SAVANNAH

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Savannah, Georgia is one of those cities that you could return to over and over again and discover new things every time.  We arrived in Savannah on a Wednesday and departed the following Monday.

While visiting Savannah we stayed at the Fort McAllister State Historic Park. This park is located outside of Richmond Hill, Georgia. Richmond Hill was interesting to us since it had been the location to one of Henry Ford’s homes. In the early twentieth century Ford had bought up thousands of acres in South East Georgia and built a beautiful home there. The influence he had in the area is still evident today. It was Ford who lead the beginning of the restoration of Fort McAllister in the 1930s.

Fort McAllister was one in a series of forts which were built to protect the city of Savannah from being attacked by naval forces. The fort and now park lie along the Ogeechee River.

The campground has sixty-seven sites with water and electric. All the sites are pull through. The sites are wooded and in a very pretty setting. There are two bath houses which were not fancy but clean. There is also a laundromat on site. Fire wood was available for sale from the campground host. There is a dump station. Along with the fort there are hiking trails, a playground and an outside workout station.  We enjoyed the park. The only negative is that it was a forty-minute drive into Savannah. Tip: Don’t arrive for early check-in they won’t let you in.

We purchased two-day Tour Passes which included three premium events and an unlimited number of other walk in places of interest. On day one we chose the on and off trolley. These trollies had 16 stops where you could get on and off as often as you like.  This was a good way to get oriented to Savanah because the shuttles covered the entire historic district and the drivers shared information about the city and various attractions along the route. Old Savannah Tours was the trolley company we took. We had three different drivers, all were good but Horizon, yes that’s her real name, was the best by far. On day one in addition to the trolley we went to Bitty and Beau’s, a coffee shop staffed by special needs persons. We had lunch at Paula Deen’s, Lady and Sons Restaurant.  Which we really enjoyed. We also toured the Owen Thomas home which was built in the early 1800’s.  It was a very good example of how life was in the early days of Savannah. Tip: If you are taking a trolley tour take advantage of their free parking. Otherwise parking can be quite expensive.

On day two we took two tours. The first was a historic tour of the city. This too was an Old Savannah tour. Jefferson, our guide gave us a three-hour tour of the city and dove deep into the history and culture of the city. This was an excellent tour! Jefferson is a wonderful story teller and made the story of Savannah come alive. That afternoon we took a tour of the Bonaventure Cemetery.  This is one of the most popular tours in the city. We took this walking tour on a cold windy rainy day. Perfect weather for a stroll through a grave yard. Dawn, our guide, too was an excellent story teller. She told many of the stories of the historic families of Savannah and traditions surrounding death.  Tip: The Tour Pass was not a good option for us. We wound up spending more for the pass than we would have on the attractions. I think this was due to two issues beyond our control. One was the weather. There was a lot of rain and that hindered our ability to take the best advantage of the pass. Secondly we just don’t have the stamina necessary to do enough to make the most of the pass. If you have good weather and plenty of energy the pass might be for you but if your old and lack the stamina necessary it doesn’t matter what the weather is you probably won’t get your money’s worth.

We ate at two seafood restaurants worth mentioning. My favorite was the Shell House. Their shrimp was the best I have ever had. I had asked Dawn, our guide at the Bonaventure Cemetery where the locals ate and this was her suggestion. It was a very good choice!

The second was the Crab Shack on Tybee Island. This highly rated restaurant was simply over rated. Its strength is its ambiance. It is a really cool spot but the food was a disappointment.

Tybee Island is where the beach is located. It is your typical beach town with all the trappings. The beach is very nice and there is a nice pier out into the Atlantic. On the south side of the island is the Tybee Island lighthouse. Just off the causeway to the Island is Fort Pulaski, a national historic monument. We had less than an hour there because the park was closing. It is very interesting and a beautiful setting. I’m sure we will return to Savannah again someday. There were too many things left to do and see so we will need to go back at least once more.