Savannah Bound
 

Heading to Savannah for the first time this fall. Love coming to Fodor's for advice. Would appreciate any "must do" suggestions.
- We're birders, so great birding locations within an hour drive top our list
- Food. Always food. What's your fave restaurant? Why? We'll be there to celebrate a BIG anniversary (40 years!) so want to spend it somewhere memorable, but not too fancy, as we are trying to keep luggage carry-on-size.
- Best tours
- Hidden Gems
- Things/places to avoid
- Favorite experiences

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

The Olde Pink House is the venerable Savannah restaurant and you should make your reservation now. We also enjoy Vic's on the River and Circa 1875 a French bistro.

Savannah is all about seeing the charming architecture around the various squares as well as Forsyth Park as well as walking on the waterfront on River Street. You do want to stay in the historic district and most people recommend a HOHO bus although personally I've never done that and we have stopped in Savannah several times. I recommend the OwensThomas House tour and that ticket of the house and slave quarters also provides admission to the Telfair Academy and the Jepson Center for Contemporary Art. I have toured the historic synagogue and visited the Cathedral which are close to one another at the top of Forsyth Park. Have never had time for a boat ride on the river but I know that many people enjoy doing so.

If you click on my user name, you will find my trip report for Savannah--we are big foodies!

All the Savannah suggestions are great. I have a couple more, if you go to Tybee. If you like barbecue I would suggest stopping at Wiley’s BBQ. It’s on the way to Tybee and is just a little place in a strip shopping center. It is worth the stop.
https://wileyschampionshipbbq.com/

At Tybee go to the back side of the island to the Black River Beach. It is less crowded and you have a better chance of seeing birds and other wildlife.
https://visittybee.com/article/guide...ck-river-beach

Happy Anniversary and have a great trip!

Here's my TR for Savannah:

https://www.fodors.com/community/uni...ryland-878217/

Also, there's a second part and I've asked moderators to merge it. I didn't go to the islands, but you should be able to get lots of info here (or through your hotel).

Ditto cgenster above!

From my trip report:

"In Savannah we ate at Garibalidi’s, Jazz’d and Wiley’s Championship BBQ. All the meals were very good. Garibaldi's is an institution, and fish and seafood is what we ordered. Our friend had a whole flounder--tempting had I realized what it was rather than some fillet of flounder, but I can’t complain about the shrimp & scallops my wife and I had. With a glass of wine and two teas, the meal came to $100 plus tip. The food preparation did not match Husk’s. Jazz’d advertises itself as a tapas bar, but one should not expect Spanish style tapas. 6 dishes plus wine came to $98 plus tip. There was live blues, with an interesting singer on the guitar, but unfortunately his electric bass accompaniment was much too loud. Our cheapest meal was at Wiley’s Championship BBQ, which I recommend although not being a connoisseur, my recommendation might not be valid. The place was full of locals and it offered the standard fare found in these types of establishments: ribs, chicken, sausage, beef brisket, etc.

On our first morning we had reserved a tour with Savannah Rambles (http://www.savannahrambles.com/ ) whose sole guide is Dirk Hardison. The tour is a great introduction to ante-bellum architecture in Savannah. My only reservation is that it is only ante-bellum architecture, with some seepage into the 1870s, so that some of the interesting buildings in the historic district of a later date were not mentioned at all. I admire and like the Oglethorpe plan for the city, but I found the traditional Charleston architecture with the piazzas (they would be called verandas elsewhere--but one import is well worth another) far more attractive. Dirk Hardison knows his subject, so he could explain a remark I heard about how wrong the brick slave quarters were in terms of climate (the soft brick absorbs, stores and then radiates heat). He could explain how the houses evolved: some of the major builders came from New England, started with New England style houses, and then adapted them--bigger windows for example-- to the Southern climate. Cost of a 3 hour tour: $20 per person.

During the rest of our time we visited individual houses. The Owens-Thomas house stands out for its architectural innovations, and the Davenport house for its restored interiors--or perhaps it was the guide who could give a specificity to what the room represented that made it stand out. We did not do the river walk. I did not do the planning, so I do not know if it even was an option, but it rained so hard on our last day that we stayed indoors as much as possible. One absolute waste of time was the Jepson Center for the Arts. Fodor’s says that “[w]ithin the steel-and-glass edifice you can find permanent hangings of Southern art, African-American art, and photography.” We did not see a single piece of that permanent collection, if it exists. All the rooms had only temporary exhibits, one of which was a so-so Hopper exhibit of his take of Riverside Drive and the Hudson river. Do not bother with this museum unless it happens to have a temporary exhibit that you might find interesting."

To each his own... we absolutely were impressed with the Jepsen Center for Contemporary Art. The bulding is quite handsome itself, designed by Moshe Safdie. My close friend and her daughter did a mother/daughter trip at the end of April this spring and they absolutely loved this museum, plus it is included in the ticket for the Owens-Thomas house as well as the Telfair Academy which is a historic mansion that houses both furnished rooms and an interesting art collection as well.

HawaiiVirgin's thread was mistakenly merged into another, thirteen year old thread. We have restored it as a stand alone topic.

We really liked our meal at Elizabeth’s on 37th. It’s a quick drive or cab ride outside of the downtown area. Very good food with a special occasion feel. I’m sure we didn’t get dressed up but maybe wore the nicest outfit we had packed.

Mrs. Wilkes is a very popular spot for lunch. They serve from 11-2; be sure to arrive early to get in line for the first seating. The line itself is an experience, visiting with others from all over the world. Once inside, you are seated at a table of 10 and the food, served family style, starts coming out. You will not go away hungry and it’s a fun experience.

Also agree with the suggestion above of Olde Pink House, we had a very good dinner there.

Have been to Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge. Some birds. Wood storks along coast. I saw more further north than the NWF in a residential area but it may be because we were there at dusk versus the NWR earlier in day.

I liked The Grey..the food and the architecture, and the history. M. Bailey is among the top chefs in the state....

I know The "Olde" Pink House very well, albeit when former owners were on charge. I even edited a cookbook from that restaurant...... No comment. but it's
been years.

Look away from the central tourist part of town.......so many places not among the "must" lists.....stay away from the River and anything Paula Dean if she is even still represented there.....

Do you like BBQ?

OH well, we all like different things.
I disagree about staying away from the river. We enjoyed walking along and visiting some of the shops and restaurants. We also took a ferry ride.
I do agree about Paula Deen's restaurant. That was a big disappointment.

Sorry, I did not mean to totally avoid the river; I just meant to try to eat in other areas that are more local. I bet that near SCAD there are some great spots.
But we did like The Grey, in a former segregated Greyhound station, both architecture and food made it memorable but we ate there just after she opened.....she's gotten so famous now, who knows what its like today. (I mean the female chef Mashama Bailey)

Thank you all for the tips. Have mile-long lists now that I have to pare down. 8 days, but who's counting? Oh yea, that'd be me!