savannah, georgia -- where to stay/eat with scout troop

[MichelleB]

I am taking my scout troop to Savannah next summer and am having anxiety over where to stay and where to eat. The girls will range in age from 12 to 14 and there will be 11 of us in total. We will be visiting the Juliette Gordon Lowe center, doing a trolley tour, haunted trolley tour, dolphin excursion, and Old Fort Jackson. The girls are fairly young so they don't care about fancy surroundings but want convenience. The same goes for food. They want a basic meal. Any suggestions where to stay and eat that won't break the bank? They are earning all the money themselves so we're trying to be thrifty but allow them to have a great, fun-filled experience. By that I mean for a hotel in the range of $130 or less (we'll need 3 rooms or 2 suites and I think a suite is a better value if we can put 6 in a room). Preference is one that will offer free breakfast since that will help our budget tremendously. Are there any activities we don't have on the list that are must-sees? Any input from someone that lives there or has visited is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[java]

Well we stay here when we are driving to Disney- (and it's driveable to Savanah(like 12 miles I think?) It's on the savanah airport exit. They have 2 bedroom suites with 2 BATHROOMS!! it runs about $170 a night. Off that same exit is a much cheaper Comfort Inn Suite as well. (but we've never stayed there)

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/sb/1/en/hotel/savga?rpb=hotel&crUrl=/h/d/sb/1/en/availsearch&ias=y

In savanah we ate at Paula Deen's place - of course.
But we also ate at Vinny Van's Gogo pizza and it was delicious!!
It's right at the end of City Market.
It's a small place and here is what they say about big groups
http://www.vinnievangogo.com/id24.html

But we are a family of 6 and we all sat together. The kids loved this place. And I'm from NY so I was thinking Pizza in Ga? How good can it be- Well this was some great pizza. A local guy (the guy working the car parking area) told us about it when we asked where was a good place to eat cheaply- and he was right this was GOOD!

 

[kymmyk13]

I took a girl scout troop there about 6 yars ago and used PBn'J tours, they only do girl scout tours they were great they even scheduled our meals, tours and hotel(we had a hotel that slept 6 per room and had breakfast), it was not anymore money to use them. I found them in the juliette book they send you when you schedule a trip . If interested PM me and I will see if I can find thier contact info.

 

[kingcrab]

If I was anywhere near Savannah I would take the 30 min drive out to Tybee Island and hit The Crab Shack. I may detour there on the way home to Chicago from Disney.

I drove down from Hilton Head on my way "back" to Chicago just to eat there. There is an alligator farm, gift shop, etc, as well as a great view, and a casual vibe with alot of outdoor seating. The food is also very good.

www.thecrabshack.com

 

[java]

Hey thanks for Posting about the Crab Shack! Maybe we'll try that when we are driving down.

About how far off of I95 to tybee island? Like 30 minutes?

 

[kingcrab]

off of I-95 Id guess closer to 40 minutes,

From downtown Savannah it was about a half hour +/-. Depending how fast you drive, or how hungry you are.

 

[lauren5406]

I actually live in Savannah. I would recommend staying in the Historic District, most of what you'll want to do while your there will be within walking distance. I think you'll be able to find a room in your price range easily. There are also websites and realtors that specialize in vacation homes. Just be careful in Downtown Savannah, the historic district is fantastic but it is bordered on most sides by some not so nice areas. I'll be happy to answer any location questions you may have.

I would also suggest Fort Pulaski over Fort Jackson, there is just a lot more to see and do. If you decide on Fort Pulaski it will actually be very near to that little trip to the Crab Shack which I also highly recommend. Crab Shack is so much more than a restaurant. The food is great and they also have the gator farm and gift shop and also a bird room. Young girls would probably love it.

Lady and Sons is Paula Dean’s restaurant, but get there early. The do not take reservations, it is a walk up list and in the summer that list can get pretty long. Once on fathers day (some Sunday in June) we were going to go eat there and went straight after church; we were probably there 30 minutes after opening and the list was full for the day.

I love vacation planning and would be happy to answer any questions you may have. There are several hotels right off I-95 but it will be a 15 minute drive to downtown and you'll miss that ambiance of waking up in the historic district, and you'll have to find a place to park.

