We spent a week in the Savannah area. When I planned our loop this year, I was disappointed that there weren’t a lot of hiking opportunities. We’ve spent most of our time during this loop exploring cities (big and small). Cities aren’t really our thing. We prefer the wilds. But, when you’re trying to see all fifty states…well, there are states known for their great hiking and there are states known for their history. I’ve come to realize that most of our loop for this year has been spent on learning history and going to cities because we felt we should see them. Savannah is one of those cities I felt we needed to see.

Savannah is known for its beautiful parks (all 22 of them) and its cobblestoned historic district.

We only went to two of the parks. They were both shaded with oak trees covered with Spanish moss. We, along with many other locals and tourists, enjoyed walking through them. Savannah is smaller than I’d thought it would be. It had that small town, homey feel where time seems to slow down and suddenly everyone is addressed as “honey” or “sweetie” and no one’s a stranger.

We found the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. It was beautiful inside and out. One of the big touristy things to do in Savannah is take a carriage ride. We opted against it. I’m sure the history and info given during the tour is worth the price but we like to go at our own pace. I can’t be rushed when I’m taking pictures or we find something interesting we want to investigate.

We took a stroll down by the river where all of the shops are. I’d looked ahead of time and had two places I wanted to visit. Now, one of the questions we get asked all the time is about souvenirs. Do we get them? What do we get? Where do we keep them? How do we decide when to get one? We get a lot of questions about souvenirs. We don’t really get many. We simply don’t have room. And honestly, I’m more interested in food anyway. If I get something it’s more than likely going to be something I can eat. We do get a shot glass from each state and I pick up postcards from various places we go.

It may come as no surprise to y’all that one of the souvenirs I’d already decided I was going to get from Savannah was some pralines. They were soooo good! I’ll be making my own over the holiday season sometime. Jerl got something called a gopher. It reminded me of a Texas millionaire. It must have been good…his eyes kind of slid up to the back of his head and glazed over during his first bite. I, quite happily, stuck with my pralines.

We also hit up the Peanut Shop where we sampled all of the various flavors (there were soooo many flavors!) of peanuts before making our decision on which to buy. And we definitely bought some.

The best thing we did there was visit Fort Pulaski National Monument. The boys snagged another Junior Ranger badge here.

Fort Pulaski was damaged during hurricane Mathew so we couldn’t just wander around it. We had to stick with a guided tour. Y’all know how I feel about having to hurry up. I was at the end of the line trying my hardest to take my sweet little time without holding everyone else up. Fort Pulaski was great! Seriously, if you have the chance to go…do it. It’s been set up to represent what it would have looked like while it was occupied so there are several rooms with furnishings.

During one of the times the fort was in the hands of the Union, some of the soldiers decided to leave a little…graffiti. It’s still there.

While most of the fort has been reconstructed and restored, some of it is has been left in ruins.

The wall was left to show the damage a cannon could do. We would have liked to spend more time poking around, but we had to stick with the tour and the tour had to be out before the next one could go in.

Let’s talk food. I’d initially planned on eating at Lady & Sons…because…well…Paula Deen is the queen of southern comfort food, right?  But, when I looked up the reviews and then the price. If I’m going to pay that much to eat, the reviews had better be outstanding and not just mediocre. So, we drove by it and waved at all the people inside eating what we can only assume to be an overpriced, ok meal designed to bring in all of the tourists. Sorry Paula.

We ended up going to a place the locals go.  Sandfly BBQ. Everything we had was great and the price was very reasonable. Now, I will tell you, the meat was fantastic…the sides were super sweet and very salty. But the meat was spot on!

We enjoyed our time in Savannah!

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016