If you approach Savannah from the west after traveling the monotonous, pine-lined stretch of I-16 from Macon and follow through to the interstate’s end in Savannah, you’ll arrive in the midst of a lavishly beautiful part of the downtown Historic District, where architectural wonders unfold in the form of thick moss-drenched live oaks, townhomes, inns, and private residences.
If you arrive by car across the graceful cable-span bridge (called the Talmadge Memorial) that crosses the winding Savannah River and connects South Carolina to Georgia, the city unfurls like a Southern belle awaiting her suitor. Cresting the crown of the bridge, 196 feet above the water and looking down and ahead toward your destination, you’ll see the city of Savannah. Be careful not to get distracted as you drive, but if you’re the passenger, look over to your left. More than likely, you’ll see a large yacht or two anchored at the Westin. There could be one or two colorful ferries transporting visitors to and from the Savannah riverfront over to Hutchinson Island, the home of a pristine Troon-managed 18-hole golf course. Across the river, still looking left as you descend the bridge, you’ll see the gold-domed City Hall. It will glisten if the day is sunny, and the view of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptists’ twin spires in the foreground will signal that you are indeed mere minutes from your destination.
Straight ahead is a network of roadways, with some of the thoroughfares leading to the city’s south side and to west Chatham County, where many Savannahians live and many more do their shopping in more modern buildings. Finally, there are hints of the tropics, and palm trees and massive oaks that remind you that you are indeed in the old South.
We’ve decided to devote an entire chapter to one of the favorite Savannah pastimes, walking. This one could be addicting so be forewarned. Make sure your camera battery is fully charged and your feet are adorned in your most comfortable walking shoes. Then, set your sights high. Savannah’s splendor is best viewed in the early morning or late afternoon.
First, a little direction. Since most of the city’s best-known attractions are situated in the Historic Downtown, this walking tour will take you to her most beautiful sights.
Here’s the format: There are detailed listings of many of the popular historic sites downtown, and in between, explicit directions will appear in italics on how to get from one location to the next. The tour takes in a little more than 2.5 miles; how long it takes depends on how fast you walk and whether you decide to take a detour or two and further explore some sites. Along the way, you’ll be treated to sitting spots on attractive benches that will allow you to take leisurely breaks. (If you stumble on a place that catches your fancy and is not listed in this chapter, chances are you can find out more about it in our Restaurants or Shopping chapters.) For another great dining option, pack a picnic before setting out. Each square you encounter—and we will cover nine—is perfect for relaxing near the magnolia trees while enjoying a good sandwich
There’s a basic map at the front of this book. If you need a further visual aid, several good maps of the Historic Downtown are available in shops around town and typically cost less than $5. The Savannah Visitor Information Center, located in the 300 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near its intersection with Liberty Street, or the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce offices at Drayton and Bay Streets (912-644-6400) also provide a free visitors’ guide that has a great map.
Following our Insiders’ Historic Downtown tour, there’s information on other guided touring options in the city, plus a variety of other interesting attractions to explore both in Savannah’s downtown and the outlying areas: the Islands, Southside, and West Chatham.
Local characters and tales of eccentricity and crime, food addictions, and, toward the other extreme, home cooking have all been a healthy boost to Savannah tourism. Fans have trekked to the city to catch a glimpse at the city’s celebrities and/or their hangouts, and the tourism industry has responded with specialty tours, souvenirs, classes, and books (like this one).
The tales of scandal and crime refer to John Berendt’s nonfiction best seller, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, published in 1994. Set in Savannah, it tells a series of tales about Savannah’s local and oftentimes crazy characters and their peculiarities, and focuses mainly on a shooting and the subsequent series of trials.
The home cooking referenced is found on the Food Network and also downtown in Paula Deen’s restaurant (and empire), constructed out of fried chicken, cheese biscuits, and several thousand pounds of butter, her favorite ingredient. In less than 20 years, Deen has gone from being a struggling, newly divorced housewife to a queen of media, resulting in an earned business empire that includes her two Food Network television programs, two restaurants, a growing library of cookbooks, her own magazine, a cooking school, and a line of products ranging from pots and pans to furniture.