I'm actually going on a ghost tour tonight

 

[kingcrab]

I actually live in Savannah. I would recommend staying in the Historic District, most of what you'll want to do while your there will be within walking distance.

also a bird room.

savannah looked like a beautiful city, I would have liked to have spent some time there, vs just driving through.

I forgot about the bird room @ The Crab Shack.., they also have alot of cats raoming around, and as a cat lover/owner it helped with the missing my cats while on vacation issue.

 

[mom*to*2*princesses]

We were in Savannah last summer for two days and stayed overnight at the Inn at Ellis Square. It was quite nice and we saw several Girl Scout troops there during our short stay. It's right by City Market, which has some good choices for food, and is a stop on several trolley tours. I highly recommend the breakfast buffet at Belford's - yummy and reasonably priced. A stop at the Savannah Candy Kitchen is fun too. The hotel was an easy walk to the riverwalk and other attractions. It's right by Paula Deen's restaurant. We didn't go there to eat for a number of reasons, but my ILs did check out the gift shop and saw one of Paula's sons.

I think we paid $130/room, which I felt was reasonable for summer in the historic district. The location was really great - I would not want to be responsible for driving a group into the city every day, if given a choice. It was nicely furnished and clean, although not too fancy. I am partial to historic hotels, though. The pool was small, but we didn't try it out as we were headed to the beach for a week and wanted to maximize sightseeing.

Have fun! Savannah is a wonderful city. Hot and humid, but beautiful and gracious!

Kerri

 

[Disney1976]

I actually live in Savannah. I would recommend staying in the Historic District, most of what you'll want to do while your there will be within walking distance. I think you'll be able to find a room in your price range easily. There are also websites and realtors that specialize in vacation homes. Just be careful in Downtown Savannah, the historic district is fantastic but it is bordered on most sides by some not so nice areas. I'll be happy to answer any location questions you may have.

I would also suggest Fort Pulaski over Fort Jackson, there is just a lot more to see and do. If you decide on Fort Pulaski it will actually be very near to that little trip to the Crab Shack which I also highly recommend. Crab Shack is so much more than a restaurant. The food is great and they also have the gator farm and gift shop and also a bird room. Young girls would probably love it.

Lady and Sons is Paula Dean’s restaurant, but get there early. The do not take reservations, it is a walk up list and in the summer that list can get pretty long. Once on fathers day (some Sunday in June) we were going to go eat there and went straight after church; we were probably there 30 minutes after opening and the list was full for the day.

I love vacation planning and would be happy to answer any questions you may have. There are several hotels right off I-95 but it will be a 15 minute drive to downtown and you'll miss that ambiance of waking up in the historic district, and you'll have to find a place to park.

I'm actually going on a ghost tour tonight

I'll be in Savannah next Friday with my girlfriend! Staying right in the historic district, at the Avia Hotel? Good to know about Paula Dean's restaurant. I've also been told there's a great Oyster Shack nearby? Another person also told me about the Chart House restaurant, I think it was called? Do you know it?

Any good trolley tours or sightseeing tours you could recommend?

 

[Reagan&Co.]

There is an entire planning catalog re: Girl Scout trips to Juliette's home. Call the house and see if they will send it to you. It has all the day trips, a schedule of the house events, places to stay, etc.

 

[beachbum]

Subscribing, loving all the ideas! We toured Charleston (and loved it) on our last visit to Hilton Head Island and I am dying to check out Savannah on our next trip down.

 

[lauren5406]

I'll be in Savannah next Friday with my girlfriend! Staying right in the historic district, at the Avia Hotel? Good to know about Paula Dean's restaurant. I've also been told there's a great Oyster Shack nearby? Another person also told me about the Chart House restaurant, I think it was called? Do you know it?

Any good trolley tours or sightseeing tours you could recommend?

The Avia is brand new so that should be nice, the marketing material I have seen on it is superb.

I don't know if we're into super busy tourist season yet so it may not be super packed at Lady and Sons. If I were you I would try and have lunch there or stop by on the day and see if you can get on a dinner list. I'm not sure what the exact process is.

The Chart House is actually owned by Landry's (the same people who do Rainforest and T-Rex) so I wouldn't say it is an original. The Crab Shack that was mentioned is truly unique.

A great website is savannahmenu.com.

