Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Ira Visits Savannah

Hi all,

My Lady wife and I went to Savannah, GA over the weekend to celebrate our anniversary.

Highlights of the visit:
our new (to us) 2006 Jaguar S-type Vanden Plas,
the Catherine Ward House Inn (http://www.catherinewardhouseinn.com/)
Churchill's Pub
Sapphire Grill
Wormsloe Plantation

The Jaguar
We bought the car locally, and it is no longer listed by the dealer. However, there are pix at http://tinyurl.com/2e5yr3k. I won't bore you with a long report about how well it takes hills, goes through curves as if it were on rails, the acceleration, braking power, comfort, ease of control or all of the plush features. Suffice it to say that the car is a dream to drive.

Savannah
We were greeted at the Catherine Ward House Inn by Ms Larson and one of the staff, who helped us with our luggage and showed us to "Nell's Room". This is a good-sized, basement room with a 4-posteer bed, flat screen TV, DVD and CD player, clock, fireplace, a minifridge and a large bathroom fitted with plenty of fluffy towels, bath robes, various bath soaps and gels and a clothes rack (the room lacks a wardrobe).

The AC is very quiet, the bed is very comfortable, and there is a private entrance to the small, shaded back courtyard with its Koi pond.

Breakfast is served in the main dining room, and is well-prepared, plentiful and tasty. Saturday’s feature was quiche and sausage. Sunday we had ham omelet with cinnamon buns. Here was a fresh-fruit cup each morning, and very good coffee.

The public rooms are tastefully done with antiques and reproductions of the Victorian period.

The Inn is across the street from the southern portion of Forsyth Park, about 20 min walk from City Hall. We walked up to the restaurants for dinner and took pedicabs back (about $10 for the ride for 2).

Churchill’s Pub
We were surprised that they didn’t take dinner reservations – even on Friday night. However, we discovered that it is not just a pub. There is a rooftop bar, a basement bar with pool table and dartboard and the main floor bar and dining rooms. Despite the waves of new arrivals (they serve food until 1:00 AM) there was never a long wait.

They are best at classical pub fare. The sausage puffs and the fish and chips were very good. The crab-stuffed shrimp was average.

There is a broad selection of draught beer, wines and cocktails.

Prices are quite reasonable: Dinner for 2 with drinks, wine and tip – about $100

The Sapphire Grill – highly recommended
I had made reservations through www.opentable.com, and arranged for a bouquet of flowers through their associated florist. Everything went smoothly.

The manager greeted us on arrival and showed us to the bar while our table was being prepared. Despite a very heavy load, the lone bartender managed to keep us all content while he served a two-deep group at the bar as well as all of the table service. He made the best Perfect Manhattan we have had in a long time.

We were escorted to an upstairs table in the corner in the back in the dark, where our bouquet had been freshened and set out in a vase (nice touch).

The plainness of the room was enlightened by interesting paintings and some bold décor touches.

Service was very, very good: pleasant and professional without being brusk or overly friendly.

The meal was very, very good.

My Lady Wife had the 4-course fixed price menu ($45). The chef was willing to substitute a crab dish for the appetizer – quite nice in both appearance and flavor. The Caesar salad was very fresh and crunchy: the dressing was not bottled.

A grilled Scottish salmon with various vegetables was quite nice, and the desert was scrumptious without being cloying.

I splurged on the seared foie gras with a glass of sauternes (extra cost) – one of the best I have had in the U. S.

The duck breast, with its accompanying gratin potatoes and wild mushrooms, was done just right.

There is a decent wine selection at good prices.

With drinks, wine and tips – about $170 for a splurge dinner.

Wormsloe Plantation
Serendipitously, it turned out that http://www.gastateparks.org/Wormsloe was hosting a reenactment of the famous Battle of Jenkins Ear (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Jenkins%27_Ear)

This made for a pleasant, leisurely day of visiting the exhibits of Colonial Era textiles, living accommodations and the military camp. The reenactment featured lots of musket fire, several rounds of canon fire and a barking dog.

The weather was hot (about 90F) and humid during the day, but very pleasant at night.