Last weekend MM and I headed down south to celebrate a friends wedding, and having both never been to Savannah, decided to make a long weekend of it. We arrived around 4pm and after dropping our bags at our hotel, we headed out to explore the town.
First we wandered over to River Street, which is what I’ll call the main tourist drag of Savannah. It’s a long street along the water with tons of restaurants, candy shops (yippie!), bars and shops. Upon realizing you can drink alcohol while walking down the street (maybe MM’s favorite part of Savannah?], our first stop was to pick up some pumpkin beers.
[one of these was mine but on second though, MM drank most of it]
Make sure you stop into the candy shops for free samples! Yum yum.
We then went to The Olde Pink House for dinner before welcome drinks hosted by the bride & groom. The Olde Pink House (many of the places we visited were recommended by Ashley, thanks!) is a must. We didn’t have reservations but one area of the restaurant is first come first served, and luckily we were able to snag a table right away. Upon sitting down they served us a fresh bread basket with cornbread and two other types of rolls (#notpaleo #dontcare). We then went about ordering all the recommended dishes, which unfortunately (or fortunately?) were nearly all fried, whoops! We didn’t realize this until everything was served and if we could it again, we would have ordered a more varied selection, but whatever, it was so good. My favorite thing was the “Southern Sushi”- smoked shrimp and grits rolled in coconut crusted nori.
If you dine at The Olde Pink House, make sure you take some time to explore after your meal. The restaurant is an 18th Century Mansion and each room is totally different. The downstairs area is super dark, only lit by candles, the upstairs feels like you’re dining in a millionaires southern home, it’s very cool.
On Saturday we went to brunch at B. Matthews. There was a 45 minute wait so we jumped at a spot at the bar. I ordered the crab cake benedict, served on a biscuit (my only complaint was that there was only one egg, gimmie 2! So good!). Matt got the spiced apple, cranberry and pecan chutney waffle. We both got spicy bloody mary’s.
After brunch, we made sure to save room for ice cream at Leopold’s, an old timey ice cream shop that was founded in 1919. I got the pumpkin spice, obviously.
Then it was time to get ready for the wedding, which took place at the Savannah Yacht Club (about 15 minutes from downtown). The scene was gorgeous!
We left Sunday open to explore and jumped on a trolly tour around the city. I highly recommend this as a way to get some history while touring Savannah. The town is quite small so after aimlessly wandering around earlier in the weekend, we felt like we had seen a lot, but the tour was very informative and interesting, plus you’re in an open trolly so you get to enjoy the good Southern fall weather. You can hop on and off as you like, trollies are making the rounds every 15 or so minutes so you can join a new tour as you move throughout the town. This was the perfect way to see all the gorgeous southern mansions and get the lay of the land. We also took a walk through Forsyth Park, the largest park in the historic district of Savannah. I was obsessed with the gorgeous southern moss all over the trees, basically matched exactly what I pictured Savannah looking like.
Oh! Also Sunday was Wag-o-Ween, a halloween celebration for pups! We were so bummed Ollie wasn’t with us to partake, but I loved seeing tons of dogs in costume throughout the town.
After our tour, the Patriots were playing so we visited Moon River Brewpub. MM wanted to go to watch the game, I wanted to go because our trolly tour guide told us they brew their own sweet potato beer, I was intrigued! If you go, you must try the Taterlicious Harvest Ale, it actually tasted like sweet potatoes (in a good way) and the rim of the glass is covered in a blend of ground, roasted pumpkin seeds, pie spices and sugar. Um yea, add sugar to any beer and I’m in. After my beer I decided to leave MM to finish watching the game and I wandered to the nearby shopping area.
For Sunday night, our last meal in Savannah, we went to The Grey, a really unique restaurant that recently opened, taking over an old Greyhound station. They kept with the bus station theme in the decor, but in an upscale way. The food was good and unique, it didn’t totally blow me away (maybe I’m spoiled from NYC dining) but it was worth it for the overall ambiance.
Our long weekend to Savannah was great! It’s such a cute city and is easy to explore in a weekend. If you’re looking for a new place to visit, put this one on your list.
