adventuring in Savannah, part two

When we travel, we always stay in a condo or apartment if possible. I like to save money by not eating breakfast out so I need a kitchen to cook in and I also like to cut down on the amount we pack by having a washer and dryer so I can do a load or two of laundry while we’re there. Some people would be aghast that I just said I cook and do laundry on vacation, but for me it’s not a big deal.

We stayed in an apartment in a building built in 1896. It had everything you could dream of: claw-foot tub, beautiful, original staircase, hardwood floors, and old doors that get stuck at inopportune times (see Instagram for more information…). We were less than two blocks from Forsyth Park and a block from a grocery store with a Starbucks inside. I truly don’t think we could have had a better location if we tried. If we didn’t have our kids with us or they were older, we could have parked our car and walked everywhere for the week. But, alas, kids be whiny so we drove.

Cathedral of St. John (Indescribable…)

The Book Lady Bookstore (Where I left my bank card for two days before I realized it. We travel with cash because it keeps me in budget, but we were buying books and I used my card…and then forgot it. So nice that they kept it safe for me. Eh.)

Crystal Beer Parlor (Get the fried green tomatoes. Do it.)

Jones Street (Called the most beautiful street in America for good reason.)

E. Shaver Bookseller (I can’t pass up a bookstore, sorry. They’re in the process of putting in a tea room also, so get tea when you stop in.)

Back in the Day Bakery (Perfect retro bakery with hip record store next door for all the cool kids.)

Mellow Mushroom

Tybee Island (A great beach, pier, and lighthouse open for tours; I totally freaked out near the top so go up there if you dare.)

Savannah Children’s Museum (More like an outdoor exploration playground than a museum, but a big hit with the kids. We spent almost three hours here and it’s not even that big.)

Sandfly BBQ at the Streamliner (Delicious BBQ in an old railway car? Yes, please.)

It seems like we went to a million different places, but we had eight days so there was a lot of downtime too. Mornings were slow and lazy, I’d go run around Forsyth Park if my half marathon training schedule told me to and then we’d head out for the day. There is a fine balance between fun and tired brats when you’re traveling with kids so we were home by 5:00 most nights. Sometimes we ate dinner out, depending on how full we still were from lunch and trying every snack shop in town, or we’d just eat at the house.

If you notice, our food stops are all pretty casual. Most of our meals were between $30 and $50, we didn’t eat anywhere really fancy even though there are a tons of fancy places to eat in Savannah. For our money, we’d rather eat local, delicious mid-priced meals and spend more money on attractions and housing. Again, if we had been kid-less, I think our game plan would have changed, but we still got to eat amazing food and don’t have any regrets. (Side note: we used the Yelp! app constantly while in Savannah and got most restaurant recommendations from that. It didn’t steer us wrong and I highly suggest using it when you travel.)

Have you been to Savannah before? What did you love about the city?

(see part one of Adventuring in Savannah here)