I took my very first trip to Savannah, Georgia this summer. I really wished I had more time there to see the sights. We were there for less than 48 hours, but I already have it on my list to go back.



Savannah was a road trip stop-over point for us on our way to the Jekyll Island Club Hotel and Jekyll Island. The drive from Raleigh to Jekyll Island is 408 miles, which is very long when you are middle-aged parents with young children. Really long!



I decided that since Savannah was on the way, and none of us had ever been that it would be crazy for us not to stop there. I added two nights onto our trip, which is the great thing about family road trips and having flexibility, if your budget and time allows.



I did a lot of hotel research before arriving in Savannah, and scoped out a few hotel properties that peaked my interest. I'm going to go ahead and admit to you that I ruled out any hotel that was advertised as haunted. I just didn't go there. I also put us on a budget of $200 per night when searching for properties, and narrowed my choices down to two properties, both with very similar locations.

One property was full-service with a restaurant, luxury amenities, and slightly over-budget. The other property was a limited-service property with complimentary breakfast,and came in under budget, but came across as very upscale.I then described both  properties and rates to the HinesSight Blog Facebook readers. In a blind poll without revealing the hotel's identity, I asked them where they would choose to stay for family travel, if passing through town.I didn't even name the town I was going to be visiting. The limited-service property, under budget, got the most votes and it was the hotel that Facebook readers wanted to know more about for a road trip.


We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Savannah Historic District.



This Savannah Lodging property is a great example of how limited service properties can be upscale, but can provide a lower-cost because it's not full-service.



The public areas of this hotel were appealing, and very boutique chic. The rooms were spacious, the bedding was nice, and the bathrooms were modern. Breakfast was complimentary, which certainly helps on a travel budget, and it is a great family travel perk. Is it a culinary experience like in a luxury property? Absolutely not, but it also not $50 for family of four to eat breakfast either. I ate a hot sausage biscuit one morning and I thought it was really good.

A lot of pageant queens who were in town for a pageant were guests of the hotel, too and you know who loved that.



Our location in Savannah was fabulous. I cannot emphasize that enough. We never moved our car. The Holiday Inn Express Historic District is located in the riverfront district and one mile from Forsyth Park.



It was very hot and humid in Savannah when we visited, and my youngest child complained a lot while we walked around town. In fact, the hotel gave her a pool noodle upon our arrival so she begged to go to the pool all day. Unless we were eating, she made it known that she wasn't very happy. My children are used to accompanying me on hotel visits where we spend a lot of time at the property. This was extremely obvious as she pleaded to go back to the hotel every hour to "relax and swim."


We did not do an organized tour, and in our "hinessight", we should have taken the trolley tour because we learned later that you could hop off at any point, walk around, and then get back on at another stop. That would have been nice. I should have done my homework a little better on that one, but I just did it for you so you'll know on your trip.

We did cover a lot of ground ourselves on foot. We spotted  the birthplace of  Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts, and we strolled the gardens of the Andrew Low House, where Juliette lived once she was married.



The kids had ice cream at Leopold's Ice Cream on East Broughton Street in Savannah to cool off. Leopold's celebrated its 95th birthday just this past week, and is a Savannah staple. Leopold's makes all of its ice cream in-house using a family recipe from 1919, and is probably a must when you visit this historic city.



The ingredients, using real cream, are all-natural and contain no-artificial dyes. We walked right in to Leopold's at 11 a.m, but later in the afternoon when we circled back near the shop on the way back to our hotel, we saw a line curled around outside the door. I think that is pretty common.

I've already written about our lunch at the Public Kitchen and Bar on the blog.  That was probably my favorite meal in Savannah. We also dined at the Moon River Brewing Company, which was just a few blocks down from our hotel.



The beers were great. My favorite beer was the Captain's Porter, an American sweet stout. The pub is dark, historic, and haunted so I didn't even try to take photos, but it's definitely worth a visit when you are in town.


Savannah's riverfront is bustling with excitement. We had a lot of early evening showers while we were in town so it made exploring a little more challenge.


We managed take the kids to the rooftop hotel pool on our last night in the city.


I'm going to go ahead and admit that having a beer by the pool made me lazy on our last night there. I probably would have ordered room service or ate at the restaurant in the hotel had our hotel been full-service.

With limited-service properties, you have no choice, but to get out and and about because you need to eat dinner.



That evening, we chose Churchill's Pub, located a block from the hotel. Will said it was the best Shepherd's pie he has ever had, and Jack loved the fish and chips. We ended our evening with a stop in Savannah's Candy Kitchen.



We definitely didn't have enough time in Savannah. Can't wait to get back one day.

Savannah Places of Interest for The Hines
Holiday Inn Express Historic District Savannah by Savannah Lodging
Savannah Trolly Tours
Moon River Brewing Company
Leopold's Ice Cream
Public Kitchen and Bar
Churchill's Pub
Savannah's Candy Kitchen
Visit Savannah 

Places of interest for kids visiting Savannah that we didn't have time to visit
Old Fort Jackson
Savannah's Children Museum (closed on Sunday)
Savannah Riverboat Tours
Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace


Disclosure: My opinions about hotels on this blog are always my own. My thanks to Savannah Lodging for working me and tailoring an agenda filled with great restaurant recommendations and things to do after I decided to visit this great city.  Too bad that I didn't have time to try them all. All dining expenses were my own. Savannah Lodging provided me with a special welcome gift basket that included those great, local beers I featured in the photo above and other local goods. 

When I return from my travels, I have stories that I am required to write because I am on assignment and then there are stories that I write just because I want to write them. Those stories are the ones that I write about first because they are easy and fun. No one is expecting my best work in a review. In fact, no one is expecting one thing from me.




While in Savannah, I didn't expect to find the most delicious stewed okra and tomatoes that I've ever tasted in my life.

No one knew when I was dining at The Public Kitchen and Bar in Savannah, Georgia a week ago today that I owned this blog, and that I was passing through town as a guest of Savannah Lodging on my way to JekyIl Island for a "Pack Your Bags" feature, and to get information and photography for a future article in the next Skimbaco Lifestyle Magazine.  No one knew that stewed okra and tomatoes would be the first thing I wanted to write about once I got home.I had asked the sales and marketing manager from Savannah Lodging to put together a list of local favorites for me. I wanted to experience the real Savannah, and not the touristy Savannah.

The Public Kitchen and Bar on Liberty Street was a restaurant on my list, handpicked for me.



We stumbled upon the restaurant during our walks, and I saw that it was on my list. We decided to get out of the heat, and try it.  I am so glad we did.

I cannot tell you how much I loved this dish. Both chefs from the restaurant are from North Carolina. That's an interesting little twist. Stewed okra and tomatoes are rarely found on menus in Raleigh so I never eat it.

I may have to ask them if they will share their recipe with all of us. I've looked online, and there are a lot of versions of this dish. I will say that this restaurant's version was both spicy and sweet, which leads me to believe that it could be most similar to the stewed orka and tomatoes recipe on the Deep South Dish cooking blog.. I tasted sugar and a lot of freshness. It was served with jasmine rice.

This dish was so good that I wanted to lick my plate.



The kid's menu is limited, but both of my children ate pasta and loved it.

If in Savannah, dine at The Public Kitchen and Bar. You'll be glad you did.



In other news, we still have about a month of summer vacation so until school starts full-time, my posting will be less on the blog because I'm too busy being out and about, and keeping these kids. Be sure to follow me on social media so you don't miss a trip.