Day 4 - Stone And Webster Chophouse

Before coming to Savannah, Doug and I knew we wanted to have a nice dinner one evening to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary (since we were considering this trip our 25th wedding anniversary trip). We chose Stone and Webster Chophouse because of the good reviews and it was located in our hotel - so we made a reservation.

 

(We did have a nice dinner on our actual anniversary as well.)

It did not disappoint!

It's located in the Power Plant section of the Marriott, so we walked over to that part of the hotel...

When we arrived, we realized the restaurant space was not all that big (glad we made an early reservation)...

We had the nicest waiter that night (honestly, every waiter/waitress we had in Savannah was so incredibly friendly).

We told him it was our anniversary dinner right when we arrived, so he ran off for a couple minutes and put together an anniversary treat for us. He asked us to hold hands for a picture...

 

 

Then he asked to take a picture of us...

He was so, so nice.

He brought us bread first and some wine...

I started with a delicious shrimp cocktail. Doug and I both got steaks and we shared mashed potatoes and mushrooms. We ordered Bearnaise sauce (which I love), but dang their steak sauce was incredible!

After we finished eating, we enjoyed another sunset on our balcony...

So many barges floated by that evening.

It was another wonderful day.

We decided to try to pool again the next morning and then we headed toward Tybee Island to eat at one of our favorite restaurants "The Crab Shack." 

Day 5 next...

 

Day 4 - The Olde Pink House

Seriously, getting to eat at "The Olde Pink House" was total luck. Doug wanted to give it a shot. I thought ok fine but figured there was no way we were going to get to eat there. Well, Doug ended up being right! I guess you should always try - even if you aren't sure you'll get turned down.

 

The Olde Pink House was originally called Habersham House and it has quite a history. The pink color was actually an accident and many people believe it is haunted.

The Olde Pink House was also featured on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate."

Doug and I were seated in a very antique looking room on the main floor...

We had a wonderful waiter. The restaurant started really filling up as we ordered our food.

Doug and I had the most amazing meal...

We ordered the blue crab beignets for an appetizer. We both ordered she crab soup and the "BLT" salad as our entree (the salad was featured on the Best Thing I Ever Ate). Doug ordered the "pink drink" and I had a cream soda. Everything was phenomenal! But the BLT salad (with fried green tomatoes) was the bomb!!!

After we ate, we were encouraged to look all around the house and explore. That was so cool!

There was a cool bar on the main floor...

Some historical information about the Pink House on the wall...

The upstairs hallways...

Upstairs rooms (they did not seat anyone upstairs during lunchtime)...

A beautiful banquet room...

Outside views of the restaurant...

The wine cellar of the house (located underneath the Olde Pink House) is called "Planters Tavern" and it stands alone as a great spot to grab a drink and enjoy live entertainment. It doesn't open until 5pm, so it is empty during the day. It was so neat to be able to take a look down there...

 

Once we walked all through the house, it was time to leave. We walked to Reynolds Square. While there, Doug had to take a phone call, and while he did that, I had a little fun with my camera...

Savannah is such a pretty place. I love all the Spanish moss covered trees.

Getting to dine at The Olde Pink House was such an unexpected treat. So glad we got to do it!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we headed back to River Street to do a little more shopping after lunch and then it was back to the hotel to get ready for our special anniversary dinner. 

More on that next...

Day 4 - Shopping On River Street

After spending day 3 doing some historical sightseeing, it was finally time to shop on River Street!

It was a beautiful day - a bit warm, but not bad at all. 

 

The view of the River Street shops from just outside our hotel...

 

 

 There was no need to drive anywhere since our hotel sits on the end of this strip. We walked everywhere on day 4.

 

 The first store we hit was "Southern Christmas"...

 

I'm not usually a "Christmas in summertime" type person, but these Christmas shops in Savannah are so pretty. It's hard not to get a little excited about Christmas when you step in one of these stores.

 

Of course we had to stop in River Street Sweets and buy some candy/fudge/pralines...

 

We also stopped in a couple of t-shirt/tchotchke shops. This one had a Zoltar machine...

 

It was getting close to lunchtime and Doug had an idea - he wanted to try to get into "The Olde Pink House." We tried to get reservations before even getting to Savannah, but no luck. It was booked solid for lunch and dinner that week. It's one of the most popular restaurants in town. He suggested trying to see if we could get in without a reservation. It was long shot. If we couldn't get in, we would just head back to River Street and eat there - there are a ton of restaurants.  

We headed away from River Street and walked toward Reynolds Square...

After a few minutes, we made it to The Olde Pink House restaurant...

We walked in around 11:15am (it opens at 11am) and asked if there was any room for us. We were immediately told they were booked (they were very nice about it). We turned to leave and the manager jumped in and quickly said there was a table open. Oh MY GOSSSSHHHHH!!!! We were so excited to be able to eat there.

 

I'm going to post all about our lunch in my next post, but let me tell you - it was one of my very favorite meals in Savannah. Possibly my favorite. I had some really delicious meals in Savannah, so it is a bit difficult to choose!

After eating and walking all around The Olde Pink House and spending a little time at Reynolds Square, we headed back to River Street.

 

We went to another Christmas store called "Christmas On The River"...

