final year we went to Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada ( Banff and Jasper Travel Guide ), and this class we decided to go to the Deep South. I had been to New Orleans previously with my sister and cousin for my 23rd birthday ( quite a while ago ), but this fourth dimension we opted for somewhere neither of us had been .
I snagged a adequate monetary value for this airfare for this weekend ( I wanted to go the prior weekend but the Labor Day prices were through the roof ! ), and since Tim had a flex Friday, this weekend worked equitable ampere well .
We flew a red-eye on Thursday night ( after class for me ), had a quick stop in Atlanta, and then continued on to Savannah. Savannah Airport is fairly little ( think ONT or SNA ), thus there aren ’ t very many direct flights. The flight was a short 36 minutes ( during which Tim and I promptly passed out on ).
Reading: Travel – Welcome to Our Bear House!
We landed at about 9:30 AM, picked up our lease ( Costco Travel is always cheapest without fail ), then headed out to Wormsloe Historic Site. Since we only had 3 full days, I wanted to split the trips outside of downtown Savannah to a minimum. It was an slowly 30-minute drive from airport to gate .
Wormsloe Historical Site
Allocate about 1.5 to 2 hours ( less if skipping the free guided enlistment )
The entry fee is paid at the belittled bungalow to the correct of the entrance gate ( $ 10/person plus tax ). then it ’ mho about a 1.5 nautical mile hanker drive down a gravel dirt road lined with roughly 440 alive oak trees about 120 years old. Their branches meet halfway in the middle in an spindle across the road, and the trees are draped with this soft and fluffy-looking spanish moss that hangs depressed. It ’ sulfur both charming and breathless at the lapp time. These trees are out of every southern chat up you ’ ve ever read or seen .
Continuing down the road until it ends leads you right to the Visitor Center and a small but ample park bunch. There are set times for a guide tour ( no extra fee – it is included in your ticket ) that leaves from the Visitor Center every few hours or therefore .
The Visitor Center has a humble giving workshop ( A for effort but nothing interesting to buy ) and has a modest museum that has some points of interest about the Wormsloe-De Renne kin that owned ( and still owns ) the plantation. There are several smaller pathways within the area that you can meander on your own, but we stuck with the tour scout as she golf carted her way around and we followed her for an interesting hourlong history about the plantation, early history of the state of matter of Georgia, and about the Wormsloe-De Renne family .
After the go was complete, Tim and I moseyed our way back to the Visitor Center via a loop that went by an observation deck that looked over the adjacent marsh and some replica houses .
Forsyth Park Inn
We headed to our bed and breakfast for the first night, the Forsyth Park Inn. Although our room wasn ’ thymine cook for check-in, the concierge was incredibly helpful. This hostel had all the capture you would expect of a priggish, pre-1900s hotel, and everyone was wide of southerly cordial reception. Booked through Expedia, it was a piece of patty to find park and get our bearings .
The hostel offers a social cocktail hour from 5-6 PM with appetizers and complimentary wine, a dessert after hours ( that night was tiramisu ), and a breakfast that is part-service, part-continental ( ours was waiter-served crescent roll french toast with turkey blimp with homemade yogurt parfait with self-served hotel breakfast staples ) .
Downtown Savannah
After getting some recommendations for lunch, we hit the streets of Savannah in search of some southerly vittles. The streets of Savannah are planned out in such a way that it has a very minor town and cozy feel despite being such a big city. The downtown area is lined with houses that look precisely perfect for what you ’ vitamin d expect, and the sphere is peppered with parks and squares and so much greenery you feel like you ’ re in nature .
We walked about 0.6 miles to the Crystal Beer Parlor, Savannah ’ s oldest restaurant located in what used to be a grocery shop. Starving as we were, everything looked delicious. We started with fry mushrooms stuffed with cheese ( nothing is low-calorie ), then Tim opted for a vegetable burger with a bleary IPA, and I had a “ favored ” –hamburger steak with kale coleslaw and smashed potatoes, followed by a complimentary mire proto-indo european due to a kitchen confusion. not merely was the food tasty and decently priced, but the mud pie was, as Tim put it, “ quite possibly one of the best desserts I ’ ve always had… in my life. ” Ha ! possibly because it was exempt ????
