A week in Savannah and Charleston!
Jan 4th, 2017, 12:48 PM
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A week in Savannah and Charleston!
A Week in Savannah and Charleston over New Years!
Our plan was simple: Fly into Savannah and out of Charleston. Spend 3 days in Savannah and 4 days in Charleston. Take Amtrak from Savannah to Charleston , no car rental, use Uber whenever necessary. Book a hotel close to the waterfront in Savannah and locate a place in Charleston close to/in the historic district. Make some restaurant reservations in each location, book a walking tour in Savannah, plan on having a fun New Year’s Eve!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!
Here’s the Trip Report to confirm.
Our flight from JFK to Savannah was quick and easy. The pickup of an Uber ride into town was even quicker and much cheaper than a taxi ride. Our hotel was The Bohemian Hotel @ Savannah Riverfront ( which we were able to pay for using our Marriott points).
BOHEMIAN HOTEL— Magnificent Hotel! Room, view and services were all excellent including the food and rooftop bar. Excellent location right on the waterfront with easy elevator access to the promenade walk below the hotel.
RESTAURANTS— Collins Quarter ( lunch). Good food.
Co.( lunch)- Excellent sushi & noodles.
Bella Napoli—(dinner). Good neighborhood restaurant. Italian food good. Make a reservation
Olde Pink House— (dinner). Excellent food. Must make reservations. Request to sit either in downstairs rooms or upstairs rooms with “ ambiance”. We didn’t and regretted not doing so!
Jazz’d Tapas — ( dinner). Good food with music.
Museums— Telfair Museum - Nice museum, however, enjoyed the Jepson Center of the Arts Museum much more ( located across the street from Telfair Museum.
** Suggest you purchase the pass that allows you to attend 3 Museums.
SCAD Museum- Absolutely our favorite !!!
Savannah Rambles Tour with Dirk— Loved the tour and Dirk!! Our good fortune was that we were the only ones on the tour and ended up having our own 2 1/2 hour Historical and Architectural Tour of Savannah!! Highly recommend!
Favorite places and walks included :
Walking through most of the Squares ( buy a good map); Forsyth Park, Mercer House, Cathedral of John the Baptist, River Walk ( see the Earth split into 2 pieces) and the Girl with her Dog Waving sculpture, The Factors Walk, Jones Steet ( beautiful historic houses) , Johnny Mercer Statue, City Market and go into the Cay Building ( near the Mercer statue) for some wonderful art work), Bonaventure Cemetery ( probably better to go with a tour—we didn’t and just wandered around on our own).
We just loved the city of Savannah. Buy yourself a good map and just wander! There is so much to see and photograph. Before the trip I had both read Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil and saw the film, anticipating that I would do everything the book/film entices you to see. Other than just view the Mercer House from outside and see the iconic photo ( from the books’ cover of the Bird Girl which is actually located in the Jepson), we chose not to explore the house or dine at Clary’s.
After 3 days we left on Amtrak for Charleston!
Our plan was simple: Fly into Savannah and out of Charleston. Spend 3 days in Savannah and 4 days in Charleston. Take Amtrak from Savannah to Charleston , no car rental, use Uber whenever necessary. Book a hotel close to the waterfront in Savannah and locate a place in Charleston close to/in the historic district. Make some restaurant reservations in each location, book a walking tour in Savannah, plan on having a fun New Year’s Eve!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!
Here’s the Trip Report to confirm.
Our flight from JFK to Savannah was quick and easy. The pickup of an Uber ride into town was even quicker and much cheaper than a taxi ride. Our hotel was The Bohemian Hotel @ Savannah Riverfront ( which we were able to pay for using our Marriott points).
BOHEMIAN HOTEL— Magnificent Hotel! Room, view and services were all excellent including the food and rooftop bar. Excellent location right on the waterfront with easy elevator access to the promenade walk below the hotel.
RESTAURANTS— Collins Quarter ( lunch). Good food.
Co.( lunch)- Excellent sushi & noodles.
Bella Napoli—(dinner). Good neighborhood restaurant. Italian food good. Make a reservation
Olde Pink House— (dinner). Excellent food. Must make reservations. Request to sit either in downstairs rooms or upstairs rooms with “ ambiance”. We didn’t and regretted not doing so!
Jazz’d Tapas — ( dinner). Good food with music.
Museums— Telfair Museum - Nice museum, however, enjoyed the Jepson Center of the Arts Museum much more ( located across the street from Telfair Museum.
** Suggest you purchase the pass that allows you to attend 3 Museums.
SCAD Museum- Absolutely our favorite !!!
Savannah Rambles Tour with Dirk— Loved the tour and Dirk!! Our good fortune was that we were the only ones on the tour and ended up having our own 2 1/2 hour Historical and Architectural Tour of Savannah!! Highly recommend!
