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While I had known Savannah as a tourist, I fell hard for it two years ago during an extended stay. My employer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, had sent me there for a week to cover the uneventful G8 Economic Summit. There wasn't much to report from the puny demonstrations in Forsyth Park, so I mostly walked the city's streets and 22 squares looking for stories. I discovered its wildly gnarled live oaks, its shops hidden in alleyways and its quiet rhythms and peaceful places away from the tour trolleys. |
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We've learned to get to Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House (107 W. Jones St., 912-232-5997) early to beat the line that will invariably stretch down the brick-paved sidewalk by 11 a.m. Yes, it's a cattle call, but we love the ritual of squeezing around a table in one of the two ground-floor rooms in this old townhouse (which did previously take in boarders). Lunch is served family-style, which means you have to make nice with the strangers at your table, especially when you want them to pass the fried chicken, butter beans, stewed okra and baked ham and corn bread and rutabagas and sweet tea and—mmm. This is some serious Southern food ($13 for lunch). You're asked to bring your own dishes to the kitchen, a service that my 8-year-old, Mary, extends to all nearby diners. A much quieter experience comes at Wall's Bar-B- Que (515 E. York Lane, 912-232-9754), a restaurant so hidden that few can actually find it. A literal backdoor establishment, Wall's hangs its sign over a lane just off Green Square. Inside the tiny space is a counter, a small barbecue pit, three orange laminate booths and a framed portrait of W. W. Law—Savannah's late, great civil rights leader. The food—ribs, smoked turkey wings, red velvet cake ($4 to $11)— is fine. It's tracking down this hole-in-the-wall that feels special. There's a different spin on barbecue at Sweet Leaf Smokery & Eatery (606 Abercorn St., 912-447-5444), a hipster hangout that plays country and blues, serves regional microbrews such as Sweet Water Brewing Company's Sweet Georgia Brown and makes a lean, tender, ultra-smoky pulled pork sandwich topped with Granny Smith coleslaw ($7.50). Vegetarians can feast on a smoked tofu wrap ($6.50), and everyone should try the whole-kernel corn pudding ($2). From Sweet Leaf it's a short walk to E. Shaver, Bookseller (326 Bull St., 912-234-7257), which I never miss. Located just off stately Madison Square, this is a warren of low, book-stuffed rooms. The elegant proprietress is Esther Shaver, who wears pearls, pulls her hair into a flawless chignon and has a keen eye for children's literature and books on Savannah. We like to stay at The Planter's Inn on Reynolds Square (doubles start at $139 a night; 27 Abercorn St., 912-232-5678). The rooms come with a decent breakfast and a wine, Sprite and cheese cube hour in the early evening. Close by is River Street—a kid trap of candy shops, street buskers and open-air tchotchke vendors—along a cobblestone-paved waterfront row. We usually skip the expensive seafood restaurants and eat at Olympia Café (5 E. River St., 912-233-3131), a reflection of Savannah's Greek population. This lively, brick-floored taverna serves the most tender fried calamari ($7) I've ever had. Add a Greek salad ($3.50), and it's an ideal lunch. The other magnet for visitors is City Market (St. Julian St. between Bryan and Congress Sts.). While the market's square has long been overtaken by a parking structure (which is slated to come down), the streets that once held meat and produce vendors are now a pedestrian walkway filled with shops and restaurants. Best in show goes to VinnieVanGoGo's (317 W. Bryan St., 912-233-6394)— an always-jammed pizza joint that comes as a godsend to those of us from pizza-challenged cities like Atlanta. My 14-year- old, Rachel, now measures all pizza on the Vinnie's index. Savannah has no shortage of upscale dining, but selectivity is key. One of the city's best is Elizabeth on 37th (105 E. 37th St., 912-236-5547), set in a Greek Revival mansion a short cab ride from the Historic District. Here's where you go for dishes like Gullah fried rice with crab and shrimp ($34) or field peas served alongside a juicy rack of lamb ($34), chased by wine from the 20,000-bottle cellar. A brother act, Gottliebs' Restaurant and Dessert Bar (1 W. Broughton St., 912-234-7447) also offers a fine meal. Chefs Michael and Laurence Gottlieb have a contemporary touch. They serve expertly seared local grouper over a sweet corn sauce with fried collard greens ($32) and Brunswick stew with braised rabbit and wild mushrooms ($26). The brothers hail from an old-time Savannah family that ran the city's best-loved Jewish bakery for more than a century, so dessert is in their DNA. A meal here ends with a trolley of foot-high layer cakes—red velvet, lemon chiffon ($7 a slice)—and a complimentary plate of their locally renowned chocolate chewies, which their dad, Isser, used to sell to the tune of half a million per year in the 1970s. 700 Drayton (700 Drayton St., 912-341-0700)—the restaurant attached to the new luxury hotel Mansion on Forsyth Park—aspires to the top tier of local dining. But so far its Miami Beach lounge décor (leopard- print chairs, metallic sheers) impresses more than its menu. Consider it a cool place for a foofy cocktail such as a watermelon martini ($8). In the evening, my wife, Arlene, and I like to make a late visit to a cocktail lounge that's more our speed, provided our eldest agrees to babysit. Next door to The Planter's Inn is The Olde Pink House (23 Abercorn St., 912-232-4286), a 1771 Georgian mansion that houses a fine white-tablecloth restaurant. We skip the food and head downstairs to the basement for a nightcap. There, a pianist sings along to jazz standards, a fire always crackles (even on hellacious summer nights) and off-duty tour guides dressed in hoop skirts and breeches crowd the bar to smoke and knock back beers. We're more likely to snag a sofa and sip 20-year-old Cockburn's Tawny Port ($10). Nothing completes a trip to Savannah quite like lunch at the Masada Café (2301 W. Bay St., 912-236-9499). About five miles outside of the Historic District, I look for the enormous plaster lions that flank the entrance to the United House of Prayer for All People. In back lies a cafeteria that elevates the church supper to new heights. What's good? Everything. Burnished macaroni and cheese seems to contain nothing more than those two ingredients. It makes my 10-year-old, Leah, want to join the congregation. Fried chicken ($6 including three sides) leaves an addictive peppery afterburn. Spicy Savannah red rice (a specialty made with tomatoes, onions and peppers) comes with a ladle of oxtail gravy. And here is where I eat the best Southern veggies, such as crookneck squash stewed in its own juice until it turns to custard. Even after a year or more between visits, manager Iretha Durham always recognizes us. With a four-hour drive to Atlanta looming, there could be no better send-off. |
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About 300,000 people throng Savannah for St. Patrick's Day. With its parade of colorful floats and reputation for lewd revelry, this celebration is the Georgia coast's answer to Mardi Gras. One year my wife and I found cheap flights in and out of Savannah on March 17. Once there, we joined the human stream herding north to the river. Plastic cups of beer materialized in our hands as if by leprechaun. We watched the 250 parade entries go by from Bay Street—Savannah's grand riverfront boulevard. Eventually we made our way to River Street, which had turned into a rowdy street party. We had roasted oysters at an outdoor café, then found our way to the airport and into a puddle jumper bound for Atlanta. Was it worth it? Totally. (The parade starts in downtown Savannah at 10:15 a.m. on Friday, March 17. For more information, call the Savannah Visitors Bureau at 877-728-2662.) |
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| Other Travel Articles:
Stolen Weekend in Austin Get Lost in San Diego Rachael visits New York Run Away to Boulder |
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