Two stolen nights in Savannah - - Updated 8/12 with a quick trip report About This Page:

[Jillybean]

So . . . as part of Thom's job, he usually drives down to Sea Island, Georgia at least once a month (over an 8-hour round trip done in one day [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]). Since his meeting is usually the last Thursday of each month, we started kicking around the idea of me going with him as far as Savannah and then he would come back and we would stay until Friday. As soon as I cleared it with my parents (aka babysitters extraordinare) a couple of weeks ago, it was a go! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]

The first line of business was our hotel. Although I haven't been to Savannah in about 8 years, I have always stayed at and loved the River Street Inn. I found some great weekday rates which made it all the better. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]

Loving food the way I do, we are of course making a mandatory stop at Paula Deen's restaurant, but other than that, we are just going to play it by ear.

We're going to leave a bit early from work on Wednesday and drive down. Thom will get up early Thursday morning and continue on to Sea Island, but will probably be back by early afternoon. After that, we have until Friday afternoon when we will head back to the real world. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I am so excited -- Thom and I haven't had a trip by ourselves in a long time! The funny thing is that my parents asked us if they have to take the girls to daycare while we're gone! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

Jill

[Colexis Mom]

Have a great time Jill [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Enjoy your trip [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[DyanKJ130]

Have a great time! I'm sure you are going to savor every moment!

[lauren-roxy]

Have a wonderful trip Jill!!!!

[LizardCop]

[b]Have Fun!!!!

[Grammy Grumpy]

Sounds great Jill, can't wait to hear all about it.

[GoofyMom]

Sounds like fun! Have a good time!

[crystalloubear]

Have a great trip - if you get a chance stop out at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House (Paula's brother). If its lunch time you may catch a glimpse of the Lady herself and her boys. Keep an eye out for Jamie's wife Brook - she's pregnant!!

[chezp]

Have a wonderful time Jill - I do hope you'll do a trip report for us, as that will prove to be invaluable with helping me to plan the Hilton Head portion of our upcoming trip, as we're planning on spending a day in Savannah. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[katspjs]

[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Have a great time!

[Meggera]

Oh Jill, I am so envious. I [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] Savannah. We honeymooned there. We stayed at the Eliza Thompson House (B&B) and are thinking of staying there again for our 10th anniversary. It is such a romantic city.

Have a great time!!!!

Laura

[simbarel]

Sounds heavenly! And a TR is definitely in order. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zread.gif[/img]

[DrDolphin]

Enjoy Savannah!!

[Jillybean]

Let’s see . . . it all began a little before 4 p.m. on Wednesday when I said adios at work [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] and made the short drive over to Thom’s office. He said that he wanted to leave between 4 p.m. and 4:30, but by the time he finished up at work and said goodbye to everyone, it was 4:45 before we got on the road [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]. The drive actually seemed to go by fairly quickly. We were getting close to Savannah by 7 p.m., but we couldn’t decide which exit to take (none of them specifically say downtown Savannah). We ended up going the loooong way around, but finally made it to the hotel a little after 7:30.

River Street Inn - - see the green awning


Thom went to find a parking space while I checked us in. About the time that I was finished, I saw him coming up with our luggage. We found the room which was very pretty and faced the “city” side - - a king size wrought iron bed with a big down comforter and a little balcony. That room was freezing which was good since it was so hot outside.


We dumped our luggage and went to find some food! Thom had parked the Jeep by the river front, so we went to find it and move it to the parking garage across the street. I felt like we were four wheeling going over those cobblestone streets! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] From the parking garage, Paula Deen’s restaurant was only about two blocks. We spotted it quickly because tons of people were milling about waiting on their tables. Thom went to ask the hostess about a table, but discovered they were booked for the night [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img](we would learn how to get around this the next night). We decided to come back tomorrow night and try it again. For our dinner that night, we headed down to the river front to see what we could find.

There are tons of seafood restaurants on the river front, so there is plenty to choose from. We glanced over the menu at several before we decided on The Oyster Bar. I hadn’t been to Savannah in about 8 years, but all of the same restaurants were there (not a lot of turnover which is good). We put our name on the list and then sat at the bar. The bartender was busy so it took him about 5 minutes to get to us. As soon as he took our drink order, the host came to get us for our table. After the bad service at the bar, we were a little worried about the restaurant, but it ended up being great. We had a fantastic server and she quickly brought out delicious hushpuppies for us to eat before our meal arrived [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/yuma.gif[/img]. I had fried oysters and I think that Thom had the shrimp trio – shrimp scampi, bacon wrapped crab stuffed shrimp and fried shrimp. All of the food was really good - - and my two margaritas were good too. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

After dinner, we walked a good ways down River Street in the opposite direction and then came back to our room. It was probably about 10 a.m. but we were beat.