Favorite places and walks included :
Walking through most of the Squares ( buy a good map); Forsyth Park, Mercer House, Cathedral of John the Baptist, River Walk ( see the Earth split into 2 pieces) and the Girl with her Dog Waving sculpture, The Factors Walk, Jones Steet ( beautiful historic houses) , Johnny Mercer Statue, City Market and go into the Cay Building ( near the Mercer statue) for some wonderful art work), Bonaventure Cemetery ( probably better to go with a tour—we didn’t and just wandered around on our own).
We just loved the city of Savannah. Buy yourself a good map and just wander! There is so much to see and photograph. Before the trip I had both read Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil and saw the film, anticipating that I would do everything the book/film entices you to see. Other than just view the Mercer House from outside and see the iconic photo ( from the books’ cover of the Bird Girl which is actually located in the Jepson), we chose not to explore the house or dine at Clary’s.
After 3 days we left on Amtrak for Charleston!
Jan 4th, 2017, 05:16 PM
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This is a great trip report allyboy. I loved both Savannah and Charleston and your enthusiasm for the squares and museums of Savannah closely parallels my own! I agree about getting the 3-museum pass entirely! Loved that you did it all without a rental car, like I did! Look forward to reading the Charleston & Amtrak part!
Jan 5th, 2017, 09:47 AM
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Anecdotes:
Our Uber driver (a former New Yorker) drove us to our destination: Bella Napoli restaurant. My wife mentioned that she was a vegetarian and could he suggest any restaurants in the area. He said his wife would know—not him. He drops us off at the restaurant. Approximately 45 minutes later he comes into the restaurant, locates my wife and hands her a paper with two vegetarian restaurant suggestions from his wife and leaves! One of those suggestions was Co ( which we loved).
Amtrak ride to Charleston
Our Uber ride from the hotel to Savannah railroad was no more than 15 minutes. It is a very small station and less than 2 hours later we arrived in Charleston. It was a very comfortable ride, plenty of space, a fold down table and my wife took many photos of the many sights as we passed through the towns and countryside.
Charleston
Hotel —-Ansonborough Inn. Great location ( in Historic District). Wonderful continental breakfast ( plenty of food), chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies available all day, wine and cheese hour each afternoon ( 5 -6), nice “homey” lobby with fireplace, a rooftop ( in nice weather it would have been great to use) and an extremely helpful staff.
Restaurants— Fuel Cantina ( lunch) Food was okay. *** A story to follow!!!
Barsa- (dinner). Food was really good and the Jazz was excellent!
Toast (lunch)- Basically a diner with okay food. Nothing special
Prohibition ( dinner). Excellent food with live music, however, very difficult to hear because of noise.
NYC Pizza ( lunch)— Okay pizza—definitely NOT NY Pizza!.
39 Rue de Jean ( lunch)— Excellent food. Very close to the Charleston Museum
Blossom ( dinner)— Somewhat disappointed with food. Also our friends were upset not being informed beforehand there was a sharing charge for their meal.
Museums and Houses— Gibbes Museum— The best museum in Charleston!! An absolute must visit.
Charleston Museum— Interesting museum that has a vast and varied collection of art , history , Natural History and temporary exhibits. Actually a bit overwhelming to see in one visit. Purchase a ticket that allows you access to the Joseph Manigualt House located directly across the street from the museum. Wonderful tour of house.
Aiken - Rhett House is a self guided tour with headsets. House is left in its original condition. Very interesting.
Fort Sumter— Purchased tickets online before we started trip. Suggest taking the earlier ferry over. Very informative museum at site which is located inside. Since you are only on the island for an hour, I suggest you save enough time to spend looking at all the photos and information posted next to the photos.
Mrs. Whaley’s Garden— A very nice garden, however, a suggested donation of $ 10 per person ( I think) is a bit outrageous. We literally walked to the back of the garden, spent 5 minutes and then left.
Favorite places and walks included:
Charleston is a very walkable city. A suggestion would be to start at the Visitor Center where you can get a good walking map and learn about the various tours. I bought The Complete Walking Tour of Historic Charleston ( $7). A very worthwhile booklet listing all of the Historic Houses with information and location. On the way be sure to stop and visit Marion Square and the Holocaust Memorial. Walk on King Street, East Bay past the Rainbow Row of houses all painted in beautiful colors, The Battery, Stolls Alleyu, White Point Gardens park, Waterfront Park, Charleston Market. Just wander around using the booklet I suggested and it will take you into interesting and historic neighborhoods.
We chose not to venture outside the city to any of the Plantations as we had done so on a previous trip. Due to the weather we also didn’t have time to cross over the bridge and visit Mt. Pleasant, Patriot’s Point, Shem’s Creek ( you will need a car to visit all of these spots).
