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Beautiful Savannah

We really enjoyed our time in beautiful Savannah last weekend. In fact, I found myself wishing we had another day to spend exploring the town. Originally, we were going to drive straight to Charleston. However, when the tournament booked our hotel Saturday through Monday, we decided to spend Friday in Savannah.

Instead of getting a hotel room, we booked an AirBnB to share with our friends. We got a two bedroom apartment in downtown Savannah. It was an absolutely gorgeous apartment in a great location. I loved that the AirBnB put us in the middle of old Savannah. We are a mere two blocks off the river. Our street was also lined with several great options for coffee, food and drinks. The location was perfect.

If you go to Savannah, you have to check out the Riverside. It’s lined with shops, restaurants and bar. Moreover, the views of the sun setting over the river with the backdrop of the suspension bridge are absolutely stunning. Their are some street vendors making palm flowers and singing, but they’re not overly intrusive. At the east end of the strip, you’ll find the City Market. It’s super cute and has a lot of local vendors, which are always fun to support.

Of course, I really enjoyed my stops in the candy stores. In particular, I bought some tasty truffles and a rather large peanut butter cup from the Savannah Candy Company. This store offers a smorgasbord of tasty morsels from candy to popcorn and ice cream. Truly, it has something for everyone. However, they’re famous for their pralines and saltwater taffy. All of the candy is reasonably priced.

My favorite part of Savannah, outside of the candy stores of course, is walking the city. The architecture is stunning. It has the colonial feeling of Boston with a Georgia climate, which isn’t a bad combination in January. I love the green spaces in the squares that dote Savannah’s downtown. They’re absolutely beautiful.

If you go to beautiful Savannah, stay in downtown close to the river. There are several hotels in the area as well as AirBnBs. We had to pay for street parking at our AirBnB, but the cost was minimal. Our friends who woke up after 8:00 am Saturday and hadn’t fed the market, received what we thought was a citation. However, upon closer inspection, we discovered it was only a warning. Talk about southern hospitality! In short, Savannah is definitely a must see city.

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Road Trip

We left the house this morning for a road trip up to Charleston via Savannah, Georgia. Originally, we had intended to drive all the way through to Charleston, but the Mayor’s first game isn’t until late Saturday night. Consequently, we thought we’d take the opportunity to spend a day in Savannah. It took a little bit longer than I had hoped to get out of the house this morning. I definitely was not moving very quickly, nor was the hubby. We finally got on our way at 10:30 this morning. The trip is arduous and long, but the drive up I-95 is literally pretty straightforward. While the 95 is a pretty easy drive, it is as boring or even more boring than it is easy to drive. There’s just nothing interesting to look at.

We made brief stops in New Smyrna and Ormond Beach for gas and Chic-Fil-A. I usually love their grilled chicken sandwich, but I wasn’t feeling it today. Fortunately, the french fries I split with the Mayor were very good. The two stops pushed back out ETA for nearly an hour. Thankfully, as we got closer to the larger metropolitan areas off of I-95 the traffics jams lessened and we made up some time. We finally got into Savannah around 5:00 pm. Tonight we’re staying in an AirBnB, which is my preference when traveling, in historic downtown Savannah. It’s a cute two-floor apartment in an older building on a busy Savannah street. Honestly, it’s just perfect.

I prefer AirBnBs to hotels because you have a lot more room to move around. If you’re traveling with your family, a hotel room is way too cramped. Also, I like being able to keep eating meals when on the road. If you’re in a traditional hotel, you can’t cook your meals. This helps save money and ensures the diet doesn’t go too far off the rails. We’ll be staying in a hotel once we get to Charleston because we don’t have any other option. This tournament is a stay-to-play tournament, so we must stay where the tournament directors put us. Honestly, it’s one of the most annoying aspects of youth sports. I hate spending $50 more a night for a room, so the rink and tournament director can get a kickback. Moreover, not only are the hotels overpriced, they’re not always high quality.

Day one of the road trip has been a success. We ate dinner at a cute restaurant off Broughton St in downtown. Before dinner, we walked downtown and down to the river. The riverside was absolutely stunning. It’s a super cute area lined with shops, bars, restaurants, and hotels. The famous Savannah City Market is there too. I wanted to stop and buy some chocolate but the Mayor was hungry. Since the Mayor turns into a monster when hungry, my mission to get chocolate was quickly and sadly aborted. Needless to say, I’ll be walking down that way tomorrow morning before we head north to Charleston.