Savannah/Charleston Spring Break Trip - Part III

Surprisingly, Savannah and Charleston are a two hour drive apart. With a gap between our Vrbo Check-out/Check-Ins, we had just enough time to stop at the Angel Oak Tree - a huge Live Southern Oak tree estimated to be 400-500 years old. 

I mixed up my numbers on the video - the tree is 28 feet in circumference and 66 feet tall! 

Brent waiting with Moose for his turn to check out the tree. 

This Vrbo was a completely different vibe—set in the suburbs and much more modern. I couldn’t find a three-bedroom, pet-friendly place downtown Charleston that wasn’t triple the price, so this ended up being the best fit. After unpacking and letting Moose explore yet another fenced-in backyard, we headed to the nearby Tanger Outlets for some shopping. Kade, who’s currently obsessed with Columbia, had a great time on a shopping spree with Dad (you’ll spot him in his new green jacket below!).

Our only early morning of the trip had us heading downtown for a 9:30 a.m. departure to Fort Sumter—and Charleston traffic did not make it easy. Brock and Kade picked out these front row seats for the boat ride over to Fort Sumter. 

Busy harbor - a huge container ship passed by! 

Fort Sumter - the site where the American Civil War began on April 12, 1861. 

This is most definitely more Brent's passion and I loved hearing him share his military knowledge with Brock and Kade. 

We worked up quite an appetite after the tour, so we headed to Lewis Barbecue for lunch. Highly, highly recommend! It’s such a cool setup: you order right at the counter while they slice and portion everything in front of you. Brent, Kade, and I went with brisket sandwiches, while Brock opted for pulled pork (North Carolina style actually!).

Look at that meat!!

Found an outside table and enjoyed our spread! We also ordered french fries and a mac & cheese side - everything was delicious!

We headed back to our Vrbo after that amazing meal and all needed a little downtime. Low-key night of pizza and watching basketball was a perfect ending to our day! 

Savannah/Charleston Spring Break Trip - Part II

Savannah offers so many historic house tours, it was hard to choose! Ultimately, I landed on the 1820 built Davenport Home as it was the first project saved by the Historic Savannah Foundation. 

Our guide did a good job explaining what life was like for the Davenport family - and the thirteen enslaved people who lived in the home. 

The home has been thoughtfully restored with an emphasis on authenticity - look at that wallpaper! 

Fireplace mantel detail!

Each Georgia Pine floor plank is over 20' long - spanning the full length of the room!

I found this wallpaper fascinating! We learned there are companies that can recreate custom designs to match historic wallpapers no longer in production.

This is the master bedroom! 

Family photo in the back courtyard of the home. 

After the tour, my suburbanite boys ran off to scare the pigeons and thought it was absolutely hilarious.

This is as close as we ever got to the famous Leopold's Ice Cream. There was a line out the door and down the block every single time we passed this place! 

The next day, we took an Uber to brunch at Little Duck Diner on Cousin Katherin’s recommendation. Brock loved the chocolate chip pancakes and Kade loved his little duck! 

We had a little time before our next scheduled event, so after some shopping, we trekked over to Oglethorpe Avenue, specifically Juliette Gordon Low's birthplace.  Proud Girl Scout of 10 years! 

Brent was looking good in front of the Nathanael Greene Monument.

We cruised the Savannah River aboard the Georgia Queen Riverboat!

Primo seats in the front of the boat meant we had amazing panoramic views! 

(At least for most of us. Brock was happy to be on his own bench)

We found John Wesley (the founder of the Methodist Church) for my Dad! 

(See my Dad was right here in July!)

With Moose holding down the fort, we felt perfectly comfortable leaving the boys at home for a date night out. We enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner at Garibaldi’s in the Historic District, then strolled through City Market to end our last day in Savannah. 

Savannah/Charleston Spring Break Trip - Part I

Our Spring Break started out strong with the 4Runner passing a milestone on our 330 mile trek to Savannah, Georgia! We arrived right at check-in time - giving us plenty of time for our family to unpack the car and get settled in to our Vrbo! Our rental was a historic 1899 built home about 1.5 miles from the downtown Savannah Riverfront.  

    

First night’s dinner was at The Pirate House. It’s one of the earliest buildings constructed in Savannah, originally serving as an inn and tavern for visiting sailors. It has been preserved to its original state - including its distinctive “haint blue” shutters and doors, believed to ward off unwanted spirits.

We had reservations, but they were busy - granting us a few minutes to look around the lobby and peek upstairs at the gift shop (where after dinner Brock would score a cool t-shirt). 

We were seated in one of the side rooms - made it quieter, but we missed some of the building's character being back there. 

Kade received a child's menu - even though he didn't order from it - and it was so cool! Alas, he could not be persuaded to wear the pirate's hat, so only the picture remains. 

Brock was in good spirits! 

That night we really experienced city living. It was so noisy in our front room, it made it really hard to sleep. At least the boys were in the back bedrooms, so they slept well. In the morning, Brent and I needed a quick caffeine fix, so we walked over to the Starbucks inside Kroger while Moose stood watch.

Our first full day in Savannah was spent exploring - all five of us walked the 7 blocks to Forsyth Park. As we got closer to the park, the houses got nicer and nicer! 

Brock had Moose's leash for the majority of the walk - very proud of him working up to this stage - it's a lot of responsibility to walk a Corso!

Our first stop in the park was to take in the Civil War Memorial (originally the Confederate Memorial), originally dedicated May 1875 and renamed in 2018. 

The boys were fascinated by the caterpillars climbing all over the metal fencing. This is where they first learned the name of all the "fuzz" hanging from the oak trees - Spanish Moss! Kade was sure the caterpillars were purposely falling from the spanish moss onto his head! 

Kade and I explored the Fragrant Garden while Brock and Brent waited outside. 

It was designed for people with limited sight to enjoy - we spotted gardenia, lemon trees, roses, and mint!

Spanish Moss!!

Finally we made it to the Fountain! Originally installed in 1858 and constructed of white painted cast iron! 

They love to tease me about my posing. 

Absolutely gorgeous!