Trip Report: Savannah & Charleston
 

My fiance & I arrived exausted from NYC in Savannah on Wednesday morning. Our Bed and Breakfast, the elegant Kehoe House, allowed us to check-in early since no one had been staying in our room the night before. This kind of thing never happens in Manhattan, so we were pleasantly shocked at how accomodating and sweet the staff here was during our entire stay.

In addition, they upgraded us for FREE from a queen size bedroom to a king size bedroom called The Emma Kelly Room, which to those of you who have read "The Book" will know that this room is named after a prominent Savannah musician who played herself in the movie version of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

The Kehoe House overlooks Columbia Square in the beautiful Historic District. In a neighborhood complete with Spanish Moss, gurgling fountains & 18th century mansions we were certainly not dissapointed with the setting. Allow me to admit that I am incredibly picky about hotels and our room was impeccable. It had a sitting area with silk-covered lounging chairs, a plush loveseat, a mahogany armoire hiding a TV/DVD player, a fireplace, a king bed with what had to have been Frette linens & the biggest bathroom I have ever seen complete with a jacuzzi bathtub big enough for two. Luxurious towels, bath products & bathrobes made us feel like royalty. All this at a reasonable price!

The pictures on its website do not do it justice but we fully plan on returning to Savannah and staying here again.

http://www.kehoehouse.com/

That afternoon we walked around much of the historic district to get our bearings, shopped at the SCAD Store (Savannah College of Art & Design) which has fabulous handmade pillows/stationary/jewelry/handbags and went for tea at the adorable Gryphon Tea Room and Cafe directly across the street. After a few hours of walking on cobblestones and uneven (albeit charming) streets it was time to indulge in some scones, beverages & one giant chocolate-y slice of cake.

http://www.shopscadonline.com/

http://www.teamuse.com/article_040203.html

That evening we went for dinner just a few short blocks away from our hotel as we were a little tired, to the rustic 17 Hundred 90 Restaurant & Bar. Located in the basement of one of Savannah's oldest hotels it features exposed brick walls, flickering candlelight and ancient wooden beams. Honestly, the food was decent but I'd never recommend it to anyone unless they were staying nearby and just wanted to grab a bite to eat. We thought it was overpriced for the quality, but the atmosphere was relaxing and romantic, and the service was good. Afterwards, we walked the few short blocks back to our hotel, ordered a bottle of red wine from the concierge and found one of the many parlors open to guests in the house. We were thrilled to sit before a working fireplace in a grand old ballroom with high celings, elaborate molding, antiques, oil paintings and luxurious silk curtains. Such a relaxing way to begin our vacation!

It sounds wonderful! Tell us more.

The next morning we awoke to the smell of freshly cooked biscuits. We had selected (from a list of a million delights) the night before what we would have for breakfast in the elegantly appointed dining room--and we were not disappointed. My fiance had chosen an omlette with vegetables and cheese accompanied by a side of applewood bacon and I had fresh fruit, yogurt and oatmeal with brown sugar. To our delight warm croissants, biscuits and danishes were also placed on the table along with three types of freshly-squeezed juices, coffee and tea. We met some lovely people visiting from all over the U.S. that morning and it was wonderful to hear their suggestions about what to do in Savannah, as many of them were repeat visitors.

We walked down to Forsyth Park later that morning and enjoyed all of the beautiful green open spaces (a luxury for us New Yorkers!) and toured Temple Mickve-Israel which has the third oldest Jewish congregation in the U.S. It was also a gothic temple and was absolutely gorgeous--our tour guide was an adorable older woman who knew quite a bit about the temple's history and the artifacts that they have on display from the 1700's. We then walked back up Bull Street which has most of the shops and local stores & also runs through many of the finest historic squares.

Then it was up into City Market and River Street to see all of the restaurants, galleries and shops that people rave about.

I must take this opportunity to say that both myself and my fiance were extremely disappointed by both City Market and River Street, but perhaps this is because our expectations were out of line given the city's small size. I suppose I was expecting the same quaint-ness and boutique-y feel that I had encountered in other areas of Savannah to extend to this "downtown" area. Unfortunately, both City Market and River Street IMO, are highly tourist-y and rather downmarket, and while these are great places to grab a casual beer or reasonably priced lunch they do not offer the charm or Savannah "feel" that we loved so much in other parts of the city.

