Charleston SC & Savannah GA

 Updated below end of trip - including more photos

Sunday May 22, 2022

Night before last with our travel day. We left about 1 o’clock in the morning from Phoenix and connected through Charlotte and on to Charleston.  The Travel Gods were kind. Both flights were on time, our luggage came down quickly, rental car process was not horrible. We had an easy 20 minute ride to the hotel. Check in time is 4 and it was 11 but we thought we’d check on the off chance it might be ready. She said the room was cleaned and just waiting for inspection, would be ready in about 30 minutes. Perfect. We talk to the concierge and got an area map since they do not have maps at the rental car agencies anymore. I guess they assume everyone uses their phone map. We like it on paper to see what’s around and outside the area, not just for directions. #OldPeopleProblems.  She also gave us some info about the free shuttle bus that runs every 15 minutes.  We checked in and then walked across to the East Bay Deli to get a quick light lunch because we hadn’t eaten all day and had dinner reservations at 6 PM. He got a Southern Style Hotdog and I got the Ultimate Spud which had fried chicken pieces, cheese, tomato, a squiggle of ranch.

I

Side note: I went to the doctor before we left town and have to go for some medical test when we return. He said in the meantime, no red meat, no alcohol. Great timing. I don’t drink alcohol that often but I do enjoy cocktails when I’m on vacation. 🍹 Meat - meh. I’m okay with that but I do enjoy a good burger from time to time. 🍔  Good thing we are in the land of seafood! 🍤🦞🦀

We walked down to the marketplace area (which is officially called "downtown") where there are lots of bars and restaurants.  We walked around there for a little while, scoped out where the restaurant is that we were having dinner at. Walked over to the Ocean.

From in front of the fountain

Beyond the fountain

America's Oldest Liquor Store

Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon
South Carolina's Most Historic Building

We went into the Marketplace which kind of reminded me of a swap meet with lots of vendors. It was way too crowded so we left. Maybe will try it again during the week. We mowsied our way back to the hotel and rested a little while until it was time to go to dinner. We decided we would take the car out when we went to dinner (vs walking or the bus) and then stop at the grocery store on the way back.

We got down there a little early so we walked around checking out the environment. We walked back down to the ocean and saw an oceanfront restaurant but we might try tonight if we can get in. 

Dinner was at Revival.  We split a She Crab Soup and a Worlds Fair Chopped Salad. Both were very good.  He ordered the Crispy Duck Confit.

I had the Lowcountry Pirlou.

It had poached lobster, shrimp, crab, Pegao (crispy rice), sweet peas and a garlic aioli.  It also had two chunks of fish which were not listed on the menu. It was very fishy. I asked our server what it was and he said it’s Tailfish which is very  popular here. Good to know.  I will not be ordering Tailfish during the rest of our visit.  The other seafood was excellent. We had Keylime pie for dessert which was delicious.

Server and his assistant very good as well.

He drove back to the grocery store and picked up water, muffins, beer and nuts for him, bananas for me. Our typical vacation list. Back to the hotel and straight to bed for me but not before checking in with Aunties Janet and Kimberly to see how our fur babies are.  🐶🐱 All is well.

By the way, we never saw the free shuttle bus! 🚍

Today we will have a late breakfast and then head out to the Tanger outlet mall. Paul wants some new pants and I’m sure I “need” something! It’s really all we have planned for today. There is an aquarium and Fort Sumter that we want to go to but we thought it would be best to do that tomorrow and not on the weekend.

*** I can’t get my photos to download from my camera. This happed last trip too. Might have to wait until I get home but I’ll try again later. In the meantime the pics above were the only two photos I took yesterday on my cell phone when we went out the first time. Also pics below of my favorite spot.

*** was able to download my pics at home so there are camera pics now as well as phone pics.

Forgot to mention earlier that our balcony is perfect.