I think Thom woke up about 7 a.m. the next morning, but all I heard was the wake up call and the shower. It was after 8 when I finally stumbled out of the bed. I took a quick shower and then went to find some breakfast. The restaurant on the bottom floor of the hotel is Huey’s and I had eaten there several times before on previous trips - - a New Orleans style breakfast. I remember that they served breakfast so I headed there first. I sat at a table right at the window, so I had a nice view of the river. These enormous container ships travel down the river on their way to the ocean, so it’s funny to look up and see these gigantic ships right in front of your face [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]. I ordered the Pain de Perdue - - fancy French toast. It was so delicious - - served with a pecan butter. After breakfast, I took my book back to the room and headed out for the morning. The only place that I really knew to shop was the City market so I headed in that direction which took me right past Paula Deen’s restaurant again. It was 10 a.m. at this point and people were already lining up to put their name on the list for lunch. Crazy!

I had to take a picture of this line


I browsed through a few shops and considered taking a trolley tour, but I had toured Savannah before and hardly ever had the chance to shop by myself so shopping it was. I turned a corner and spotted a cute children’s shop. Gorgeous, gorgeous clothes, but expensive and thankfully there was a sale going on - - I bought the girls matching mint green sundresses - - so cute. The person working in there was a young girl and she was so sweet and talked to me a good bit. She gave me some suggestions for places to shop.

I checked out a cute kitchen store across the street and then turned the corner to find an entire street of shops. What I really wanted were some cute tops for myself (play stuff - - not for work). I was not making much headway there, but I did find a post office to mail a birthday card that I had been holding on to for days (funny how you have to drive almost 3 hours to do your errands [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img])! It was getting very hot so I decided to head back to the hotel and cool off. I turned down a side street and felt something in my hair. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] I turned and saw a bird sitting in a crepe myrtle tree. I kept walking and felt something again in my hair and turned to see a bird flying off. A man in a car was coming out of a parking garage and asked me if I was okay. Apparently, it was a mocking bird that kept attacking me. He said that it was forever after someone and told me just to shoo it away. He drove off and I kept walking and that bird got me again.[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/help.gif[/img] I shooed it away and some guys across the street at a construction site just laughed and laughed. They probably had fun all day watching that bird attack people. Needless to say, I was a little nervous around birds the rest of the day![img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img] So whether at Disney or Savannah, you have to watch out for those dang birds! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

It was right at noon, but our room still hadn’t been cleaned so I felt like I couldn’t stay there and relax if I was expecting a knock at the door any moment. I took my book and hit River Street again not knowing quite what I wanted to do.
A bit of River Street - - the back of our hotel is somewhere in there


I walked a little and then read a menu for a place called Vic’s on the River. A lady sitting nearby told me that it was on the fourth floor. I took the elevators which opened up to one of the most gorgeous restaurants. Gleaming hard wood floors, a beautiful yellow on the walls, high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows and French doors on the river side. They gave me a great seat with a view looking out towards the river. I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to eat, but the menu looked great. I finally decided on the shrimp and grits and a glass of viognier. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img] The server brought me two absolutely delicious little biscuits with a sweet butter and marmalade. Oh my gosh, were they good.[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] The shrimp and grits were also delicious. When the server offered dessert, I of course had to hear what they had. When she mentioned sweet potato crème brulee, I had to stop her there. That was just too intriguing and was it ever good. The custard part was very little with just a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg and sweet potato. I could only manage half of it, but it was so good.

After my delicious lunch and sitting in the cool air for a while, I was ready to hit the streets again (which is good because when I dropped my book off at our room, it still wasn’t clean). I went back to the main shopping drag and walked further down this time where I saw a store that we have in Columbia, but have never been in. It’s called Loose Lucy’s and has a lot of cotton tops, skirts, etc. (the kind of store where they burn incense and have an abundance of Jimmy Hendrix t-shirts, but incredibly cute clothes also). I found exactly the kind of tops that I was looking for - - strappy, cool and cotton. The heat was getting to me again and I hadn’t had any water since lunch so I spotted a Starbucks (and the clouds parted and the angels sang [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]). I bought a gigantic bottle of water and an iced coffee. While they were making my coffee, I drank the entire bottle of water so I guess I was thirsty. I walked back to the hotel with my coffee and relaxed in our room (which had finally been cleaned).

I stayed in the room about an hour and then stepped out on the balcony where I noticed that the sun had gone behind the clouds and had cooled things off a bit. I took my book to a little bench in front of the hotel and waited for Thom to come back. He finally called at almost 5 and said that he was just leaving, so I went back to the room for a shower and watched Dr. Phil.

