Travel Diary : A Summer Weekend in Historic Savannah, Georgia

Savannah has stolen a piece of my heart. The charming green squares, the trees draped in moss, the rich history.

This stunning, historic southern city has been at the top of my list of places to go to for years. I’d planned a few trips with friends in the past that fell through unexpectedly and the disappointment of almost going so many times was incredibly upsetting. Andrew has gone many times for work but had never had the opportunity to really explore and enjoy the city. We tossed around spending this Labor Day Weekend in a few other cities, but Savannah just kept calling us. It was the perfect weekend getaway and I got to do all of my favorite things: quality time with Andrew, marvel at beautiful things, take endless photos, and eat really yummy food.

Savannah was everything I had hoped it would be and so much more. It was busy, but quaint. Each street dancing with tourists and history. Stories of what the city was long ago. There is so much to do and see, we couldn’t possibly do and see it all in one long weekend, but boy did we try.

We arrived at our hotel around 7 pm on Friday and quickly started getting ready for dinner. We stayed at the DoubleTree downtown and it was in perfect proximity to lots of to-do items on our list. The Grove was a quick walk from our hotel and I had planned on going to this spot many times before on my almost trips so we decided to try it.

The Grove

To drink we had Moscow mules. We tried to order their massive Moscow mule that is 192 oz, but the bartender told us only groups of 4 or more were allowed to order it. For an appetizer, we had Cajun Angels which were skewers of bacon-wrapped shrimp with a housemade BBQ sauce. In typical Andrew and Andreanna fashion, we both ordered tacos as our entree. We just can’t seem to go anywhere without having tacos 🙂 I had fish and Andrew had chicken and both were super flavorful.

The next morning we were up and out early around 7 am to get in a workout. We found a gym called The Zoo which was about 15-20 minutes away from our hotel and decided to check it out. We both hit a quick upper body circuit and then headed back to our hotel to get ready for the day of food and exploring.

Collin’s Quarter – Forsyth Park

Collin’s Quarter is raved about by avid brunch-goers as a must-brunch spot in Savannah. There are two locations, one in downtown (which was by our hotel) and another in Forsyth Park. Since the park was on our list of things to see on Saturday we decided to kill two birds with one stone and head to breakfast at the Forsyth location. When we first sat down, the menu took us a bit by surprise. It definitely did not have your typical brunch items so we were a little skeptical about the food. We both started with Madagascar vanilla lattes; mine hot, and Andrew’s cold. Even though it was 1 million degrees out with the humidity, I still like to start my day with hot coffee. For brunch, Andrew ordered a gyro and I had the bacon & egg roll. Let me tell you, after my first bite I felt so guilty for ever doubting the menu. The egg and bacon roll came on a brioche bun, with bacon, an over-medium egg, and housemade bbq sauce. It was so simple, but the BBQ was so unique and added unbelievable flavor. After the early morning workout and waiting until the restaurant to eat anything, we were both too hungry to wait so I have no photos of our food, but please enjoy this photo of us in front of this cute plant wall in the restaurant. 🙂

Forsyth Park

Once we finished breakfast we headed into the park to start our aimless wandering and exploring. On Saturday’s there is a Farmer’s Market in the park, but we just moseyed through the park and made our way towards Jones Street.

There are 5 origin stories of the phrase “Keeping up with the Joneses” and Jones Street in Savannah, although not the most popular of the origin stories, is still one worth mentioning. In my research beforehand, this fun fact came up. Jones Street is boasted to be the most beautiful street in Savannah. It certainly didn’t disappoint. It was so much fun to stroll through and admire the homes and their unique architecture. While we were walking around Jones Street, we accidentally found the Cathedral. The Cathedral of Basilica was another stop we wanted to make on Saturday. My plan was Brunch > Forsyth Park > Jones Street > Cathedral. We didn’t realize that we were that close to it, but there it was right through the trees.

LaFayette Square

Once we noticed the Cathedral we started heading that way. We cut through LaFayette Square where we met Kevin and his pet tortoise Robert on their daily stroll through Savannah.

The Cathedral of Basilica of St. John the Baptist

The Cathedral of Basilica of St. John the Baptist is known as the Sistine of the South. This was a really special experience for me and Andrew. We were both raised Catholic, but both of our families switched to nondenominational churches when we were teenagers. We had not been inside a Catholic church in years. The church is painstakingly gorgeous. We sat in the pews for a few moments taking it all in. The sound of the organ bellowed against the decorative walls and marble pillars. Sunlight streamed in through the stained glass and burst into flares of red, blue, green and orange.

Leopold’s

We left the Cathedral at about noon and decided that ice cream for lunch was our next move 🙂 Since we had arrived in Savannah 3 different people had told us to stop at Leopold’s for ice cream. We walked there from the cathedral and arrived to a line out the door. The line moved pretty quickly though and within 30 minutes we were sitting on a bench at a nearby square enjoying our ice cream under the shade of a moss drenched Southern Live Oak. I ordered a scoop of the caramel swirl and a scoop of the Savannah Socialite and it was definitely worth the wait.

Noble Fair

Since I had manhandled our plans all Saturday, Andrew decided to plan our evening and most of our Sunday. He made the evening feel so special. We got all dressed up and headed to our reservations at Noble Fair. It started to rain right as we pulled up to the restaurant. It honestly felt like something out of a movie as we rushed from the car to the restaurant. It was the quaintest little spot. Cozy and romantic, the perfect atmosphere to wind down together after our jam-packed day. We sat by a window and laughed over glasses of wine. We never do this, but we both ordered the filet mignon. It came with mashed potatoes, green beans, and shaved carrot ribbons. The filet was cooked perfectly and everything was seasoned to absolute perfection.

Wormsloe Historic Site

A slow Sunday morning taking in the beauty of the Wormsloe Historic Site was the perfect juxtaposition to our busy Saturday. The morning was cool and breezy, a September in Savannah miracle. Wormsloe is a must-see. The site features a 1.5-mile avenue of live oaks covered in Spanish moss. We stopped several times on the driveway to get pictures. At end of the drive is the ruins of the colonial house of Noble Jones. The ruins are dated back to 1702 and it was incredible to stand in front of something that old and think of the people who used to call this place home. It costs $10 to get into the site, but I think the site of the avenue alone was worth it.

Vinnie Van Go-Go’s

I will confess, I was very hesitant about trying pizza in Georgia. Being an Italian girl, it takes a dang good pizza to really impress me. But our hotel was right across the street from Vinnie’s and after smelling it constantly and walking by people eating these massive slices, we had to try it. We grabbed it for lunch on Sunday and I’m so glad we did because it was heavenlyyyy. The slices were huge and came out scolding hot. Perfect amount of sauce + cheese. I thought about it the rest of the day 😂

After lunch at Vinnie’s, we went to our tour of Bonaventure Cemetery. The cemetery spans over 160 acres and was established in 1864. The Cemetery became famous in the 1994 novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt which was later made into a movie produced by Clint Eastwood. It felt really weird to take pictures during the tour since so many of the family plots are still maintained by living family members, so I only snapped a few.

Garibaldi’s

I hate to say this, but our last meal in Savannah was a bit of a let down. We went to Garibaldi’s a popular Italian restaurant in Savannah. It was in walking distance to our hotel which made it fun to stroll to. I ordered a shrimp risotto cake for my appetizer and carbonara for my entree. The risotto cake was to die for, but (honest reviews here always) the carbonara was just ok. Andrew ordered the shrimp cocktail for his appetizer and chicken alfredo for dinner.