Vinnys has great pizza. Spankys has great chicken fingers. If you're looking for a good meal in a casual atmosphere I highly recommend the Savannah Bistro. You could also have a good lunch at Molly McPhearsons and Molly's also is a pretty fun bar at night.

I haven't done many historic tours...but I have done a couple of ghost tours. I'm going on one tonight I will let you know how that goes. It's already starting to get pretty hot here so I would recommend a trolly tour during the day and a walking tour at night.

 

[java]

On Paula Dean's place- we were planning on dinner- we arrived 3 hours (yep I said 3 hours) before they started handing out times for dinner.(for us it was 11 that they started) We went in the summer though. And it was PACKED. I waited in line while everyone else toured Savannah. We got the time we wanted. I don't know that I would ever do that wait again though. The food was yummy but not worth a 3 hour wait. imho.

If it were walk in we'd be all over it.

And on the crab shack- Ok I wish I were there right now!! I've been listening to their music and dreaming of sitting on the dock with a nice cold beer eating some crab legs. Thanks again for posting that one. We're doing it!

 

[Straitlover]

Lady and Sons does do reservations for large parties (I think 10 or more). check their website.

At one time, Restaurant.com had certificates for Vinnie Van Go-Go. Chekc there, it might save you some money.

Lots of the hotels down there do GS special packages, too. At the end of my trolley tour, they dropped soem people off at a Hampton Inn & Suites downtown (I think on MLK Blvd). Those people said it was very nice and reasonable, and it is close to all the sites.

 

[cinderella97]

Go online for Juliette Lows house and download the book for scouts. There are some reputale travel agents that specialize in scout troops. There's also a yahoo group -savannah2009 - that you can pose questions too. I'm hoping I take my troop in a couple years

 

[MichelleB]

Are there any other hotels in the historical district that you would recommend? One of the tour companies suggested Country Inn and Suites on Montgomery -- she said they just opened. Are they in a better location than Inn @ Ellis Square? What about the trolley tours....which is better Old Towne or Oglethorpe? I'll definitely check into the other fort! I'm off to check now. We're a party of 11 traveling and the girls just decided to do this next summer. We're going to fundraise to death!!!

 

[rgrgirl]

I live right below Savannah. I agree that it would be great to stay in the historic distoric so you can walk to everything. Parking is not fun and will add up.
Crab trap is great, but if you go there, you should probably plan to spend some time at the beach because you will not be far from it and if I were between 12-14 that is where i would want to go. Also you could visit Pulaski on your way to or from there. And Puslaski is better to go to.
You may want to check out http://www.connectonthedot.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=37 it is a trolley offered by the city of Savannah for free. I only came across a flyer on it though, so I don't know much about it.
I do know of a great place outside of Savannah (a 40 minute drive) that has 2bedroom cottages that sleep 8 and have a full kitchen for $120 a night. You can send me a message if you want to know more about those.
Mrs. Wilks is also a popular place to eat. They are only open for lunch. Here is there web site http://www.mrswilkes.com/. This place has been on travel channel but not as many people know about it.
Please let me know if you have any other questions that I could help you with.

 

[ceecee]

Any ideas what travel agents handle GS troop trips, I tried to find one for a Chicago trip and was unsuccessful.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

We spent 4 days in Savannah with dd14's Girl Scout troop in April. We did everything ala carte because the tour companies were VERY expensive. We rented two side-by-side cottages south of Savannah (GA state park, fabulous---have to check on the name for you) for 7 girls and 7 moms. We grocery-shopped upon arrival, cooked bfast every day, packed lunches every day, and ate out twice--------once at a pizza place near where we stayed and once for dinner at Lady & Sons (with a reservation since we were a large group).

Day 1 was spent driving from Delaware, getting settled in and eating out.

Day 2 was spent at Tybee Island-------lighthouse tour, time on the beach, dolphin tour, dinner and hanging out at the cottages.

Day 3 was spent in Historic Savannah at the Juliette Lowe House. We had an early tour, ate lunch in one of the squares and wandered around, then went back for a program (excellent). Dinner was at Paula Dean's Lady & Sons restaurant, followed by a trolley ghost tour.

Day 4 was spent in Historic Savannah walking and shopping, followed by a trolley tour and visiting some historic buildings.

Day 5 we drove home

The girls and leaders did a lot of planning and research for the trip. We reserved the cottages last fall and made tour reservations as soon as the girls made their final decisions.