We kicked off our summer with a sweet family trip to Savannah, Georgia! It was my first time in this charming little city and it ended up being the best location for a short trip in a busy year. When planning where to go, Jody and I wanted somewhere that was fairly walkable, a short flight for Emerson (and me!), and of course, somewhere new. Longtime readers know that we love Charleston and have heard Savannah is very similar. We spent five days exploring, eating, and walking our way through Savannah and I’m excited to share a glimpse into our last vacation as a family of three.

What We Did

Walk the Squares | This was quite easy to accomplish through the 22 squares scattered across Savannah. It was so relaxing to stroll and admire the fountains and flowers (the hydrangeas were in full bloom!). Our favorites included Chippewa Square, where the infamous bench scene was filmed in Forrest Gump; and Layfette Square.

Shop on Broughton Street | Similar to Charleston’s King Street, this area in the historic district is home to both local and brand-name stores. We popped in and out of shops, which offered a bit of relief from the hot Georgia weather. Some of our favorites included The Paris Market and the Savannah Bee Company. Be sure to do a mead tasting – it comes highly recommended by Jody!

City Market is also another great place to shop. It is designed like a pedestrian mall, spanning two blocks and filled with additional shops and restaurants. There are also a variety of stores on the Riverwalk, but they are more kitschy in our opinion – other than Savannah Candy Kitchen. That is a must for any trip to Savannah, at least for the praline samples!

Carriage Ride through the Historic District | Jody and I took a carriage ride throughout the historic district in Charleston and remains, by far, one of the best tours we’ve ever done. Especially considering the amount of history in Savannah and Emerson’s affinity for horses, we knew this was a must-do on our trip. We opted for a Sunday morning tour and enjoyed learning more about the buildings and city design.

Where We Ate

The Pirates’ House | In my research, I saw recommendations many times for The Pirates’ House, especially for families, but didn’t give it much thought assuming it would be more of a tourist trap. But when we needed dinner and we were tired after our travel day, we were deliriously excited about going.

We did have to wait a bit since we didn’t have reservations but they have a gift shop on the second floor that we explored while we waited. I honestly didn’t have high expectations for this restaurant but this is a must if you are in Savannah. We had fabulous service and the food was to die for! I got Southern Fried Chicken (I mean, you have to!) and it was some of the best I’ve ever had.

Wright Square Bistro | We stumbled upon this little bistro for lunch after realizing we were trying to find lunch on a Sunday with all the brunch crowds – and what a happy surprise! We had less than a five-minute wait and the food was delicious! I got the caprese salad which was so refreshing after a hot Savannah morning.

The Wyld | This little seafood shack is outside of Savannah, heading towards Tybee Island. Several travel blogs recommended it and it seemed like a cute casual place on the water, with plenty of room for kids to run around. As it is a seafood shack, you stand in line to order everything, grab a number, and then a food runner will bring your order to the table. Admittedly, I didn’t love this restaurant – most of the seafood was fried, and while I know the South loves its fried food, I wanted an option that wasn’t. The fries and heirloom tomatoes, however, were super tasty!

Mirabelle Cafe | I love a cafe of any type, but especially when it has cute cups and sits the the foot of a cathedral! We ordered a breakfast sandwich and a Georgia peach liège waffle, one of their Belgium-style waffles, which they are best known for. It was the right amount of warm, crispy, and sweet.

I will note, the cute floral cups are only available for hot drinks – and hot coffee was not something I could bring myself to do in late May. I was understandably disappointed (y’all this is a cute cup!) leading Jody to possibly pull the pregnancy card with one of the workers in the cafe. Sorry y’all but WORTH IT.

Vic’s On the River | We had actually planned to dine somewhere entirely different but realized they were not open on Mondays. Knowing many places required a reservation, we decided to see if we were able to get into this little southern seafood and wine bar down on the riverwalk. We were thrilled to quickly be seated, and eagerly order mocktails to sip while a pianist played in the background. Unfortunately, our meal was cut short as Emerson caught a stomach bug and proceeded to be sick right as our meal arrived. I’m still a little scarred by that experience but very thankful she was feeling better the next morning and no one else got sick until we made it back to Maryland.

Treylor Park Hitch | With Emerson being sick, we canceled our plans of spending our last day on Tybee Island and instead watched countless hours of Bluey and Hell’s Kitchen before venturing out in the late afternoon. Considering we had an early travel morning ahead of us, we wanted to stay near our Airbnb so we could return to pack. After looking into some popular restaurants over the past few days, Jody and I finally decided to give Treylor Park Hitch a shot. It was a little offputting at first because of their eclectic takes on some standard menu items (ahem, PB&J Wings), but we were pleasantly surprised. I ordered a Fried Green Tomato BLT (which yes, had pimento cheese on it) and Jody had a Caprese Flatbread. Poor Emerson was still on the BRAT diet, so she only had toast, which our server so graciously had made for us. All-in-all, it was a win for our last meal in Savannah!

Leopold’s Ice Cream | You can’t come to Savannah and not get ice cream at the most popular shop in town! The line to enter was long each time we passed, but we learned that the best time to go was right when they opened or after dinner. We popped over to get a scoop before heading back to our rental to pack for our trip home. There was a short line, but the employees were quite efficient in moving people through. My lavender ice cream was the perfect way to end our vacation on a sweet vacation on a sweet note!