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,  HERE, HERE, 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.

Savanna Day 2 Part 1

This is a continuation of a travel series to Savannah, Georgia.  If you'd like to start at the beginning, go HERE.  And HERE is a post of a lovely historic home we rented for the week.

Day 2 in Savannah was our first full day in the city.  On our first day in Savannah we arrived mid-morning and took a trolley ride, checked into the home we were renting for the week, and went to City Market for some dinner.  On our second day, we did so much I will be covering it in two or three posts so they don't get too long.

Our rental home was located only three blocks from Forsyth Park;  so I was blessed to see it every day we were in Savannah!  I was thrilled with that, because this park, and particularly the fountain, was my absolute favorite thing about Savannah.  I don't know what it was, but there was a magical quality to this place.  I loved the fountain.  The white stone with the the beautiful sprays of water was so eye-catching!  You see can see this fountain from quite a distance away because that white stone really stands out against the green landscape.  But the placement of the fountain in the park along with the gorgeous moss covered trees also contributed a lot to the beauty of this fountain.

Forsyth Park is a large city park that occupies 30 acres.  It has a children's play area, a garden, tennis and basketball courts, yada, yada, yada, but it is most famously known for this fountain.  If you see a picture of this fountain, you know it's in Savannah, Georgia!

The fountain was added in 1858 and is reminiscent of fountains in Paris and in Peru.  And would you believe it was just ordered from a catalog?  Yup, it's true!  This gorgeous piece was not an original designed for the park, but just ordered from a catalog.  I love it!

This is a very active park.  Every day we saw people running through the park, exercise groups doing yoga, kids sports teams, families taking walks, and of course all the tourists wanting a picture by the famous fountain.  During the day it is well protected by policemen on horseback.

There is a Confederate Memorial Statue in the middle of this park that is dedicated to the volunteers who gave their lives fighting for the Confederacy.

Also in the park is a Fragrant Garden For The Blind.  It is enclosed by a concrete wall and iron gate which is locked at night.  It is such a experience for the senses to walk through this garden.  You can smell the roses long before you enter through the gates.

After visiting the garden and taking a few pictures by the fountain, we headed for the infamous Mercer-Williams house.  When I was planning my trip to Savannah everyone recommended reading the book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" before going for it would give me a taste of Savannah culture.  Well, I didn't have time to read the book, so my husband and I sat down and watched the movie one night.  I didn't know anything about the subject matter beforehand so you can imagine our surprise as it wasn't the type of movie my husband and I usually would watch.  We also had no idea the book and movie was based on a true story.  But, the movie was still worthwhile to watch because we got glimpses of areas we would see for ourselves when we were in Savannah and we did find the cultural aspect interesting.

Well, now that we saw the movie and learned it was a true story, I had to take a tour of the infamous Mercer-Williams house.  They did not let us take any pictures indoors, so you will have to take my word for it that this is one gorgeous home!  Or, you can see the movie because it was filmed inside the home.  This home was used not just for the "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" movie, but many other Hollywood films as well such as "Glory".

Now, for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll give you a brief synopsis of the book/movie/true story.  James Williams was a art dealer and house restorationist in Savannah.  He purchased this home in 1969 and it was in this home that he shot and killed his male assistant of which he was also having a sexual relationship with.  He was the only person in the state of Georgia that was tried four times for the same crime and found innocent only to die a short time later in his home of a heart attack.  And, it is reported that he died in the same spot where eight years later his assistant was killed.  This is where the "voodoo" culture of Savannah comes into play that is woven throughout the "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" book.

The sister of James Williams still lives in the home so only the main level and garden is open for tours.  I was disappointed that we couldn't see the whole house, but I certainly understood why.  She was home the day we toured and just finished eating breakfast in the kitchen before heading upstairs.  She does use the whole house, but only comes downstairs when there are no tours.  She owns a cute black kitty, and he comes downstairs whenever he feels like it.  We got a sneak peak of him before he ran away.

