The hotel was a real gem! It had a lot of charm and, as you will see from the video, the room was huge and well-appointed. A complimentary bottle of bubbles was waiting on ice in our room, but we were just in time for the free wine and cheese evening in the reception, so after dumping our bags we headed there to have a chat with the staff and other guests.
Refuelled, we headed down the steps and found ourselves right on River Street, lined with bars and restaurants and bustling with people. We couldn't have chosen a better place to stay. We found a bar for some food and a nightcap before turning in for the night.
The next day, we did the standard tourist thing and got a ticket for the all-day hop-on-hop-off Trolley Tour. In all honesty this is a great way to get your bearings and cover a lot of ground in a short space of time - either jumping off or making a note of things you wanted to explore more of later.
As ever, the driver was both fun and informative. She had an awesome Southern accent which was great to listen to, even if we couldn't make out 100% of what she was telling us! We learnt a lot of local history and anecdotes, but it was soon time to jump off and start exploring on foot.
Savannah is famous for its parks - and the mansions that surround them - and the largest and most popular was our first stop. Forsyth Park's centrepiece is an impressive fountain and it was very peaceful wandering around this 10-acre park.
Savannah is also known for its Spanish Moss. This is a plant that grows on large trees such as the Southern Live Oak and is immediately recognisable by the way it drapes down from its host tree. I remember seeing this when we were in Florida all the way back in June, but it seemed to be everywhere here in Georgia. I'm not sure why, but I became kind of obsessed with Spanish Moss, to the point at which I was saying to Sam, "Ooh, look at the Spanish Moss on that tree!" every few minutes. I soon realised I was trying her patience, so scaled my obsession back to only a few observations every half hour.
We did some daytime exploring of River Street's cobblestone streets and overhead walkways as we weaved through historic buildings, housing, shops and restaurants. We also took a look at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, taking the title of the most impressive building in all of Savannah.
In search for non-alcoholic refreshment, we headed for Leopold’s. This ice cream shop has stayed the same since 1919, when it was opened by Hollywood producer Stratton Leopold. Ice cream is made on site with awesome ingredients and using old recipes that have been handed down through the generations.
Savannah felt really safe to walk around. To be fair, there were lots of tourists around by both day and night, and we didn't venture that far from the area around the hotel. Having said that, it still felt one of the safer places we've had the pleasure to visit on our Road Trip.
That evening we headed for a quick drink at The Rail Pub. After playing a few tunes on the jukebox, we noticed another couple playing some very similar kind of music - mostly early electronic and Indie British bands like Depeche Mode and The Smiths. It wasn't long before we struck up a conversation with Bethany and Blake, and our quick drink soon turned into quite a few more!
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