Last week my mom and I took a little getaway trip to the quaint Savannah, Georgia. Savannah was a place we both have always wanted to travel to and see what the southern gem had to offer.
We grabbed SUPER cheap flights, and found ourselves headed south to eat our way through Savannah. Downtown Savannah is only about a 20 minute car drive from the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport. We rented a car, and I highly recommend doing so if you plan to go to the beach, or explore what else is around Savannah.
We spent 4 nights in Savannah, and I think you could get the city done and see and do everything you want in 2-3 days, with an added beach day.
As soon as we booked our trip, I ordered myself a copy of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. This famous novel takes place in Savannah, and I thought it was fitting to read before visiting. I will say it was a little bit of a slower read, but I was happy I read it because it was mentioned EVERYWHERE! We even visited the Mercer House, which was cool to connect the dots of this novel to real life.
Before I get into all of the details of what we did, I want to preface it with that we weren’t able to go to all of the places we wanted to because they were still closed due to the pandemic. I will still list some of these things because they were supposed to be great!
I am not going to recommend where we stayed because we were not too fond of it, especially the location. We were on the outskirts of downtown, and while we don’t mind walking we much would have rather stayed more towards the action. There are hundreds of B&B’s and boutique hotels, so I am sure those are great. Just beware of ghosts!
What To Do
Free Savannah Historic Tour
Our first full day in Savannah, we started things out with a walking tour. We love walking tours because it helps you get the lay of the land, learn the history, and see things by foot.
We always try to find free walking tours that you tip at the end. In our opinion, the guides are way better because they are working for their tips. We had a great guide Joe. He was charismatic, fun, and gave us some great recommendations.
Savannah has a great history, and it was lovely to learn about what happened in this city while we explored. Savannah is made up of 24 squares. These squares are quaint, and are the typical scene of Savannah: massive oak trees with Spanish moss, fountains, statues, benches. The squares are some of my favorite parts of Savannah!
Now while you are exploring Savannah, you will see tour trolley after tour trolley. If a walking tour is not for you, I am sure one of these trolley tours will get the job done. For me, they are a little too touristy and would rather have a local guide.
*Note that the famous bench in the movie Forest Gump is not there, but in a museum. I was very disappointed to not be able to sit on the real bench. But you can take a picture with a sign of where the bench was.
Ghost Tour with Genteel & Bard
If you have followed along Basically B for awhile, you know I love a good ghost tour. I have done multiple in New Orleans, and I knew that Savannah and New Orleans go back and forth for the most haunted city in the United States. I will have say that the ghost stories are better in New Orleans, but Savannah can be pretty spooky after dark.
This tour was extremely well done. It is more of a dark history tour and is not meant to scare you. I enjoyed listening to the darker side of the city with a few ghost stories sprinkled in.
There are other ghost tour companies, but they dress up, try to scare you, and that just isn’t my cup of tea. I like the raw stuff. There is a ghost tour where you drive around in a hearse. It seems creepy, but again sounded touristy, so we stuck with the local tour company instead.
Juliette Gordon Low House & Girl Scouts Headquarters
This was one of the things that we unfortunately did not get to do because it was still closed, but if it was open we were going to check it out! Being a Girl Scout in elementary school, this hit a soft spot in me.
They have a guided tour that we heard was very well done, and the best part is that they sell Girl Scout cookies all year long!! Hello I would’ve come home with another suitcase full of Tagalongs and Thin Mints.
Jones Street
Jones Street is probably one of the prettiest streets in all of Savannah. Full of beautiful homes and mansions. It is lovely to just stroll down the sidewalk and take it all in. There are cute little shops, art galleries, and coffee shops to explore as well.
River Street
River Street is definitely something to experience while in Savannah. Savannah has an open container law, so you are able to bring your drink with you. River Street is where the majority of the bars are. There are bar after bar with tacky gift shops sprinkled in between. My mom and I grabbed a cold beer and wandered in and out.
Be sure to stop at River Street Sweets for some delicious pralines!
I personally think this is more of a tourist trap, but it was still something to see!
Broughton Street
If you are looking to do more real shopping, then Broughton Street is for you! With big box retailers like Steve Madden, Free People, H&M, and Michael Kors. There are some boutiques too that I enjoyed more. One place that is a must stop is the Paris Market. It practically transform you to France. There is a coffee shop inside, and cute trinkets and home decor. It was such a cute place!
Wormsloe Historic Site
About a 10-15 minute drive from downtown is Wormsloe. Home of one of the prettiest alleys of oak trees I have seen in my life. It might look familiar from the movie The Last Song.
Unfortunately the museum was closed, so we were only able to take pictures by the trees. But this historic site was once home to a plantation that burnt down. I would have loved to go to the museum.
Leopold’s Ice Cream
Leopold’s is technically a place to eat, but it is something that you cannot miss while in Savannah. It is an ice cream parlor that opened their doors in 1919.
I will say be prepared to wait in line. However, the employees of Leopold’s are so sweet because they bring out iced water every so often because the heat and humidity is REAL in Savannah. Don’t worry about doing your hair because as soon as you step outside, you are a lost cause.
Back to the ice cream, I don’t know if it is because we went during the pandemic, or if it was the time of day, but we didn’t have to wait in line. We went right at 5pm! I had the peanut butter chippie, and mom had Georgia Peach. They were both SO DELICIOUS!
