A Day in Savannah (Sunday, April 3rd, 2016)

We woke up this morning after an incredible night's sleep.  Steve and I love having a king sized bed.  It is what we are used to, and we just sleep so much better.  This is the first king sized bed we have had on this trip, and it is marvelous!  Breakfast is not included at this particular IHG hotel, so we went out and grabbed a quick bite to eat, and then decided to catch a bus so that we could see more of the city.  We tried to catch the Dot, which is the normal local bus, and is scheduled to run every 20 minutes.  We waited for it for about 40 minutes and then gave up.  We decided to do the Olde Town Trolley Tours instead to get a nice overview of the city. 

It's kind of funny, there are actually several different prices for these tour trolleys.  We had the online app, that we showed them at the information desk, so they sold us our tickets for $26 each (which is the online booking price), the trolley usually costs $32 for the day if you buy your tickets at any of the kiosks.  I guess we lucked out on that one.  Show the the online app when your buying your tickets to get the reduced price.  And be sure to use the Olde Town Trolley Tours instead of the other companies.  They have so many more trolleys than the other tour companies, so you are never left waiting for one.  The minute you get to one of the trolley stops, there comes the next trolley to pick you up.  They were great! 

Basically, the trolley tours take you all over the Savannah Historic District, with on and off privileges at any of their 15 stops.  You can get off the trolley at any stop you want, and then just jump back on another trolley when you are ready.  We jumped off at several stops and enjoyed the sights before catching another trolley and continuing on the tour.

A bike shop.  Check out their tiny door!

Forsythe Park

There were public restrooms at the Forsythe Cafe, which was really nice!

So easy, and a great way to see so much.  The trolley drivers also point out all of the highlights along the way, and provided lots of interesting history as they drive along, but not so much that we got bored. So sit back and relax, and we'll show you some of the beauty of Savannah from our tour:

The first Ford Motor Company Sales store in Savannah

Twin houses built for the twin daughters of a past mayor of Savannah

It used to be improper for a man to see a woman's ankles, so they used separate stairways to enter a building.

At about lunch time, we jumped off the trolley on Bay Drive, which is down by the Savannah River.  We found a place to eat, called the Shrimp Factory.  

It had a really cute interior, and we really enjoyed our lunch.  

A chandelier made out of sea shells.

We asked our server about something on the menu called Pine Bark Stew.  She said that it was big enough for two people to split, and for another $4, we could add a caesar salad.  So Steve and I did just that.  We split a caesar salad, and the Pine Bark Stew.  It came out in a metal kettle, which our server then put into two large bowls for us.  It was a really nice, hearty stew with flounder, shrimp, oysters, crab, etc.  It was really good.

When we finished lunch, we decided to take the free water ferry over to Hutchinson Island, just to see what it was.  The only things on the island are the Westin Hotel and the Trade Center Building. 

The free water ferry

This is where you catch the water ferry.  

The grounds of the convention center

This beauty was parked in front of the Westin

Looking back toward Savannah from Hutchinson Island

Looking from the Westin toward the Convention Center

A few photos from the ferry

A cargo ship coming down the Savannah River

So we walked around there for a little while, then got back on the ferry, to the next stop which was the Marriott, where we stayed on and rode it back to the main ferry station at the County Building. 

Back on the mainland, the statue of the waving lady, watching for her love to come back from sea

After our busy day of sight seeing, we headed back to the main pedestrian street, where we listened to bands, sang along, and did lots of people watching.

At 6:45, we checked in for our Southwest flight for tomorrow, and headed to dinner.  Tonight's restaurant of choice is the Olde Pink House.  It is a very well known restaurant in Savannah, which is in a big, old, pink house.  



The atmosphere is very charming.  We were told it would be about a half hour wait for our table, so we headed to the piano bar in the basement to wait.  The minute our beers were served, the hostess came to tell us that our table was ready. 

We ended up sitting at the upstairs bar area, with open air seating, which was really nice.  It was a beautiful evening, so we were excited to be in this indoor/outdoor area.  

The outside patio where we ate

We ordered pan seared jumbo scallops on a bed of spinach to split for an appetizer.  It was very good.  

We then followed that with a BLT Salad.  It consisted of a fried green tomato, with applewood smoked bacon on a bed of greens with buttermilk dressing.  It was also very good. 

Then for our entrees, we both ordered the pan seared flounder with hoppin john.  The waiter came back and told us that they were out of the flounder, so we would need to choose something else, which happens when you are dealing with fresh food.  Steve chose the soft shelled crab and I chose the pecan crusted chicken. One of the reasons Steve was interested in the flounder was because he wanted to try the hoppin john that came with it.  The waiter told Steve that he would bring him some of the hoppin john to make up for the fact that they ran out of flounder, and we thought that was a nice jesture.  
We both enjoyed our dinners, but said that we really preferred last nights dinner at Jazz'd more.

Pecan Crusted Chick Breast and a sweet potato

Soft shell crab

As we sat and ate our dinner, the restaurant just kept getting more and more crowded, to the point that it was getting uncomfortable, so this was starting to bother us a little.  We constantly had people bumping into us, and at one point they came and took the spare chair from our table for someone else.  When we got our bill, the waiter also charged us for the hoppin john ($6 for a small serving!) that he brought Steve, which we thought was quite unnecessary since he was bringing it to make up for the being out of flounder.  

The atmosphere of the Olde Pink House was very fun, but other than that, we really didn't think it lived up to it's reputation.  It is such a land mark in Savannah, that we were sad to have to say that.

After dinner, we hit the last of the landmarks that we wanted to see. Steve took me for ice cream at Leopolds, an ice cream store that was established in 1919 by three immigrant brothers.  They are known for their amazing ice cream, and we were not disappointed. Steve had a scoop of chocolate-chocolate ship and I had a scoop of butter pecan.  

There is always a line at Leopold's

We loved our ice cream, and it was a great end to a wonderful day in Savannah!