Savannah: Southern Charm and Fantastic Haunts

​               This week I decided to focus on a stateside location:  Savannah, Georgia. Even though I prefer international travel (Travel Pros also focuses more on it) it is nice to be able to get away without having to use the passport. Savannah is my personal favorite city (that I have been to) in the states, it is beautiful, the people are friendly, and there’s an array of things to do.
               First and foremost it is a historic city, so there is a lot of history and they are proud of it. There are too many history based tours to count, including trolley tours, walking tours, and historic house tours. I highly recommend one of the trolley tours, I have done a couple different companies and I did not see that one is better than the other. The trolley tour is a hop on hop off system and these types of tours help you get your bearings in a new city. You can you can get a good idea of where things are and what you would like to explore in more detail, plus you get a little history lesson. The other type of historic tour I highly recommend is one of the walking ghost tours. So many to pick from! They even have a ghost tavern tour where you get a ghost story at every bar stop. I prefer the more straight forward ghost tours, because I am ghost tour junky and Savannah is one of the most haunted cities in the United States. My last ghost tour was by See Savannah Walking Tours and our guide was amazing, she knew her history and made the stories very believable. Wither you are a true believer or not they are fun tours and every company and guide are different, I’ve been on a couple in Savannah and we did not hit the same locations. As for other types of tours, you can choose from boat tours, food tours (including a Paula Dean tour), and pub crawls, among others.
               Savannah is great for low key weekends to fun crazy bachelor/bachelorette parties, it has something for everyone. There are too many amazing restaurants to count, but I really enjoyed Moon River Brewing Company, they have great food, their own brewery, and a regular full bar. Get the bbq sandwich! Delicious; also note, it’s haunted. If you want a classy spot for a drink I recommend the Marshall House, the bar is between the Marshall House lobby and Bistro 45; their bartenders know what they are doing and …..wait for it…..it’s haunted. During the Civil War the Marshall House was used as a hospital and when they were doing renovations they found a bunch of limbs in the basement because it was too cold to dispose of the amputee legs/arms properly. It might be safe just to assume all historic buildings in Savannah are haunted, so you can ask the employees for stories and they are usually more than willing to tell you some tales. Abe’s on Lincoln is a themed tavern worth a stop, especially if you like bar games. Six Pence Pub is great for a quiet drink; it is a British pub so expect British fanfare. There are several roof top bars in Savannah, I recommend Rocks on the Roof, it has fantastic views of the river, and you can get to it via River Street or Bay Street.  Cheap drinks and bar food (especially po-boys) are plentiful on River Street, Bay Street, and the City Marketplace Square.
               The historic district of Savannah oozes charm: from the colonial homes to the grand antebellum mansions, the small pubs and green squares. Savannah was originally built with 24 squares but now has 22 historic squares, where you can make wishes in fountains and enjoy picnics amongst the Live Oaks with their draping Spanish Moss. To learn a bit more about Savannah’s historic squares visit: http://www.savannah.com/savannahs-historic-squares/ . Forsyth Park is another great location to just enjoy the outdoors, they usually have something going on in the park on the weekends, along with families having lunch or playing Frisbee.
               In the summer Savannah can get rather hot, so to escape the heat most people go to a nearby beach. Tybee Beach is about a 30 minute drive from the city and is wonderful for adults and kids. It has a fantastic pier with refreshments for kids and adults, along with a shaded area full of picnic tables and restrooms. At the end of the pier is where the fishing is, there are a few benches if you would like to sit and watch the action or just take in the ocean without having to get sandy. There are several restaurants to choose from, we went to Sting Rays Seafood and their food was great and well-priced for a beach area.
               Now that you know a little bit about Savannah I know you are packing your bags for a visit! Remember: take a trolley tour and go on at least one ghost tour, get a drink at one of their many unique bars, take in the squares, and drive out to see the beach. Oh, and take a house tour, the Owen Thomas house will not disappoint. My best piece of advice though, is to just enjoy the city. And take lots of photos of those gorgeous Live Oaks. They are so pretty!
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Heather M