Hey ya'll!!

Sweet tea, cheese grits and fried green tomatoes.... 1 guess where I was recently...  Yep, Savannah!!!  Well actually, I was staying on Edisto Island, South Carolina but spent one awesome say in Savannah and a second in Charleston.

My parents own a timeshare and each year get 4 weeks to use at a variety of locations around the US.  They choose Edisto Island for this spring since it was someplace they had never been, was near the water and not too far from other cities.  The condo they reserved had 2 bedrooms (and a loft) and 2 baths, a full kitchen and living room etc... since I am not working right now, they invited me down for the week.  I decided to go for just part of the week and drove the 8 hrs on Sunday...

Edisto Island is a very small beach town with just a few restaurants, some shops and a Piggly Wiggly.  Think there was one stop light.  However, is directly off the Atlantic Ocean and is very quiet and relaxing.  Since we were there in the "off season" it was pretty dead but I am not sure what it is like in the dead of summer.  Once I got off of 95-South, it took almost a full hour to get out there.  For awhile I wondered where the heck my GPS was taking me as you drive along 2 lane roads winding through small towns here and there.  I bet I passed at least 30 churches in that hour long car ride!

Though the resort was not one of the nicer ones, it was good enough for a relaxing few days.  On Monday morning the 3 of us headed out at 7:30AM to drive into Savannah, which was just under 2 hours away.  We had booked a "Paula Deen" tour that morning at 10.  The tour was kinda fun... it drove us around Savannah basically stalking many of the places Paula had worked, or lived or shopped at, etc... Included a stop at Byrd Cookie Company, which had some amazing cookies and adorable gifts.  I bought a cute dip bowl and spreader and a few other little items. 

Next on the tour was a visit to the Savannah Bee Company where we were able to sample some of their honey.  Then lunch at Uncle Bubbas (Paulas little brother) located on Wilmington Island. Lunch was part of our tour price, so we did not get to order off the main menu and instead had a lunch buffet which was full of southern treats... low country boil, green beans, red rice, corn on the code, spare ribs and much more. Plus lets not forget the sweet tea.  It was all delish!  Then banana pudding for dessert--totally blew my diet on this trip.  After lunch we headed back into Savannah and the tour ended around 2pm. 

We had a few hours to kill, so decided to do a more formal tour of Savannah which included a 3 hour bus tour with a great tour guide who gave us so much history.  It was pretty great. Included one stop down on River Street where there were some cute shops and an awesome candy/ice cream shop we were able to get a refreshing treat.


Church steeple in Savannah--this is the steeple the feather floats by in the opening of Forrest Gump



House from "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"

 
Once that tour ended we headed over to Lady and Sons for our dinner reservation.  This is the restaurant owned by Paula and her 2 sons.  Luckily we had a "reservation" as part of the tour we did earlier in the day but it was crowded.  There was a large, 2 story gift shop and the restaurant was (I believe) 3 or 4 stories.  So, I will give her restaurant 3 stars, out of 5.  I think it was basically because of what I ordered I did not like but was kinda disappointed in that.  I guess I had just worked myself up that it would be so wonderful plus it was some place I'd always wanted to go.  My Dad and I ordered the crab stew to start, which was wonderful and my Mom got the fried green tomatoes, which were equally as good.  But I ordered the crab cakes and did not like them!!  It was something about the seasoning that just didn't work for me. It came with red beans and rice, which were just ok and then fried collard greens--which were interesting and actually what I liked the best.  It was also freezing at our table and I think kinda added to the bad experience.  I would definitely recommend it for a first timer and there are tons of other items to order (my Mom loved her Grouper meal). 

After dinner, we headed back the 2 hours to Edisto Island for the night.

Tuesday morning we took our time getting up and milling around and then decided to head into Charleston, which was only about an hour away.  My Dad is "king of the tour", so we took another tour which again was very interesting.  I liked this one better than the one in Savannah as it was able to stop at times so we could get a better look, take pictures, etc... 

One of the beautiful homes in Charleston

The tour lasted about 3 hrs and then we took the local trolley back around to the Charleston Marketplace, which we had seen on the tour.  It was 4 or 5 long buildings full of all kinds of vendors selling tons of different items.  Some really interesting items.  I bought a small bouquet of "roses" made out of palm fronds that someone handmade.  We then strolled around a few of the streets and little shops and then had dinner at Hymans Seafood, a popular place and very good.   Enjoyed this place so much better than the night before. 

Originally, I was planning to drive home on Wednesday but decided on our drive home from Charleston that I would stay an additional day to get some R&R especially since the previous 2 days had been so full.  On Wednesday, we did go out and explore Edisto Island some--checked out the beach, had lunch in a little place on the water, checked out the few little shops and visited a local plantation.  That night we had dinner at the Old Post Office, which was about 15 minutes away.  It was pricey but pretty good. 



Atlantic Ocean at Edisto Island



Fountain in front of the Old Post Office restaurant

Thursday I started my journey back north around 9AM with a few stops at an outlet along the way.  It was a fun few days and a nice get away. Oh, I shouldn't forget to mention that it was sunny and in the 80s the entire time... loved it and hated returning to the cold weather in NoVA.  

I had never been to either Savannah or Charleston before, so really enjoyed visiting both and would love to go back when I had more time to see and do other things.  I'd have to say that I liked Savannah the best but both are equally as nice and so much history.

Up next... Key West (April 16-23)... :)