A Weekend in Savannah
The best places to eat, explore, and try while visiting this inclusive oasis in the South.
Walking along the Georgia shore at Tybee Island
I just got back from Savannah, Georgia where I spent the weekend celebrating my 24th birthday! It has been a dream of mine to travel there ever since I considered SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) as a potential undergrad option for me to pursue theatre. I did not end up going down the theatre path, so I never ended up visiting Savannah. I finally decided I wanted to visit for my birthday, and we booked our trip at the last minute (because I am a procrastinator at heart), and we had the best time exploring this inclusive oasis in the South.
Day 1:
We left the Minneapolis airport on a direct flight into Savannah and arrived around 2:00 EST. This gave us an afternoon to get our bearings, check-in to the hotel, and do a little exploring of historic downtown Savannah and the river district. We stayed at the Perry Lane Hotel, and I cannot recommend this place enough. The staff was so friendly and accommodating. They had a driver that would take you anywhere within a 2-mile radius, free champagne in the lobby, a lobby bar and restaurant, and a rooftop pool and bar that had the best views of the city. Also, the city has no open-container laws so you can take your drinks to-go!
The rooftop pool at the Perry Lane Hotel
We ended the evening with a dinner reservation at Cotton + Rye. This place was so good! We wanted to order entrees, but we were not extremely hungry because we had some baked brie and wine at the hotel restaurant just a few hours before. We decided to share some apps and sides and ordered dessert to-go. The James Beard award-winning wings were so good. The wings were extremely crispy, and the sauce was a blend of hot honey, sumac, and chipotle. They were perfectly spiced and piping hot. We also decided to share the buttermilk rye cornbread with rosemary and burnt honey butter (I created a dupe of this: Brown Butter Rye Cornbread) ,and the brown butter potatoes with a mustard cream for dipping and the whole-grain mustard mac and cheese were both great as well.
The cornbread, potatoes, and mac and cheese from Cotton + Rye
We were stuffed after inhaling all these decadent carbs and opted to get a slice of peanut butter pie to-go. The server knew it was my birthday and gave me a little bowl of honey crème fraîche with a candle on it for me to blow out. This was a wonderful experience, and I would love to try it again next time we go back.
Day 2:
Ben and I on the famous oak tree road in Savannah
My birthday! I wanted to get started early and do some sightseeing before the day got too hot for us to function. We grabbed a coffee at Gallery Espresso and got an Uber to take us to the famous oak tree road for pictures. We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the beach. We got an Uber to take us to Tybee Island which was about 20 minutes away from our hotel. We got to Tybee after a 1-hour Uber ride. Our Uber was pulled over by the police because he was going the wrong way in traffic and his registration was over a year expired.
The cherry on top to the Uber ride from Hell was that the beach had just closed because of a thunderstorm in the area. There were some other folks waiting around for the storm to pass, so we set down our towels and waited out the storm. The storm never made it to the ocean, so we were able to swim a little! It was so much fun. I would recommend just renting a car if you are planning to go to Tybee. It was a fun place, and we could have spent the day here if we had appropriate transportation.
All smiles once the beach reopened!
We returned to the hotel and got ready for dinner. I made a reservation at Elizabeth on 37th. This place was so incredible! It was a 7-course meal and $100 flat rate per person (It was my birthday, and I am a foodie...had to try!).
They started off with cheddar-bay drop biscuits, and then brought out a seafood sampler that included a ginger marinated salmon nugget, a baked mussel with chili oil and herby breadcrumbs, and a homemade puff pastry shell filled with crawfish and pimento cheese. The 2nd course was a Maine lobster roll in a choux pastry. This was absolutely delicious.
We then moved onto a soup course, and I chose to get the butter bean soup with mint and bacon, and that was spooned over three pieces of fresh Georgia shrimp. This was to die for! Next up was a simple herby salad with watermelon and feta. For the 5th course, we had a seared piece of flounder served over crab-fried rice with tomatoes and cucumbers dressed in a light vinaigrette. The 6th course was outstanding, a peppercorn-encrusted beef tenderloin that was served with buttermilk mashed potatoes and asparagus. The beef was topped with a madeira cream sauce.
Finally for dessert we had a blueberry and peach cobbler served with house-made vanilla ice cream and a birthday candle 😊 It was a perfect meal to wrap up a special day.
L-R: The seafood sampler, the Maine lobster roll, the butterbean soup, the flounder over crab fried rice, the beef medallion, and the cobbler
Day 3:
We started off the morning with another coffee from Gallery Espresso while we waited for our brunch reservation at Husk. Husk’s menu changes every day depending on the local ingredients they have on hand, so the brunch menu was not on their site. The dinner menu for the night before our brunch looked so good that I decided to book a reservation without knowing exactly what we were going to eat. I was really craving those classic Southern flavors and I knew that we were going to be in for a treat. Our server was incredible, and so was the starter. We ordered French toast biscuits that came with blueberries and homemade Bavarian cream. OMG. These were a highlight of the trip. They were so decadent, buttery, not-too-sweet, and flavorful. I got fried chicken with a biscuit and peach coleslaw for my main dish, and Ben got the peach BLT that came with candied bacon and homemade potato wedges. This place was an underrated gem!
The French toast biscuits from Husk
After brunch we walked around Forsyth Park and got some pics and looked around at all the amazing Georgian-style homes. The architecture in Savannah was so beautiful. After the park we packed up our things, grabbed a cocktail on the rooftop bar of our hotel, and went to the airport to return home.
I would absolutely go to Savannah again in a heartbeat, and I cannot wait to go for even longer and try more delicious food.
If you have any questions regarding Savannah or my trip, please feel free to contact me! 😊
Check out my other Southern-inspired recipe: Pimento Cheese Heirloom Tomato Tartlets
