My Weekend Trip To Savanah, Georgia Recap
One of my favorite things about Sarasota, Florida is it’s location on the map. There are unlimited weekend getaways within driving distance that make this location special. Naples is less than a two hour drive, Tampa is an hour, Miami is a three hour drive, and Orlando is only two hours. However, this weekend we left Florida and spent the weekend in Savannah, Georgia which took us less than 6 hours to get there - you can’t beat it. If you love weekend getaways, add Savannah to your list!
Friday
We left Sarasota on Friday morning around 6AM and headed to Savannah - we arrived right around noon and checked into the DeSoto Hotel located on Liberty Street. This was the perfect place to stay because it is centrally located to everything in the Downtown Savanah. After checking in, getting situated and freshening up a bit, we explored Savannah by foot for the remainder of the afternoon. This is a very walkable city and there are tons of memorials, architecture, art, shops, and boutiques to visit. Towards the evening, we enjoyed cocktails with friends at the Warehouse on River Street. After cocktails, we had dinner at the infamous Olde Pink House - this is one of the most haunted restaurants in Savannah and was absolutely delicious. This restaurant used to be the home to James Habersham Jr., whom played host to many secret meetings for the independence of the thirteen colonies. This beautiful Georgian mansion is one of the more gorgeously pink sights in the Savannah Historic District. But, behind its aesthetic beauty is a house filled with stories from the beyond. One of the darker stories told about the Pink House, which has no historical evidence to actually support its claim, is that James Habersham Jr., hung himself in the basement, where the tavern (Planter's Tavern) is now located. Whether true or not, legend has it, he learned that his wife was having an affair with the architect he had hired to design the building. He went down to the basement and, overcome with her betrayal, he committed suicide. Another story that others believe is that Habersham actually hung himself because he was distraught over his wife's death. Enough of the history, for dinner, we shared the deep dish chicken pot pie and caramelized vidalia onion & sweet potato ravioli - both were so good, and for desert we split the key lime pie and some of the best coffee i’ve ever had. There are multiple dining rooms in this restaurant and we landed on the bottom floor, which was completely blacked out and lit by candles only. It was quite spooky yet romantic at the same time, and we enjoyed live jazz music. I highly recommend checking out the Olde Pink Room for dinner if you’re visiting Savannah.
The Warehouse on River Street known for the cheapest beer in town.
The DeSoto on Liberty Street with attached bar and restaurant, 1540 Room.
Saturday
On Saturday we started our day with brunch at Collins Quarter at Forsyth. This building has stunning architecture, two levels of inside dining, and outside seating. For breakfast, we ordered the Biscuits and Gravy and CQ Classic Short Rib paired with their delicious Thai iced coffee. After brunch, we headed back down to River street to catch the Old Town Trolly Tour. I highly recommend adding this to your agenda because it’s an open air trolly with 90 minutes of live narration. You are able to hop on and off as you please so you can explore the town by foot also. We learned a ton about the city and history and really enjoyed the narration and tour. For lunch, we stopped by the Treylor Park on Liberty Street. They have an awesome menu but we took it easy and ordered some much needed greens - they have one of the best Caesar salads we’ve ever had! I also ordered the Wicked Kiwi cocktail: tequila, jalapeño jam, lemon, lime, pineapple, and muddle kiwi slices - it was terrific. After exploring and learning about the history of Savannah, we headed back to the DeSoto and got ready for our friends wedding. They got married at the Soho House which was directly across the street from our hotel which was great.
Collins Quarter for brunch - so good.
World War 2 Memorial on River Street
The birth place of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts
Exploring the cemetery in Savannah
Talmadge Memorial Bridge
Very steep stairs to take down to access River Street
We ran out of time but Sorry Charlie’s was on my list of dinner options
My wedding date
Sunday
On Sunday, we checked out of the hotel and headed to brunch at b.matthew’s - this spot is really cool and located across from River street and opens early on Sunday which is great. We shared the lamp post and biscuits and gravy - both were delicious. After brunch, we headed home to Sarasota.
There is no shortage of excellent food, history, architecture and things to do in Savannah and the walkability to everything is perfect. We really enjoyed our time here and highly recommend checking it out next time you’re looking for a weekend getaway! Also, congratulations to our friends for their marriage to each other. Everything about our trip was lovely! Thank you for reading.