Savannah, GA

[PrincessSuzanne]

DH and I are thinking about going over to Savannah for a weekend, arriving fairly early on Friday morning until Sunday morning, he has to be at work by 7pm on Sunday night and we live about 4 hours away.

We haven't been over since 2007 and that was a rushed trip, we didn't get to see or do anything, except eat at Lady and Sons, which we plan to do again this time (and we can't be talked out of that). We stayed at the River Street Inn with a view of the Savannah River.

I would love some other suggestions of things to do, other nice places to stay, info on Tybee Island. As I say, we will pretty much have most of the day Friday and all day Saturday. We are military, so DH is checking to see if we can stay at Hunter Airforce Base lodging.

Suzanne

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Bumping

 

[purplegirl247]

We love Savannah. We live 4 hours away as well, and it's a nice long weekend trip for us every other year or so.

We always stay at the Eliza Thompson B&B, because we love the location, that breakfast is included, and that they set out snacks in the afternoon and desserts/wine in the evening. There are a LOT of B&Bs in the Savannah area, but Eliza Thompson is the only one I'm familiar with.

We love doing ghost tours (there are also a LOT of those, lol). They're anywhere between $10 and $20/person and they take you around the city. We prefer the walking tours, but there's also trolley tours and even hearse tours! If ghosts aren't your thing, there are also architectural tours, historical tours, there's even foodie tours (I specifically know of the one focused on Paula Deen and her biography, but other tours take you around several Savannah restaurants and I think even behind-the-scenes).

Have never been to Tybee Island, but this past visit we made the time to see the Oatland Island Wilfelife Center (we had picked up a brochure at the visitor's center). For I think $5 person, we got to see wolves, bobcat, deer, birds, turtles, etc. It only takes about 2 hours, but the weather was beautiful and we really enjoyed the leisurely walk along the trails.

Um, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Let me know if you have any other specific questions. Enjoy!!

 

[castmemberb4]

DH & I have been going to Savannah for years on our way to or from our Hilton Head timeshare. In fact we spent our wedding night in Savannah.
Love the River St Inn, especially sitting on the little balcony over River St When we're doing a little more of a 'budget' trip we stay at Thunderbird Inn, their king suites are just $159.

For fancy dinner our favorite is Elizabeth's on 37th, we haven't been there in a few years I assume it's still good. Last year we ate at Jazz'd Tapas Bar and enjoyed it.

We tend these days to hang around River St and not move the car, also no kids so we eat at bars. Kevin Barry's has better Irish Food than most Ïrish Pubs" I remember liking Churchill's Pub, both the food and beer list, we sat on the rooftop. I just read that the Distillary has good food and they definately have a great beer list, we're going to try it in May when we got for our first trip this year. You can probably tell we are beer snobs, we usually like brew pubs but didn't like Moon River Brewing, neither the beer or food excited us.

He haven't been to Tybee a lot mostly b/c we're on our way to Hilton Head and don't need beach time. They few times we've been there I don't know if we just made bad choices but we haven't found a restaurant there we like, again it could be the Hilton Head influence. We did enjoy touring the fort.

There are many more bars we've enjoyed but I'm not sure quite what you're looking for, let me know and I can probably give you more suggestions.

ETA - We are 4 hours away also ! AND WAR EAGLE !!!!!!!

 

[castmemberb4]

OH One more thing !
Livingsocial.com has good Savannah deals just this week they had a walking tour for $18 per person, you may still be able to get it.
If you're not familiar with them they are like Groupon but you can sign up for multiple cities.

 

[mdsoccermom]

Go to Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room for lunch. We still fantasize about our meal there.

http://www.mrswilkes.com/

 

[purplegirl247]

Go to Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room for lunch. We still fantasize about our meal there.

http://www.mrswilkes.com/

Ooooh, I second this place. I was going to mention it, but I think they're only open during the week, and for lunch. (And they only take cash, for future reference!!)

ETA: Duh. OP's going to be there on Friday during the day. My bad; I misread that they'd only be there for the weekend! Mrs. Wilkes is totally in the realm of possibilities.