Outstanding Experiences:
We met a woman ( by chance) walking her dog on Anson Street as we were returning to our Inn one late afternoon. She suggested we walk behind Saint John’s Reformed Episcopal Church and walk through gates made famous by Phillip Simmons and visit The Heart Garden. Absolutely lovely to view! The very next day as we were passing by the Church we heard a choir singing and walked in and asked if we could listen. We not only listened but stayed for almost an hour and listened to an incredible sermon by the Reverend Willie James Hiil, Jr. He was inspirational! This church is located within blocks of The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church which was where 9 churchgoers were murdered a few years ago.
The Black Fedora Murder Mystery Comedy Club— I booked this venue for New Year’s Eve. It was a wonderful experience. There are approximately 100 people seated at a table enjoying some light snacks, a drink of wine or beer and you watch and participate in a hilarious whodunnit mystery performed all around you. For me it was especially fun since I volunteered to act in the show and received an overwhelming positive response from both the audience and the actors . It should be known that I am a former theater director and teacher of Improvisation so I wasn’t exactly shy about participating.
Anecdotes— *** The Fuel Cantina story: We were a party of 4 and very hungry when we arrived. The restaurant is a former ESSO station that has been turned into an eating space. We were seated outside, ordered our food and drinks and waited for our food. We waited for almost 45 minutes being told it was coming. When we could no longer wait, I demanded to see the owner who was not only apologetic but insisted on comping the entire meal ( if and when it arrived). It did and it was tasty. As we were about to leave the owner once again came over to our table and handed me a gift certificate for $ 60 and requested for us to use it on our next meal there. We never had time to do this, however, we were very appreciative of their effort.
All in all we just loved our Savannah and Charleston trip and highly recommend it to everyone!
Our Uber driver (a former New Yorker) drove us to our destination: Bella Napoli restaurant. My wife mentioned that she was a vegetarian and could he suggest any restaurants in the area. He said his wife would know—not him. He drops us off at the restaurant. Approximately 45 minutes later he comes into the restaurant, locates my wife and hands her a paper with two vegetarian restaurant suggestions from his wife and leaves! One of those suggestions was Co ( which we loved).
Amtrak ride to Charleston
Our Uber ride from the hotel to Savannah railroad was no more than 15 minutes. It is a very small station and less than 2 hours later we arrived in Charleston. It was a very comfortable ride, plenty of space, a fold down table and my wife took many photos of the many sights as we passed through the towns and countryside.
Charleston
Hotel —-Ansonborough Inn. Great location ( in Historic District). Wonderful continental breakfast ( plenty of food), chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies available all day, wine and cheese hour each afternoon ( 5 -6), nice “homey” lobby with fireplace, a rooftop ( in nice weather it would have been great to use) and an extremely helpful staff.
Restaurants— Fuel Cantina ( lunch) Food was okay. *** A story to follow!!!
Barsa- (dinner). Food was really good and the Jazz was excellent!
Toast (lunch)- Basically a diner with okay food. Nothing special
Prohibition ( dinner). Excellent food with live music, however, very difficult to hear because of noise.
NYC Pizza ( lunch)— Okay pizza—definitely NOT NY Pizza!.
39 Rue de Jean ( lunch)— Excellent food. Very close to the Charleston Museum
Blossom ( dinner)— Somewhat disappointed with food. Also our friends were upset not being informed beforehand there was a sharing charge for their meal.
Museums and Houses— Gibbes Museum— The best museum in Charleston!! An absolute must visit.
Charleston Museum— Interesting museum that has a vast and varied collection of art , history , Natural History and temporary exhibits. Actually a bit overwhelming to see in one visit. Purchase a ticket that allows you access to the Joseph Manigualt House located directly across the street from the museum. Wonderful tour of house.
Aiken - Rhett House is a self guided tour with headsets. House is left in its original condition. Very interesting.
Fort Sumter— Purchased tickets online before we started trip. Suggest taking the earlier ferry over. Very informative museum at site which is located inside. Since you are only on the island for an hour, I suggest you save enough time to spend looking at all the photos and information posted next to the photos.
Mrs. Whaley’s Garden— A very nice garden, however, a suggested donation of $ 10 per person ( I think) is a bit outrageous. We literally walked to the back of the garden, spent 5 minutes and then left.
Favorite places and walks included:
Charleston is a very walkable city. A suggestion would be to start at the Visitor Center where you can get a good walking map and learn about the various tours. I bought The Complete Walking Tour of Historic Charleston ( $7). A very worthwhile booklet listing all of the Historic Houses with information and location. On the way be sure to stop and visit Marion Square and the Holocaust Memorial. Walk on King Street, East Bay past the Rainbow Row of houses all painted in beautiful colors, The Battery, Stolls Alleyu, White Point Gardens park, Waterfront Park, Charleston Market. Just wander around using the booklet I suggested and it will take you into interesting and historic neighborhoods.
