GHOSTS, FOOD, FUN, MERRIMENT, STAY & SIGHTS!
based on 14 votes
A total description of our time in Savannah.
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Explore locations featured in this Traveler List:
Savannah, Tybee Island
- Category: Best of
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Traveler type: Culture, Sightseeing, Shopping, Active/Outdoors, Never been before, Repeat visitors, Beachgoers
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Appeals to: Couples/romantics, Families with small children, Families with teenagers, Large groups, Active/adventure, Tourists
- Seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
- Tags: savannah, ghost tours, tybee island, georgia, movie tours, film tours, haunted, ghost
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1. Sixth Sense Savannah Ghost Tours
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| Firstly we about died laughing when we read their phone number! 866.666.DEAD Oh my God my friends and family in Mississippi would never forgive me! My Family! I swear I'm not in a cult! LOL I made our reservation with Hollywood Ron's friend Shannon Scott. It was great to talk to the creator of the tour and he was very courteous and got us all arranged on a private tour. Which was a little more money but we really wanted to do something with just the girls so. Another great thing for us was that the tour's starting point was close to our inns and we walked there in just a few minutes. Clary's Cafe We were met by our guide Chris Soucy who was very tall and wore a long black trenchcoat. What a postively enthralling storyteller. He didn't miss a beat and we went by a number of haunted spots and since we were especially interested in Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil, he took us by the Mercer House where we heard all about Jim Williams and Danny Hansford and even the tragic story of a young boy who fell off of the house and died on a fence spike! Mercer House We were told that if we visited the Mercer House to watch out for asking questions about Midnight or the ghosts because they don't take too friendly to it. We even heard they'd kick you out if you protested! We wouldn't have time to visit it this round so we didn't have to concern ourselves. Later at Colonial Park Cemetery, Chis told us harrowing stories about a "man in blue" and a giant boy called Rene who killed 2 girls in the cemetery and was later hanged on River Street. He even had some photos of a voodoo rite that involved some animals. He said he didn't ordinarily show them but we begged him and so he did! Colonial Park Cemetery I think our favorite part was when we left the cemetery for the Savannah Theater which is where Chris had worked off and on for 20 years as actor and everything else. Its America's oldest operating theater and even Oscar Wilde had lectured there! Oscar Wilde We had a chance to go into the theater because of Chris and he told us some hair raising stories about dark shadows shaped like people moving up and around him and other. While we were there someone cut the lights out and had they not come back on a second later I think we would've stomped each other on the way out! I'm not sure I really believed in ghosts but Chris made the whole thing feel so real and gave everyone lots to talk about. We also took some great photos and I hope to post them later. |
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We ended up staying at a great lilttle inn called The Azalea Inn Azalea Inn and as we needed some extra room for the rest of us, we had to hunt for another inn and was hoping to find something close by. Sherri at the Azalea Inn was a jewel and really helped us do some planning. We liked both of our inns this trip because they were both near everything but off of the beaten path and had plenty of parking and other perks. This one had a very private courtyard with a pool and cute garden. The decor was ultra historic and cozy and I loved the panoramic mural enveloping the parlor and dining room. Very unexpected. Made me want to get into the inn business! (hint hint Sherri) |
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3. Tybee Island Lighthouse Museum
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| Didn't make the long walk up but it was a beauty to see. Nice gift shop and will certainly make the hike up for the view next time. |
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| So back in town we started to plan out a tour for later in the day. At one point we'd stopped into a place near the riverfront on a main shopping drag called Leopold's Ice Cream Leopold's Ice Cream This place had a ton of movie posters and when we asked one of the soda jerks about the decor, she explained that the owner's family had started this place back in 1919 and that the current owner was a big time Hollywood producer and it was his family's place and he'd decided to re-open it after many years of being closed. Producer Stratton Leopold As we stood here really soaking this all up, a good looking guy introduced himself as a friend of Mr. Leopolds and that he'd worked for him and also ran a tour company about movies that had been filmed in Savannah. We were so tickled to have run into this local celebrity and since we really wanted a tour that was different took him up on his offer. Around town he's called Hollywood Ron and has worked on a ton of films like "Training Day" and "Remember The Titans" and when he was a little kid, he was also an extra in the film series "ROOTS". We had Hollywood Ron pick us up in his bus a little while later and were very impressed with not only his knowledge, but his tour had a video interactive aspect so that you could see the film clips or stills in the places where the scene truly took place in Savannah. We FINALLY got to see where the Forrest Gump bench used to be and It was about 90 minutes and we took pictures and got his autograph and he said something about meeting Mr. Leopold but we never ended up getting to take him up on the offer. |
