So, at some point in the past, I decided that I'm important enough to have my very own blog :)
Actually, this is simply the easiest way to post photos of my travels and put captions longer than 50 words each so people can get a true taste of what it was like to be where I was and decide, after being bored to tears by my descriptions, to never go there ever ;)
So we'll start with Savannah, GA, where I went with Edo over the Memorial Day weekend.
We arrived on Saturday afternoon after a quick five-hour drive down from Durham. I say "quick" because Rand-McNally told me it would take six hours, so we were pleasantly surprised to arrive a bit early; even more so when were able to check into our hotel a bit earlier than the posted check-in time (for what it's worth, the hotel isn't worth mentioning; it was just a regular chain hotel a few miles outside of Savannah -- but we've determined that when/if we return, we'll be getting a B&B in town so we can drink "without shame" as Edo says) . The most interesting thing about that hotel was that at the on-site restaurant where we had a lunch/mid-afternoon snack, a young man was proposing to his girlfriend. At first I thought "awww, how sweet" but then the more I thought about it, the more I realized how unromantic it is to be proposed to at a Perkins in the middle of the afternoon. So unless that was the site of their first date, he should've ante-d up for a meal at Bistro Savannah in the evening, which we'll get to later.
After a light lunch, we slept (yes, we are about 30 years old, but we still get tired).
Then we went into Savannah and walked around the Riverwalk area and back up into Historic Savannah. It was unbelievably hot and humid, and by the time we reached the one restaurant that didn't have a two hour wait (make sure you reserve a table if you want a decent meal on Saturday night) I was completely parched and had lost my appetite. (Yes, I grew up in the heat of the Southern US and was almost destroyed by this weather; my Alpine boyfriend, on the other hand, could've walked for another two hours). So we ate at a little Scottish pub called Molly MacPherson's next to the City Market in Historic Savannah.
The food was good and the water was AMAZING. There wasn't anything special about it, but I was so hot and thirsty that it tasted heavenly :) The clientele was interesting. We saw a group of bikers from New Jersey, a confederate soldier (I wonder if the South wins in reenactments in Savannah?) and a highland warrior complete with kilt! The atmosphere was definitely worth the visit.
The next day we spent wandering around Historic Savannah looking for all the places that were part of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
We also walked around squares, admired all of the various architecture, and enjoyed the parks.
We were smart enough to reserve a table at Bistro Savannah, where we had a wonderful meal full of seafood and low-country specialties. The Shrimp and Tasso Ham with grits was far and away the best shrimp 'n' grits I've ever had in my life. The mussels mariniere were also wonderful. The wine list was impressive but the wine-by-the-glass list wasn't quite as good (hence our desire to stay in a B&B next time) and the creme brulee was cooked perfectly.
However, we were afraid that we weren't going to be able to eat there, because a few hours earlier there was a fire in an apartment over the restaurant! After we realized that nobody was hurt, we were very worried about losing our reservation! But we were able to have our haute cuisine meal after all :)
After dinner we took a stroll down riverwalk for a few minutes, and then we headed back to the hotel after our long day.
Monday was our last day there. We decided to go to Tybee Island to have a walk on the beach and to eat at the Crab Shack which was well-known for its seafood. The beach was busy but not unreasonably so, considering that it was a holiday and it was 90 degrees outside. It was typical of beaches on the coastline from NC to Georgia so nothing particularly special there (not that I saw anyway) but you beach-bums out there would probably love it.
The Crab Shack is one of those places that most people would never go unless the food were absolutely amazing. The atmosphere was unbelievably cheesy and Edo was complaining because they had a stack of plastic forks on each table (which was a true raw bar, complete with a hole in each table and a garbage can underneath it). This was Edo's first experience at such a place. We ordered the Capn's platter for One, and it was enough food for three! And as soon as I tasted it, it was worth all the kitsch. They gave us steamed crab legs, stone crab claws, mussels, shrimp, crawfish, sausage, corn, and potatoes. It was wonderful!
After lunch we headed back up the coast for a brief time and then got back on 95 to head home. It was a long weekend but full of history and great food. I would definitely go back, but since it's so similar to Charleston, SC and Charleston is a bit closer, I would probably only return to Savannah if I had a particular reason (such as seeing The Lady Chablis perform!)
- Tiffani
