Savannah, GA
We spent a week in the Savannah area of Georgia. 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 then there are states known more 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 like we should see them. Savannah is one of those cities I felt like we should 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 and super picturesque. We enjoyed walking through them even thought they were really crowded. 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. It made us feel welcome.
While we were wandering around the downtown area, 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 and we usually 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. Honestly, we don’t really get many souvenirs. We simply don’t have room. And, I’m more interested in food anyway. If I get something it’s more than likely going to be something I can eat. Or we opt for experiences. We do get a shot glass from each state and I pick up postcards and stickers from the 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.
We also hit up the Peanut Shop where we sampled all of the various flavors of peanuts before making our decision on which to buy. There were soooo many flavors! And we definitely bought several flavors.
The best thing we did in Savannah 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. I like that the NPS doesn’t make everything completely shiny and new. I like to see the old stuff too. The proof that life was really lived in these spaces.
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. More proof of life. The boys were impressed with the amount of damage a single cannon ball could cause. 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 admit, the meat was fantastic, but the sides were super sweet and very salty. But the meat was spot on!
We enjoyed our time in Savannah more that we thought we would! We almost passed on it because we felt like it was one of those spots we were stopping at just because everyone else does, but we learned a lot of history and found some foodie favorites!
See y’all down the road!
#easternloop2016