Day trip to Savannah from HHI?

[dizzneebabe]

Has anyone taken a side trip to Savannah--or any other nearby area while staying at HHI?

I'd love some suggestions to see something new! Keeping in mind, we will have 5 kids with us, ranging in age from 6-17, so the Ghost tours (as cool as they might be) are out!

If we wanted to tour some of the homes in Savannah, any favorites? Any revolutionary/civil war sites not to be missed?

I checked on google and found some tours, but most are by bus or trolley and I was hoping to do it on our own, at our own pace.

We leave this Saturday!!!


TIA!!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I was a Girl Scout and went to the Juliet Lowe house for the tour. Not something for everyone in your group, but maybe of interest to some. We did the Paula Deen trolly tour and ate at Uncle Bubbas Oyster House as well as Lady and Sons. I didn't make it to Ft. Pulaski
http://www.nps.gov/fopu/index.htm
That may be a place for kids to let off some steam.

We were only in HHI/Savannah for a 2 night weekend. We did Savannah on Friday and Sunday and HHI on Saturdays. The Dolphin tour is fun, we did see dolphins and our guide mentioned lots of places that we passed by that I would love to see on a return trip.

Have a great trip.

 

[Connears]

Has anyone taken a side trip to Savannah--or any other nearby area while staying at HHI?

I'd love some suggestions to see something new! Keeping in mind, we will have 5 kids with us, ranging in age from 6-17, so the Ghost tours (as cool as they might be) are out!

If we wanted to tour some of the homes in Savannah, any favorites? Any revolutionary/civil war sites not to be missed?

I checked on google and found some tours, but most are by bus or trolley and I was hoping to do it on our own, at our own pace.

We leave this Saturday!!!


TIA!!!

We added on one night in Savannah after HHI this year and have been to Savannah 2x before. Its about 45 min away. The riverfront and historic district are your best one day bet. You can take a trolley or bus tour around and they show you sites and you can also get off and on as you choose(pay extra for that). Its a nice walking city in the riverfront/historic area, but it is large. Lot's of historic homes, beautiful squares, shops, great candy shops, but the young ones might get bored with the beauty of the city. Fort Jackson is a short drive and its got great exploring for adults and kids with some gun firing, etc. The Pirate theme, Civil war theme and of course, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is everywhere!!! The Pirate House restaurant is fun and it is haunted(DH experienced someone moving his chair durin our meal!), but good food and very historic. Shops on River St and Market St are fun to explore. You can do a river cruise also. I would go on the Savannah tourism website for activities during your stay. We did eat at Lafy & Sons for lunch and Uncle Bubbas for dinner both were very good(you have to drive to Uncle Bubbas), but we were very lucky to get into Lady & sons- we got to the restaurant and asked at the podium around 1:30 if there was any availability and they said we could have lunch at 3:00pm so we shopped til then and actually got in at 2:30pm. They only take same day walk-up reservations starting at 9:30am..so we were lucky, I guess. Uncle Bubbas was a 15 min wait at 8pm.

Connears

 

[Who's your Mickey?]

Has anyone taken a side trip to Savannah--or any other nearby area while staying at HHI?

I'd love some suggestions to see something new! Keeping in mind, we will have 5 kids with us, ranging in age from 6-17, so the Ghost tours (as cool as they might be) are out!

If we wanted to tour some of the homes in Savannah, any favorites? Any revolutionary/civil war sites not to be missed?

I checked on google and found some tours, but most are by bus or trolley and I was hoping to do it on our own, at our own pace.

We leave this Saturday!!!


TIA!!!

Savannah is an awesome town. Any of the bus and trolley tours are on-and-off tours. Meaning you can get off the trolleys at various stops around town, do some sight-seeing and get on another trolley at same stop when you are ready to move on. Lots of places to see. I highly recommend seeing the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. It is a beautiful church. The tours love to point out the square where Forrest Gump was filmed and talk about Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. "Lady" Chabliss puts on an interesting show if you're up for it. Head down to River Street and enjoy a cocktail on one of the many terraces overlooking the Savannah River. Take the tour. It gives you so much info on the history of the city and will point out many of the places worth a personal look around.

Cheers...

 

[Sammie]

The lighthouse at Tybee Island is fun. The trolley tour is fun and as stated you can get off, roam around then get back on.

There are walking tours available also. http://www.ehow.com/how_2039309_take-walking-tour-savannah-georgia.html


A good guidebook is worth the purchase. I like the Insider's Guide to Savannah and Hilton Head Island.

 

[mrsR123]

My DH is a huge history buff. We enjoyed visiting Fort Pulaski on our Savannah and Tybee day. There are also two forts you can visit on HHI, if you're in to them.

 

[dizzneebabe]

My DH is a huge history buff. We enjoyed visiting Fort Pulaski on our Savannah and Tybee day. There are also two forts you can visit on HHI, if you're in to them.

Ooohh yes...I saw the Fort Pulaski info. My DH thought that looked cool. Where are the ones on HHI?

 

[mkarizona]

If you go to Savannah be sure to go to the 8th Air Force Museum in Pooler.

 

[marynvince]

and take the back way, not the highway, more scenic and direct to downtown

 

[mkarizona]

Have you considered Charleston instead of Savannah? Savannah is lovely, but Charleston is only about 30 miles farther and there is sooo much more to see and do. i really recommend taking a carriage tour and the boat to Ft. Sumter!!