As I stated earlier, this house is gorgeous.  The windows go from floor to ceiling letting in so much natural light.  The spiral staircase is breath taking with this beautiful stained glass circular medallion above it.  And the flooring is a beautiful tile.  The entire home is filled with James Williams art collections.  But as much as I loved the design and decor of this home, my favorite part was when we entered the office and our tour guide explained that this was the room the "incident" took place.  There were also personal photos in this room of Clint Eastwood (who directed the film) on the property engaging with other family members during filming.  

We absolutely loved our tour guide.  He provided so much information and was such a good story teller.  We found it interesting that he never used the word "murder" and always called  what happened in this house an "incident".   He spoke of Mr. Williams with the utmost respect.  He also made it clear that he was found innocent.

Even though the tour was short and sweet and cost $12.50 per person, if you read the book or saw the movie, it's a must-see.  It's really fun to step into the hallway and remember scenes from the movie.  The floor especially struck me, because I remembered noticing that gorgeous tile in the movie.

Lady Chablis, who played herself in the movie, passed away in 2016 but the place she performed is still operating in Savannah.  They have this memorial to her on an outside window of the building.

The famous "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" played a huge role in Savannah tourism, stimulating  a 46% increase in tourism to this stunning city.  They have special "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Tours".  Every store has copies of the book available for purchase and other "Midnight" merchandise like T-shirts and "Bird Girl" statues.  The book was first published in 1994 and became a New York Times Best-Seller for 216 weeks and remains the longest standing New York Times Best-Seller ever.

Well after our tour of the Mercer-Williams house we spent a few hours walking some of the squares of Savannah and looking at old homes.  There are so many beautiful old homes in Savannah.  My husband took hundreds of pictures but I can't possibly show them all so below are some of my favorites.

I found myself very attracted to the homes that were made of a grey/white brick.  It made me want to go home and paint my red brick house.

There were so many different styles of homes.  Some were small, other's were almost large enough to be called a castle...but they all had unique charm.

Brick and ironwork were a common sighting in most of the homes.  The moss covered oaks and palmettos also added a lot to the beauty of each home.

I just loved these cute, colorful little cottages.

The Lucas theater is a revived 1920's building that still hosts national and local stage productions, musical acts and film screenings.

Savannah's historic district is a laid out in a one mile square grid;  which makes it very simple to navigate.   Within this square mile are 22 "Squares" or small parks each with it's own unique monument, dedication, or memorial.  My husband and I loved the squares so much, we visited each and every one.  Along with the Forsyth Park fountain and the Mercer-William's home, the squares were in my top three favorite things in Savannah.  It is the squares which makes Savannah so beautiful because they add so much ambiance to the neighborhoods.  And the monuments in each square provide so much history!

The five squares along Bull Street:  Monterey, Madison, Chippewa,  Wright, and Johnson are Savannah's "Crown Jewels".  If you don't have the time to see all the squares in Savannah you must see these five.  The Chippewa Square is where Forrest Gump sat on the park bench .  That specific bench is no longer there.  The Johnson square was my husband's favorite...hmmm, I wonder if it's because it bears his last name?

This is the John Wesley monument in the Reynolds square.

Some of my favorite squares were the smaller ones which I enjoyed simply for their pretty fountains, gazebos, or peacefulness.

We spent two days exploring the squares of Savannah.  It takes a long time, especially if you read all the plaques.  One morning we woke up at 5:00 am so we were outside by 7:00 a.m and we just enjoyed walking in these gorgeous squares listening to the birds and experiencing the serene beauty of these squares.  The squares are what makes Savannah special and set it apart from any other city I've ever visited.  The natural element of so many parks located in a city keeps urban development at bay and creates a garden oasis in every neighborhood.  I loved it!

Next week I'll cover one of my other favorite spots in Savannah:  River Street!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!