We chose not to venture outside the city to any of the Plantations as we had done so on a previous trip. Due to the weather we also didn’t have time to cross over the bridge and visit Mt. Pleasant, Patriot’s Point, Shem’s Creek ( you will need a car to visit all of these spots).
Outstanding Experiences:
We met a woman ( by chance) walking her dog on Anson Street as we were returning to our Inn one late afternoon. She suggested we walk behind Saint John’s Reformed Episcopal Church and walk through gates made famous by Phillip Simmons and visit The Heart Garden. Absolutely lovely to view! The very next day as we were passing by the Church we heard a choir singing and walked in and asked if we could listen. We not only listened but stayed for almost an hour and listened to an incredible sermon by the Reverend Willie James Hiil, Jr. He was inspirational! This church is located within blocks of The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church which was where 9 churchgoers were murdered a few years ago.
The Black Fedora Murder Mystery Comedy Club— I booked this venue for New Year’s Eve. It was a wonderful experience. There are approximately 100 people seated at a table enjoying some light snacks, a drink of wine or beer and you watch and participate in a hilarious whodunnit mystery performed all around you. For me it was especially fun since I volunteered to act in the show and received an overwhelming positive response from both the audience and the actors . It should be known that I am a former theater director and teacher of Improvisation so I wasn’t exactly shy about participating.
Anecdotes— *** The Fuel Cantina story: We were a party of 4 and very hungry when we arrived. The restaurant is a former ESSO station that has been turned into an eating space. We were seated outside, ordered our food and drinks and waited for our food. We waited for almost 45 minutes being told it was coming. When we could no longer wait, I demanded to see the owner who was not only apologetic but insisted on comping the entire meal ( if and when it arrived). It did and it was tasty. As we were about to leave the owner once again came over to our table and handed me a gift certificate for $ 60 and requested for us to use it on our next meal there. We never had time to do this, however, we were very appreciative of their effort.
All in all we just loved our Savannah and Charleston trip and highly recommend it to everyone!
Jan 5th, 2017, 11:46 AM
#5
Loved your trip report!
Gibbes Museum is wonderful isn't it. It recently went through a complete renovation, revealing much of it's original splendor. Their exhibits are top notch.
Rue de Jean is a great restaurant and I've eaten at some of the others you mentioned. Good choices. But I was intrigued to hear all about the Black Fedora Murder Mystery Comedy Club. Yours is the first review I've read here and I'm pleased that it made for a great night. I haven't been to it yet.
The Complete Walking Tour of Charleston is a book I recommend to everyone. It is incredible in its coverage. Twenty years ago the price was $5. It was a good value then and a great value now. I'm also glad to hear you started at the Visitors' Center, as it's such a great beginning to the city.
Glad you both enjoyed Charleston.
Gibbes Museum is wonderful isn't it. It recently went through a complete renovation, revealing much of it's original splendor. Their exhibits are top notch.
Rue de Jean is a great restaurant and I've eaten at some of the others you mentioned. Good choices. But I was intrigued to hear all about the Black Fedora Murder Mystery Comedy Club. Yours is the first review I've read here and I'm pleased that it made for a great night. I haven't been to it yet.
The Complete Walking Tour of Charleston is a book I recommend to everyone. It is incredible in its coverage. Twenty years ago the price was $5. It was a good value then and a great value now. I'm also glad to hear you started at the Visitors' Center, as it's such a great beginning to the city.
Glad you both enjoyed Charleston.
Jan 9th, 2017, 06:51 AM
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Enjoyed reading you report about Charleston. I also enjoyed the Fort Sumter tour and the Aiken-Rhett House. That house, as a preserved home, was a fascinating contrast with the Nathaniel Russell House in Charleston, a restored home... the ravages of (a not so long ago) time are poignantly evident at the Aiken-Rhett House.
Jan 9th, 2017, 09:45 AM
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Thanks Daniel, Kathleen and livetoroam for your comments!
Daniel: We too loved the fact that the Aiken-Rhett house was left in ( mostly) its original form.
Kathleen ( regarding the Black Fedora). They have several shows that they run in repertoire. It's truly a fun evening and even better when someone in your party has volunteered and been selected as one of the "actors".
Daniel: We too loved the fact that the Aiken-Rhett house was left in ( mostly) its original form.
Kathleen ( regarding the Black Fedora). They have several shows that they run in repertoire. It's truly a fun evening and even better when someone in your party has volunteered and been selected as one of the "actors".