 

[dizzneebabe]

Have you considered Charleston instead of Savannah? Savannah is lovely, but Charleston is only about 30 miles farther and there is sooo much more to see and do. i really recommend taking a carriage tour and the boat to Ft. Sumter!!

Hmmmm...didn't realize that at all! Maybe I should brush up on my geography! So, about 90 min (give or take) to get a boat to Ft. Sumter? How long of a boat ride?

 

[canda]

I think it takes about 2 hours to get to Charleston and about 45 mins to get to Sav.

 

[Sammie]

I think it takes about 2 hours to get to Charleston and about 45 mins to get to Sav.

Yep, its 117 miles to Charleston and only 33 miles to Savannah. I wish they offered some type of water transportation to both.

 

[mskermit]

We added on one night in Savannah after HHI this year and have been to Savannah 2x before. Its about 45 min away. The riverfront and historic district are your best one day bet. You can take a trolley or bus tour around and they show you sites and you can also get off and on as you choose(pay extra for that). Its a nice walking city in the riverfront/historic area, but it is large. Lot's of historic homes, beautiful squares, shops, great candy shops, but the young ones might get bored with the beauty of the city. Fort Jackson is a short drive and its got great exploring for adults and kids with some gun firing, etc. The Pirate theme, Civil war theme and of course, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is everywhere!!! The Pirate House restaurant is fun and it is haunted(DH experienced someone moving his chair durin our meal!), but good food and very historic. Shops on River St and Market St are fun to explore. You can do a river cruise also. I would go on the Savannah tourism website for activities during your stay. We did eat at Lafy & Sons for lunch and Uncle Bubbas for dinner both were very good(you have to drive to Uncle Bubbas), but we were very lucky to get into Lady & sons- we got to the restaurant and asked at the podium around 1:30 if there was any availability and they said we could have lunch at 3:00pm so we shopped til then and actually got in at 2:30pm. They only take same day walk-up reservations starting at 9:30am..so we were lucky, I guess. Uncle Bubbas was a 15 min wait at 8pm.

Connears

we are supposed to be stopping at the lady and sons on our way to disney this month, but i am hearing such bad reviews about the food?? was it good ? is it worth the extra time stopping??

 

[Connears]

we are supposed to be stopping at the lady and sons on our way to disney this month, but i am hearing such bad reviews about the food?? was it good ? is it worth the extra time stopping??

We had a really good meal. We both had the lunch buffet which included salad bar(great home made blue cheese dressing), fried chicken, baked chicken, pork, mac & cheese, collards, potatoes & beans, sweet potatoe casserol, some fish(not sure), masked potatoes...Before you order you get hoe cakes and garlic cheese biscuits and dessert choice are 3 that they bring table side at the end and you choose. I thought it was good, the lunch menu was not extensive, so we chose the buffet. Service is really great there!!! I would go back again.

Connears

 

[mskermit]

well we have never been to savannah or the retraunt, so i guess it will be worth the stop. fortunatly, i was able to make a reservation. if you have a handicap person in your party, they will take an advanced reservation.. a little secret i guess they dont like to share. i was told this the first time i called but when i called back to make the ressie, the girl said well who told you that?? i told her another hostess, and she took my ressie over the phone

 

[Anal Annie]

I was thinking about a trip down to Savannah while we're at HH (14th-21st) but wasn't sure if we needed to allow a WHOLE DAY?! I was not planning any particular day right now...just figured if we felt we needed a day out of the sun or maybe just go to the beach in the morning then go to Savannah after lunch...I wondered if a mid-week day would be less busy at Lady & Sons?! Wondered if we got there in the afternoon (2 - 3:00) if we'd have any luck getting a dinner ressie for later in the evening (I'm fine with 8:00 as long as we can find stuff to do until then). Anybody know the hours for this trolley? Where do we find it? How is the parking in Savannah? Is it on street with meters (do we need change?) or garages or how's it set up? I guess I need to do some Googling?!

 

[Who's your Mickey?]

Have you considered Charleston instead of Savannah? Savannah is lovely, but Charleston is only about 30 miles farther and there is sooo much more to see and do. i really recommend taking a carriage tour and the boat to Ft. Sumter!!

Not true...

Charleston is about 2 hours north of HHI and along cop infested roads. Savannah is about 45-50 minutes WSW of HHI.

 

[StormalongKay]

Was in Savannah this past April for a non-DVC trip. We ate at Lady & Sons but most dinner ressies are gone within the first hour the desk opens up in the morning. We thought the food was good, but the experience is less restaurant and more tourist destination. There is a fun gift shop on the first floor if you are a Paula Deen fan.

To the OP, your kids might enjoy a walking tour you can download to their Ipods. We did one called "The Story of Savannah" from www. tourbuddy.net. Savannah is a very walkable city - the tour details the history of each square and the cemetaries.

There is a really great ice cream parlor to take the kids to over by SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) owned by a Hollywood producer who grew up there - for the life of me I can't remember the name. Sorry

 

[mskermit]

is the lady and sons handicap accessible?? i didnt even ask! guess i can check the website. too much going on getting ready for disney!!!!