Travel Guide: Savannah

I haven't explored as much of the South as I would have liked to by now, but I've been to Savannah, Georgia several times and each time I'm charmed more than the last. My last visit was in September of 2015, when we took advantage of cheap-ish airfare and a long weekend thanks to Jewish holidays (oh how I'll miss having those days off this September). Savannah is full of history and beautiful neighborhoods, but it's relatively small and walkable, making it the perfect place to go if you only have a few days to spare. 

---

GETTING THERE:

I see airfare deals to Savannah quite often, sometimes as low as under $100 roundtrip (from New York). The best part about visiting Savannah for us was how walkable the city is—we didn't ever feel the need to rent a car or even use public transit, although that is an option. We did use Uber once, to get to and from Bonaventure Cemetery, but if you're more of a tour person transportation to the cemetery (located a few miles outside of the city center) is usually included. 

---

WHAT TO DO:

The Mercer Williams House
 

I've read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil several times, and it's a must-read if you're thinking of visiting Savannah (or even if you're not). So many places in the book are still around and Brendt does such an excellent job of capturing the vibe of Savannah and its eccentric residents. The Mercer Williams House would be a great place to visit just for its history and architecture, but of course it was also the scene of a notorious murder. Just don't ask too many questions about its sordid history on the tour—my uncle was once admonished by a tour guide and instructed that we were on a strictly "architectural tour" (yeah, ok). 

Danny Hansford (shot by the owner of the house, Jim Williams) and Williams (who died of heart failure in the study) are not the only people to die tragically in the house. In 1969, before Williams bought the house, 11-year-old Tommy Downs entered the then-abandoned house on a hunt for pigeons. Downs fell from either the roof or second-story balcony and landed on the wrought-iron fence. The spiked top lodged in his head and has never been replaced.

---

Bonaventure Cemetery

Bonaventure Cemetery isn't easily accessible from the historical downtown unless you have a car, take a tour or use a car service like Uber. We chose to do the latter since we wanted to be able to explore at our leisure and it was most definitely worth it (and very cheap). Bonaventure still ranks at the top of the most beautiful cemeteries I've visited, and is a quintessential Southern burial ground, with Spanish-moss draped trees and elaborate monuments covering the grounds.

---

Colonial Park Cemetery
 

If you don't have time to go out to Bonaventure, you can get your historic cemetery fix without leaving the city. Colonial Park is the oldest intact municipal cemetery in Savannah—it opened around 1750 and closed to burials in 1853, before the start of the Civil War. The cemetery grounds are open until 8pm on most days, and it's full of historical markers telling the stories of some of its more notable residents.

---

Forsyth Park

The 30-acre Forsyth Park is the largest park located in the historic district, Savannah's version of Central Park. A large fountain, built in 1858, sits at the north end of the park and on St. Patrick’s Day, the water in the fountain is dyed green during a popular ceremony. 

---

Alex Raskin Antiques

Alex Raskin has been filling the tastefully crumbling Noble Hardee Mansion (located across the square from the Mercer Williams House) with antiques for more than 25 years. It's both a shop and free house tour in one, and if I could I would purchase not only the house, but everything in it (especially the mannequins and framed photographs) I wouldn't change a thing.

---

Ghost Tours

There are many ghost tours to choose from in Savannah, consistently named one of America's most haunted cities. Do I believe most of the stories that they tell you on these tours? Not really. But I'm always looking for things to do after dark, and ghost tours are a great way to see parts of the city (within the safety of a group)—if you extract the history from the legends they can be both entertaining and informative.

---

Davenport House

The Isaiah Davenport house, built in 1820, is one of the oldest brick structures in the city. The American Federal-style house is also a museum, containing artifacts mainly from 1820-1827. When the house was threatened with demolition in 1955, a group joined forces to purchase the Davenport House. This would come to be known as the first act of the Historic Savannah Foundation, which has since gone on to save hundreds buildings in the city. The first floor of the house was restored and opened to the public as a museum in 1963.

---

River Street

Along the Savannah River you'll find century-old warehouses that have been converted to antique shops, souvenir stores, art galleries, restaurants, bars and hotels. You can get your fortune read by a pirate, squish a souvenir penny and try a praline sample (or two). I did get pooped on by a bird while standing outside of a shop on River Street, so be vigilant—and always use historic steps at your own risk.

---

The Book Lady Bookstore

This charming bookstore opened in 1978 and is Savannah's only full-service, independently-owned new and used books bookstore. They have more than 50,000 books spanning 40 genres and they're packed onto shelves, tables and staircases. I couldn't resist taking home a copy of Savannah Spectres and Other Strange Tales.

