In October of 2020, my mom, sisters, two of my nieces, and I made our way down to Georgia after having to postpone the trip that we had originally planned in March. It was planned as a girl’s trip to celebrate my niece’s high school graduation (we visited New Orleans for my eldest niece).
I honestly fell in love with the historic district of Savannah. The Spanish moss covered tree-lined streets and old homes gave it vibes not quite like any other city I’ve been in. It was an area I could see myself in, happily walking around under the trees with my imagined pup, minus the humid summer heat and expensive cost of living.
THE JOURNEY
We opted to rent a van and drive there- a long 13 hour trip. We split up the driving and somehow I got stuck with the Atlanta portion of the journey (always the traffic there). Our rented van was also the least equipped van I’ve ever been in and it was not very comfortable for a long drive. What kind of van only has one USB port?!
GETTIN’ AROUND
We stayed in the historic district, so it was easy to walk to many of the main spots. Besides, as I mentioned above, this area is teeming with beautiful houses and Spanish moss covered trees surrounding the streets. Beautiful for walking <3 We took our rental van anywhere that was too far from where we stayed, and even had a stint in a golf cart! (More on that later…)
A PLACE TO REST…
While my sister can be annoying about things at times (sorry, Kassy) she has a real knack for finding awesome places to stay. Our VRBO was located conveniently in the historic district and was absolutely adorable! It was a two story historic home with beautiful old wood floors, three bathrooms, and huge floor to ceiling windows in the kitchen. I would 100% live there. All it needed was a big bathtub!
BRAVING THE ELEMENTS
The weather was hot and muggy most days (not far removed from our Missouri summers), with a couple of rainy days thrown in. Overall, many streets were shady enough to provide us some relief from the heat. If only I didn’t hate wearing shorts so much!
LET’S EAT!
We didn’t go to any of the “must eat” places in Savannah, although my sister and I tried for Olde Pink House and Pirate’s House, but couldn’t get a reservation. Another time!
Savannah Coffee Roasters
Cute coffee shop we found, with the CUTEST cups. I still have mine today and use it as a decoration piece on my coffee bar at home. It was just one of those simple things that made me smile.
Hitch
We were fairly quick to be seated here after having to wait outside for a table. I had a standard burger, but my sister raved about the nachos. These had pickles on them, so I did not give them a go. Pickles make everything they are touching acquire their taste for me!
Little Duck Diner
We ended up here after wandering for quite awhile trying to find somewhere to eat. The diner had a cute atmosphere and the food was surprisingly good! Almost everything the server walked by with looked tasty. I regret not trying a shake.
Leopold’s
This came up on many lists of things we must try. I’m always down for a great ice cream cone, so we hopped in line one evening to get some for ourselves. I had the coffee chocolate chip waffle cone and it was delicious!
Jalapeno’s Mexican Grill
I’m a big fan of Mexican food, so of course this was a hit even though it wasn’t as good as our local place back home.
Funky Brunch Cafe
We walked down to this spot one morning for breakfast and it was awesome! The food came in hefty breakfast portions and had their own little twists on the standard breakfast fare. We were able to get a spot out on the patio to sip our coffee and mimosas.
Screamin’ Mimi’s Pizza
This pizza joint was right down the street from where we stayed. We enjoyed it on our first day here once we arrived hungry after the long drive. The pizza was a greasy Jersey style and not the type of pizza I’m used to, but it was good. In my book, there is no such thing as bad pizza.
Byrd’s Famous Cookies
Never let my sister and I in a cookie store again, because we got way too many to bring home (after sampling them all), and I assure you, I polished mine off far too quickly. The oatmeal scotch cookies were amazingly addictive.
Fannie’s on the Beach (Tybee Island)
THE. BEST. NACHOS. EVER!! To this day, I still randomly fantasize about them. I wish I could have some more right now. They were something akin to pita chips and were the perfect combination. I could not believe how good they were after I took my first bite. I had some shrimp combo as well which also hit the spot. My margarita was nice and strong here too! Fannie’s could be easy to overlook as a mediocre spot right on the beach, but it was such a tasty meal.
SOO…WHAT WE GONNA DO?
Walking Ghost Tour
We did a haunted walking tour that took us to various places in the historic district. I loved how the tour included audio clips and visuals to go along with the places we visited. We were even allowed to enter one of the buildings and explore one of the more abandoned sections. Our tour guide was great and the stories were incredibly interesting, whether you believe in the paranormal or not. There was a good deal of history information included with each stop.
Bonaventure Cemetery
This is one of the more famous cemeteries in the country – I know I’d certainly heard of it several times throughout my life. It’s so huge that it would have taken ages to truly explore. Because of this, I felt like the tour was quick to go through it and I would have liked to mindlessly wander more of the areas. The tour stopped at several plots of note and I learned some fascinating stories about many of the plots that I may have never known otherwise! This place probably gives off awesome spooky vibes at night.
Trolley Ride
We hopped on a hop on-hop off trolley company and rode the entire way through. If you’re visiting for the first time, I recommend doing this FIRST! This was the last thing we did, and we were kicking ourselves because it featured a lot of spot and places to visit that we wouldn’t have known of otherwise. The trolley provided ample information on different buildings, restaurants, parks, squares, and history of the city.
Forsyth Park
We didn’t explore much of this park, but stopped by on a morning walk to the section with the Forsyth Park Fountain. It was a peaceful area surrounded by all those lovely Spanish Moss covered trees I keep going on about!
Tybee Island
My nieces hadn’t been to a beach since they were younger, so we opted to take a day trip here. If you’ve seen The Last Song with good ol’ Miley, you’d probably recognize this beach town only about 20 minutes away from Savannah. We rented a golf cart to ride around on the island and explore. Then, we ate those amazing nachos and my nieces and I hung out at the beach while the rest of the crew shopped. It was chilly for swimming, but we did it anyways. Bonus that my niece let us bury her in the sand and craft her into a beautiful mermaid.
After leaving the beach, things got interesting as it started to rain and we proceeded to drive around the islands in our golf cart like the tourists we were getting soaked in the process. My poor nieces in the back were pelted with rain the entire time. We were a hot mess – still, it made for some fun laugh out loud memories from that day.
City Market
We spent a day walking through this area and perusing all of the shops! It’s a fun stretch to walk even if you don’t buy a thing and has great views of the water.
Ferry
We didn’t ride this to get anywhere, and opted to give it a go just for fun! It is a free service that is quick and easy to use. It didn’t hurt that it saved us from walking all the way back down to where we started.
While the long drive down there was exhausting and I always wish to spend more time in a place, we had a great trip. I’m excited to experience more places along the east coast that are packed to the brim with history. I’d love to go back to Savannah even for a leisurely trip of daily walks through the beautiful squares. Hopefully I will get back there at some time in my life, but if you know me, I’ve got quite a long list of places to see.
Have you ever been to Savannah? What’s your favorite thing to do there? Where would you like to travel next?