 

While we were in the store, the skies opened up and it started to pour. We waited for a while and it sort of started to let up but not enough, so we darted into another store - which was actually an art gallery. We spent some time in there looking at the local art and waiting for the rain to stop. I'm glad it started raining because I'm not sure we would have stopped in there if it hadn't...

After eating and shopping, we were getting a bit tired so we headed back to the hotel. Doug had made an important dinner reservation for that evening. We were going to have dinner to celebrate our (belated) 25 wedding anniversary.

 

But first, our lunch at The Olde Pink House - next...

Day 3 - Savannah Tequila Company And Riverboat Ride

Doug and I didn't have reservations anywhere for Tuesday evening. We had spent the day sightseeing and weren't sure how tired we would be for dinner, but after resting for a while, we did decide we wanted to go out to eat.

I read about the "Savannah Tequila Company" online (it was in our hotel) and thought some margaritas would hit the spot!

The restaurant had a cool, modern Mexican vibe and the food was SO good...

 

 I had soft taco platter (beef, pork and chicken) - the chicken ended up being my favorite. The guac and margarita were delish. The churros were a-maz-ing. The caramel sauce was just ridiculous.

When we finished dinner, we walked to the river and I looked toward the riverboats. We knew that Briana was going on a riverboat ride with her SCAD group that evening. I wondered which boat was going to be hers...

 

 A snapped a pic of this girl looking at the fountain...

Doug and I decided to go back to our room and sit on our balcony so we could see Briana's boat pass our hotel.

The day had been a mix of clouds and sun, but that evening was totally overcast.

 

We sat for a while and finally saw the boat pull out into the river. Bri texted that they were starting to move...

 

 The boat floated right past us...

Doug and I waved at the boat and all the kids were waving back (Bri did not share with them that we were her parents - heh) - it was really fun.

 

Here are some shots Bri captured from the boat...

 

 They sailed way down the river and then turned around...

And yes, we spotted Briana on the boat and she saw us (she's on the very left)...

It was fun watching her sail by and texting with her. I wish I could have given her a big hug (I was already missing her), but I was just happy to see her even if it was from a distance.

It was a fun, relaxing evening.

The next day - shopping!

Day 3 - Flock To The Wok, Owens-Thomas House and Telfair Academy

We had a much harder time finding parking when it came to going to the restaurant for lunch. It was all curbside parking and there were parking meters all over the place. Most of the meters accepted credit cards, but the one spot we found near the restaurant required change for the meter. Luckily, we had change on us. The only problem - the meter only allowed enough money for 30 minutes. We tried to feed it a bit extra, but the meter just took it - not adding extra time. And then we were out of change. We had money on us, and we figured when we got into the restaurant, we could ask for change and just feed the meter in 30 minutes.

The restaurant was recommended to us by a friend - it is called "Flock to the Wok."

When we got into the restaurant, it was quite small. I can see why dinner reservations there are necessary. It was still pretty empty when we arrived, so I don't think we needed a reservation for lunch, but better safe than sorry. We asked for change when we arrived, and we found out the restaurant does not carry cash. At all. It is strictly a credit card place. Sigh. They said we could try the coffee shop around the corner. We felt we would probably be fine - even if we went over 30 minutes by a couple of minutes. We just hoped we wouldn't get a ticket. (Service was fast and we were fine - we didn't get one.)

We ordered dumplings (both fried and steamed) for appetizers which were SO delicious. I got chicken with veggies for my meal - very good. Doug got sesame chicken - which was slightly overcooked and a little on the sweet side for him. But overall, the food was good. The dumplings were amazing...

I had done a little online research before heading out that day on where I wanted Doug and I to visit next and discovered the "Telfair Museums."

I really wanted to visit the "Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters." So off we went (there was parking right across the street from the house luckily)...

 

I enjoy learning about history and visiting old buildings, but I have to admit, the history of this property (most Savannah properties) can make visitors feel a bit uncomfortable. As much as I wanted to enjoy everything I was seeing at this property, there is no way to feel completely at ease knowing what a huge part slavery played in the history of Savannah.

 On a side note - when I hear about politicians trying to squash or limit uncomfortable content/education for students, it infuriates me. Learning should be uncomfortable at times. If children don't learn what happened in our country's past (both bad and good), then history can repeat itself.

We purchased our tickets and the rain was starting to fall. It is the first time we experienced rain on our trip. It wasn't very hard, but there was enough to get you a bit wet.

The tour started with the slave quarters...

The house was so small for so many people to live in. It made me sad to think how hard the slaves worked just to survive.

Then we headed over to the main house...

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette stayed on this property as a guest. When he visited the states, he realized that slavery had become a huge part of the society. He was very upset by this...

The interior of the home...

We finished up with the Owens-Thomas House and headed over to the "Telfair Academy."

The Telfair property started as a home/mansion in the early 1800's and was turned into an academy of arts and sciences - a gift to Savannah by Mary Telfair...

 

The art collection is truly amazing...

The Telfair Academy is now home to the infamous "Bird Girl" statue...

The large galleries at the academy were additions to the original mansion when the house became at museum.

Here are some of the rooms of the original mansion...

 

We really enjoyed visiting the museum.

 

We were pretty tired though after visiting a church and two museums, so we headed back to our room to rest for a while. We didn't have dinner reservations for that evening, but we did find a very yummy place to eat. 

More on that next...