Savannah & Charles Trip Summary

Savannah

We stayed at the Garden Hotel on Bay Street. We chose them because of their person connection during the reservation process. It was average at best. When we arrived I realized they did charged us more than the reservation. The king room was small and uncomfortable. I went to the desk the second morning and asked if we could upgrade to a larger room. She was sure they would have a suite available but it wouldn’t happen until later in the day. When I asked the price she said it was $5 less than I was paying, that lead to the price conversation that took a day to straighten out. We went on our marry way visiting the city. When we returned the clerk said she did not know anything about the move, but looked it up and found notes in our file. They didn’t have anything but should with in an hour. About an hour later the valet came to our room to move our luggage. When we inquired with the desk they said they needed the room to clean but still didn’t have a room. We went to dinner and upon return had a new room, but low and behold it was just like the first room. When I called they told me they did not know I wanted a suite. Good news was they had one and came and moved us again. We finally worked out the rates on the third morning. They valets were the friendliest people at the hotel and it is newly remodeled and pretty clean. Maid service cleaned well enough, but when I asked for wash clothes for the last day she just looked at me a said, “None’. Concierge on Saturday was not very knowledgeable, but on Monday we were able to get some help. Most of our help came from Kevin, Holiday Inn, Charleston.

Tours: We made the mistake of taking a bus tour day one despite Kevin’s warning. Old Savannah tours, on and off tour. It might have been fine. You know how tour guides joke that this is their 1st day. Ours didn’t joke about it! It was and oh well.

Kevin…recommended an architectural tour, Jon Stalculp, it was all about the different styles of building and who built them and when. We enjoyed it since it ended up being just the two of us.

We did go on a ghost walk with, Ghost Talk Ghost walk (912-233-3896), it was actually an enjoyable walk after dinner. No hokey stuff, our guide just told ghost stories about a few of the houses and people that lived there. Would do it again.

The rest of the time we toured the sites. It’s very easy to walk and find your way around.

Meals for 2:

SOHO South – lunch, slow service, but the food was excellent. Make sure you get a brownie as you leave it was awesome. $25

Gottliebs – The best of many great meals. It’s worth the price. They started with samples of their breads, five of them and we ate them all. Appetizer Kobe beef Short rib that was outstanding. Before our meal came out they brought a little chicken biscuit with gravy that was the best we had ever had. The roasted grouper was heavenly and the veal shank schnitzel was great as well. We ended with cheesecake. After that they brought a plate of little sugar and chocolate cookies we had to take with us. Laurence one of the owners went out of his way to take care of us. It was raining and he insisted they call a cab, when I told him we needed to stop by a store for bottled water for our room he insisted he could provide it as well. $135

NOTE: they open for bakery items Tuesday – Saturday 8am – 2pm. On the way out of town we stopped in and picked up a bag of the chocolate cookies and a Danish that melted in your mouth. DON’T miss this place.

Lady and Son’s – our 1st morning we stumbled onto the line. Since we had a 5PM tour we thought we might get in here. We waited about 20 minutes, when we got to the front of the line they took our name and told us to come back a 2:30 that was perfect. The food was excellent. Best fried chicken I’ve eaten, hoecakes marvelous, first time I have ever been able to stomach collards, they were delicious. Overall very good and worth the wait. $45

Olde Pink House – Off the hook meal. She crab soup was very good with the sherry. Whole Flounder with apricot shallot sauce worth the work to pick the fish out. My wife had pork tenderloin that was the best we ever tasted. My wife is still talking about the mixed berry salad with goat cheese. $100.

Bistro Savannah – Ditto, they served wonderful hot bread with a mixture of herbed olive oil, Asiago cheese and pepper. My wife followed with a wild berry salad and the pecan crusted chicken served on heavenly mashed potatoes. I had the roasted duck breast with berry reduction and sweet potato hash. BEST Duck I ever eat. We followed with a wonderful dessert of sautéed berries, served with shortcake and ice cream yum! $85.