However, I will say that because there are a LOT of stores and bars and restaurants lumped together up here it is a great area for "going out" if you like nightlife and aren't looking for a super-upscale experience. Some of the stores were a bit cheap and tacky and full of the expected tchotckes so we did a quick tour of the area and retreated to the Moon River Brewing Company for lunch.

We are microbrew afficianados and Moon River surprised us in the number of beers and ciders that they offer--there were quite a variety. We had a great time here! I found the white beer to be my favorite and my fiance loved the Savannah Fest. The prices were affordable and although the food wasn't fantastic it was fairly priced for what we got. Afterwards we took a stroll along the River, watched the ships roll in, ate some oysters in a local place on River Street and befriended the owner's son of a particular bar who invited us to meet up with him later at a party. He was certainly a colorful character (he had gotten so drunk the night before that the bartender had to drive him home, and earlier in the day had been kicked off of a golf course for being drunk) but we had dinner reservations and were not able (probably for the best) to meet up with them later. Quite an eccentric as this man was probably in his late 30's!

That evening we had dinner at Elizabeth's on 37th in the Victorian District. Elizabeth's is inside an absolutely gorgeous old mansion and the feel of it is incredibly romantic. Looking back on the experience, it might have been a wonderful place to go for drinks and appetizers because the ambience is perfect. We were attended to by two different servers, one of them (a woman) we loved and the other (a man) who was awful and tried to push us into ordering bottles of wine we didn't want. Although we often drink wine with dinner we decided just to have cocktails and our waiter continued to harass us and imply that at Elizabeth's you "have" to order wine because the list is world-reknown. I'm sure they have quite a good offering, but after living in Manhattan it's not like we never dine anywhere that doesn't have a good wine list. All in all, we found this server to be odd. At any rate, the food was good and the ambience wonderful, but for the price we thought it was a highway rip-off. Before anyone flames me, allow me to say that we did enjoy our meal and found it appetizing but the food in no way compared to any of the more moderately priced dinners we've had in Manhattan. The seasoning lacked subtlety and struck me as something that we could've gotten for half of the price in NYC, Boston or Philadelphia in a little neighborhood bistro. Elizabeth's seemed like it was trying too hard and that maybe it would've been better off had the chef stuck to what they knew and cooked less challenging dishes. In the end, we had a nice meal finished off by a delicious dessert (the best part of our meal!) and we retired to our hotel where we were delightedly greeted with a turndown service and present of freshly baked chocolate-peanut butter cookies. Then it was off to bed to sleep off the excesses of Southern cooking & cocktails!

The next morning we had another decadent and delicious breakfast at our hotel, and wandered down to Monterey Square to tour the Mercer-Williams House which is featured in "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil" and where Jim Williams actually lived. Although from the outside it's not as imposing as you might imagine, once you are allowed inside you will be shocked at its pure decadence. Really, I only have three words that can fully express my awe and amazement at the quality of architecture and furnishings present and those three words are: Oh. My. God.

It was probably the most beautiful home I've ever been in, from the huge glass windows that hung with wisteria to the immacuately decorated formal dining room. It was one of my favorite house tours in Savannah (and even Charleston) and our tour guide was amusing and knowledgeable about all of the antiques in the home as well as tidbits that related to the movie and Jim William's personal life. Following this tour we strolled over to Cleary's because (much to our dismay) Mrs. Wilkes shuts down for the month of January! Boooo! We still managed to have a delicious lunch at Cleary's which is also featured in "the Book"--I had a chicken salad sandwich and my fiance had a turkey club. In disparity with some of the other places we had been, Cleary's seems to cater quite a bit to locals which was nice to get a feel of where people who live in Savannah actually go and although it's a diner/cafe type of place the food was quite good and insanely affordable.

From there we decided to visit the Owens-Thomas House, which was interesting in a completely different way. This house sits on Oglethorpe Square and is part of the Telfair Museum so we were able to buy tickets that included the tour of this house along with admission to the actual art museums. The Owens-Thomas House was built in the 1700's and still retains (especially in the basement) much of the original character. From there we walked over to the Telfair Museum of Art and were blown away by the beautiful paintings, sculpture and photography exhibits they offered. Although the museum is on the smaller side we were both impressed by the quality and had a fun 45 minutes or so looking around. "The Bird Girl" is also being shown at the Telfair now so if you are fans of "The Book" this may be of interest to you.

That evening we made it back to our hotel early enough to enjoy the complimentary happy hour. The Kehoe House offers a selection of wine & hors d'oeuvres in the parlor and it was delightful! We relaxed by the fireplace, chatted with the concierge about the history of Savannah & gorged ourselves on these delicious warm phylo-dough pastry things, all types of cheese/crackers & smoked salmon.