---

WHERE TO EAT:

The Olde Pink House

I'm going to recommend that you eat at the Olde Pink House, located inside of a Georgian mansion built in 1771, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure I got food poisoning from my burger. The building, one of the few to survive the fire of 1796, is said to be haunted (like most other buildings in Savannah) and I also had a strange experience on the way to the bathroom when I felt as if I had been briefly pushed down the stairs. But, poisoning and pushing aside, the Olde Pink House is classic Savannah—make reservations and maybe (definitely) pass on the burger.

---

Clary's Cafe

You know I can't travel to a new place without at least one diner breakfast. Clary's Cafe, established in 1903, has everything I look for in a classic diner—local clientele, good signage and breakfast menu staples served all day. It's also featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and was a filming location for the movie. 

---

Pirate's House

We had a delicious introductory meal at The Pirates' House, a tavern and restaurant established in 1753. A portion of the structure was built in 1734, making it the oldest building still standing in the state of Georgia. We had the buffet and it was full of perfect Southern dishes—mac n' cheese, collard greens, fried chicken, fried okra, cornbread, peach cobbler. After our meal were asked if we wanted a tour of the property by a pirate—a former New Yorker and SVA grad named Chris—who told us tales of underground tunnels, drunken sailors and haint blue paint.

---

Want to know even more about Savannah? You can see all of my individual Savannah posts here.

Savannah: Colonial Park Cemetery

Our last stop in Savannah was Colonial Park Cemetery, the second of two cemeteries we saw on our trip (the first was Bonaventure) and the oldest intact municipal cemetery in Savannah. Colonial Park opened around 1750 and closed to burials in 1853, before the start of the Civil War.

Colonial Park is located right in the heart of the historic downtown and it's open until 8pm on most days which is really convenient. It's smaller, more orderly and less picturesque than Bonaventure, but it's older and filled with the classic stones I love. I particularly love the historical markers—themselves now historic, since being placed around the city in the 50s—detailing the lives of some of the Colonial Park residents.

My favorite feature of the cemetery is the wall of broken headstones. Stones that have been broken or relocated over time are lined up and affixed to one of the brick walls surrounding the cemetery, creating a sort of art gallery where tombstones take the place of paintings. I've seen this before in cemeteries, but never with so many stones or with such a beautiful backdrop.

We saw a few flying cherubs, one skull and crossbones and loads of beautiful typography. We even saw another lizard—different than the one we spotted crawling on a tombstone in Bonaventure—which is not something you see to often up north.

Savannah, Georgia

I mentioned in my post about Bonaventure Cemetery that Francesca and I recently went on a weekend trip to Savannah. I'm not at all embarrassed to admit that it was 100% inspired by Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and considering that book spent nearly ten years on the New York Times Bestseller list, I'm willing to bet we're not the only ones similarly moved.

We both agreed that we probably never need to go to Savannah again after this trip—which isn't to say that it's not worth a return visit, but rather a comment on how much we crammed into three days. We stayed at a very lovely (and cheap!) AirBnB right off of Forsyth Park in the historic downtown area, which is quite small and very walkable.

One of our first stops was the Pirate's House, where we ate a very delicious and very Southern buffet lunch (mac n' cheese, collard greens, fried chicken, fried okra, cornbread, peach cobbler, etc.). We then asked for a tour, which we were told was free and we were directed to "ask the pirate." The pirate turned out to be a former New Yorker and SVA grad named Chris, who told us tales of underground tunnels, drunken sailors and haint blue paint. We both thought the Pirate's House was going to be cheesier than it was, but it turned out to be really historic, kind of creepy, incredibly tasty and one of our favorite stops.

In keeping with our main theme, we took a tour of the Mercer-Williams house, which was very short but still worth it. Breakfast at Clary's was excellent for the ambience (and that sign!), as well as the food, and fulfilled my need to eat at a classic diner at least once a week.

We walked the River Walk, popped in some shops, sampled multiple pralines, got pooped on by a bird and walked up (and down) various sets of "historic steps." Savannah is dripping with Southern charm and there is enough to see just walking the streets and through beautiful squares to keep you occupied for several days.

Of course I took notice of some excellent signage, hand-painted, neon and otherwise. The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a top-notch art school and their influence is felt all over the city. Although a large portion of Savannah has been restored—thanks in a large part to Jim Williams—the city is still a wonderful mix of pre-Civil War opulence and urban decay.

We took a ghost tour, creeped on a lot of real-life haunted houses and got yelled at for getting too close to the not-at-all-secured entrance to an underground tunnel once used to transport victims of yellow fever. We took two house tours (and explored one antique store/house), browsed for books, toured two cemeteries, pressed three pennies, saw every one of the squares, accidentally touched some Spanish moss and had our fortunes told by a pirate (not Chris). We didn't see any ghosts, but we did see two lizards, a tiny frog and one ghost cat.

