low birthplace, home of the founder if the Girl Scouts in America, for a guided tour.  What a house!  We wandered a bit after that, looking for a place to have lunch.  I might have opted for The Lady and Sons restaurant or Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room, but I didn't think the girls would like the wait.  And we only had one day, so...

We consulted our map and headed to The Pirates' House, part of which boasts one of the oldest buildings in Savannah.  On the way, we sauntered down St. Julian Street, one of the loveliest streets in Savannah, in my opinion.  Our carriage tour had taken us down part of this street, where Miss Priss pointed out a house for sale.  Our guide said it was listed at almost $3 million dollars, just a tad out of our price range.  Interestingly, much of Savannah's historic district is residential, as opposed to many other cities' historic areas, which are often mostly commercial.

I was expecting the food at The Pirates' House to be strictly tourist grade, but everything was really delish.  the french fries were the best I've ever had, and I don't often make such wild statements.  The iced tea was wonderful.  You'd be surprised how many restaurants mess up iced tea.  It's shocking.

We met up with Himself at the restaurant (he'd already eaten) and then took a quick tour of the river front and River Street itself, a mass of bars, eateries, souvenir shops, and people.  The girls were unimpressed, so we found a quiet square with a fountain and devoured our cupcakes from the Cupcake Emporium.  Then we headed back to City Market and bought some fudge at Savannah Candy Kitchen, where we also watched the guys make some caramel popcorn and taffy.  They are very liberal with the samples, too!  The place was hopping.

I'm not much of a shopper, but I made a point to stop in the Paris Market and Brocante.  It was different from what I expected, but I enjoyed browsing around.  I was especially enamored with their coffee-table-type book selection.  I pored over a huge tome of Leonardo da Vinci's work, but the price was trop cher pour moi (when in Paris, eh?).  The shop also featured other intriguing items, such as a huge selection of old printing press moveable-type letters in different fonts.

By then it was 4:30, and we decided to head home.  It was a whirlwind trip, but we packed a lot into the time we had!  Since the girls and I loved it so much and there's still more to see and do, we'll be heading back soon.