Three of my college roommates (Cindy, Tanya and Sam) and I like to try to do a trip away together each year, if our schedules allow. We’ll each present a few ideas and then pick a favorite to do together. In 2024, we decided October would be the best time to travel since our summers are all fairly busy. We landed on Savannah, Georgia, which was an idea that Sam proposed. It was a fairly quick flight from New England, had warm temperatures into October and would have some ghost tours for spooky season.
We landed in Savannah after a quick flight. Our Uber driver was a doll; she was so funny and nice. During our drive downtown to our Airbnb, our driver told us some places she loved in town – one of them being a daiquiri bar called Wet Willie’s. The girls and I laughed about this later and were like “we are NOT going to a place called Wet Willie’s!” but we appreciated her recommendation nonetheless. We were luckily able to check into our Airbnb early so we could drop off our suitcases and start exploring. We walked down to the river to get food and drinks. Not a lot of places were open, which we were surprised by as it was a Wednesday afternoon. We started at an Irish pub for beers and lunch, which was good. Then we checked out a rooftop bar that was very overpriced and the drinks were NOT good. We walked back to the Airbnb but on our way, we passed a Champagne bar, called Bar Bubbly, that I had on our itinerary of places to visit, so we decided to pop in to check it out. We were having a really great time and spent a few hours there. While we were there, we started talking to other customers in the bar and quite a few were from the Tampa, Florida area. They were taking refuge in Savannah for a few days due to the category 3 hurricane, Hurricane Milton, that struck the gulf side of Florida at the time. All in all, most of them were in good spirits, but we did feel bad for everyone who was worrying about their homes back in Florida. We ordered pizza delivery for a late dinner and ate it immediately when we got back to the Airbnb. Then promptly passed out after a very long day.
On our first full day in the city, we got brunch at Clary’s Café, a famous diner in Savannah. It was around the corner from our Airbnb so we were able to walk there, which is always a plus. After brunch, we went to an adorable bookstore not far from it called E. Shaver Bookseller. They had some cute cats living in the bookstore, so of course we spent some time giving them some love, and bought a few things too. I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you’re in the area. After, we headed over the well-known Cathedral of St. John The Baptist, a gorgeous church with incredible architecture. They allow visitors inside when there isn’t a mass happening and they did have some guided tours. We just stayed for a few minutes to check it out and get some pictures. Our next stop was the famous Forsyth Park, which was beautiful! Afterwards, I went back to the Airbnb because I had a migraine so I wanted to get out of the sun and rest for a bit.
The girls headed back towards River Street while I rested, so I planned to meet them a little later. Once I did, we had cocktails and snacks, and then just moseyed around a bit, checking out stores and such. We ended up at City Market, an open-air market, and got dinner at Wexford’s, an Irish pub. Later at night, around 9 PM, we went to the famous Sorrel-Weed House, which is known as one of the most haunted houses in Savannah, for a ghost tour. It was a really interesting guided tour and we learned a lot of about the dark history of the city and the house. We didn’t experience any ghosts ourselves, but it was still creepy!
For our third day, we did an activity I had read mixed reviews about. I almost didn’t want to do it but I’m so glad we did – we went out to explore Tybee Island! We took about a 20-ish minute Uber ride out to the island. Our first stop was Tim’s Bikes so we could rent bikes to navigate the island. They weren’t too expensive, about $20 a day. They included a basket, a cup holder and a bike lock. You could also get a helmet if you wanted as well. The island was easy to navigate; there were lots of signs for the bike path. They also have disc golf across the island and you can rent equipment for that at Tim’s as well. Our next stop was the Tybee Island Light Station and Museum. It was $12 to visit and well worth it in my opinion, but I love a good lighthouse! We climbed all the way to the top of the lighthouse. It was interesting because they actually had barf bags hanging up the spiral staircase. I’m assuming some people get dizzy or have issues with heights, but I wasn’t expecting to see bags like that! The museum and history of the light station was interesting to learn about. From there, we checked out the beach and then headed to the pier where we were able to get a drink while exploring.
The weekend we were there was Tybee Island’s 20th annual Pirate Festival! We didn’t participate but loved seeing people dressed up pirates – they looked like they were having a blast! We grabbed lunch at Pier 16 and then followed up with some ice cream. While strolling around, we saw a Wet Willie’s location, that our Uber driver from the first day told us about. It was very warm and sunny out and we were like “…ya know, maybe a daiquiri would be tasty while biking around…”. So, we popped in and got drinks to go, and they were so good! Before returning our bikes, we stopped at one more spot, The Deck, and had the most vibrant server named Eli. He was so funny and kind. We only got drinks here but I could’ve stayed for hours just to hang out with him! We sadly had to return our bikes and head back into the city. We didn’t have much time, but had to freshen up and change before heading to our fancy dinner. We went to the very famous Olde Pink House. It was amazing! The customer service was top notch. I felt like a celebrity with how well we were taken care of there! We had some of the best food – fried chicken, mac n cheese, biscuits – it was the perfect way to cap off our Southern vacation. After a delicious dinner, we wanted to go out for a bit so we got drinks at a speakeasy above the Prohibition Museum. It was a really cool spot and I had a great martini there. They had a lot of cool things to look at on the walls, it was fun. Next, we went to a place called The Treehouse where the DJ was spinning the best millennial jams. We had so much fun dancing around here and met some cool people.
The next morning, we got brunch again at Clary’s before heading back to the airport for our flight home. Savannah is definitely one of the prettiest cities I’ve been to, and while we had a nice trip, we all agreed it was a little too laidback for our taste. We like activities so going to Tybee Island was a lot of fun, but in Savannah itself, we felt like there wasn’t a ton to do besides walk around or eat/drink. And when it came to restaurants, we found places were mostly either pub food with lots of fried options or fancier places on the more expensive side. There didn’t really seem to be a happy medium that we could find. That being said, I’m glad we got to go check it out.
Have you been to Savannah before? If so, what did you think about it? Let me know in the comments below!
📍I acknowledge the lands mentioned in this post are the ancestral lands of the Guale, Mvskoke (Muscogee), Yamasee people.
The Adventures of Suze 
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