The kids are on spring break right now, so we headed down to Savannah for a quick weekend getaway. My husband flew in from Kansas and we had a happy reunion– this is the first time we’ve seen him since Christmas! (#waytoolong)
As most of you know, we were fortunate to live in this beautiful city for two years and we miss it terribly (see our home on Hunter Army Airfield here). The wonderful thing about the military life is that you get to live in so many different places, and the terrible thing about the military life is that you have to move away from so many different places. Savannah definitely still feels like home to us, and we love to visit every chance we get.
{Photo via Airbnb}
Instead of getting adjoining hotel rooms, we opted for an apartment in the historic area via Airbnb (see our exact rental here). It was less expensive than staying in Midtown would have been, and we loved being able to walk to all of our favorite places. If you’re not familiar with the city, this is a beautiful and relatively safe area. Full disclosure: Savannah has some crime problems and if you venture too far out of the touristy areas you need to be cautious. This is within the historic rectangle on beautiful Jones Street.
We stayed in a garden apartment (i.e. ground level) with eleven foot ceilings and tons of historic charm. It had two bedrooms, one bath, a full kitchen, laundry room, and a king sized sleep sofa in the living room, and –this is gold–a parking space in the back alley.
If you’ve never rented through Airbnb before, it’s a snap. There are photos and reviews for each property/landlord so it’s easy to find exactly what you need within your price range. Ours had self check in with a key-coded door and couldn’t have been more lovely.
Check out the floors–you know they made my heart go pitter-patter!
The view to the right:
See the tabby sidewalks? They put crushed oyster shells in the concrete down here.
Here’s the view to the left:
Not too shabby, huh? Because it’s close to St. Patrick’s Day all the Irish flags are flying; we’ll be safely out of town by then as it gets a bit crazy downtown! See one our previous St. Patrick’s Day celebrations {here}.
We’re all about experiencing a city through its food, and we have lots of favorites in Savannah. Each of us made a list of our must-have meals while in town. There was no way to hit them all in the time we had available, but we made a valiant effort. I will have to go back on Whole30 for a year now!!
Green Truck is our favorite for burgers (I order the Trailer Park because their homemade pimiento cheese is almost as good as my husband’s–his recipe is here).
We took a break to visit the beautiful Independent Presbyterian Church on Sunday and worship with lots of old friends.
Then we walked across the street to the Collins Quarter for brunch. I had the avocado smash:
We might have also had to sample their Bloody Marys and mimosas. We are all about quality control!
After all, as they say on their menu, “noon is the new 5 o’clock”!
Random aside: I wore my favorite black houndstooth pumps with my psychedelic dress for some serious pattern play. And yes, we wear nylons to church in Savannah. I’ve tried to explain this to my daughter but apparently it is lost in translation between the generations!
Can you believe the azaleas are already blooming down here? We drove my little red Beetle and had the top down all weekend.
Other must-eat places in Savannah include Back in the Day Bakery, The Pink House, 17Hundred90, Tequila’s Town, Huey’s…I could go on forever!
My son adores sweet tea and bowties; what’s not to love?
We did some of the touristy stuff downtown, like hit the shops on Broughton Street. Annabelle and I decided we needed to send a photo of us in front of the historic Colonial Park Cemetery to my DAR chapter. (The arch was erected in 1913 to memorialize the Revolutionary War veterans interred in the cemetery)
By the way, those are my marigold Rothy’s in the photo and I wore them all weekend–I am a huge fan! {Here} is a link to my exact pair; they are a two thumbs up in my book.
Besides a chance to reunite our family, the purpose of our trip is that my husband and son are heading off to Germany and Italy with Connor’s Savannah friends. They are always so gracious to invite us to return and join them on their class trips. I know they’re going to have a wonderful time seeing the sights of the classical world and visiting some of the stops on Paul’s missionary journeys. {read more about their amazing Savannah school here}
I’ve already placed a take-out order for olive oil and limoncello; hopefully they won’t forget my souvenirs.
Thanks for stopping by~
So glad you all had a chance to spend time together in a city you love. Their trip sounds amazing. We adore Savannah and it’s history.
It was a great weekend, and they are now safely in Greece. The photos they’re sending back are amazing–such a great experience for them both!
Last November did a bus tour to Savannah and Charleston and loved both areas and learning more about the history……..and yes I understand St Patrick’s Day IS a big to do in Savannah….had no idea. Think I was told the area’s population is 80% Irish! WOW!
Glad you/hubby were able to reunite and sounds like you all had a great time.
It is apparently the third biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the country, after NY and Chicago. While it’s a super-fun weekend, our kids went to school downtown at a school affiliated with the church we attended and they always try to be on spring break that week because things get a little crazy. Charleston is fabulous, too! So glad you got to explore both.
It is so nice to see people wearing dress clothes to Church for a change. Properly Southern!
I agree, Barbara! My son was so careful to pack a coat and bowtie because he knows what the expectation is in Savannah. I miss living there!
Love Savannah and want to return soon! Glad you and hubby got to spend some much needed time together. Yes, love those yellow shoes!
It’s hard to beat yellow shoes, but my cherry red ones just arrived and they might have vaulted into first place! Savannah is always perfect–it’s one of my favorite cities!
Christy, so glad you had this opportunity to be together! Looks and sounds like the perfect weekend and Savannah looks gorgeous!
Thanks so much, Lisa! We had a wonderful weekend together. 🙂
Christy
Beautiful Christy and family..
Savannah too!!
It was a great weekend and so nice to see so many old friends!