Later in the evening we went on the Haunted Pub Tour with our guide Greg and the experience was hilarious, entertaining & just the slightest bit scary. Greg was extremely personable and and my fiance and I were amused (although shocked) to find out that OUR HOTEL was on the Haunted Tour along with the restaurant we had eaten dinner at on our first night (17 Hundred 90). hahaha. However, we didn't have any strange experiences regarding apparitions at the Kehoe House except for one which usually only happens in the Emma Kelly room--we locked the door and then couldn't get back in! Apparently this happens from time to time with the lock in that room and our concierge laughingly said it might be "something or someone--wink, wink--playing a joke." At any rate, someone from maintenace got the door unstuck right away and they gave us a free bottle of wine for our inconvenience.

After the Haunted Pub Crawl we walked over to Jazz'd Tapas Bar in City Market to have dinner and enjoy some local music. We were really impressed with the quality of the jazz, less so with the decor and food at the restaurant (which was decent--but again, trying to hard) but we had a great time and really did enjoy ourselves here. The tapas is more like a full meal but the food is good and they have some nice specialty drinks and martinis.

http://www.jazzdsavannah.com/

From here we walked around, stopped in a few other places in the City Market area and called it a day!

The next morning we left for Charleston by train. It was only a ride of a few hours and extremely convenient. When we arrived in Charleston that morning we dropped our bags at The John Rutledge House and (unfortunately) our room was not ready so we left to tour the city!

For those of you who have never been to either of these cities before, Charleston is a much bigger city than Savannah in terms of size and sheer number of restaurants/bars/etc. We realized this shortly after walking around that it seemed quite a bit "busier" than Savannah which can be both a pro and a con depending on who you are and what you like to do.

We ate lunch at T-Bonz on Market Street, but purely out of convenience so I wouldn't suggest anyone seek it out, but if you're in the area and are extremely hungry--this is a good place to go. The portions were ridiculously huge and the food was good but not memorable. Afterwards, we took a carriage tour with Carolina Polo and Carriage Tours and had the great luck to be shown the city by a sixth generation Charlestonian! He was extremely knowledgeable about the city and shared little tidbits of gossip with us about local goings-on, real estate prices, etc. I would highly suggest that anyone who visits Charleston take a carriage tour because it's fun and it is also a great way to see the city and get your bearings.

After our carriage tour, we walked along the Battery to gape at the enormous mansions painted colorful peaches, blues and pinks and to enjoy the scenic views along the water. These homes, as our carriage driver pointed out are in the vicinity of 6-million dollars and some have crystal windows that are insured for 1-2 million dollars, so if you are in Charleston, this is really a must see. I've personally never been to a home with something like 32 bedrooms--so it was quite a treat! We also took a tour of the Nathaniel Russell House which has the most magnificent free-flying staircase and is impeccably restored down to the minute plaster detailing on the fireplaces and recreation of historic colors for the walls.

Later in the afternoon, after strolling a bit through the French Quarter and marveling at the beautiful wrought-iron work and gaslamps we walked to South End Brewery and tried some local beers. We were happily surprised with the quality and I became a fan of the Wheat Beer and my fiance loved their IPA. They make their own gourmet pizzas so we split a small one of these and shared a delicious brie & flatbread appetizer and my fiance caught part of the football game.

Finally it was time to check into our hotel! When we arrived they had already moved our suitcases for us to our room which we thought was very sweet. We were staying in the Carriage House at The John Rutledge and we expected it to be a real B&B as they advertised on their website. I must say that I was disappointed to discover that because we were staying in the Carriage House instead of the "main house" that the CH was built recently and was NOT furnished in keeping with the historic legacy of the main house. Yes, it was neat and clean, but I didn't find it even close to being as nice as our stay at The Kehoe House as far as quality goes, and frankly found it only to be a couple of steps up from a Holiday Inn. Cheap tile, cheap furnishings...etc. etc. However, I did have a chance to see one of the suites in the main house of the John Rutledge and those are gorgeous---they have huge sitting areas and working fireplaces. I'm sure they're quite a bit more expensive though! My recommendation? Don't stay in the carriage house like we did.

