Summer visit to Savannah
In June, we headed to Savannah, Georgia for the YMCA National Gymnastics Championships for our daughter. There is another blog post detailing this awesome event.
We stayed at the Homewood Suites in the Savannah Historic District on River Street.
This hotel features a full breakfast every morning for free and an evening social every night from 5-7 Monday-Thursday that features appetizers and complimentary wine and beer. There is also complimentary coffee and tea available in the lobby 24/7.
Our room was a one bedroom suites with 2 Queen beds and a pull-out couch. We also had a full kitchen in our room and one full bathroom. It was a decent size for our family of 5 for a 4 day trip to Savannah. We were either sightseeing or at gymnastics events, so we didn’t spend a lot of time in our rooms.
Our favorite feature of the hotel was the rooftop bar. The cabanas with flat screen televisions are also free. There is a full bar with a menu with hot meals and appetizers. They have nightly live music, but it is a family friendly environment so you can swim with your kids as well.
Since the hotel is on River Street, it is walking distance to many shops and restaurants. River Street is a must-see in Savannah. The cobblestone roads and historic marks are integrated among all of the shops and sights. It runs along the river where huge barges travel along. It is amazing to see the barges that are bigger than most of the hotels! There is a free ferry that runs over to Hutchinson Island and back throughout the day.
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| River Street |
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| View from River Street over to Hutchinson Island |
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| Savannah’s Candy Kitchen |
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| Savannah’s Candy Kitchen |
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| Tasting the different varieties of honey at Savannah Bee Company |
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| Savannah Bee Company
We loved all of the different stores on River Street. The kids loved tasting all of the different types of honey at the Savannah Bee Company. My favorite was the Sourwood honey. I am almost done with the jar I bought there! |
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| The Black Dog store on River Street |
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| Black Dog Store on River Street |
We loved The Black Dog store because we have a black lab too. We got our lab, Maisy, a souvenir there. She loves her new bandana!
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| River Street |
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| River Street |
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| Savannah Convention Center on Hutchinson Island |
Savannah is such a great city to walk around and explore. There are so many parks, big and small, throughout the city.
Forsyth Park consists of 30 acres of historic monuments, beautiful grass, parks, benches, and a relaxing environment for any visitors.
The Forsyth Park Fountain is one of the most famous features of the park.
After we visited Forsyth Park, we walked around the surrounding areas to see the beautiful buildings and homes.
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| Cathedral of St. John the Baptist-Savannah |
I was very excited to see the Mercer-Williams house because I read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil two weeks prior to our visit to Savannah. Unfortunately The Lady Chablis (who was made famous from the book) passed away several months prior to our visit, but there are still signs around Savannah of The Lady Chablis. (Although we wouldn’t have been able to see her show with our kids-even if she was still alive!!)
Ghosts and Graveyards Tour
We went on a Ghosts and Graveyards tour our second night in Savannah. It is a 75 minute tour that took us to the Andrew Low House where we walked through the rooms and were told many ghost stories from the house.
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| Andrew Low House |
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| Andrew Low House |
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| Courtyard of Andrew Low House |
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| Andrew Low House
After visiting the Andrew Low house, the tour took us to the Perkins and Son’s Ship Chandlery to hear some ghost stories. Our kids were pretty scared by this point! It didn’t help that it was thundering and lightning by this point outside! It was a fun tour that I highly recommend!
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Restaurants
We were able to visit a few restaurants around the gymnastics events.
We ate lunch at Jalapeno’s Mexican Grill for lunch. It is on Albercorn Street on a street with many different restaurants. All 5 of us really liked it there. The service was friendly and quick. The food was very good!
We ate dinner at Boar’s Head Tavern, which is on River Street, our second night. The food was good, but the restaurant and the restrooms inside are in need of some improvements and upgrades compared to some of the others.
Our last night, we ate at The Shrimp Factory. This was my favorite meal in Savannah. We all really enjoyed the seafood there. It does get pretty crowded inside and the women’s restroom only has 2 stalls so there is a long line most of the evening out of the restroom door. We weren’t seated on that side of the restaurant.
We definitely would return to Savannah again. It is a great, family-friendly vacation destination that can be combined with a beach vacation since there are so many beaches in a short driving distance to Savannah. The closest beach is Tybee Island. We chose to drive to Fripp Island, SC to stay for a week after we stayed in Savannah. It was an easy drive under 2 hours away.
Next blog post is under construction detailing our trip to Fripp Island!!
Hockey Sticks, Grips, and trips 