Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Savanna: Day 3: Part 2, Shopping, Exploring, and Our Favorite Places To Eat

 This is a continuation of a travel series to Savannah, Georgia.  If you'd like to start at the beginning, go HERE.  The rest of the posts in consecutive order are HERE,  HERE,  HEREHERE, HERE and HERE.

Our last full day in the city of Savannah, Georgia was a busy one.  We were up at 5:00 a.m and out the door by 7:00.  We spent the wee hours of the morning walking the neighborhoods oohing and ahhing over all the gorgeous homes.  Then we finished exploring the Savannah Squares.  I am proud to say that we went to every single square in Savannah!  Yeah!  That was one goal of mine.  When the Owens-Thomas House and Museums opened, we took the home tour and visited the museums.  The rest of the day was spent crossing things off my list:  shopping at stores that I read about on Pinterest, finding recommended cafes, and going back to River Street to visit the upper portion of the stores that we didn't have time to get to on our last visit.  It was a very full day.

But lets begin with some pictures of beautiful Savannah homes and gardens in the early morning light, shall we?

This was one of my favorite historic neighborhoods in Savannah.  I loved the brick paved road, the row houses, and the way the tree branches arched over the street.






This beautiful home was located right next to a church and had a beautiful garden courtyard in between the two buildings.  My husband loved the iron work of this home.  It is the Green - Meldrim House.  It was built in 1850 for cotton merchant Charles Green.  An interesting fact about this house is that General Sherman occupied it during the Civil War.




Savannah has so many gorgeous garden courtyards.


Jasmine is grows everywhere in Savannah!  You can smell it's intoxicating scent wherever you walk, but of course I had to stop and smell it every time I passed a vine!


We loved walking through all the gorgeous squares in the wee hours of the morning.  Almost every square had a monument with lots of history to read.


Chippewa Square is where the famous bench scene in Forrest Gump was filmed.  The bench is not there but this long stone bench sits in it's place.


Near Chippewa Square is "Debi's Restaurant":  another place where scenes from Forrest Gump were filled.  They heavily advertise this fact at their restaurant.


I personally loved all the fountains in Savannah.


This beautiful gold dome building is Savannah's City Hall.  Built in 1905, the dome rises 70 feet.  It was originally copper and then coated in gold leaf in 1987.


Savannah's U.S. Custom House, built in 1852.


If you remember my Savannah River Street post, I shared pictures and stories of River Street and the River Walk.  Well in that post I also shared some pretty precarious steep steps to get down onto River Street.  At the top of the those steps, at street level, is the Cotton Exchange...which has been renovated into more shops.  It took us so long to explore River Street on Day 2, that we had to come back on Day 3 to visit the shops on the street level (Bay Street).

The Cotton Exchange was built in 1886 and was one of the first buildings to be built over an entire city street.  It stands as a symbol of Savannah's rich cotton history.   Over 2 million bales of cotton a year passed through this buildings in it's prime years.  Today it is now the Chamber of Commerce.


Here are some more views of the gorgeous Cotton Exchange on Bay Street.  I loved all the iron bridges connecting Bay Street to the Cotton Exchange building.



This bridge had a gorgeous jasmine covered arch you had to go under to cross.  How heavenly!


One of the places I read about before my trip was "Cafe M".  It was described as so beautiful it was "Instagram Worthy".  haha! Well, I had to see that!  It was located in the Cotton Exchange on Bay Street.  It definitely was a beautiful cafe, but we got there late in the afternoon and there did not seem much left to eat.  Because of that, I didn't buy anything so I can't recommend the food or drinks.


There were several stores I really wanted to visit that I heard about from Pinterest.  One was "The Spice and Tea Exchange".  I was so excited to find this place.  Oh, what a pleasure for the senses when you visit this little shop.  They have jars, and jars, and jars of loose leaf tea.  You can open all the jars to smell them before you buy!  It is expensive, but the tea lasts a long time.  I bought one packet of tea and I still have it.  


Another famous store in Savannah is the Paris Market.  This is one, gorgeous store!  It was also described as "Instagram Worthy" on Pinterest.  Haha!  But to me, it was a place to go and drool because everything was so outrageously expensive!  It is worth visiting just to gawk in awe!