 

[TheGottis]

Some places off the top of my head : Chart House, Moon River Brewing Co, Magnolia Room... The Pirate House (it was pretty good. Not something that I would go all goo-goo over). The Old Pink House. Vic's on the River. Corleone's.

Savannah Smiles Piano (dueling) Bar. Bar Bar. Kevin Barry's is really good - had lunch there yesterday.

There are 2 walking tours that are good - Savannah Dan's Walking Tour and Explore Savannah. I think there is one that also focuses on the architecture. The Cathedral of John the Baptist and Bonaventure Cemetery. Of course there is the trolley tour if you don't want to walk! There are several Ghost Tours - one of the guys DH works with mentioned a Haunted Bar tour (??? - not sure about that). The founder of the Girl Scout's house is down there too - Juliette Low. (I believe that this might be part of some of the tours too). Check the LivingSocial deal out for today like someone mentioned, I think a Ghost Tour, a Bar Crawl and another tour are choices in the 2 for $18 deal.

Tybee Island and Skidaway Island and Ft Pulaski. There is a Seafood Restaurant on the way to Tybee that is 'the' place for tourists to go - the Crab Shack. Has a huge alligator statue out front... Tybee Lighthouse and Museum. Dolphin tour- Capt Mike's. Spankys, Fannys, Huc a Poos some Tybee restaurants.

Sorry so choppy, just spouting off things as they came to me.

Good luck with staying at Hunter Army Airfield. The Guest House is NOT BIG and rarely available for 'military tourists' - mostly for PCSing people, which many units are smack in the middle of right now.

 

[Robinrs]

My son loves Savannah so much he talked his history teacher to taking a field trip there back in middle school.

For his 18th birthday I asked him where he'd like to go and he said SAVANNAH (and Lady and Son's, OF COURSE! )

We went for New Years and it was so beautiful. It was an extraordinarily warm New Years this year so we spent a lot of time walking.

We rented a townhome because there was three of us and we needed the room and privacy. Lots of GREAT rentals online.

I LOVE River Street! We did a Mexican restaurant nearby from Restaurant.com and also loved the pizza at Vinnie Van Go Go http://www.vinnievangogo.com/ in City Market. We love City Market, we stayed there on our first real trip to Savannah and it feels like home.

We did the Hearse Ghost Tour and it was A RIOT!! Lots of fun and everyone in the street kept BOOing us!

We also did the on and off tour offered that will pick you up when you call, I think it was Oglethorpe Tours. Driving is a blip in Savannah so I appreciated that!

I recommend the Pink House, also. Food is to DIE for!

 

[castmemberb4]

Hey theGottis I looked up the Magnolia Room as it's one I don't know. It's listed as casual, but is it shorts and t-shirt casual? I see it's also listed as a wedding venue, so I'm guessing not.

Also the Crab Shack on Tybee is one of the places I did not like. BUT probably b/c I was craving fried shrimp, and they don't do anything fried.
Great touristy place though, the real alligators and exotic birds were fun to see.

 

[Golf4food]

We spent a few days in Savannah last summer and loved it. Can't wait to go back.

For us, there is no better meal in Savannah than at The Olde Pink House. Upstairs for more formal dinner, downstairs in the tavern for a more laid back lunch or dinner - you could swear it is still the 1790s downstairs (very dark, but great atmosphere). (Try the Cheerwine BBQ Chicken Sliders... mmmmmmmmm...)

A great little place for lunch is Goose Feathers Cafe near Ellis Square.

Tours have been mentioned. Lots of the old houses are open for tours or are museums. The Catholic cathedral is gorgeous. We just walked around and took everything in. It's a beautiful town to just walk.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Go to Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room for lunch. We still fantasize about our meal there.

http://www.mrswilkes.com/

Ooooh, I second this place. I was going to mention it, but I think they're only open during the week, and for lunch. (And they only take cash, for future reference!!)

ETA: Duh. OP's going to be there on Friday during the day. My bad; I misread that they'd only be there for the weekend! Mrs. Wilkes is totally in the realm of possibilities.

