Oh, Savannah!

Savannah was my third and last stop on the 10 day Southern Road Trip I took this past fall. I started out with a few days in Charleston, followed by a few days in Wilmington (that I have nothing to post about this time as I was really there to stock my AirBNB), and then headed off to Savannah to meet up with my friend Cortney for the last leg of the Southern Tour de Food.

We got into Savannah in time to settle into our AirBNB and head to dinner at Husk.

We started off with a couple of delicious cocktails - for me it was a Lady of the Underground (vodka, pomegranate, ginger, amaro, citrus) and for Cortney it was an After the Fall (bourbon, brandy,fall spiced apple, orange).

We shared a couple of starters, Dan Dan Noodles (smoked peanut, broccoli, turnip greens, benne tahini, chili oil), Butternut Squash Caesar Salad (grana padano, katsuobushi, pumpkin seed, sourdough, egg yolk), tuna, white lily biscuits, Scallops (Appalachian blue barley, hakurei turnips, parsnips, pine, mizuna), Smoked Pork Loin (I think!) (dutch fork pumpkin, conch peas, chestnut ) and an excellent bottle of Pinot Noir. <--- Click that link if you want more info!

The cocktails and wine were great as was all of the food we ordered. The ambiance is upscale - i.e., don't go here in your walking around clothes, go back to your hotel or AirBNB and get a little dressed up for dinner at Husk.

We were so full when we finished, but if we had any room left we'd have stopped for an after dinner drink at their lovely bar. Keep that in mind for when you go to Husk!

The next morning we got up and did a bike tour of downtown Savannah. We expected this tour to be a 'see the sights' and 'get to know the city (for tourism)' kind of bike tour, but it was really mostly a history lesson as we biked from square to square and saw different monuments. Though it was not as expected, I really enjoyed it. Our tour guide was great and very knowledgeable and many of the history lessons she gave us were about badass women who helped make Savannah what it is today.

Our tour guide told us about a fancy chocolatier nearby, so you know we had to go. Chololat by Adam Turoni did not disappoint. Each chocolate so beautifully made and equally delicious. If you're bougie and you know it, order the Advent Calendar at the holidays.

On night two we headed to Circa 1875 for dinner and were...not impressed (you can tell by the lack of dinner photo-diary). It must have been an off night because Circa is a really well reviewed French restaurant, we were so excited to go! We both had filet with mashed potatoes and green beans. The mashed potatoes tasted like they were instant (is that even possible at a restaurant like this??) and the green beans were...terrible. Not to mention they were out of two or three wines we selected and service was painfully slow. The highlight of the meal was the older couple seated next to us. We chatted a bit about wine and the husband pulled out a piece of paper which was an Excel sheet with regions and years and he had every one he tried ranked. A man after our own hearts!

On day three we went to the Olde Pink House for brunch and had a *fantastic* brunch. Champagne, blue crab beignets, southern sushi (smoked shrimp & grits rolled in coconut crusted nori), crab cake, and the fried chicken chopped salad. I *cannot* stress enough how good not only the meal was, but the whole experience.

Our waiter was lovely, the ambiance was so charming, and we met a little old lady sitting by us who was dressed to the nines. Ms. Ma'am goes out every week and has herself a nice lunch and some cocktails. I aspire to be here when I'm her age (she had to be in her late 80s or older). She was an absolute gem.

We spent the rest of the day, well, getting boozy. On our earlier escapades we passed a bar called McDonough's and OBVIOUSLY had to go check it out.

It was *definitely* a local's bar but had a great time and we appreciated their recommendation to hit Pinkie Masters down the street before we left Savannah.

We had a great time at Pinkie Masters hanging out with townies and cheersing our last hours in Savannah.

Overall we had a great time in Savannah, but if I go back I'll do more planning. We (as always) planned food first and then our attitude was that we'd 'figure it out'. That plan usually works for me, but we didn't really have a good grip on where to go in the city during our downtime (i.e., between meals - ha!). I have zero regrets regarding what we did do, but I feel like we probably missed out on some things when we figured we'd just walk around and explore. It never really seemed like we were walking around in the right place because it was just too quiet with not much going on.

Cheers to Savannah from Chris & Cortney, but not you Circa 1875, not you.

xoxo,

iamfunchris