The brick walls and open wood beams of the store are worth seeing alone!


The outside of the store also looks very Parisian with the awnings and cafe tables and chairs.


And now, I want to finish this post by sharing a few of my favorite places to eat.  Now keep in mind, my husband and I like fun, inexpensive or moderate places to eat.  We don't like spending a lot of money on food and we don't feel comfortable in hoity-toity type places.  So here is what we found and loved:

#1:  Leopold's Ice Cream

Hands down Leopold's Ice Cream was our favorite place for a treat in Savannah.  The ice cream was so fresh and delicious.  Probably the best I've ever had anywhere.  And the portions were extremely generous.  We also loved the old fashioned ice cream parlor decor.



 

 #2:  Mirabella Cafe

My favorite meal was belgian waffles at Mirabella Cafe.  Oh my gosh, these had to be the best waffles I've ever had in my life!  Mine had Nutella Spread with strawberries and whip cream...I thought I died and went to heaven.  My hubby had peach cobbler.



 #3 Vinnie Van Go-Gos

My husband's favorite place to eat was Vinnie Van Go-Gos where they sell pizza by the slice.  He loved it so much, we went there twice!



 #4:  Mellow Mushroom

We discovered the Mellow Mushroom on our own and we were so glad we did.  We ordered this huge Greek Salad and this "Great White" specialty pie.    Oh my gosh, both were so amazing!




#5:  Goosefeather's Cafe
Goosefeather's Cafe was highly recommended on all the travel sites and by our trolley guide. They are only open until 3:00 p.m.  It is known for great breakfasts and breakfast bakery items.  I did drool over the bakery in their display, and I wanted to buy something to eat back at our rental home the next morning, but I didn't think it would last in the heat.  So I ordered a "Breakfast Panini".


I enjoyed my sandwich, but I wasn't quite sure what to order and I wasn't sure I ordered the best thing.  It was a very cute cafe and reasonably priced.  I would recommend giving it a try.  Let me know what you tried if you do!


And this concludes my travel posts of the city of Savannah, but I'm not done yet!  For we spent one more day in the area, but by now we were tired of the city and wanted some nature, so we headed to Tybee Island for Day 4.  It ended up being one of my favorite days in Savannah.  I can't wait to tell you more about it in next week's Travel Post.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE.

18 comments:

  1. My mouth is watering over those waffles! And of course the ice cream place sounds divine. I've never been to Savannah but it looks gorgeous! I would like to visit there one day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Shea those waffles were so good! I hope you get to Savannah to try them someday.

      Delete
  2. Those homes and all the plants and fountains look gorgeous! What a beautiful city to explore! The food looks delicious as well!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That first photo is a keeper. You need to frame that one (and sell it...LOL). It's such a gorgeous city with such history, isn't it?? The architecture is amazing!!
    XOXO
    Jodie
    www.jtouchofstyle.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jodie, the city is so full of history and gorgeous architecture.

      Delete
  4. What a lovely photos! And all that fabulous food! Mmmmm

    ReplyDelete
  5. Savannah is really a gorgeous city. I love the architecture of the homes that were built!

    http://www.mylittlenest.org

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Savannah is one of the prettiest cities I've ever seen. Thanks for visiting!

      Delete
  6. Savannah is such a beautiful and charming city. There is just something so pretty to discover at every turn. I enjoyed seeing your photos and being transported back. We love Goosegfeather's Cafe and ate breakfast there just about every morning and tried something different every day! Leopold's is delicious, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I'd love to know what you ate at Goosefeather's. I liked my panini but I'm sure there was something better and I missed it.

      Delete
  7. Glad you made the most of it. It truly is so pretty, and the food looks amazing!

    Amy Ann
    Straight A Style

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh we did! We explored every inch of that city.

      Delete
  8. That food looks SO yummy! And I love how tall those homes are too! :)

    Shauna

    www.lipglossandlace.net

    ReplyDelete
  9. Such fabulous recommendations. Savannah is so pretty - I love all the houses and the big trees! Thanks for sharing with Thursday Favorite Things - I'm featuring you this week! Angelina @ Petite Haus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Angelina! I'll be right over to check it out!

      Delete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I love feedback from my readers. If you have a blog, I always return the love by visiting within a week whoever leaves a comment.