 It is currently 78°, high expected to be 82°. The rain has moved out of the forecast for today. 🌥

Update: Don’t trust the weather app. When I got up in the morning it said cloudy with thunderstorms at 4 PM. When we left around 10:15 AM it had switched to cloudy all day, no rain til tomorrow. When we got to the Tanger outlet there were a lot of dark clouds. I checked the weather app again and it said thunderstorms in one hour. First stop was Tommy Hilfiger‘s and within five minutes it was flat out pouring. My rain jacket and umbrella left behind at the hotel!

Backing up before the weather report, we had decided to drive to the outlet mall and then look for a place for breakfast. When we arrived we discovered the only breakfast places were Golden Corral Buffet, IHOP or Denny’s. No little Ma and Pa breakfast cafes. By the time we drove around and around it was 11 so we went to Bonefish Grill. We used to have one in Phoenix but it closed several years ago. I had my favorite, Bang Bang Shrimp and he had a burger.

So yummy

Off to the mall. As I mentioned it started pouring shortly after we arrived. We shopped and hung around a little in Tommy Helfiger’s. Then we darted in the rain to Guess right across the way and few other stores.  He ended up finding pants, shorts, shirts from three different stores.  I got a T-shirt at another store. We dodged the rain to the parking lot and headed back towards the hotel.  We parked in the Aquarium parking lot and were going to check out the Aquarium but it was closing in two hours so we didn’t think it was worth the price of admission to go today. We walked over to the Fort Sumter visitor area and museum. Paul read about the history and I went out on the deck to enjoy the ocean view.

Curly hair. Trying to embrace the chaos since blowing straight is useless!  

Then back to the hotel for a little while before we head out to dinner.

Monday May 23, 2022

It’s a beautiful morning to enjoy my coffee on the balcony. Currently 73° in a little cloudy.

Last night we went to Fleet Landing for dinner, the ocean front restaurant we saw the night before. They have a parking lot next to the restaurant with a discount if you’re eating at Fleet Landing. Everything here is paid parking, either at meters or a prepaid lot. When we parked the pay here machine was out of order. When we went into the restaurant I asked the manager about it. He said they typically have a lot attendant there however they were shorthanded so tonight parking was free. Free parking, woo hoo. 🥳We didn’t have to wait long for a table and were able to get seated on the patio. The weather was perfect and the birds were entertaining.

You can see a bird in flight over the Water Taxi dock. 
I assure you it was completely accidental!

We split a Caesar Salad. Paul ventured out of his fish comfort zone and ordered Triggerfish which our server said was a little sweet and flaky. It was Cajun style which he enjoys.

I had the Lowcounty Seafood Pasta. Fettuccine, shrimp, scallops, crawfish, andouille sausage, asparagus, tomatoes, creole butter sauce. It was amazing. Yes, I have had a lot of shrimp already!

For dessert we split Huguenot Torte. It’s made with apples and pecans. Kind of sticky, kind of crumbly. It was different but very good.

After dinner we took advantage of the free parking situation and strolled around the streets on East Bay in the marketplace (downtown) area. Then we drove down towards the hotel and in the other direction to find the restaurant that we’re having dinner at tomorrow night. It’s on King Street, similar to downtown, lined with restaurants and bars and shops. On the way back we found a breakfast restaurant that we are going to check out today.

The plan de Jour is after breakfast we are going to take the tour of Fort Sumter.

By the way, the photos above are from my phone. I still have not been able to upload the photos from my camera that I took the first day. 😞 

UPDATE

We went to Big Bad Breakfast as planned. Parking situation in this city is reDICKulous. Our server was full of Southern charm. Paul ordered a small orange juice and she said “oh baby, it’s fresh squeezed, you should order the large for a dolla’ more because it’s fresh squeezed, you gonna want that extra sip".  Okay. He had the Jack Benny on her recommendation, which is basically Eggs Benedict with a crispy hash brown cake instead of a muffin or a biscuit. I had Chicken and Waffles. Everything was good. After breakfast we walked over to Fort Sumter and bought tickets for the tour. Fort Sumter is a small island only accessible by boat. The boat ride over was very nice. 