Savannah or Charleston at first we thought Charleston, but the more we got to know the people we say both great just different. Walking these cities with guides made them come alive for us.

Charleston - We stayed at Holiday Inn like most, from reading the reviews from this site. We were not disappointed. We stayed three nights starting 4/5. The room while not five star exceeded expectations. The room had a night love seat (comfortable), coffee table and counter that included a small refrigerator and Microwave. The bed is a Tempurpedic, it was great, this is the first time in years we both slept through the first night in a hotel. Bath room large enough but only had one sink. The maid and clerks were friendly and were always asking if they could help us. When we arrived we went down to the concierge to see Kevin, but he is off Mon-Wed. We saw Melissa and she set us up with three nights for dinner and a great walking tour with ';Tommy Dew'; that tour was outstanding, make plans, Tommy knows Charleston and history, so we learning a lot. His tour ends up at the Battery so its an easy walk to the Edmondson-Alston house, worth the tour. Warning, eat before you go on the tour because food is a pretty good hike in the opposite direction of the house. We took a Old South Carriage tour upon arrival and that was very disappointing. We got there too late 5PM for a residential tour so we did a 30 minute downtown. Not worth the money. On Friday we went to the Plantations. We visited Drayton Hall (we really enjoyed this house and tour, NOTE: start every hour so if they fill up you will have to wait or go down the road to the other two plantations) and Middleton Place (beautiful gardens) we felt the carriage ride was a waste of an hour(dusty and hot). We started on the Slave tour but the guide spoke very slowly and we decided to leave, we were about the 4th couple to leave with in 30 minutes. We tried to get into the restaurant, but there was a 30 min wait so we passed. On our drive to Savannah for the second half of Vacation we stopped in Beaufort. Kevin directed us to the Plum for lunch (great sandwiches) and we took a walking tour with ';Jon Sharp';, he was outstanding, the same kind of history and restorations as Charleston %26amp; Savannah, but smaller and closer. The last highlight was a quick stop off of HWY 17 to see the Old Sheldon Church ruins, my wife called it enchanted don%26#39;t miss it if you travel between Charleston %26amp; Savannah.

Charleston restaurants we visited Dinner for two, one appetizer, dessert and no alcohol:

High Cotton very good, highlights fried oyster added to meal. Venison great with the onion pudding. Best chesse grits in both towns. Wedge salad with the fried Green tomato, yummy.

Hanks food good, but service disengaged, best fried shrimp on the planet and she crab soup tops as well, did not stack up to the rest of the places we visited.

Anson’s off the hook good (Glad we couldn’t get into McCradys). Whole Flounder – Grouper.

SNOB lunch very good.

I think that’s key. Oh don’t forget Beaufort.

Savannah %26amp; Charles Trip Summary

Thank you so much for all the detail. I am sure it will help many. Sorry about the Garden, i will keep it in mind for future recommendations.

Glad you enjoyed our beautiful city over all and hope you come back.

Savannah %26amp; Charles Trip Summary

What a great review!!!! I%26#39;ve copied all of the tour information, I%26#39;ll be there next week

This review is going to help so many people! Many travelers decide to visit Charleston and Savannah together. I%26#39;m glad to hear you liked Tommy Dew%26#39;s Walking tour in Charleston. He%26#39;s one of the city%26#39;s best and really knows what he%26#39;s talking about. I%26#39;m also glad you posted about the 30 min. Charleston carriage ride that omits the residential areas. A lot of travelers arrive to Charleston too late to take the full tour so it was very interesting to read what someone thought about the 30 min. tour through the business district. I%26#39;m glad you were able to stay at the Holiday Inn (I%26#39;ve stayed there myself and it was excellent) and talk with the famous Kevin. He seems to be the Charles Kuralt of concierges! You also chose some of Charleston%26#39;s top restaurants.

*Excellent Review!