In 2009, the small screen turned to a different subject, Ruby Gettinger, a Savannahian who once weighed 700 pounds and who has come public with her story of food addiction and weight loss. Now completing its fourth season, Ruby has captured the hearts of fans of the Style Network with her show Ruby, about her journey to weight loss and newfound personal revelations. Her weight loss of more than 350 pounds (as of 2010) has inspired many to replicate her journey in their own lives. The show’s opening segment always showcases Savannah’s most striking settings.
While all three of these diverse phenomena have drawn tourists to Savannah, there’s been a steady trail of them since the 1990s when Berendt’s novel kicked off the on-screen and print phenomena. Hotels have sprung up in places that were once derelict, and Savannahians can hardly wait to see who’ll be discovered next!
Savannah is the place to bring your kids when you want them to put down their Wii controller, walk away from the television, breathe in the salt air, and discover all the fun they’ve missed staying stuffed up inside. Although the romance and historical elements of this city are plenty to satisfy the more mature visitor (and this is indeed nothing close to Disney World), there are lots of fun options for play when the kids have to come along.
That’s great news for many travelers. Here are some suggestions to get them out in the air, and keep them safe, occupied, and entertained while they’re here. The beach is within easy striking distance, a water-oriented outdoor lifestyle that puts crab traps and fishing poles in the youngest of hands, a fanatically organized system of youth sports that covers all the major games (well, not ice hockey—this is the South, you know), a local theater scene that makes room for kids, you name it. Savannah also offers that increasingly rare opportunity of growing up in a place that has a sense of identity and uniqueness.
In this chapter, we’ll focus on history, wildlife, sports, flavor, and last, but not least, the paranormal (yikes!). If you are traveling with children, we recommend spending at least part of your stay at Tybee Island, the local beach. We’ve got a whole chapter on options there. Any child who tags along dutifully on historic site tours and antiques shopping rounds deserves a chance to dig in the sand and splash around in the ocean, even in winter. Shark tooth scavenging is an awesome way to spend a cold but sunny afternoon!
Savannah is an attraction for the arts and culture. With one of the country’s premiere art colleges headquartered here, the city is not only a consumer of the arts but also a producer of the arts. Music, drama, and the visual arts are all well represented here, both in the form of outlets for local talent and in venues for touring artists of greater renown. Students study here to become artists (of varying sorts), and many of them stay after they graduate.
You can take your arts and culture on various levels in Savannah. You can don your designer duds and shop in ultrachic art galleries, picking up pieces by artists who never set foot on these shores; you can dress in jeans and pick up a sketch from a sidewalk artist on River Street; or you can rent a garret, buy a backpack, and enroll in art classes yourself. You can also work through the same type of strata musically as a concertgoer, a jazz follower in smoky nightclubs, or as a community band or civic orchestra performer bent on honing your talents. As for theater, you’ll find several active local theater groups, thriving secular performance venues in some local churches, and, for those who prefer the role of spectator, the occasional national touring troupe.
Overview
In this chapter, we outline Savannah’s major cultural organizations and venues for you. We provide plenty of telephone numbers and instructions on how to tap into specific schedules. You might also want to check out our Annual Events and Festivals chapter for further suggestions for an artsy afternoon or evening. Keeping abreast of the local cultural scene is fairly easy. The Savannah Morning News (see our Media chapter) offers its most comprehensive arts coverage in a Sunday Accent section. The Morning News’s Thursday Diversions section also contains event listings, but the coverage there tends to be more club and concert oriented.
Also, check out the Convention and Visitors Bureau’s website (www.savannahvisit.com). It’s an excellent resource for cross-checking event details. Again, read our Media chapter for suggestions on where to find this publication, which is free and distributed at various restaurants and businesses.
