*I’ve posted the following paragraph and video before–while we were actually on vacation–but if you haven’t seen it, take a look (a little long at 9 minutes, but worth the time).   If you’ve already seen the video, skip down to the (more traditional, sane) review of our experience in Savannah.

This was supposed to be a simple road trip to Savannah; a mere 4 hours away from Atlanta.  Our goal was to leave about 8:00 a.m, but since I was wiped out from Christmas, I didn’t even finish packing until about 10:00 a.m.  We started loading the car about 11:00 a.m. and that was when our road trip comedy of errors began–our rental car was too small for our luggage.  What do we do?  Watch and see:

After that crazy trip, we did manage to have a good time in Savannah.  I had been there before on a solo vacation and I was eager to show my family some of my favorite things and experience new things as well.

Since Savannah has such lovely architecture, we didn’t want to stay in a traditional hotel, but in a neighborhood.  The last time I went to Savannah I stayed in a lovely B & B right on a square, but many of them don’t allow children.   The Mansion on Forsyth Park seemed like a good compromise.   I had heard good things about it and since I found a good rate on travelzoo.com, we decided to give it a try.

The room décor for some could be over the top, but for us, it was fun.  The beds were great and the big red velvet sofa and chandielers were Alice in Wonderland-ish.  The room was large enough to accommodate my family and also had room for my daughter to play.  It was very dark though; not a room that you want to be in all day relaxing, but since we weren’t there to relax, it was okay.  We were in the Bohemian room over-looking the park.  Which sounds great, but actually I am a light sleeper and could hear traffic whizzing by all night long; no one else in my family seemed bothered at all.

The bathrooms were very large, BUT there was no door to the bathroom, only a curtain!  So there really isn’t any privacy.  The toilet is separate from the sink and tub, but the door is made of glass, so someone can’t brush their teeth and someone else use the bathroom with any privacy.  The tub however was fantastic!  The water stayed hot and the tub was nice and deep.  The whirlpool jets were just what I needed after a long car ride!  I loved it!

We toured the rest of the hotel and loved looking at all the art on the walls.  There was a fascinating exhibit on display with hats from several decades.   The common areas in the lobby and bar lounge were small, but cozy.  Although we didn’t swim in the pool, we went outside to look at it.  It was very stylish, if very small.  It was more of a lounge area to take a quick dip in the water–not to swim in.   We didn’t eat in the hotel restaurant or use the spa.

Our first meal in Savannah was dinner at Tubby’s on River Street (we were driven there in a town car by a hotel employee, a very nice feature of the hotel).   I actually don’t care very much for River Street in Savannah because I find it to be very touristy, so I didn’t expect much in the way of food.  But several hotel employees had suggested Tubby’s so we gave it a try.  I was wrong; food was very good.  The seafood was fresh and lightly fried in a seasoned batter.  I try to stay away from fried food so I didn’t order mine that way, and I was very sorry; I ended up eating the rest of the family’s meal.

We didn’t do much site-seeing that evening because we were so wiped from the drive.  We called the hotel for a ride back and they were there to pick us up in no time at all.

The next morning we had breakfast at the Gryphon Tea Room on Bull Street.   The food was just okay, but the atmosphere is great and the décor is lovely.

Since the tea room is right across from Shop Scad, after breakfast we browsed around before continuing our walking tour of downtown, and particularly the squares.   The squares are my favorite part of Savannah by far.  Stopping at each square to read about the featured statues, we learned many things about historic Savannah that we didn’t know before.

When we reached Broughton Street, we browsed the many shops.   The Paris Market was wonderful, filled with great coffee table books, lotions, furniture and all kinds of unique household items.  There was a snack bar where we bought homemade French marshmallows that were divine.  The kids and I gobbled them up before even leaving the store (my husband doesn’t like marshmallows, which we just don’t understand).

Our next stop was Savannah Bee Company where we stayed quite a long time tasting all the different honeys and talking to the employees and co-owner.

What a beautiful store!  We learned so much about honey and bought a few jars to bring back to Atlanta.

After Broughton Street, we headed to City Market for lunch, but we didn’t like the atmosphere there very much so we ended back on River Street again.   Once again we had some really good seafood, this time at Dockside .   After lunch we walked all of River Street, ducking in and out of the touristy shops and  toured The Peacemaker, a ship with an interesting history and current ownership.

Leaving River Street and making our way back to the hotel, I talked my family into walking through Colonial Park Cemetery, which I think is beautiful and historical.  My family disagreed and walked through as fast as they could.

Not far from the cemetery we came upon The Cathedral of St. John The Baptist and found out that we could go in and walk around.  If we thought the outside was beautiful, the inside was absolutely breathtaking–the windows, ceiling, alter, piper organ–everything was spectacular.

What a wonderful end to our day spent exploring the streets of Savannah’s Historic District!   Another night at The Mansion, a tasty breakfast at a great neighborhood diner, Clary’s Cafe , and it was time to say good bye to Savannah.    We had a good time and will be back again soon, but it was on to the next leg of our vacation, Amelia Island (read about it here).

© 2009 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Related posts:

1. My Vacation Videos: Road Trip Mishaps & Other Follies