Day 9 – Savannah, GA

I’m a little sad we didn’t get to visit Firefly Plantation which didn’t open until 11am as well as Charleston Tea Plantation. They’ll be on my list to see next time I go back. We had to hurry this morning and jump in the car to drive 2 1/2 hours to Savannah, GA in order to make it in line by 9:30am to get a reservation for Paula Deen’s The Lady and Son’s Restaurant. Yep, hubby took a picture of me after my success of getting our name down.

Anyway, now that we’re here so early we headed over to The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist. It has to be in my top 10 best churches I’ve seen. It’s beautiful inside. I always feel so bad about photographing in a church, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to get some shots of this one.

Next we drove down to Tybee Island Light Station. We didn’t pay to go up to the top, I just like to photograph them and have a thing for lighthouses.

 

Since it was now lunch time we headed over to Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House (Paula Deen’s brother). I was a little annoyed at our waitress who said he was there and then when I reminded her I would like to meet him she said he left. Oh well! We got Ice Tea $1.99, if you don’t like super sweet tea don’t order this, I’m southern and loved it. Their corn muffins and butter are to die for. Click HERE for some of their recipes.

We started with 6 Chargrilled Oysters $7.99, OMG the best thing ever!! We also shared a Cup of Crab Stew $6.99, so thick and really good.

D ordered the Catfish Lunch special $18.99, and I got the Stuffed Flounder $24.99 (Filet of flounder, stiffed with house made crab stuffing, topped with crab butter and served with two side items), I picked the grits and baked potato for my sides. The coating on the catfish was really good and they couldn’t have cooked it any more perfect. I loved my dish it was flaky and full of flavor. I would come back here for sure.

Now that we where stuffed we decided to go check in the hotel. I had booked us with the Hilton Savannah DeSoto $162.59 room plus tax and $18 parking. The location was good from the places we wanted to see and since we where in another city that’s best seen walking that was important. We where lucky and got a corner room that had a nice balcony. My only complaint is Savannah is the wedding destination so be sure to book in advance because the hotels fill up.

Once we got settled in we set foot to check out some of the sites before dinner.

The Lady & Sons doesn’t post their menu online so here’s a picture of it. We opted for the $15 buffet, because I was there to try all the staples that Paula Deen is! D also ordered a Peach Mint Julep $10, which was really good except all the blended mint sticking in your teeth, and we each got Ice Tea $1.99. There’s 3 floors in the place and let me tell you it’s packed! You still have a good 20-30 minute wait once you get there depending on how quickly people are leaving. It’s worth the effort to get in and at least say you’ve been there.

With our pants a little tighter fitting we rolled on out and hit the bed so we could sleep in tomorrow.

Day 8 – Charleston, SC

This morning we headed into Charleston, SC downtown to take a 9:30am tour of Fort Sumter ($17 per adult), the spot where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. If I could do it again I would skip this and take the Naval and Maritime Tour at Patriot Point. Although this tour isn’t a waste of time it does eat up some time if you are limited in Charleston. I would also recommend you take the latest tour in the day so you can see the sunset and the lighting is better to take pictures.

When we got back to shore we headed for lunch at Husk the menu changes daily so even if I say it’s good, doesn’t mean it’ll be there when you go. D tried some new Bourbon’s we haven’t been able to find anywhere the Woodford Maple Reserve $25, Van Winkle $25. I ordered the Everything But the Goat $9 (Gordon’s gin, strawberry gastrique, arugula, pecan bitters). Umm yeah not good something was a little off about this drink I didn’t care for it. However, the rolls and port butter or fantastic!!! We ate several baskets of these.

The front porch has these fun swings that sway side to side and all the tables have a nice Earthy feel to them. We sat outside on the second floor.

We started out with the Wood Fired NC Chicken Wings Glazed with Kentuckyaki and Sea Island Benne $8. They where good and I would order them again.

For our main dish we ordered the Smoky TN Pork BBQ with Carrot and Cabbage Slaw, Fried Potato Wedges $10 as well as the Fried Chicken BLT with Spicy Mayo, Wes’ Tomato, Broadbent Bacon and Fried Potato Wedges $10. The BBQ sandwich was good, but the best was the BLT. We could have eaten a whole bucket of that chicken alone and the spicy mayo was really good with it.

To walk off our lunch we headed around the Historic City Market. Of course on our way we stopped for dessert at Peninsula Grill and shared a slice of Coconut Cake $11.25. I can’t say it’s the best ever, it came from the fridge so it didn’t have that fluffy texture like I think it should. Room temp I’m sure is the best to eat it at.

Next stop was the Charleston City Market. You’ll see lots of people weaving baskets or different items, not all of them allow you to take pictures so be sure to keep an eye out for signs.

We stopped in Grill 225 at the bar for Nitrotinis. Andy is a fantastic  bartender and knows more about creating cocktails then most bartenders now a days. With over 20 different Nitrotinis you’re bound to find one you wanna try. We tried out the Lemon Drop $17 (Absolut Citron vodka, simple syrup and freshly squeezed lemon, garnish with a lemon peel) and the Nitromellow $19 (Stoli vanilla, Baileys, Frangelico and Butterscotch schnapps with essence of chocolate, graham cracer rim and Nitromellows). D also tried Andy’s version of the Mint Julep which was really good. I loved the chocolate one and the lemon was also fantastic. 

Heading back to our car we stopped in Market Street Sweets known for pralines $17.95 this one cost $3.41. It’s worth every penny they are really good and really sweet.

We finally made it to our hotel for the night HarbourView Inn $329 plus taxes $18 parking.

While the hotel looked fantastic it does cost on the upper end of what I would want to pay for a hotel. Spending almost $350 I don’t expect to have a view like this:

Honestly I wouldn’t stay here again. There’s plenty of water front properties. I did fill out the survey they emailed me and they where kind enough to respond and refund me 10% and the parking.

Since we where in the walking city and the weather was fantastic we walked to our dinner reservation. Along the way we stopped by the famous pineapple shaped fountain and Rainbow Row which is 14 different homes that mirror the colors of the rainbow.

Earlier after talking to Andy we declined our other reservation at Hank’s and went to Coast. I loved the feel of this place. It’s on a back street so keep your eyes out for it. The place was packed, but when we finally got it we where greeted with yummy bread and butter.  

We started with the Traditional Ceviche $12.99 (Fresh Shellfish, Lime, Chile, Cilantro, Red Onion & Plantain Chips), Coast Crab Soup $7.99 (Drizzled with Crème Fraiche). The ceviche was ok, could have used a little more flavor. The crab soup was nice and thick and really good. I could have eaten a big bowl of that.

We where a little tired by the time we got to the entrée so we kind of ordered the same thing without trying different things haha. I got the Escolar $20.99 (with Beurre Blanc Sauce served with seasonal vegetables, Parmesan Mashed Potatoes), D ordered the Grilled Tuna $23.99 (with Beurre Blanc Sauce served with seasonal vegetables, Parmesan Mashed Potatoes). Mine was a little over smoked, but they where both really good.

Exhausted we headed back to the room to rest up for the next big day ahead of us.