That evening we took a pedi-cab to Circa 1886 at The Wentworth Mansion for dinner. The ambience was lovely and the waitstaff was attentive, well-trained and overall extremely gracious. Our food was quite good (much better than at Elizabeth's) and the portions were shockingly huge. In fact, almost inappropriately huge given the level of the restaurant but some people might appreciate this. I'd say that the prices were not appropriate or in keeping with the level and artistry of the chef, as my fiance and I both felt that if we had paid the same amount for dinner in the city we'd have been eating at a better restaurant, but Circa 1886 didn't feel like the rip-off that Elizabeth's did and it was worth it to have the romantic experience. If you go, you must try the cheese grit french-fries...amazing and delicious and something you'd probably not eat wherever else you live. This was probably my favorite part of the entire meal. That evening we walked home past some gorgeous old historic houses and went to bed early.

Loving your report! Charleston is my favorite city and Savannah is my DH's. I am glad you enjoyed your trip.

The next morning they delivered breakfast to our room (cereal and biscuits are free--anything more you have to pay for) and we ate on a cramped little side table. This made us (okay, especially me) long for the luxury of Kehoe House but soon we were outside and the sun was shining so the room didn't bother me too much!

We strolled through the market area, marveling at the women sewing sweetgrass baskets and checking out the little stores in the area and ate at Tommy Condon's so that we could drink some beer and my fiance could watch part of his football game before heading off on a tour. A short time later we were on the Charleston's Finest tour of the Magnolia Plantation out by the Ashley River. Our tour guy was a very sweet and knowledgable older gentleman who kept us all entertained with his stories of the area and the stories of the Drayton family who owned Magnolia and the plantation down the road, Drayton Hall. It was a magnificent three hours of seeing alligators and water moccasins (there's a nature preserve on the grounds), touring the plantation house and walking through the English Gardens.

That evening we ate at Magnolia's Uptown Down South which was DELICIOUS. I had the lobster and shellfish over grits and my fiance had the fried chicken. We were both so full that we could barely move after dinner but we really felt like we had eaten authentic Southern cuisine and our waiter couldn't have been nicer. On our way back to the hotel we stopped in at The Blind Tiger Pub where we promptly made friends with a local and the bartender, listened to the live music and ended up getting free shots on the house! We stumbled back home and called it a night.

The next morning we set off to take another tour, and one I had been really looking forward to--The Gullah Tour. Be aware that they do not offer this on Sunday, so if you can, schedule a Saturday or weekday to take this tour as it's extremely interesting and you get to know the other side of many of the stories you will hear on the plantations, carriage tours, etc. (I digress and will adress this in a moment). Alphonso was our Gullah tour guide and he was hilarious, sweet and very knowledgable about the Gullah language & customs and actually taught us a bunch of phrases. My fiance and I also learned a lot about the African/African-American history specific to Charleston and my absolute favorite part of the tour was actually getting to meet a living legend--Phillip Simmons, a 94 year-old man who is a master blacksmith & whose work is exhibited at the Smithsonian and has created some of the most gorgeous wrought iron gates around Charleston I've ever seen.

http://www.gullahtours.com/

Ahh...back to my comment about "the other side of the story." We didn't find this in Savannah, but in Charleston on a few of our tours (and for the record, my fiance and I are white) we were shocked at how people tried to gloss over slavery and were still bitter about the Civil War. Hmm. A little shocking for us Yankees I guess! Anyways, one of the tour guides at the Magnolia Plantation tried to make it sound like the slaves and the Draytons were best friends (this we did not buy) but like I said, I am so glad we took the Gullah tour because we heard different versions, unsurprisingly of a few stories and it was an enlightening look into a very old city's history.

Later in the afternoon we ate lunch at Hyman's and had delicious seafood--I had an enormous crabcake sandwich and my fiance had buffalo shrimp that were amazing. Afterwards we walked down to the aquarium and saw an IMAX movie which was surprisingly entertaining and by then it was time to take off!

We absolutely loved both of the cities, the weather was gorgeous and the people were friendly.

Of the two cities, I think that Savannah captured my heart more. Something about Savannah is romantic, and almost more European in character--the pace of life there is slower and unhurried. Although the college there infuses the town with energy it does not make the town collegiate in any sense of the word.

Charleston seemed to be more collegiate than Savannah, it is noisier with more sports bars and pubs, has more restaurants, and has more upscale chain shopping. This has its up-side and its down-side.