"Fort Sumter National Monument protects the site where the first shots of the American Civil War fell on April 12, 1861, initiating one of the most critical and defining periods in the nation's history."

Fort Sumter was severely damaged during the war and left in ruins. Ironically it was built back stronger by piling up the rubble which made it non-penetrable. 

The red marker on the flag pole is how high the walls originally stood. Can you imagine?  Hidden away in my actual camera I have a before and after photo from a historical marker which I will post when I get home.

Isn't that devastating?!

 

Some where between here ↑and there ↓ my camera autofocus went wonky. 😢

We only had an hour there which was not enough time to soak in all the history. Definitely not enough time for Paul to read all the historical markers.  Back to the ferry for a nice ride back. The weather could not have been more perfect. 

We left there and went back to the hotel for a little while before venturing down to King Street. We were going to take the free bus however I think we would still be waiting at the bus stop. We waited 10 to 15 minutes and decided to walk. We had dinner at Hall's Chophouse which was excellent. Mr Hall greeted us at the door. He was overly charismatic. Paul started with the French Onion Soup which was amazing. I had a few bites and would venture to say it was the best I’ve ever had. Forgot to take a picture but it was beautifully displayed with crispy onions on top.

I snatched this pic off the web

Being a chophouse, of course the menu is primarily meat. They did have a couple of seafood options. I ordered the grilled salmon which was served over a vegetable risotto with a lemon buerre blanc sauce. 

He had the dry aged Ribeye with Truffle Butter. 

We split a Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake - OMG. 

Everything was very good but Paul decided he's not into all the hype about dry aged meat. I thought our server Haley was amazing. 

We walked it off after dinner making a huge loop up King and down to Meeting Street.  It’s the Historic District but if you ask me the entire city is a Historic District.  Did you know Charleston is the largest City in the US?

St Mathew’s. Love the red door!! 

We happened upon an old cemetery at the Unitarian Church and wandered around for a while. 

We checked out a seafood restaurant to see if we want to go there tomorrow night. There were quite a few people waiting so it seems popular, however there was a window into the kitchen and we decided to go find someplace else to eat tomorrow night!! Oy, what a sloppy mess. 

That’s it for tonight. Tomorrow we’re thinking about going to the Charleston Museum. 

Oh, by the way, the weather was absolutely perfect today. Low 80s, slight breeze, little humid in the evening though. Actually not as humid as I was expecting it to be here this time of year.

Tuesday May 24, 2022

This morning we actually caught the ever elusive free bus right outside of our hotel. Imagine that? 😜

We went to Miller’s All Day for late breakfast.  He had Bacon and Eggs and I had a Turkey Club, sans the center piece of bread.  She seated a group next to us after she took our order. They apparently ordered the club the same way because she said “I literally have never had it ordered that way, and the lady at the next table just ordered it like that.”  It was good but it would’ve been nice if it came with a little side of something-something. I could’ve ordered something however they were busy and I figured it probably wouldn’t have arrived until I was done with my sammy. Not that I really needed anything else.

When we left there we decided we would walk back downtown. Along the way we found another old cemetery at Circular Congressional Church. The message on the post where I’m standing says “MAY PEACE PREVAIL ON EARTH”. 🙏🏼☮️

We continued to the Marketplace and walked through all the vendor booths before hopping on yet another bus to the Charleston Museum.  It’s America’s first Museum. Who knew? I have never seen so much broken pottery and glassware on display. There was a lot of armory, historic textiles, taxidermy, memorabilia from the revolutionary war, from protest to independence.  

I am always fascinated by the apothecary.  I think I must have mixed pharmaceuticals in a past life. Or maybe that was potions. 🤔When we were finished there we hopped on another bus and went back downtown and stopped in to the barbecue place for a cocktail. I know that sounds a little odd however Paul had researched restaurants before we went on vacation and there’s a place called Queology which had great reviews and awards for best q. It was right there by the bus stop so we thought we would just grab a cocktail there while checking out the menu to see if we might want to go back for dinner. I had a frozen Bellini.

