We had never been to Savannah before so Ian surprised Radhika with a trip for her birthday! And then she got sick with mono.
Luckily, we were able to reschedule to the week of the 4th of July, which is our anniversary! Because this was really close to Everest’s birthday, we decided that it was time to wean him during the day and let him stay at home with his grandmother so we could experience our first few days away from him! While we missed him a TON, Facetime helped to keep us in touch (5 or so times a day). You gotta do what you gotta do!
Savannah was so beautiful, but also SO hot and humid. We definitely recommend embracing the weather if you go. Every time a huge thunderstorm would come rolling in, locals would talk about how that’s “just Savannah.” We’re used to humidity in North Carolina, but we feel like Savannah humidity is just something else entirely.
Even so, we had the best time walking around this charming city, eating amazing food, photographing a beautiful mama, having a two-hour marriage retreat, and enjoying each other’s company. It was nice to reconnect as Radhika and Ian as opposed to mama and papa! Below, you can see some of our favorite photos from our time in Savannah and some recommendations for where to eat and what to do if you decide to travel there as well!
Our favorite places to eat:
The Grey Restaurant: eat in an old Greyhound bus station (yes, it IS as cool as it sounds!). While dinner, especially the oysters, were amazing, what really stands out are the cocktails. Radhika couldn’t resist the one with creme de violette in it and it tasted like strolling through France.
Narobia’s Grits and Gravy: grab breakfast here if you’re into casual, down-home cooking — their gravy is DEFINITELY good enough to warrant being in the restaurant’s name!
The Vault Kitchen and Market: located inside an old bank vault, this Asian fusion restaurant knocked our socks off! You can’t make reservations, but we went for a late lunch and the dumplings and tacos were incredible.
The Olde Pink House: It’s old. It’s pink. It’s Savannah’s only 18th century mansion and its low-country cuisine is amazing. We ate dinner here on our anniversary and the blackened oysters were great!
The Collins Quarter – If you’re a foodie and you love brunch, you have to stop at the Collins Quarter. The service was incredible and everything we tasted was amazing. Definitely order the spiced lavender mocha and short rib hash!
Elizabeth on 37th – Another dinner in another Southern mansion, but also Ian’s absolute favorite. Our waiter was a long-time employee and now partner of the business and was so kind. We were so impressed with the two appetizer and entree specials that we tried to order them all and he helped us create a menu that would satisfy our need to try everything without feeling stuffed. So good.
700 Drayton – We had brunch here before leaving town and everything was delicious. We loved the views of Forsyth Park from where we were sitting and the pancakes with Georgia peach compote were so delicious!
Leopold’s Ice Cream – It was good, we admit it. We’re just not sure whether we felt that way because of the giant, 30-minute line we had to wait in and the hot sun we endured to get it!
Suggestions for things to do:
There are tons of places to see in Savannah, and we spent a good bit of time just wandering around and taking in all of the Southern beauty. Savannah has gorgeous architecture and all of the beautiful plants had us swooning (or was that the heat?). Here are a few places we went that we especially loved:
- Wormsloe Historic Site: We photographed sweet Callie there (below)! Its mile long lane of Spanish moss-covered oaks are gorgeous.
- First African Baptist Church: This church is older than the US!
- Alex Raskin’s Antiques: Located within the Noble Hardee Mansion, the antiques here were so interesting! We wanted to take at least 10 things home.
- Forsyth Park: We can’t imagine this park could get any prettier! Unless, of course, they remove the Confederate memorial. 🙂
- Jones Street: We were lucky enough to stay on Jones Street but definitely recommend you take a stroll there. It’s considered one of the prettiest streets in the US!
- Tybee Island: If we had known how many places were going to be closed on the 4th of July, we probably would have visited! But if you need a little ‘vacation’ away from the city, we’ve heard great things about Tybee!
- Cathedral of St. John the Baptist: French Catholic immigrants via Haiti established this cathedral in the 1700s. It’s beautiful!
- Shopping on Broughton: We had so much fun popping into all of the shops here (and borrowing their air conditioning). The Paris Market and Savannah Bee Company were our favorites!
Thanks for following along! Have you visited Savannah? Leave a comment below telling us about some of your favorite spots. Or, if you want to see more of our travels, head here!
