I was asked a couple weeks ago to fill in for one of my co-workers at a conference in Savannah, Georgia. I pretty much jumped at the chance because I had just been snowed in the house for 4 days with a cranky 2 year old. Also, I figured that Savannah would give me the chance to experience some warmer weather AND a bed all to myself.
Of course, I had no idea that I’d come down with the stomach bug from hell on Wednesday morning. It was the most LITERAL 24 hour bug I’d ever had – lasting from exactly 5am on Wednesday until 5am on Thursday when I woke up for my flight. One moment I was curled up in bed fighting off chills, fever, aches and another visit to the bathroom… the next minute I sat up, swayed a little and thought, “Wow, I don’t feel like I want to die anymore!”
So, off to the plane I went. Unfortunately, there are no direct flights from BWI to Savannah, so I had 2 flights with a ridiculously small layover to get from one flight to the next. The flights were pretty short too; however, I did have enough time to pick my two favorite items out of the Sky Mall catalog.
Winner for “Who Buys this Stuff?” is the Decorative Toilet Flush Handles in the shapes of dolphins and seashells. Yes, these are actually a thing and they sell for $19.99! My favorite part of the description is a tie between the line “to withstand the most demanding flushing needs” and that these handles will “simply add something that will make friends and family members say, Wow!”
Wow, indeed.
Winner for “Why this Combo, WHY?!” is the Bidet Sprayer/Digital Accessory Cady/Toilet Paper Stand:
Because OF COURSE you’d want a bidet to also hold your iPad. Duh. Also, am I confused that a bidet is to wash your sassy downstairs bits after using the toilet? Because, the picture shows someone washing their leg and… that seems a bit excessive, right?
Anyways, a truck ride + a shuttle ride + two short flights + a taxi ride and I finally ended up at the Hyatt Regency in Savannah. I only had to work for a couple hours that evening, so I was looking forward to doing some exploring.
It was cold and rainy though, so I figured that was the perfect excuse to order room service and eat it while snuggled in bed with a new book for my kindle (Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, suggested by my buddy Katie at Words for Worms).
The plan for Friday was to hang out at my work booth all day. Which would have been fine, except my box of supplies didn’t show up until 2pm, so I was rocking out at an empty table for most of the day.
Yes, I am actually that pale. I mean, part of the problem was the light shining in… but I could use some time in the sun (preferably on a beach with a frosty drink).
I had a 90 minute break for lunch, so I took the opportunity to check out The Paris Market. I had heard so much about it online and couldn’t wait to see it myself. Only to realize once I got there, that I had actually been there before (and loved it) last time I was in Savannah about 7 years ago! It’s like a beautiful French version of Anthropologie and I pretty much wanted to buy EVERYTHING there.
Or just move in to the store for the rest of my stay.
I resisted buying everything and walked away with only two purchases – a pretty scarf for myself (picture further down) and a signed copy of Scampering Through Savannah
for Jack.
I then stopped in a random storefront restaurant for lunch and was BLOWN AWAY with the BEST chicken fried rice I’d ever had in my entire life. If you’re ever in Savannah, go to Aroy-Jung Asian Fusion because it totally rocked my world.
After stuffing myself full of ricey goodness, I returned to the exhibit hall to hang out by my empty table for a few more hours. That evening was my last chance to really explore Savannah before my morning flight, so I mapped out my attack so I could be sure to hit as many places as possible before they closed. For some reason, many of the shops I wanted to visit closed at 6pm (even on a Friday night) so as soon as the conference ended at 5pm I ran up to my room, changed my clothes, and ran back out the front door.
Of course, before I ran out I had to take a picture of my new scarf from The Paris Market, STRIPES EVERYWHERE! And no, I haven’t gotten rid of my bangs… I just didn’t get a chance to trim them before I left due to the stomach bug.
Within my one hour deadline, I was able to make it to all of the stores on my must-see list before they closed. My favorite was Red Clover – the salesgirls were so incredibly friendly and the clothing was gorgeous. I could have ended up with an entire bag full of jewelry, but only purchased one shirt that was SO SOFT that I couldn’t resist it (it’s this one). The store has an online shop, so I’m definitely going to keep it on my radar.
I also enjoyed The Salt Table and sampled a ton of different flavored salts and sugars. My favorite was the coconut sugar and I’m kicking myself for not buying some to put in my morning coffee.
While I was walking around town, I made it a point to stop by Leopold’s Ice Cream and wasn’t sorry that I did. I had a small cup of their Chocolate Chewies & Cream ice cream and it was amazing. So CREAMY and the chocolate chewies were the perfect addition. I’m kind of craving some now actually…
Even though I’d just had ice cream, I figured that it was a good time to grab some dinner and went by Rocks on the River at the Bohemian Hotel, which was right next to my hotel. I have to send a shout out to my wonderful bartender, Amy, who made me a delicious Champagne Cobbler. YUM.
I also had their white pizza, which was super yummy. Lots of cheese, garlic and pesto – which is a perfect choice for a girl going back to her hotel room alone. Not that my husband would have minded the garlic breath, he would have probably devoured the leftover pizza and smelled just as bad!
After my dinner, I was ready to go back to my room to warm up (and finish my book) but still needed to get a souvenir shirt for Travis. We have a tradition that I buy him one from every business trip I go on, which ironically started with a trip to Savannah 7 years before. Well, the shirt I bought him on that trip was worn so many times that it has holes, so I bought him an almost identical shirt at a shop on River Street.
And then I was DONE.
So done. I trudged back up to my hotel room, threw on my pajamas and wrapped myself in blankets with my kindle for my last night on my own before returning to normal life. I was up by 8am, packed up my little suitcase and got home on Saturday afternoon.
When I opened the front door, I heard “oooh, who do you think is home?” and was then greeted with a running hug from Jack. The perfect end to a pretty great trip!
Have you been to Savannah? Did you think that everyone was insanely nice? What are your favorite things to purchase when you’re looking for souvenirs?
Disclosure: There are a lot of links in this post, but only one is an Amazon affiliate link (for the book). Pocketful of Joules is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. All the rest of the links are just to make your life easier if you’re planning to visit Savannah!