It was very refreshing. I know, no alcohol. Notice the water too! Then we hopped on another bus back to the hotel.  Look at us, finally finding our way around the bus system here when it’s almost time to leave!  We did a lot of walking also because the bus stop sometimes are a couple of blocks from where we wanted to be.  

Now we are relaxing before dinner. Dinner is still TBD. He decided he didn’t really want barbecue so we won’t be going back there. We’ll take the shuttle downtown and just kind of wing it tonight. The downtown area is kind of like restaurant row.

Wednesday May 25, 2022

Last night we ended up walking down East Bay to downtown instead of waiting for the bus. We checked out menus for a few restaurants. A couple of them had an hour wait. We ended up going to Grill 225.  My meal was a little outside the box. I started with a French Onion Soup and had a Wedge Salad instead of an entrée for dinner.

Paul also had the French Onion Soup and a Veal Chop.

We shared a side dish of Cream Corn with Jalapeño and Cheese.

Everything was good. Soup was great. They really know their French Onion Soup here!  My salad was very fresh and delicious. He enjoyed his veal chop. I never thought I would say this because I am a cheese lover, but the corn was a little too cheesy. It not only had cheese over the top, it had cheese mixed in. It had a nice flavor with the jalapeño, not too spicy. We shared a Peach Cobbler (so good) before taking the 20 minute walk back to the hotel. 

Wall art along the way 

We leave Charleston this morning and head for Savannah. We’ve had great weather in Charleston. We only got caught in the rain the day we went to the outlet mall. The last couple of days have been hot when we were out in the sun during the day but there was usually a nice breeze. The weather was perfect for the walk last night.

Time to go SF&P (shower, fluff and puff) and pack up. Checkout is 10 am.  

UPDATE 

The drive to Savannah was not bad. It took about 2 1/2 hours with one stop at The Carolina Cider Company to use the restrooms.  Early check-in was not available at the VRBO.  We drove down to the riverfront. Parking here is almost as bad as Charleston. At least there are public parking structures here. We went into a brewery for lunch since we didn’t find a breakfast place along the way except McDs and Wendy’s. No mention of the name of the brewery or the food or the service because nothing was notable. My least favorite so far. After lunch and we walked down to River Street and checked out a few shops and where the restaurant is for tonight. We made a quick stop at the grocery store and found our way back to the condo/apartment/rental unit/whatever you call it. It’s older but seems to be maintained okay. Scratch that. At first glance it looked okay however after spending the first night here it is in much need of maintenance and repair.  It has two bedrooms, 1.5 baths, kitchen, a nice little outdoor covered porch with patio furniture.

Time to head back down to the riverfront to allow plenty of time to find a public parking garage and walk to the restaurant.

Thursday May 26, 2022

Morning coffee. 75* and the sun peeking through the trees. Birds have a lot to chirp about this morning. View from my patio:

Dinner at Vic’s on the River last night was very good.  We split a Caesar Salad. Paul was adventurous and ordered the Flounder. It was pecan encrusted served with andouille hash.

Neither one of us have ever had flounder before. I had a bite and it was excellent. Paul said it was his best meal of the trip so far. I ordered the Shrimp and Grits. Grits are not something I typically eat however I saw this on an episode of Delicious Destinations and Andrew Zimmerman has never let me down. It was very good. 

Dessert was a little weird. We ordered the Peach Trio which was peach cheesecake with vanilla graze, peach bread pudding, peach ice cream.  It was good but not what I was expecting. I’m actually not sure what I was expecting!

Our server was a little off. He forgot our bread basket and walked by Paul’s empty water glass three times. They also brought our entrées before he was finished with his salad so he felt rushed.  After dinner we walked around River Street for a little while. Paul bought me a cute outfit at a little boutique. We walked down to the waterfront and strolled our way back to Vic’s. Back to the car and drove around the area a little bit before heading back for the night.

