Enjoying the Southern Charm of Savannah, Georgia

At almost 7 hours’ drive from the Miami area, Savannah makes for a long trip, but it is also a wonderful weekend getaway or mini-vacation idea.

We have a friend in Savannah that we had not seen for a long time, and that was all the excuse we needed to head up for a visit.

Nowadays any kind of travel is more complicated, so a self-drive trip was easy to organize and a welcome distraction. A strait shot along the I-95 is fastest, but those wanting a more scenic trip can visit some coastal attractions along the way taking US-1. Since we had taken the more scenic route up to St. Augustine in the past, this time we just opted to make it to Savannah early enough to enjoy the afternoon.

We chose the Hyatt on the waterfront in the Savannah Historic District as our home base. It was perfectly situated and very comfortable. We were lucky to get an upgrade to a river view room and being right on the seawall it looked like we were directly over the water.

It was fun to watch the enormous container ships come up and down the river from our window. The Hyatt was very comfortable, and the location allowed us to park the car once and not worry about it while we were visiting. Perfect!

Savannah Historic District

Savanah was founded in 1733 and was the first city in Georgia, which was at the time a British colony named after King George II. Funny to note that at its founding, the original charter disallowed rum and lawyers!

General James Oglethorpe laid out the city in a grid-like fashion leaving lots of squares designated as parks. Today, 22 of the original 24 squares remain adding green areas and lot of beauty to the city. Oglethorpe became friends with the local Indian chief and unlike a lot of early settlements in the US, Savannah didn’t have to endure the battles that many other cities did.

With the early economy driven by cotton, the city became an active commercial port and the residents built lavish homes and churches as the city grew. The Cotton Exchange (still standing today near the port) set cotton prices globally. Two historic and tragic fires in 1789, and 1820 burned down almost half the city. Savannah also suffered two yellow fever epidemics, one in 1820 and another in 1854 when locals that could afford it left the city shutting down businesses.

From the riverfront, we were able to walk all over Savannah’s historic district and enjoy the many sites. The 22 squares are laid out all around the historic area and these lovely shady parks with enormous oak trees make for great places to hang out and get some respite from the hot sun.

Forsyth Park

Forsyth Park is the largest park occupying almost 30 acres of trees, gardens, and fields. It was nice to stroll through the park and see the Forsyth Fountain in operation. The oak trees covered in hanging Spanish moss are beautiful. The fountain is over 150 years old and is the centerpiece of the park. Fun Fact: They dye the water green on St Patrick’s day!

On our way out of the park, we looked at the Forsyth Mansion, now turned hotel and restaurant (700 Drayton Restaurant) and saw an open table on the terrace. We popped in for a late outdoor brunch, which was fabulous. A great venue and I imagine a superb hotel.

River Street

We also just strolled along the riverfront which has a broad walkway for all to enjoy. You can see the old cobblestone streets, old storage areas and walking bridges in the once busy docks.

Some beautiful scenery to soak in. Be sure to stop at the Cotton Exchange and check out the gold dome crowning City Hall.

City Market

As we strolled around the marketplace area, we were drawn into Byrd’s Famous Cookies with the pleasant smells. They give free samples, yup, they know most mortals are unable to resist! We left with two boxes with the intention of bringing them home, but they were both gone before we were halfway back.

Cathedral of St. John

The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist was open when we arrived Saturday (closed to visitors on Sundays) and we were happy to be able to visit this impressive site. The interior with arches and stained-glass windows reminded us of some of the cathedrals we have visited in Spain and Portugal.

Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum

We enjoyed the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum where they had a great collection of model ship replicas highlighting the many historic ships that had been built or had sailed through Savannah. A great Titanic replica is also on display. The venue itself is a historic site and was at one time the William Scarborough house and gardens.

Unfortunately, many of the other historic houses were closed, perhaps due to the pandemic, so we could not visit, but even seeing the outsides was nice. We saw the famous birthplace building of the Girl Scouts founder, Juliette Gordon Low.

Just off the waterfront, we found a nice crab restaurant where we had dinner with our friend. It turned out they didn’t have any crab which was quite funny. Supply chain issues with the pandemic they said. At least the shrimps were good as was the company. The previous day we had gone to an outdoor rooftop terrace oyster bar, but they didn’t have oysters on the shell! Surprisingly they did have crab claws though. Even funnier!

On the way back stopped at Georgia Peach World where in retrospect we wish they would have been out of peaches too!  We ended up buying overpriced peaches which turned out to be rotten inside. Perhaps just an extended streak of bad luck for our meal picks, but we would not recommend the detour.

Places to see further afield

On the outskirts of Savannah, and on our way back, we also made a slight detour to go visit Old Fort Jackson and the Fort Pulaski National Monument which is also next to the Cockspur Historic Lighthouse (under renovations at the time and inaccessible by road).

Old Fort Jackson

Old Fort Jackson is maintained by the Coastal Heritage Society and offers a guided and animated tour where a guard dressed up in a period uniform explains much of the history behind one of the oldest brick fortifications on the east coast. It is an entertaining presentation that includes firing and parrying with a bayonet and cannon firing. Great for kids (and adults) and well worth the $9 entry.

Fort Pulaski

Fort Pulaski is a National Monument and can thus be accessed with the National Park annual pass. There are historical films and various exhibitions throughout the fort, and you can climb the walls for some nice views.

Once deemed impregnable, the fort was quickly overcome by new technology in 1862 when the Union Army tried out rifle cannons (using a screw barrel that improved distance and aim). They were able to demolish the brick fortifications by repeated and accurate firing within 30 hours. All while out of range of any return fire. This essentially rendered the brick fortifications used for construction obsolete.

Tybee Island Beach

Tybee Island is a beach destination near Savanah located at the inlet of the Savannah River and the Atlantic ocean. It was so crowded on our Labor Day weekend visit, that we could not find parking. We did stop for a quick look (and photo) but were not all that keen to spend the day in the hot sun.

Overall impressions

We truly enjoyed the southern charm of Savannah, Georgia. It’s a city with lots of history that can easily be explored by simply walking around the historic district. There are plenty of lovely squares to explore and many beautiful Victorian homes to see. Strolling along the waterfront watching boats go by and admiring the river view is another way to enjoy the fresh air.

With a couple of days, we had enough time to see the highlights of Savannah, however, with a bit more time we could have explored more of the area. For example, Charleston is only two hours further north and can easily be added to extend your trip (perhaps next time). We did stop in St. Augustine along the way to break up the drive and revisit some familiar sites in this equally historic area.

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