Yeah, we are arriving probably around 10am on Friday. The menu looks so similar to Lady and Sons and we really want to eat there again. Last time we went, we had taken a picnic lunch, ate Sat night dinner at L&S, then ate Sunday lunch at L&S for my mom's birthday. DH doesn't like seafood, but I think that close to the coast, you have to have some seafood.

I wondered about the Thunderbird Inn, it looked nice on the website, but you never know. I'm funny about where I will stay.

Suzanne

 

[Robinrs]

I wondered about the Thunderbird Inn, it looked nice on the website, but you never know. I'm funny about where I will stay.

Suzanne

I thought about it, also, but in person it looked like a colorful Motel 6. I'm sure it's not so bad on the inside but I really hate outside motel type front doors.

 

[castmemberb4]

Yeah, we are arriving probably around 10am on Friday. The menu looks so similar to Lady and Sons and we really want to eat there again. Last time we went, we had taken a picnic lunch, ate Sat night dinner at L&S, then ate Sunday lunch at L&S for my mom's birthday. DH doesn't like seafood, but I think that close to the coast, you have to have some seafood.

I wondered about the Thunderbird Inn, it looked nice on the website, but you never know. I'm funny about where I will stay.

Suzanne

My only argument for going to Mrs Wilkes over the Lady & Sons is that it was opened in 1943 and the Lady & Sons was opened in 1989. I feel like Mrs Wilkes is a Savannah landmark while Paula ahhmmmm "borrowed" the idea.

However I totally understand wanting to go back to a place I liked and remembered.

I thought about it, also, but in person it looked like a colorful Motel 6. I'm sure it's not so bad on the inside but I really hate outside motel type front doors.

It kinda is with new 'retro' furnishings. I don't think I'd stay in anything but a king suite and I would stay someplace nicer if I were going to be there longer than a night maybe two. We just go there quite a bit and don't always need the bells and whistles. Also the staff is way nice and they have Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the lobby every morning. I like the quirkyness.

If I had my choice I'd stay at River Street Inn every time. Budget just dosen't always allow.

 

[OhMari]

Thanks for all the info.
We are going the end of the month.

Can you over nite park in the public parking structure.
Our hotel charges us $12 a nite to park, plus $12 for valet parking.
I'd rather park my car myself, but I don't want to leave it there, if there is no over nite parking. We are staying at the hotel across the street from the Welcome Center and the parking structure is about 2 blocks down form our hotel.

 

[java]

We like the crab shack on tybee island.

 

[TheGottis]

Hey theGottis I looked up the Magnolia Room as it's one I don't know. It's listed as casual, but is it shorts and t-shirt casual? I see it's also listed as a wedding venue, so I'm guessing not.

Also the Crab Shack on Tybee is one of the places I did not like. BUT probably b/c I was craving fried shrimp, and they don't do anything fried.
Great touristy place though, the real alligators and exotic birds were fun to see.

Maybe more of a shorts and polo/button down... ? I'd say step up from Ts. During the day it is more relaxed, night you'll see khakis, skirts, etc...

IMHO the Crab Shack = touristy... The locals (transplants, too) would know where you can get those shrimp!! Shhh...

 

[castmemberb4]

We like the crab shack on tybee island.

I pobably shouldn't have posted my opinion I was pretty Biased b/c they didn't have what I wanted.

Maybe more of a shorts and polo/button down... ?

If you look at my Crab Shack description - I said tourists... Shhhh... locals (transplants too) know the best places!!

Yeah ! I got it
That's why I said it was a good touristy place, you have to admit the view and seating area is good.
Want to PM me your favorite places ????

 

[java]

I pobably shouldn't have posted my opinion I was pretty Biased b/c they didn't have ????

no worries we loved the tacky aspect of the whole place and the beer was cold! I think I had fried shrimp there?

 

[castmemberb4]

no worries we loved the tacky aspect of the whole place and the beer was cold! I think I had fried shrimp there?

When we were there last August they didn't do anything fried.
It was my last day of vacation and I hadn't had fried shrimp, had to come back to Atlanta to get it
But like you I did like the tackiness, really like the Alligator farm.
We used to live close to Gatorland in Kissimmee, it brought back memories of
a 4 ft gator jumping at me and hitting the protective fence just below my arm.