When Devang and I visited Savannah just a couple of weeks ago, we knew that we were in for a treat! Everything I read about it made it seem very much like my most favorite city in the US – New Orleans! The history, the architecture, the public squares, and of course the food!
Savanna did not disappoint by any means. If anything, I realized that we need a second stomach or at least another couple of days to eat at all the places that came recommended from friends and the interwebs. We did our best however and mostly just took it easy since the whole point was to relax without the kids. But of course, everywhere we went (except may be the fancy restaurants) we kept saying out loud – the kids would love this! So a road trip with the kids in tow is something we will definitely plan in the future!
We stayed at the Bohemian Hotel directly on the riverfront. It was great to have our balcony open up to a beautiful view of the Savannah river. The location also put us within walking distance of most everything, with many breweries and restaurants directly across from us. Next time however, I would definitely opt for a smaller hotel like one of the historic inns or bed and breakfasts that line the beautiful squares. I feel that it might be a more intimate and personal experience compared to a chain hotel.
Some of the places were we ate included Cafe M, a very cute French bistro right, A fancy dinner at the iconic Elizabeth on 37th, homemade ice cream at Leopold’s, pad thai fix at Ruan Thai, the best biscuits and jam of my life at Bake in the day bakery, awesome coffee break at Perc Coffee‘s roasting warehouse. And some roof top libations at our own hotel. There were several cafes and restaurants that caught our eye but the one I HAVE to visit next time is the cafe as well as the uber fancy restaurant at the Paris Market; I swear when I stepped in to just check out the place, I felt like I was in the actual city of lights.
There are many local shops that are worth going in and out of, including the one in City Market. If you are into books, I highly recommend Books on Bay which has so many vintage books – I ended up getting one about planes for Arjun who is a bit crazy about the topic lately. La Paperie is another cool store much like a Paper Source but they had a very cute French ABCs poster which I got for Asha’s room. The SCAD which is Savannah College of Art and Design also has a very interesting museum and shop, in addition to having lots of cool looking buildings around the downtown area.
As far as sightseeing is concerned, I think we walked through most of the 22 public squares which make Savannah so beautiful! We also took a trip to the Bonaventure cemetery which would be an extra awesome spot on a cloudy/rainy day. The historic homes that we saw while wandering around were all so beautiful and made me wish we had taken a walking tour of the city – but given that all these tours started earlier in the morning, we decided to save one for next time when we weren’t so focused on being lazy!
On the last day of our 2 night, 3 day vaca, we drove to Tybee Island and spent half a day kayaking. It was definitely one of the coolest things we did and felt it in our arms the next day too. Then after eating lunch at North Beach Bar and Grill (try their veggie sandwich which was the best I’ve had in a long time) with a nice view of the beach and the lighthouse, we bid Savannah goodbye and headed home!
On our way there and back, we listened to Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future on audible like grown-ups without being interrupted by little people begging us to put something more interesting like the ABCs. All in all, this was a great time spent, however short! I can’t wait to go back.
Wonderful photos!