Where To Eat
Breakfast
Rise Biscuit Donuts
If I had to choose one breakfast food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be biscuits. More specifically chicken biscuits. Whenever I am in the south, I am constantly grabbing them trying to find the best chicken biscuit!
Rise was a great contender! The biscuit was fluffy and flakey, and the chicken was flavorful and perfectly golden fried. It made such a great breakfast, I wanted to go back the next day.
Rise is also home to the biscuit donut. I did not try one, but I regret it because they looked so yummy! So if you go definitely try it and let me know how it was!
Back in the Day Bakery
Probably the most disappointing thing we did not get to on our trip to Savannah was Back in the Day Bakery. We heard nothing but amazing and great things about this place. However, we must’ve skipped when they were open because they are closed Tuesday-Thursday, which was when we were there.
They are known for the best biscuit in Savannah, and just yummy treats and goodies in general.
The Collins Quarter
We really did not look at hours and days things were opened because we also missed out on The Collins Quarter – which is known as some of the best brunch in Savannah. Looking at the menu I was practically drooling, so I was sad that we didn’t make it to this hot brunch spot during our visit. I mean they have a bananas foster French toast? That sounds like heaven on a plate!
Lunch/Dinner
The Olde Pink House
Not only is the name itself right up my alley, let me tell you the food is amazing too! One of the more famous restaurants in Savannah is the Olde Pink House which is a restaurant inside a 1771 mansion.
We had such a nice dinner here, if you are looking for a romantic spot in Savannah, look no further! We started off with sautéed local shrimp with country ham gravy and cheddar cheese grits cake. Shrimp and grits is a typical southern meal, and I loved their version!
Another southern staple, especially in Savannah and Charleston is she-crab soup. She-crab soup is a rich soup, similar to a bisque, made with milk or heavy cream, crab or fish stock, Atlantic blue crab meat, and crab roe, and a small amount of dry sherry added as it is plated. Let me just tell you, we had it at every meal we could because it is SO GOOD!
For our main course, we were practically full and busting at the seams, but we had a delicious pecan crusted chicken breast with a blackberry bourbon glaze and sweet potato with pecan vanilla butter. WOW I am drooling as I write this because it was so tasty!
The best part is that there is a piano bar in the basement of the house. So you can enjoy a few drinks before or after dinner as you listen to the live music!
Treylor Park Hitch
This was a great lunch stop after our walking tour, while we waited out a storm. The vibe of this place is super cool, and the food was just as tasty. They had a lot of different things on their menu, which is exactly why we went.
We started off with avocado fries with a Sriracha aioli. Holy cow, avocados are always good, but fry them and they are somehow better!
Next, we were between the Shrimp & Grits Tacos -Crispy shrimp, fried grit bites, chili aioli lettuce & chimichurri, red bell peppers and the Chicken & Pancake Tacos – Lightly toasted peppered pancakes w/ fried chicken, chili aioli & strawberry salsa. We ended up with the shrimp and grits and it was delicious! I still think we should’ve tried both, but we wanted to save room for dessert, which was DEEP FRIED OREOS! I don’t even need to explain.
Savannah Seafood Shack
Something about going to the deep south and having a low country boil. That is exactly what we had here. Shrimp, potatoes, corn, and andouille sausage all steamed and cajun spiced to perfection served in a clear plastic bag and a bib.
This is no fancy joint, and be prepared to get messy. But the food is good!
The Wyld
The Wyld Dock Bar is outside of downtown, but a quick car ride or uber away. This little joint is on the water, and made for a lovely lunch! However, I think it gets really popping at nighttime. If Mitch and I were to go to Savannah, we would definitely be checking The Wyld out at night!
For lunch here we had shrimp corn fritters with a habanero honey butter and a shrimp roll. It is like a lobster roll, but with shrimp and boy was it yummy. It was the perfect dish for a hot, humid 90 degree day! But the best part of the meal was the watermelon! It’s not just any watermelon. I have never seen it served this way, but you bet I will make it like this again! It was watermelon with salt, lime, and fresh basil. It was so refreshing and just the perfect flavor combination!
The Grove
Now to be honest, we did not eat here, but we came for one thing and one thing only: Champagne Popsicle. They take a glass of bubbly and stick a fruity popsicle right in the glass. It was amazing. We sat at their rooftop bar, soaking in the view of downtown Savannah, and slurping our champagne popsicles. Definitely a must-do in my book!
Tybee Island
After a couple days in the city, we were ready to head to the coast! Tybee Island is about 20 minutes outside of Savannah. It is a typical beach town with beach bars, surf shops, golf carts and little restaurants. We only came out for the day, but you could totally rent a beach house for a few days here and make it a vacation in of itself.
Savannah was the perfect destination for our social distancing vacation! It was a city that was on my list, and I think we covered everything and we definitely enjoyed eating our way through Savannah!
Have you been to Savannah? What do you recommend?
Great pics. Great post. We are on our way to Savannah for spring break. This really helps. We especially like historic tours and great food. Thanks.
Gorgeous photos! Savannah is soooo beautiful. I don’t know of any other city quite like it. Such an amazing town for foodies too, was fortunate to try so many amazing savannah restaurants we found on https://www.visitsavannah.com/food-drink during our trip last Feb. The Collins Quarter was one of my faves! 🙂
Downtown Savannah Georgia, is really a great spot to travel to! I really love the place and thanks to sites like https://www.visitsavannah.com/historic-landmark-district I get to know the best deals on hotels and good restaurants near it! It’s just so convenient!