My girl, Angela, and I spent the weekend in Savannah, GA. I had never been there, never even really thought about going there on vacation until a few weeks ago, and can honestly say I am looking forward to going back!
I guess one of the main things I enjoyed was the historical significance of pretty much everything there. I love reading about history, and one of my main issues living in the Tampa area is there very little sense of history here. Well, that and you have to drive EVERYWHERE!!! Ugh… Seriously, I walked more in 3 days in Savannah that I have in the past 5 years here in Tampa. I could lose what little fat I have in probably 2 weeks living there!!!
We got there Friday evening and you get an immediate sense of nostalgia and history when you arrive in Savannah. Tree lined streets, not a Border’s or Best Buy to be seen (although there is a Starbuck’s!). A number of small stores line Broughton Street and you can find pretty much anything you are looking for. We got to our hotel, the River Street Inn and were upgraded to a room overlooking the Savannah River. Absolutely gorgeous view! Stan was definitely the Man! (Stan’s name has been changed to protect the innocent)
One thing that the restaurants on River Street are known for is a concoction known as the “Chatham Artillery Punch”. It’s a brew of immense flavor and toxicity. Here’s a link to a recipe – not for the faint of heart:
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005896.html
One amazing fact about Savannah – it’s one of two cities in the United States that you can stroll down any street with an open alcoholic beverage! (The other city is New Orleans) Needless to say, Angela and I each had drinks in our hands for the majority of the weekend. We were NOT messing around. ;)
We had dinner at the Shrimp Factory on River Street – a fantastic meal with a great seat watching the people walk by. That was where we had our first beverages of the weekend. ;) We took a small sample of the Punch and quickly decided to take a couple to go. Wandering the streets with a drink is a lot of fun. It makes everyone around you that much more interesting!
We ended up sitting and watching a great two-man blues team along the river walk. Walter on guitar and “Blue” dancing and vocalizing was a real treat. I’ve always said “a sign of a good guitarist is how many strings they break in a show”. I counted 5 breaks in the time we sat watching these guys jam and delight a throng of passersby. Apparently they are out there EVERY day of the week form what we could tell.
We got up pretty late on Saturday, but we didn’t miss much. It seems Saturday morning is made for sleeping off a hangover in Savannah as we hardly saw anyone as we walked around and hit the nearby Starbuck’s. From there we trekked all over downtown Savannah visiting such local attractions as the Telfair Museum of Art, the Jepson Art center, strolled through numerous squares including Wright Square, found our way though the City Market and saw one of the oldest African American churches in the south.
We had lunch at the Moon River Brewery – which was outstanding. Great food and very good beer and the best part was the music. If you love good ol’ down south Delta Blues, it don’t get much better. I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out there. We also stopped for drinks at a few other places including Molly MacPherson’s, a Scottish pub where the bartenders wear Kilts! I think Angela was checking them out, but we got out of there after one round in which my mom became a bitch. :( Long story short, my roommate’s fiancée is a FAST drinker… and when she finishes a drink before anyone, she slams her cup/bottle/glass down and says “Yer mom’s a bitch!”… yeah, it’s catchy…
Saturday night dinner was at the Boar’s Head Grille, a recommendation of a couple locals. And we were not disappointed… had a couple nice filets, and a pile of fixin’s… we left with very full bellies, and another drink for the road. Back down to Walter & “Blue” for a lively evening wind-down as they entertained a large crowd with renditions of Christmas songs, old Delta Blues tunes, and a few Elvis tunes thrown in for good measure.
By Sunday morning, we were ready for more and walked to Starbuck’s and then straight down Bull Street to Forsyth Park. We stopped along the way to see a few monuments – Savannah has a LOT of history on display! Forsyth Park was beautiful... reminded me a little of Grant Park in Chicago with regards to the amount of people just chilling out or tossing the football around… one difference is it is VERY accessible. It’s surrounded by residential neighborhoods so plenty of folks hit the park just because it’s right there!
It was a great weekend and I cannot recommend the River Street Inn enough to anyone that might be planning a trip to Savannah any time soon. It was a wonderful stay and right in the mix of everything happening along the Savannah River. I’ve got pics posted at my Facebook profile which can be seen here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49070&id=592483971
We are already considering a return trip for a long 4th of July weekend... there is a LOT to see and I feel we only scratched the surface!
Peace out!
Heitz
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