Thanksgiving in Savannah

THANKSGIVING IN SAVANNAH, GA. 

WEDNESDAY night

Omar and my parents picked me up from work at 3pm to head to Savannah. We stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites off of MLK Blvd which is right on the edge of the Historic District. This is our 3rd hotel in Savannah we have stayed at now. We stayed at the other Hampton Inn right off Bay Street when we went for our 1 year anniversary and then at the Doubletree which is right off Bay Street as well for last year's Christmas. 

After arriving we drove over to eat dinner at Casbah which is a Moroccan Restaurant. The setting is like a tent inside. You sit low to the ground, they wash your hands, and you eat with your fingers. The food was good like the first time we went a few years ago. The belly dancer was fun to watch as well. 

After dinner we walked around on that road where there are lots of shops. We went in this really interesting shop and found a few unique items that of course were purchased. I wish I remembered the name of it. We then walked down the river front and walked in a few of the candy shops that were open and got some homemade ice cream for desert. 

THURSDAY

We knew that most everything would be closed on Thanksgiving Day. We decided to just walk around to all the different squares and let my mom read the historical signs. We all were amazed at HOW MANY historical marker signs there could be. Some squares had like 3-5 of them! 

Omar loves the iron work of the homes

One of the cemetaries

Reservations are pretty much a must for Thanksgiving meal. My parents did some research and made reservations at 17 hundred 90 Inn. Our hotel concierge asked where we were eating and when we told her she responded, "How did you get into THAT place? Now that is some good food." I would agree it was good food. They had some of the staples - turkey, ham (we never have ham for thanksgiving), gravy, cornbread stuffing (I have never had cornbread stuffing before), mashed potatoes, green beans, collard greens (never been a fan of these and we don't normally have these), lima beans (to die for), broccoli salad, ambrosia, and these honey biscuits (I had 3 and don't really care for biscuits). For desert there was pumpkin pie, pecan pie, some different puddings, chocolate cake, vanilla cake, bread pudding. I didn't eat any deserts though. We ate plenty - so much so that we didn't eat any dinner that day.

After Thanksgiving meal we walked around more squares until finally going back to the hotel to rest for about 2 hours. We then went to see the new movie Red Dawn. After the movie we went over to Wal-Mart to participate in the Black Friday madness. We always seem to luck out with Black Friday - never really have to wait for what we are trying to get. I have never seen so many cashiers either - we literally just walked up to check out. It was a no-fuss Black Friday for us.

FRIDAY

This was our main day to get everything in as far as activities. After debate we decided to go on the Oglethorpe Tour company. Omar and I had done the Old Trolley before and thought Oglethorpe would be better this time because you do a full 90 minute tour before the on-off aspect of the trolley comes into play. This was we could get a feel of what all there was to do and would be able to then choose the next stops for the day. Plus this is the least expensive trolley company in town.

Part of our tour they let us off for 15 minutes to go inside the Catholic Church that had not too long ago been renovated for over 11 Million dollars. It was gorgeous inside. I told Omar this was only getting him ready for a potential/hopeful trip to Rome next year. 

After the tour we got off near the markets and looked in more shops before making our way to lunch reservations at Paula Deen's restaurant Lady & Sons. Next time I want to go to Mrs. Wilkes instead. 

We looked around in the cemetery and then went ahead and did the Telfair Museum pass which included passage to the Owens-Thomas House, Telfair Academy and the Jepson Center. The Jepson Center we didn't really care for - it was mainly all modern art and not too much of it at that. Owens-Thomas House is supposed to be probably the prettiest house inside to tour. It was quite remarkable. The main reason it is historical is because American Revolutionist Marquis de Lafayette stayed there for 2 nights and spoke to Savannah from the Master Bedroom there. 

The Telfair Academy was once a mansion made into a museum and had additional space built onto it. My favorite exhibit there was the watercolor paintings. They were so incredible that they looked like photographs. I don't recall who the artist was though. 

Dad building a church or something in the children's section of the museum - he looks so  proud!

Following the museums we had the trolley take us to our hotel to drop off our bags before heading back out for some ice cream. Leopolds is the top 3 ice cream place in the country, so of course we had to try it. The line was way out the door. To greet us was the owner

I used to be a Girl Scout so had to have a picture in front of the Headquarters

SATURDAY 

We went to Forsyth Park and walked around. Following the Park we drove to Bonaventure Cemetary which my mom has always wanted to see. Then we drove home. It was a nice trip.