I think that Savannah could be difficult for people who need a lot of "stuff to do" but for us it was perfect! Charleston was equally (if not more) scenic when it came to houses & real-estate, but it lacked the charm that Savannah has naturally with its green, lush squares and wisteria-draped homes and we disliked the fact that many of the bars and restaurants in Charleston could have been anywhere so-to-speak. After all, you can go to a Brookstone or Saks Fifth Avenue anywhere! So, I think Savannah wins our vote :)

Well, thank you so much for your kind remarks about Savannah. Those of us that consider it "home" agree that it is different and better than the Big Sister City up the road.

There is a different attitude about a lot of things. I think a lot of it is because the two colonies started off quite differently and the attitudes are handed down from generation to generation.

There are two Savannahs. One, which is the one you seemed to enjoy and the other, which is the touristy Party-party town. There's always been room for both!

Please try to get back down in the Spring. There is nothing quite like the squares with all the flowers in bloom.

I am bookmarking this thread because I will be in Savannah and Charleston for their open house tours in March.

I am glad that I booked the Indigo Inn in Charleston instead of the carriage house in the John Rutledge House.

Btw, did you drive or fly into Atlanta or Charleston? If you drove, where did you stay over along the way?

Wonderful trip report. You enjoyed some of my favorite parts of the city - especially the SCAD store. I completely agree with your comments re River Street and City Market. Years ago, River Street had some nice shops. Now, both are just too touristy for me. I often wonder if folks who didn't like Savannah ever saw anything more than those two areas.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I, too, prefer Savannah over Charleston - but it's just a personal preference. Hard to define - and never to be defended.

Great report! Are you still thinking of relocating to one of these 2 cities?

Aileen: I'd love to get back down in the Spring to see the gardens, although not sure if I'll be able to come down again this year because I'm getting married in early June and will probably be running around like a chicken with its head cut off doing stuff for the wedding in the Spring, but I imagine that my fiance and I will both want to visit again next year as soon as we can!

FlyingMaltese: We flew one way and took the train the other way...the train takes FOREVER so I suggest flying or driving (although taking the train between the two cities worked out great). Having a car would have been nice because there are some pretty day trips in both cities that you can't reach without your own set of wheels. If you're only going to be a few days in each city you don't need a car but any longer than 3 days per city, I'd definitely rent one.

Starrsville: So true! I can't imagine anyone not liking Savannah, but like any major city (like Times Square in NYC) people tend to gravitate towards the touristy areas and unfortunately, this sometimes prevents them from experiencing the more "authentic" things the city has to offer.

Wyatt: Sadly, no. We really enjoyed our stay in both cities but I was surprised at how much smaller than New Orleans they both felt! This was not a problem for me since I was on vacation, but I think I realized that I need a bigger city for a place that I'll be living in full-time. Any suggestions? We have San Francisco, Seattle & Philly on our list and are *maybe* considering Chicago.

I'm probably not much help because I live in Boston and really don't think I'd last too long in a small city.

I'm heading to Seattle on Friday for the first time and I'm anxious to see what it's like. A co-worker of mine had a chance to locate to either Portland OR or Seattle and he chose Portland in part for the lower cost of living. He really likes it there so far.

Of all your choices I'd probably have to rule out Chicago, great town but I need to be near the ocean! Good luck with your search.

Wyatt, let me know what you think of Seattle! I've never been but my fiance has. I hear both Seattle and Portland are fantastic cities. My concern about Portland is that it's a little bit smaller than Seattle, but given it's size I've heard fantastic stuff about the restaurant & music scene :)

Hi lmoneylsauce,
I am really enjoying your report and I hope you can ignore some of those who would sidetrack this and continue..
We were in Savannah, not too long ago and enjoyed our stay there, you remind me of how lovely the city is.
I really enjoyed the Telfair..
You mention how sweet the staff was, we found that most everyone we had any dealings with was very nice..very pleasant.
River Street is hokey but that is where the Pralines are! lol
How fantastic that you got to see so many of the old houses!
Thanks for posting!

Hello Imoneyslauce, thank you for your trip report. I have never been to Savannah and only visited Charleston April 2005 for the first time. It was a lovely visit and I was overwhelmed how beautiful Charleston was along with the kind and personable people that I encountered in Charleston. Quite a different part of the US then CA where I have lived all of my life.

Thank you for sharing your beautiful trip, I really enjoyed reading and following along with you as you enjoyed both of these southern cities.

Best wishes to you two with your wedding. May you have a long and loving life together filled with many joys and many wonderful trips.

Scarlett, I was wondering if she missed the pralines. LOL.