Thom got back a little after 6 p.m. He told me all about his day while he finished my iced coffee from earlier in the day (I had bought the largest size for some reason) and then we headed back to Paula Deen’s. We probably got there about 6:45 or so. Once again, Thom went up to the hostess stand (that they have outside) and was told that they were booked. Apparently, people line up for dinner about 3 p.m. to put their name on the list for dinner. They tell you approximately what time to come back. One lady told us that she had been there since 4 p.m.! Thom asked her if they ever had cancellations since there were just two of us. She said that we could come back about 9:30 and check . . . . or we could sit in the bar area where it was first come, first serve. Thom asked her how many people were ahead of us and it was just one couple (who happened to be standing right there). We jumped at that offer and struck up a conversation with that couple. They told us that they had come the day before to stand in line for dinner and had been told that there were some bar tables available at lunch (which they were still serving at the time), so they jumped at that and decided to come back and try the same thing at dinner. I think enough people just don’t know about it or think that the bar area will be different somehow. Within two minutes, we were each given a “blue” card to take to the hostess stand upstairs. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] Once up there, we walked through a noisy bustling room packed with people. Tables were lined up almost on top of each other. We entered the bar area and the atmosphere was immediately different - - dimly lit with about 8 bar tables and some booths alone either wall. A bar was in the middle of the room and we were seated directly in front of it at a bar table. I don’t think that smoking was allowed in the restaurant at all, so you didn’t have to worry about that. People weren’t just at the bar drinking - - you had to be there to eat. It was actually so much better sitting there instead of out in the restaurant area. I’m not sure how it was laid out downstairs. The buffet was just around the corner, so we took turns checking it out. It looked good – fried chicken, ribs, mac and cheese, rice and gravy, etc., but looked like what we could get at home so we both decided to try the menu. I ordered a glass of sauvignon blanc and Thom had a beer. We ordered fried green tomatoes for appetizer. (And by the way, Thom’s boss was paying for this meal since Thom was down there writing up a few more lucrative orders, so that was nice) The tomatoes were delicious. I ordered the steak and pie. I had seen her make this on a show before and wanted to try it - - chunks of filet with mushrooms, onions and a gravy surrounded a small circular pie of tomato, cheese and basil. Thom had broiled seafood which he said was delicious. And we were also served these gigantic garlic cheese biscuits - - and hoe cakes which are similar to pancakes but made with corn meal - - they were both delicious). We shared a piece of pecan pie which was so good also - - the pecans were obviously toasted beforehand because they had the best flavor.)

After that great meal, we walked back to the river across the street from our hotel. Some young guys were about to do some street dancing so we stuck around for a bit of that. We both had a long day, so we had another early night.
Pictures from River Street



We slept in until about 8 a.m. the next morning and slowly got ready. Thom went to move the car from the parking garage so that we wouldn’t have to drag our luggage across the street and came back to the room with a new friend. While he was outside, he struck up a conversation with the head of maintenance at the hotel. He mentioned that our faucet had a leak and the man said that they were in the process of renovating. Thom told him that he was in door and hardware and the man said that they would be needing some, so Thom brought him back to the room to give him one of his business cards. Thom has already sent a bid to them and is waiting on a response, so hopefully I can tag along with him if he gets the job.

We went back down to Huey’s for a light breakfast – we both had beignets and they were delicious. We laughed at the amount of powdered sugar that was left on our plates! After that, we went for a walk and I showed Thom where I had shopped the day before. We had seen about all that was to be seen by 11 a.m. so we hopped in the car and headed out towards Tybee Island which is a beach about 20 miles outside of Savannah. We wanted to eat at Paula Deen’s brother’s restaurant (Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House) for lunch. We had sketchy directions, but found it pretty easily. Unfortunately, when we drove up and saw only a few cars, we knew that something was up. A sign said that they were closed until 5 p.m. and I suddenly remembered that she was taping shows there all week - - so we didn’t get to see her, but we were close to her. Since we were half way to Tybee, we thought we would drive on there and see if we could find a little seafood place on the beach. Tybee looked pretty rundown though - - I’m sure that there were good places to eat, but we didn’t know quite where to look. We finally spotted some place that looked decent and stopped there. I had boiled shrimp and Thom had a fried combo platter. It was okay, but not great. We had a good laugh at all of the characters there - - we saw this very elderly and very tanned woman in a bikini that still gives me the shivers! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

From there, we hit the road and got home (after a stop midway for ice cream) about 4 p.m. It was a great little trip! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[chezp]

Great report Jill - I was sitting here reading it and referring to the map of Savannah in one of the brochures you sent me, which was perfect. Seeing the photos and relating it back to the map is a great way to get to know a place before you get there, so [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thanx.gif[/img] again for those brochures! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]