Cosmos in the streets

Nov. 5-Nov. 8—Savannah, Georgia

Next stop –Savannah. Other than hearing about Paula Dean’s famous restaurant, A Lady and her Sons, and having several former students attend Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), I wasn’t sure what to expect in visiting Savannah.  We chose to stay at Savannah Oaks Campground, a place we heard of from a “wagon master” of a caravan tour we met in Williamsburg.  Nothing fancy, but good sites, reasonable rates, and easy access to the city. Our first night we chose to take a ride to the downtown area and walk the streets with the dogs to get the lay of the land.  We found the riverfront area which was becoming quite lively on a Friday night.  I needed to use a restroom and walked into a crowded bar where I saw a chalkboard sign listing their special drinks for the evening.  The part that really caught my eye was it said ORDER ONE TO GO.  After using the facilities, I stopped and asked the bartender about the sign.  She said Savannah was one of the last few cities in the country that allowed patrons to order alcoholic drinks to go.  This news put a smile on my face and I walked back out to greet Vic and the dogs with their drink of the day: a Cosmos on the rocks.  After joining the growing number of people on this delightful river walk area, I noticed many of them had drinks to go as well creating a very festive atmosphere. The other standout experience was the fabulous music that seemed to lurk around every corner.  We stopped and listened to a first class jazz saxophonist for a while and then later discovered some Reggae music on the next block.  The best was yet to come with a full stage set up and a musical do-whop performance going on for free.  There were also several arts and craft booths all along the riverfront.  This was not a special festival of any kind—just an ordinary fall evening in Savannah. 

Savannah riverfront

On our second day in Savannah, I convinced Vic we just had to try Paula Dean’s restaurant: The Lady and Sons. We discovered Sunday’s menu was a buffet (my least favorite), but we decided to go ahead and try it anyway.  We put our name in around 1 p.m. in the afternoon and expected at least an hour wait.  Not so—we were seated upstairs immediately and before we knew it were eating cheddar biscuits, southern fried chicken, and all the sides you could imagine.  Vic managed to save room dessert, Georgia peach cobbler (imagine that!).  My favorite part of the experience was the building itself, a two-hundred-year-old building that was a former hardware store on Congress Street in downtown Savannah. While there, I noticed an advertisement for Paula Deen’s brother’s restaurant in the low country near Tybee Island, Uncle Bubba’s Shrimp and Oyster House.  I am much more of a seafood fan than a fried chicken fan, so we decided to try it on our way to Tybee Island the next day. After leaving Paula Dean’s restaurant, we decided to try a horse-driven carriage tour around the city. We were impressed with the incredible southern architecture—plus we learned quite a bit about the city’s historic residents which includes several ghosts who still inhabit many of the old houses in town.

The sign for Paula Dean's restaurant

Decorative fish downspout on historic building

On our final day in the Savannah area, we packed up the dogs and headed to Tybee Island.  It turned out to be a pretty typical understated beach area that looked like it had seen better days.  We were disappointed that dogs were not allowed on the beaches, so we walked them around the town before heading to Bubba’s where we were not disappointed with an ice cold Yeungling and charbroiled oysters cooked on the grill with garlic butter and parmesan cheese.  Great stop.