Here are some random photos of Savannah:

River view

River Street

Savanna City Hall

The oldest building in Savannah

UPDATE

We had breakfast at 700 Drayton. Its a former mansion. Very beautiful in the lobby area.

He had Eggs Benedict and I had Brioche French Toast. After breakfast we walked over to Forsyth Park. It’s an absolutely beautiful 30 acre park. We walked around there for a little while.

Fountain selfie

We went to the Bonaventure Cemetery.  It became famous when it was featured in The Garden of Good and Evil. It is also where Johnny Mercer is buried along with some famous area politicians. The cemetery is from 1846, prior to the Civil War. It’s the final resting place of over 1500 soldiers although not specifically a veteran cemetery.  

We walked around a little bit and then we drove around a lot. Unfortunately the pictures I took with my camera are blurry because I didn't realize it was not on autofocus. ;(

We left there and went to Old Fort Jackson. It’s a restored 19th century fort with daily canon firings and interactions.

Women Rule!

Back to the condo where I just checked in for our flight tomorrow.

We are relaxing now and will head out in a little while for our last dinner in Savannah.

Friday May 27, 2022

Morning coffee on my patio where the weather app says it is 75 and cloudy, thunderstorms at noon. In real life it’s raining pretty steady. I woke up at 5 AM to a very loud clap of thunder.  

Last night we went downtown a little early and walked around the shopping area one last time. Dinner at Garibaldi’s Restaurant was very good. It’s labeled as Italian Seafood. We split a house salad.

Pine nuts, gorgonzola, blackberries

He had Twin Lobster Tails which surprisingly were lightly breaded and fried which was not mentioned in the description on the menu.

I had the Lobster Pasta which also had mussels and shrimp.

Everything was very good, in fact Paul changed his favorite meal of the trip to Garibaldi‘s.

Today is travel day which is always my least favorite and most stressful day. I want to leave Savannah by 10 AM at the latest. Directions say it’s two hours to the airport however it took us an extra 20 minutes from what the driving map said to get here, plus I want to account for not only Memorial Day traffic, but now rainy day traffic. If it only takes us two hours we will have time to grab lunch before returning the rental car.

I will finish updating this weekend with a recap including our lodging, favorites, and the addition of photos that I can hopefully upload when I get home.

UPDATE from HOME-SWEET-HOME

We left the condo about 9 (rain had stopped) and headed back to Charlotte which said 2 hours and ended up being 2 1/2.  The traffic wasn't too bad. We had lunch at Jim 'n Nick's BBQ.  It was very good.  He had Brisket with beans and slaw, I had BBQ Chicken with corn on the cob and fruit.  Traffic getting out of the parking lot was crazy but once we got on the road we weren't far from the airport.  

Our flight from Charlotte to Charleston was on time.  Our flight from Charleston to Phoenix was delayed.  All flights to PA & WA were cancelled so people were trying to get rerouted. It was a mess. Our flight was about an hour late because it was coming from the east.

RECAP

Accommodations:

In Charleston we stayed at the Liberty Hilton.  It was conveniently located between Downtown and the Historic District.  The staff was very nice. The concierge was trying to be helpful but talked to us like we were from around there and knew the area as she threw out street names.  She was actually a little frustrated that we didn't understand the bus line.  Example, she said we could catch the bus out front and would would go down to the Historic District and around and back up and stop at the Aquarium.  Paul looked at the map and the Aquarium was a half a block from the hotel in the other direction.  He said "isn't the Aquarium right here?"  She said "well yes, but you could also take the bus down and back up and around".  That would have been about 30 minutes and the walk was about five. That made no sense to either of us.  