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| After our first night in Savannah, we were ready for a big hangover breakfast and the consensus seemed to be a place called Firefly Cafe. Sorry, but they don't have a website. Plenty of reviews on this site and others though. This place was very much a neighborhood cafe and eclectic and quaint and was packed to the gills but in a good way because no one seemed to mind and everybody smiling. They had tables overlooking the square and I would have to say there felt to be more locals than people like us and that made our day too. I'm a fan of shrimp and grits and these were some of the best I ever tasted. We ended up doing dinner here one night and they had sumptuous wines. I'm partial to artichoke and spinach dips and I've never had one as good. The broiled tuna filet I ate was also amazing. |
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| There was another restaurant around the corner from the Azalea Inn called The Sweet Leaf Smokery and we did a quick lunch there. I'm a big fan of BBQ and this place had my favorite sandwhich of the whole visit. Really good takes on Southern side dishes as well. Had some decent seating outside and a good people watching place.Their cornbread pudding took my breath away! Yum! |
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7. Fort Pulaski National Monument
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| We also wanted to do a girl's day out on Tybee Island and some nightlife too so one morning we headed out early to Tybee Island. Tybee Island We're not much into forts but from a distance, this place called Fort Pulaski looked so cool and plus we'd heard it was haunted and so with Halloween right around the corner, we decided to go check it out. What a cool and really beautiful place. From the upper parts of the fort we could see the Atlantic and about everything in every direction for miles. Interesting history but we girls had some shopping in mind so we didn't spend quite an hour here. |
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Ave price:
$199
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Let me tell you, this place was perfect for our group gathering and I'm not sure which one we liked the most. Both were situated near everything but were also away from crazy traffic and noise and at night time all you could hear were our laughs and the crickets. Sherri at the Azalea Inn was a jewel and really helped us do some planning, but I think our favorite was Ron at the Dresser-Palmer House. He was SOOOO funny and seemed to know just about everybody and everything to do. Plus he's single(in that special Savannah way) and really knew where to send a bunch of girls to go out. This hotel is very elegant and is very much about the full service. I've found a lot of inns & B&B's feel stuffy and like you don't live there so don't touch too much attitude. But this one had all of the high end feel without all of the stuffiness. I was also very impressed by how large the rooms were along with the main public areas. You really felt like you were family and were welcome to wander and lounge at all hours. |
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| Sits just off of the beach and has a great bar with some excellent food and really good live music. Indoor and outdoor seating. Take some bug spray in the warmer times for the sand gnats but otherwise one of the best places on Tybee. |
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10. Fannies On The Beach (yours, mine and everybody's! LOL)
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| Overlooks the beach. Great family place. Neat neat decor. Great upstairs outdoor type balcony. Fun place with games, pool tables and heard at night its the place to be for music and drinks. |
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11. DragonFly Art Studios
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| My favorite little shop was a place called Dragonfly Studios and they had quality handmade crafts. Some low end and some high end. Very colorful, funky and was hoping to find more stuff like this on Tybee but sadly didn't. |
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| At one point we'd stopped into a place near the riverfront on a main shopping drag called Leopold's Ice Cream Leopold's Ice Cream This place had a ton of movie posters and when we asked one of the soda jerks about the decor, she explained that the owner's family had started this place back in 1919 and that the current owner was a big time Hollywood producer and it was his family's place and he'd decided to re-open it after many years of being closed. Producer Stratton Leopold As we stood here really soaking this all up, a good looking guy introduced himself as a friend of Mr. Leopolds and that he'd worked for him and also ran a tour company about movies that had been filmed in Savannah. We were so tickled to have run into this local celebrity and since we really wanted a tour that was different took him up on his offer. Around town he's called Hollywood Ron and has worked on a ton of films like "Training Day" and "Remember The Titans" and when he was a little kid, he was also an extra in the film series "ROOTS". We had Hollywood Ron pick us up in his bus a little while later and were very impressed with not only his knowledge, but his tour had a video interactive aspect so that you could see the film clips or stills in the places where the scene truly took place in Savannah. We FINALLY got to see where the Forrest Gump bench used to be and It was about 90 minutes and we took pictures and got his autograph and he said something about meeting Mr. Leopold but we never ended up getting to take him up on the offer. |
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Compliment LuciousJanet33
LuciousJanet33
Savannah of course!