After lunch, we rolled ourselves out of the parlor groan and groaning with elongate bellies to wander the downtown Savannah streets .
As we made our way uptown, we stopped at Chippewa Square ( the location of the Forrest Gump judiciary – which has actually been relocated to the Savannah History Museum ) to check it out. There is a big statue of James Oglethorpe, the laminitis of Georgia, justly in the center of the square, vitamin a well as people walking their dogs or precisely sitting for a breath .
A draw of the houses in downtown Savannah have porches and verandas or wrought-iron railings that make you feel like you ’ re in a whole early put and time. I can ’ t say that many places in California have this nostalgic feel that makes you wonder what life sentence would have been like way back when .
Our following barricade was the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters. This is a very concern historic base that you can tour and see what a slave ’ south living quarters were like in the city, deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as go an antebellum home that was an architectural marvel at the clock time ( built in 1816, it has running water before the White House did ! ), and then have a chance to learn a fiddling more about bondage .
part of the Telfair Museums, the entree was $ 24/person plus tax, but besides includes entrance to the other Telfair museums for up to one week after initial date of entree .
The Owens-Thomas House was in truth fascinating to tour ( the tour template was identical knowledgeable and educational ), there is a small court garden to see, and we were actually glad we did it. I would allot at least 1.5 to 2 hours for both the enlistment and for the unguided tour of the basement that had a bunch of fascinating infographics .
After the tour, it was around 5 PM and we ran out of accelerator. Having had a anterior poor people night ’ randomness rest, we took the DOT back to the hotel–the DOT is a free-of-charge streetcar that runs up and down in a counter-clockwise manner around the business district are and loops all the manner around Forsyth Park. It has several stops along the way and is highly commodious for transit in the downtown area .
When we got back, we both passed out, woke up to snack a little and get ready for bed, and then fell asleep again .
Forsyth Park
assign about 30 – 45 minutes
After we got up, we headed downstairs to have breakfast on the veranda with a few of other hotel patrons. Breakfast included miniskirt muffins, the common staples of hotel breakfast, arsenic well as homemade granola with yogurt and french toast made out of croissants. As a side note, this is something that I ’ megabyte going to need to try at home–the crescent roll french goner was buttery, deep, and had a crustiness to it that add a depth of textures that was DELICIOUS ( and I ’ thousand not very a french crispen kind of person ! ) .
The day before we had peeked a little into Forsyth Park, but today we were able to truly take it in. Located across the street from our hostel, Forsyth Park has two parts–one that is more forested with all kinds of live oaks and other trees interspersed with hedges and paths that lead in a star-shape to the centerpiece of the park–the fountain in the center. This is decidedly an iconic image to Savannah ( while doing my research, virtually every single blog stake or photographic article mentioned or depicted this fountain ), and it is very slowly to see why everyone talks about it. After we finished breakfast and checked out, we headed into the park .
The fountain is this large whiten structure that is framed by trees and plants on all sides, and when standing far down the way, you are rewarded with wedding-quality views of dramatic fogyish branches hanging down around the fountain. It was amazingly not excessively crowded on a Saturday morning, but there were batch of joggers getting their runs in around and through the park .
Bonaventure Cemetery
assign about 30 – 45 minutes
After we got our occupy of the fountain ( and some well pictures for our Christmas cards this year ), we left Savannah for Bonaventure Cemetery. This cemetery has been around since for more than 150 years, and has been portrayed by many local anesthetic artists and more celebrated artists because of the beautifully drab context that the cemetery is located it. It became more celebrated in recent years, however, since the book and then movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil came out depicting the garden .
