Five Foot Traveler :: Ooooooh, Blue Savannah Song

This right here, this is America. The 3rd leg of our Winter Vacation was a 3 day stop in Savannah, Georgia - the first real Southern city I've ever visited. 

Classic Pralines - So sweet. So good. 

There are many different sides to Savannah. There is of course, historic Savannah. The downtown area is comprised of 22 historic squares. Downtown Savannah is one of America's largest National Historic Landmark areas (thank wikipedia!) and much of the city revolves around maintaining that good 'ol Southern charm. 

Then there's Savannah College of Art and Design, which plays a major role in the city landscape and attitude. It seems as though every building was owned by the school or part of the school. There are lots of adorable college-y cafes and boutiques and if you want to pick up some student-made art, you can do so at the SCAD Shop. There are, admittedly, many annoying young folk walking around with their canvases taking advantage of the city's no open container law. 

Some girly breakfast at the SCAD owned cafe, Gryphen Tea Room 

Right now, it seems like there's a good balance between maintaining the traditional charms and welcoming young, innovative ideas but I could see SCAD trying to overstep their bounds. Let's hope that doesn't happen. 

Super find of the day on Tybee Island

If art and history don't interest you (you plebeian!), there's the beach and everyone loves the beach! Tybee Island is I guess, not technically Savannah, but it's a very short drive from downtown. I found both a live and dead sand dollar hanging out in the sand which was beyond super way exciting for this tide pool loving gal. To the left is a live sand dollar - left this lil guy at the beach. On the right, my lucky find (well, I guess not so much for the sand dollar) a pristine dried up test, which is the confusing name for a dead sand dollar. 

And of course, you can't talk about Savannah without talking about the queen of the town - Ms. Paula Deen. Her original restaurant, Lady & Sons, is one of the biggest attractions in Savannah. To get reservations, you have to line up at 9am to put down your name. Kind of obnoxious, but whatever - I need my hoe-cakes! Upon arrival for your reservation, you are made to wait in her merchandise store (which is genius from a business perspective) filled with XL tee-shirts emblazoned with her face, "Hey ya'll!" and "Put some south in your mouth" (genius in other ways) 

There is a full menu available but apparently you're supposed to get the world famous all-you-can-eat fried chicken buffet. And we did. And it was amazing. For the first 10 minutes. Then it just got sad because there's no way you could ever eat that much food in one sitting even though it is so delicious. And then you just get even sadder looking around all the American tourists that are packing down their second helping of fried chicken and collard greens (which were, really really amazing.) Of course, you should still go if you have a chance but don't say you haven't been warned. 

And lastly, if you're not a huge Erasure fan (which you should be) then the title of this post probably makes no sense. To help clarify, please press play and let this soothe your soul.  (I don't think this song is about Savannah, Georgia but do we really need an excuse for Erasure?) (The answer is no.)