The hotel is only about a year old.  They have valet parking for a daily fee (no self parking).  The parking staff was very nice too.  The room was very nice with a living room, kitchen, bedroom, bath, balcony.  They had a fitness center but no pool or jacuzzi.  Check out was at 10 a.m.  We were just about to open the door to leave at 10 on the dot and the doorbell rang.  Cleaning lady. 

On a scale of 1-5 we gave it a 4.5.  

In Savannah we stayed at a VRBO. It has two bedrooms, 1.5 baths, living room, kitchen, covered patio. It looked nice but we quickly discovered it was in much need for maintenance and repairs. There are no molding strips around the front or back doors so the doors don't seal shut and have gaps all the way around.  The bath towels we worn out.  Even though it has two bedrooms, there was only one closet.  Half the closet was used for storage.  The other half had four hangers.  Really?  Hangers are not expensive. They need to go buy a 12 pack! There wasn't much dresser space other so if you were staying for a week, I'm not sure what you were supposed to do with your clothes.  On a side note I always take my own wire hangers just in case. They don't take up space and are light weight.  It had two kitchen towels that were so worn out. I've thrown out towels in better shape than that.  The shower had a hand held shower head that wouldn't stay in the holder.  It actually fell out and hit Paul on the head.  Paint drips on the wood floors that were never cleaned up. Just sloppy stuff like that.  On the good side, the A/C worked great and it was close to the river walk/touristy area.  

We would generously give it 2.5 stars.  We would not stay there again.

Food:

I pretty much detailed the food along the way. 

Favorite Meal: For me it was the Lowcountry Seafood Pasta at Fleet Landing.  For Paul it was Twin Lobster Tails at Garibaldi’s.

Favorite Dessert: It's a toss up for me between the Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake at Hall's and the Peach Cobbler at Grill 225.  For Paul it was the cheesecake but he's a big cheesecake lover to begin with.

Best Service: I though it was at Hall's Chophouse but Paul thought they were too over the top.

Attractions: 

My favorite in Charleston was the boat ride to Fort Sumter.  His was Fort Sumter. 

My favorite in Savannah was the Bonaventure Cemetery and I enjoyed Fort Jackson.  His was Fort Jackson.

I also really enjoyed the after dinner stroll along the river front.  

Overall: 

Paul preferred Savannah and wished we would have spent a little more time there. 

I was FINALLY able to download the pictures from my dang camera so here are room pics.

Liberty Hilton:

Normally I would not take a picture of the toilet but this was Paul's favorite thing!
It was a bidet.  Complete with lighted and heated seat, two spray positions, a dryer.
Not like the bidet in the hotel I had in Rome.  It was just a water nozzle. 

View

Patio pictures were already included above.

The VRBO:

So this is interesting.  My pictures from my phone hadn't finished uploading so I went to their website and check out the comparison of their advertised pics vs mine:

Living Room - Ad

Living Room - Real Life

Bedroom - Ad

Bedroom - Real Life - Similar

2nd Bedroom - Ad - Cheery

2nd Bedroom - Real Life - Dreary

Kitchen - Ad (not sure what happened to those nice towels)

Kitchen - Real Life 

Patio - Ad

Patio - Real Life

The bottom cushions are too small for the seats.
Check out the first chair on the right.  
There is a good 8" of wicker before the cushion.
The second chair - Paul had propped the extra pillows 
to pull the seat cushion forward.
You can see the same situation on the loveseat with the gap before the cushion.

Lower Patio Area - Ad

In real life I did not take a picture of this area because it was just overgrown plants.  If there was a table and bench it was covered with vegetation and could not be seen or used.  

I think I just lowered their rating from 2.5 to 2 stars for misrepresentation of the livable space!  It went from bright and cheery to dark and dreary. 

Big thank you to Janet and Kimberly who stayed at the house and took care of the kiddos.  Kimberly flew home Tuesday and Janet left Saturday.  

Another big thank you to Diane and Jay for the best and most patient airport shuttle service.  

As always, as much as I enjoy traveling I'm always happy to be back home.

Next stop - ? - no idea.