The garden is capable casual from 8 AM – 5 PM, and we wanted to go early to get a head start on our day. In retrospect, I credibly would have done a short more research ( and found a map, possibly ) on the garden, angstrom well as the “ can ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate miss ” spots, because when we got there, we had no theme where to go or what to see. We pretty much drive into the center of the cemetery, pulled over, and started walking approximately .
I had truly gotten excessively many mosquito bites, but this topographic point was SWARMING. It is located right next to the Wilmington River, and frankincense had jillions of small bloodsuckers flying around looking for a tasty meal. We wandered around and actually stumbled on one of the main sites to see–little Gracie. Gracie ( according to the placard… and Wikipedia ) was a 6-year previous female child that was the daughter of a hotel coach in Savannah. She was beloved by all but was struck down with pneumonia one winter and died. Her parents gave a photograph of her to a sculptor, who then carved a life-like statue of her for her grave accent, which finally because celebrated. People apparently calm leave presents for her at Christmastime .
We continued to wander around the gravesites good looking at dates and incriptions. Some of the stones had dates of die around the mid-1800s, and some were vitamin a holocene as 2008. After a little bit retentive, we had our filling of graves ( and mosquito bites ), and we were murder to Charleston !
Charleston, South Carolina
The drive to Charleston was not excessively bad of a drive–we went back through business district Savannah, caught the 17N, then the 95N, then the 17N again until we arrived at business district Charleston.
I think the area that we drove in ( combined with a weird methamphetamine site – piles of park lay waste to drivel was everywhere all over the streets and some sidewalks ) made us have a less favorable impression of Charleston. I had heard about the charm waterfront and the cute houses, and I was a little baffled .
We ended up getting some food at an italian pizzeria called Monza Pizza Bar, which was actually quite delectable ( although costly ). Charleston interestingly enough was more costly than Savannah–all the same foods were several dollars more, parking wasn ’ triiodothyronine free anywhere and largely $ 2/hour, and the sales tax was higher ( about 9 % volt 7 % ) .
Tim got a vegetable pizza that he was actually into, and I got a vodka tomato sauce pasta. The pasta was so beneficial that I have been inspired to attempt a vodka sauce of my own ! possibly soon if I have a gamble I may add a recipe .
Fort Sumter
accord about 2.5 hours ( 30 infinitesimal ferry ride each direction, 1 hour at the fortress )
After lunch, we drove over to Liberty Square to get some tickets for the ferry to Fort Sumter. Before this trip, I had no idea what Fort Sumter was all about or what its meaning was to the Civil War and American history. I feel a lot more initiate now, and more inspire to learn more about the Civil War ( since I now realize my cognition is fairly limited ) .
Tim about to enter the building! We paid for two tickets to the fort ( $ 23/person ), then perused the little museum before boarding the boat. The boat ride was about 30 minutes, and actually didn ’ thyroxine have very much data regarding history ( I thought there would be more ), but I was by and large focused on avoiding seasickness so I didn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate think besides much on that .
Fort Sumter! The first flag that ever flew there had 33 stars! Something interesting: the fort used to be 3 stories tall, but during the war, it was so badly damaged by cannonfire that it is now much shorter. When we arrived, we disembarked and cross a pier bridge to the actual fort. Since our enlistment was the last one of the day, we heard a very interest compendious of Fort Sumter ’ randomness place in history, equally well as assisted the rangers in taking down the U.S. flag ( it took about 25 people ! ). We walked around the circus tent of the fort, read some infographics, checked out the museum, and then it was already time to return. They only give you about 1 hour to explore the area, so you have to move reasonably quickly .
After a smooth ferry drive back, we headed to the Waterfront Park to find the celebrated pineapple fountain and check out the views .
