1st Anniversary Trip- Savannah, GA

July 2-5, 2010
Savannah, GA

We spent our 1st anniversary in beautiful Savannah, GA.  We stayed at The East Bay Inn. It was small enough to be more intimate than a hotel, but bigger than a bed and breakfast. It was perfect for us, and they even had a complimentary breakfast and an afternoon wine and cheese hour. My only complaint would be the limited parking, but you could buy parking passes for the city garages (a short walk away).

We started our trip with an Old Town Trolley Tour. I would definitely suggest doing this. It was a great way to get acclimated with the city and to know what sights we wanted to go back and see later. The city itself was gorgeous. Every other block has a beautiful square with statues, fountains, and incredible trees.

We were the crazy tourists who lined up at the crack of dawn to get a reservation at Lady and Sons (Paula Deen's restaurant). We had their Sunday buffet and it was very good! Some of the best fried chicken I've ever had and the griddle cakes were awesome! We took a long walk afterwards. Neither of us ate a ridiculous amount, but you could definitely feel all of the butter (read: buh-tuh) in your system!

We spent some time at the City Market and bought some local art. We also did a small tasting at the Meinhardt Vineyards Shop...it was all muscadine wine and I'm not a huge fan.

We also ate at the tourist trap, The Pirate House. It is said to be one of the oldest houses in America. The food was so-so. There was supposed to be a tour of the "haunted" restaurant, but it was crowded and unorganized and the "pirate" who was supposed to lead the tour was rude and unhelpful. Another disappointment was the Hearse Ghost Tour. To be fair, we're not big ghost people...but we found the whole thing very hokey.

One day we took a drive out to Tybee Island.

It is a beautiful drive through the Georgia lowlands out to the Atlantic Ocean. When you get out to the island GO LEFT! Do not go right!!! I mean, you can, but it turns into tacky 50's beach (think pink motels) and cheesy tourist shops. Obviously, we made this mistake and could not figure out what all of the fuss about beautiful Tybee Island was about. But, thank goodness for smart phones :) We quickly found our way to the other side of the island. It is a weird drive, you feel like you're invading these peoples' nice neighborhood. We paid the small fee to tour the fort, lighthouse, and lighthouse grounds. It was beautiful and  Andrew got some great pictures!!!

One of the things on our list that we did not get to see was the Bonaventure Cemetery. If we go back, I would like to do that, as well as Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House (said to be better than Paula Deen's, but it is open obscure hours and has very limited seating). I would also like to do a trip out to Hilton Head, SC. We also saw an advertisement in a magazine for a photography tour of the low lands. I think Andrew would really enjoy this.

For our anniversary dinner, we dressed up and went to The Olde Pink House. One of my favorite meals...ever! It's a really cool atmosphere, a renovated 18th century mansion. We started with a signature pink lemonade cocktail in the basement bar. Then we had an incredible shrimp and gritcake appetizer and of course steaks for dinner.

We were there for the 4th of July and enjoyed the fireworks over the river.

Savannah was the perfect romantic vacation for our first anniversary. It makes me excited about all of our anniversaries to come!