On our last night we ate at the Olde Pink House, which was fancy and delicious. I did, however have a weird moment while we were looking around, where I missed a step on the stairs and felt as if I fell several feet. When my heart returned to my chest cavity, I joked that I must have been pushed by a ghost. I also awoke a few hours later to find that I was violently ill from my burger, so maybe the Pink House presence really wasn't a fan of me. However, despite being pooped on, pushed and poisoned, I still think our trip was nothing but a total success.

Savannah: Alex Raskin Antiques

One of the stops on our very excellent ghost tour in Savannah was the Noble Hardee Mansion on the corner of Bull and Gordon Streets, on the edge of Monterey Square. Our guide mentioned that it was completely unrestored on the inside (as well as the outside) and filled to the brim with antiques. It was creepy enough at night that we decided to see if it was open the next day, and thankfully it was. The mansion is located right across the street from the Mercer House, so we stopped by after our tour.

We spent a lot longer inside than I thought we would, after realizing that we could wander at our leisure. The house is definitely the star, although there were so many amazing (and completely out of our price range) antiques that you could spend days inside and never see it all. We wandered from room to room, and then from floor to floor (and balcony to balcony), dreaming about what it would be like to live in and decorate the incredible house.

The paint is peeling, and everything is in some state of disrepair but it's just the right amount of decrepit that you can imagine how breathtaking it once was—and could be again. I loved placing the furnishings around the house in my mind, and decided that I would definitely leave most of the creepy old photographs and empty frames hanging up the stairwell (along with a mannequin or two).

Alex Raskin has been filling the house with antiques for more than 25 years, which still seems like it's not enough time to amass such a crazy collection. The house was definitely one of our favorite stops during our short but perfect trip. It's a grand house tour with free admission and a museum where you can touch (and buy!) the exhibits. I'm sure there's also more than a few ghosts—if I had a house this beautiful, I wouldn't want to leave either.

Savannah: Bonaventure Cemetery

This is the best time of the year to work at a Jewish organization—we get five days off work in September, and two more in October for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and a few other holidays. Francesca and I took advantage of the Monday/Tuesday we had off last week and went to Savannah, Georgia. We got a ridiculously good flight deal ($150/roundtrip) and we're both big fans of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (the book more so than the movie).

Savannah is a beautiful town, and I reread the book a few weeks ago so I'd be up to speed on all the spots we needed to see. I'd been to Savannah a few times before when my sister lived there, but never without my family or as an adult. I have a much greater appreciation for travel and all things creepy now that I'm older and Savannah is lousy with history, ghost stories and beautiful old things.

One stop I knew we had to make was Bonaventure Cemetery. I had never been, and it features prominently in the book. Even if it hadn't, it's a historical cemetery built on the site of an old plantation and is consistently referred to as one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the country.

There is no obvious way to get to Bonaventure—located about 3.5 miles from the historical downtown—without having a car, and everyone we spoke to made it sound like it would be a very difficult trip unless we booked a tour. We didn't want to take a guided tour, so we decided to try Uber and it worked perfectly. Our cars to and from the cemetery didn't take longer than 5 minutes to arrive and the trip was about $11 each way—cheaper than a tour and we had complete freedom to wander as long as and wherever we liked.

The cemetery was incredibly beautiful and very peaceful. We hardly saw anyone else while we were there, which is something I love about cemeteries in general. The spanish moss dripping from the huge trees manages to look both beautiful and sinister at the same time, and the cemetery was well-kept but just the right amount of overgrown. It was also relayed to us that Bonaventure was enormous, which we didn't really find to be true—it's big, for sure, but we spent a few hours walking at a leisurely pace and saw most everything.

There are a few famous Savannah residents interred at Bonaventure, including the novelist and poet Conrad Aiken, military generals, governors, songwriter Johnny Mercer and Gracie Watson. Gracie Watson has a particularly haunting grave marker, set off behind a locked gate on a well-manicured plot of land with an inscription that reads:

"Little Gracie Watson was born in 1883, the only child of her parents. Her father was manager of the Pulaski House, one of Savannah’s leading hotels, where the beautiful and charming little girl was a favorite with the guests. Two days before Easter, in April 1889, Gracie died of pneumonia at the age of six. In 1890, when the rising sculptor, John Walz, moved to Savannah, he carved from a photograph this life-sized, delicately detailed marble statue, which for almost a century has captured the interest of all passersby."

We saw a very sad tombstone for a set of triplets (Henrietta, Emma and John Henry), met an adorable (and fast) little lizard darting around the stones, saw one of the tackiest stones I've ever seen (sorry to the Upchurch family, but your piano just doesn't belong in Bonaventure) and saw some really wonderful typography. Without Francesca I would have never spotted the most excellent skull-and-crossbones emblem for the Knights of Pythias, but it was Martha Kirksey's epitaph that will stay will me for a long time—She did what she could.