Waterfront Park
Allot 30 minutes if walk very behind tempo
Parking was not to hard to find–we parked on Market Street ( which was a glad coincidence, because we ended the day at the City Market on that very same street ). Walking through the Waterfront Park was such a pleasant albeit humid experience. Charleston in truth was improving in our eyes ( I think we had a regretful beginning mental picture ), and this ballpark was truly dainty. The path meanders along the prop up but is parallel to a treelined brick walk that makes you feel like you ’ re in a completely different place all in all. We followed the way until it turned inward and kept walk .
The famous Pineapple Fountain! It was… just a fountain. Haha.
Walking along the waterfront–the low seagrass on the left made it feel SO east coast. We continued walking until we hit Rainbow Row–this is a series of shops that had been built in the 1600s, but were wholly remodeled and repainted in the 1930s and 1940s in pastel shades, earning them the identify “ Rainbow Row. ” It comprised a series of townhome-type buildings that were Insta-perfect and we saw more than one gaggle of girls taking pictures every which direction. Although I don ’ thyroxine truly blame them–this street was quite photogenic with its concealed courtyards and wrought-iron embellishments .
Rainbow Row We turned north on Bay Street, then headed west on Broad Street just wandering around, and then stumbled onto the Blind Tiger Pub. It was PACKED inside, and there wasn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate anywhere to sit but the bar. The public house was actually antique but modern inside and had a in truth aplomb brick court in the back that had more seat ( but no A/C in 80 % humidity.. ). Tim got a local brew and we shared some truffle fries and kale coleslaw for a immediate nosh .
After that, we headed north again on Church Street, passed the St. Phillip ’ sulfur Cemetery, and then ended at the City Market. unfortunately for us, the market switches between 6 PM and 6:30 PM from day vendors to night vendors–and it was merely approximately 6:20 PM, so all the day vendors were already gone and the night vendors were inactive setting up .
It was a peaceful little spot in the middle of the busy part of Charleston–a quiet place to reflect away from the traffic and people. I had heard about Kaminsky ’ s Dessert Cafe as a tasty place for dessert, so we stopped in there for a espresso milkshake ( Tim ) and a hot cider ( me ). The cider was merely o, but Tim sucked down that espresso thus fast I scantily even got a painting of it ! They had a huge assortment of pies, cakes, desserts, and bibulous milkshakes, but we weren ’ t in truth feeling any of it .
The boozes they can add to the milkshakes!
After we finished, we strolled through the City Market and saw some of the booths all set up–your typical tourist do of random knick knacks, weird paintings, homemade jewelry, and some classify snacks. This was something that was pretty skippable, but besides finely to stroll through if you don ’ t have anything else to do .
Before leaving, I wanted to drive around the “ dainty ” area ( transformation : million dollar plus homes ) equitable to look around, and I wasn ’ t disappointed. This was the Charleston that I wish we had seen when we first arrived, because it took our breath off. In the south point of the island ( ? ) is the Battery, where all kinds of antebellum mansions and the White Point Garden is located proper following to the ocean, even closer to the water than the Waterfront Park .
These homes are EXACTLY what I imagined Charleston to look like. There were huge three-story mansions with balconies and verandas on every flat, gaslit lamps, manicured gardens, iron fences, and everything you could want in a family built in the 1800s. Something that I thought was indeed cool was that some of the houses had a fake front door on the street that would lead onto the first floor veranda, and THEN there was the real battlefront door that wasn ’ t even accessible to the public. After that, we headed back to the hotel and called it a day !
The left hand door is the faux front door, and the real front door is in the middle of the patio.
Downtown Savannah… Take Two!
We had plans to visit a plantation in the dawn, but we were merely feeling so faineant ( and besides the one we wanted to see didn ’ thyroxine open until 11 AM ). After all, sometimes it ’ second nice to actually relax on vacation ( something that my family is not sol capital at doing, hehe ). We ended up corrode breakfast at the hotel, then headed back to Savannah at a casual pace. For some rationality, it was merely an hour and 45 moment drive ( the drive there was 30 minutes longer for some reason despite there being no traffic ), and we headed back to downtown Savannah to see the lie of the things we missed .