You obviously will find plenty to occupy your time in Savannah, but if you want to go roaming a bit, you’ll discover lots to see and do in the rest of coastal Georgia. To get you started on your explorations of the territory to the south of Savannah, we’ve mapped out trips to Richmond Hill–Liberty County and to Jekyll Island.
The spotlighted sites in the Richmond Hill–Liberty County area are within an hour’s drive of Savannah. It will take a little longer to reach Jekyll, which is about a 90-minute jaunt from Savannah. For those inclined to head north into the South Carolina Lowcountry, we’ve included a trip to Beaufort, a charming, history-filled town located 50 miles from downtown Savannah. Happy wandering!
Hilton Head Island, a lush playground for wealthy individuals—many who own second homes there—is also a popular destination for visitors from all over the United States. This is the South’s answer to the tropics, and by all appearances, it’s an island that was bred for fun! The foot-shaped barrier island is located off the Atlantic coast of South Carolina, approximately 45 miles north of Savannah, 90 miles south of Charleston, S.C., and 30 miles south of historic Beaufort, S.C. The island—12-miles long and 5-miles wide—was the first “eco-planned” destination in the United States. What does that mean? To the average onlooker who is trucking onto the island with a minivan filled with kids, luggage, and beach gear, it means that this is a place that has been delicately preserved, where nature has collided with man in a pleasant sort of way. It’s a place where you can bring your kids to escape the world of video games and opt to spend afternoons together trekking through the island on foot or bike. There are no high-rise buildings or commercial, touristy strips. Billboards are few, and even the common places that you know (like Publix, Outback, and TJ Maxx) blend discreetly into the serene natural flora. Indeed, the developers of this island are to be commended! Hilton Head can be the perfect day trip, or better yet, the perfect place for an extended vacation. If you choose to drive over for the day, you might find yourself booking a private home, villa, or condo for a longer return visit! There are simply too many things to do here, and to do them well and enjoy the ride, one must commit to a few days, at the very least. If you’re coming for the week, you’ll be sad when the checkout day arrives.
The drive out to Tybee Island from Savannah is a bit like being on a small adventure. With marshland on both sides, the natural setting is captivating, often luring drivers to pull over to the side of the road to take a quick photo of an egret standing in the mud with its neck outstretched or a turtle hatchling trying to cross the road. (This is not recommended.) The scene is often mixed with a little bit of disbelief as you make the 8- to 10-minute-long trek to this oasis called Tybee Island. Once you’ve arrived, you’ll know it, as you’ll quickly slow your speed down to 35 mph and begin taking in the colorful wooden signs, salty docks, and cheap souvenir shops that tell you that you’ve left civilization.
There are some things about Tybee that haven’t changed in the past couple decades. They are all good things. City Hall is still City Hall. The North Beach is still vast, and beachcombers are few. The ships still blow their horns as they make their way into the mouth of the Savannah River right off Tybee’s coast. You can still get a smooth ice cream cone (and chocolate dip) from a vendor on Butler Avenue, the main drag. And there’s still plenty of beach to lie on, even when it’s the Fourth of July.
Those things that have changed are also few. The mayor is a young whippersnapper that nobody thought could win but who did win, and is doing a darned good job. The permanent amusement park has gone and given way to condos, but a floating carnival has filled the void of a vacant lot during the summer. In 2009, the movies came to Tybee and stars like Miley Cyrus brought the Nicholas Sparks novel, The Last Song, to life. Lots of Tybee citizens were involved and hence, the nickname “Tybee-wood” was born.
While other beach communities succumb to high-rises, slick resorts, and gated communities with lawns pristine enough to putt on, Tybee has stubbornly resisted. Look around the town’s beachside shops during summer and you’ll see kites and flags hanging out the doors of souvenir shops that hawk seashells and bargain T-shirts for less than $10. You’ll see sunburned kids slurping snow cones to music wafting from the Tybee pier. And you’ll see locals strolling the strand every day because that’s what they do.