Savannah, GA

I realized as I was taking pictures off my camera that I haven't posted about our getaway trip to Savannah! Oh my how these days and weeks are flying!!

Josh had training in Brunswick, GA which is just an hour from Savannah. He had the weekends off, so we set up a weekend for me to go see him without kids. It was such a nice break from the hustle of life- and I came back to 3 weeks of terrible baby sleep between teething and allergies. So the weekend was much needed (even more than I thought).

I had been to Jekyll Island, Tybee Island, and St. Simons Island before, but I somehow managed to never make it to Savannah. This was the perfect chance to check it out.

We went budget friendly and stayed off River Street. Since we didn't really have a feel of the town we didn't want to drop big bucks without checking it out first. We don't typically spend $400-$500 a night at a hotel except maybe on our Honeymoon. So we stayed about 3 miles away in a Marriott. It fit our budget and was very comfortable, but we definitely agree that it would be nice to not have to drive/find/pay for a parking spot everyday.

When we arrived we noticed that replicas of Christopher Columbus' ships were in the Savannah River. We didn't tour them, but they were pretty awesome.

Dinner the first night was at River House Seafood.

Overall, we weren't blown away. The portions were pretty small and the service was FAST which is typically nice, but we had all the time in the world and felt a little rushed. But the food was GOOD. We are huge seafood lovers.

We took everyone's advice and went to River Street Sweets and we weren't disappointed! By the way, if you ever travel, ALWAYS ask for recommendations from your friends. I was blown away by how much information people had to share! I planned our whole trip from just my Facebook wall.

We watched him roll out the taffy...

And put it on the machine that wraps it into individual wrappers. 

And of course they shared with their lovely "onlookers" or tourists as Josh would say. Nothing like warm tutti fruity salt water taffy! 

I was fascinated by the history. I thought that it would be mostly Civil War history but I was surprised that it was more about settling Georgia/Savannah and the Revolutionary War that made this area famous. And cotton of course. 

Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin is in our family tree. My great-grandmother on my dad's side was a Whitney and they've traced the genealogy back to Eli. I always wondered how he made it to the south since all our family is from the north. And this plaque answered my question (he was from Massachusetts and was asked to come south to create the cotton gin). Fascinating!

It was also interesting to study the architecture. I mean the engineering behind this city is phenomenal. 

For dinner Saturday night we had reservations at the Shrimp Factory. We had a huge lunch (a little late) so I wasn't starving. I wish I had been hungrier because the food was delicious. And there's a big haunted story behind the history of the Shrimp Factory. Glad I didn't know about it until AFTER I went to the bathroom by myself. 

Sunday we woke up and went on the River Cruise. It was really good and told more of the history of Savannah and the Savannah River. I was amazed at how active a port it really is. 

We also visited the local shops. There were some really unique places- some that stand out were a natural bee store and they let you taste/eat a honeycomb. Also the Goodwill (always gotta check them out) had hardwood floors. Fun!

And Savannah isn't short on photo spots. I just kept snapping because one sight was just as gorgeous as the next!

Overall we LOVED our trip. It was a nice break from the kids, and Josh was in the middle of his job training so I hadn't seen him in 2 weeks. 

I would say by far our favorite part of the trip was just relaxing. Not having a real agenda and just going with the flow. We were blessed by a beautiful (and chilly) weekend, and the rain held off. We can't wait to go back! Josh wants to do the haunted ghost tours. I think I'll pass.