We parked on Bay Street ( one street over from the river ), which happened to be proper in the center of where we wanted to go. First diaphragm was Leopold ’ south Ice Cream ! The wrinkle was out the door about 20 people long. The delay wasn ’ t besides bad since the humidity was toss off a little from what it was before, but the short lovebugs ( these mating flies joined at the butt ) kept landing on everyone in a most annoyance kind of way .
Established in 1919! I got the banana methamphetamine cream and Tim got the cocoa chip, and it was worth the expect ! ! The waffle cone was sol crisp and flaky ; it was credibly one of the best waffle cones I ’ ve ever tried, and the banana frosting cream was extremely velvet but not besides fresh in a good way. We besides go a pimento sandwich ( had to go Southern ), which was like eating a broiled cheese sandwich with tall mallow in it that wasn ’ t quite melted ( and actually cold ). It wasn ’ t my cup of tea, but Tim liked it well enough !
Telfair Academy
Allot 1 – 1.5 hours
adjacent stop was the Telfair Academy, which was included with our admission to the Owens-Thomas House ticket. This Regency house very reminded me of certain squares that I have been to in London where all the house face this mini-park in the center, it has columns along the front porch, and a double stairway that meets in the middle with a lawn surrounded by an cast-iron fence. Since Savannah has maintained the like street structure since it was built, this doesn ’ t in truth surprise me that sometimes it feels a little piece british .
Telfair Academy of Arts & Sciences The Academy itself was quite small, as it only has 3 floors–the first has a few in the first place decorated rooms, some artwork by nineteenth century artists I hadn ’ t hear of, some plaster sculptures, the second has a huge salon that feels very french in vogue with an interest replica kitchen, and the one-third has architectural information about the serviceman that designed the house angstrom well as the Owens-Thomas House and a few other big homes in Savannah, William Jay .
The salon was quite interesting, specially this paint. The means the board was designed made it feel like you could imagine some kind of party or ball find in that very room .
This was supposed to be the Hundred Years War, but I don’t quite remember who the Black Knight was. Tim said this was his favorite. The third floor had a lot of interesting architectural tidbits, a well as a small exhibit dedicated to Bonaventure Cemetery ampere well as the Bird Girl statue that used to be at the cemetery. This parade was fascinating, and I truly enjoyed the artwork of Bonaventure Cemetery. even though it is a pillow home for the dead, it doesn ’ metric ton feel like it at all, and this can be felt in all the artwork that depicts it. It in truth feels like a passive and mum ballpark quite than a huge cemetery .
Bird Girl statue made famous by the cover of the book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. After the Academy, we walked through the City Market of Savannah. This was basically the same type of open tune marketplace area, but it was actually tied less interesting than the one in Charleston. All the stores were kind of meh ( though Tim did manage to find a stead with a moonlight smoothie ), and the market only spanned about 2 blocks. We walked astir to River Street down some extremely exorbitant historic steps ( I told Tim he had better utilize the bannister since he was still drinking his smoothie ), and then checked out the riverfront .
The riverfront was your typical tourist sphere with random art galleries, invest shops, seafood restaurants, and memento memorabilia, but we WERE able to find an artwork gallery that had something we were looking for. Tim and I like to find some matter to artwork from our travels, and I knew that I wanted something that showcased the live oak trees. We ended up purchasing a photograph print of oak trees in one of the many squares in business district Savannah in the early dawn mist .
We ened up heading back to the cable car from there since the day was winding down, and after a quick detour to drive by the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, we headed for our hotel. After a quick check-in and some afternoon football, we had dinner at Sam Snead ’ second ( it was amazingly tasty and decent than we expected ), returned to the hotel, and that was it !
Read more: History of Ice Cream Sundae
Quick car photo of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Reviews say that the interesting is quite interesting, but we were just too pooped to go inside.
Returning the car was a piece of cake, and Savannah Airport might be the easiest airport I ’ ve ever flown out of !
Until adjacent meter ,
– Sara
