Hey Guys!
This post will conclude our time in Charleston and Savannah.
Tip: Charleston & Savannah are two hours from one another. Other nearby places to Savannah include Hilton Head (50 mins), Tybee Island (45 mins), Isle of Hope (20 mins) & Fort McAllister State Park (40 mins). Click here for more Forts & Museums in Savannah
Read Days 1 & 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here, Day 6 here & Day 7 here & Click here to see links to all of my blog posts
Once again, we started our morning with coffee in our hotel room.
We absolutely loved this hotel and I would highly recommend it!
Read reviews here
After our coffee, we headed to a nearby cafe called Collins Quarter.
I had read about their spiced lavender mocha that was supposed to be really good so I wanted to try it.
After arriving to the restaurant and being seated, we took a few minutes to look over the menu.
Their food options looked really good but we decided just to order a muffin and the spiced lavender mocha.
Both were delicious!
Read reviews here
After breakfast, we walked over to the nearby Juliette Gordon Low historic home.
The house was built in 1821 by a lawyer and Supreme Court justice.
It was sold in 1831 to William and Sarah Gordon who were the grandparents of Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts of America.
On October 31, 1860, Juliette was born in this house and remained here together with her mother, sisters, grandmother, and enslaved servants during the Civil War until Savannah was occupied by Union forces in December 1864.
The house is now owned and managed by the Girl Scouts of America.
Click here to purchase tickets to tour this home & Read reviews here
After leaving here, we drove to another historic home called the gingerbread house.
This house was built in 1899 and is said to be the most photographed house in Savannah!
It has been featured in many films and publications as well as being visited by celebrities and US Presidents including Woodruff and Roosevelt.
President Woodrow Wilson, who married a woman from Savannah, tried to buy the home from the Asendorf family.
The house was used for the 1975 movie, “Bingo Long and the Traveling All Stars,” that starred Sidney Poitier, Richard Pryor and Billy Dee Williams and the movie, “Pals,” a 1988 movie starring George C. Scott and Don Ameche.
Today, the house is used for events and you can rent out the second and third floor rooms to stay here.
Read reviews here
After leaving here, we continued our drive and came up on the beautiful Sacred Heart Catholic Church. 
The church is located in Savannah’s Victorian disctrict.
The construction of this church began in 1902 and was finished in 1905.
The church was funded by the help of the first black nun of Georgia, Mathilda Taylor Beasley.
We then continued our drive where we passed another church.
Not sure the name of this church as I just snapped a picture as we were driving by.
Our next stop was the historic Mercer Williams House.
Construction of this house began in 1860 and was later delayed by the Civil War. It was eventually completed in 1868.
The house was built for General Hugh W. Mercer who was the great grandfather of songwriter, Johnny Mercer.
However, General Mercer sold the unfinished house to John R Wilder so, no Mercer ever actually lived in the house.
n 1969, James A. Williams, one of Savannah’s earliest and most dedicated private preservationists, bought the vacant property and began a two-year restoration of the house that would become his permanent residence. He restored more than 50 buildings during his 30-year career in historic preservation in Savannah.
The historic mansion was featured in “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” featuring five centuries of artwork and antiques collected by notable historic preservationist Jim Williams.
The house gained fame due to a murder involving Jim Williams and his lover, Danny Hansford, which inspired John Berendt’s book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
See ticket prices to tour the home here and read reviews here
After leaving here, we made our way to another beautiful, historic church called the Congregation Mickve Israel.
The gothic style church was completed in 1878.
This church is the third oldest Jewish congregation in America and the first synagogue built in Georgia.
Congregation Mickve Israel was named one of the “15 Most Beautiful Synagogues in the World” by Condé Nast Traveler and rated among the “15 Best Things to Do in Savannah” by Trip Advisor.
Read reviews here
Next we spotted the Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church. 
The construction for this church began in 1875 but wasn’t completed until 1890 due to the outbreak of yellow fever.
The church was built in memory of John & Charles Wesley, the founders of the Methodist Church.
The church, like so many in Savannah, was beautiful!
Read reviews here
It was finally time for our lunch reservation at the very popular, Olde Pink House restaurant! 
During my research, I had read that this restaurant was a must when visiting Savannah!
I had also read that you will definitely want to make reservations to guarantee that you can get in without a long wait!
So, I made our reservations before we left for our trip.
After arriving to the restaurant, we were seated right away.
As we were being taken to our table, I was taking pictures of the inside of the restaurant….it is gorgeous!!
Tip: If you want to reserve private dining for two, click here
The Olde Pink House, originally known as the Habersham House, was built in 1771. Construction was interrupted by the American Revolutionary War in the mid-1770s, but the Habersham Family eventually moved into the mansion by 1779.
Before it became a restaurant, the Olde Pink House served other purposes after the descendants of James Habersham sold it. In 1812, the building became the first bank in Georgia, called Planters Bank, and remained in service until after the Civil War.
The mansion was also used as a bookstore and an attorney’s office before it was sold to Alida Harper-Fowlkes in the 1930s.
She turned the mansion into a tea house. In the 1940s, Jim Williams — the owner of the famous Mercer-Williams House, purchased and restored the Olde Pink House.
He sold the mansion to Herschel McCallar and Jeffrey Keith in the 1970s, who added modern electricity and plumbing.
The Olde Pink House opened as a restaurant in 1971. Keith sold the property to William and Elizabeth Balish in 1992, two years after McCallar’s death. The Balish family kept the mansion running as a restaurant, and their daughter, Donna Moeckel, is the current owner of the Olde Pink House.
After being seated, we took a few minutes to look over the menu.
I went with the special of the day, which was a steak, mashed potatoes and collard greens and the hubby decided on the shrimp and grits with baked macaroni and cheese.
The food and the service were impeccable!!
Read reviews here…..there’s only 16k of them! 😉
After finishing our lunch, we walked around the house to check out all of the different rooms.
We were encouraged by the staff to check out the upstairs too.
We couldn’t believe how big this place was!
The rooms were all decorated so beautifully!
We spotted a light fixture in the shape of a ship.
The upstairs also has many antiques on display.
A few more pictures of the inside.
After taking way too many pictures, we headed to our next stop.
Near the restaurant was the historic Lucas Theater.
Savannah-native and theater developer Arthur Lucas opened the Lucas Theatre Dec. 26, 1921, as part of Savannah’s grand theater district.
We passed the Davenport House Museum.
The Davenport House was built in 1820 by master builder Isaiah Davenport with the work of his enslaved laborers Ned and Davey.
He lived here with his wife and their 10 children.
The Davenport house is one of the oldest brick structures in the city and contains a total of 6,800 sq ft!
Click here to purchase tickets to tour the home & Read reviews here
Near the Davenport House was the beautiful, historic Kehoe House. 
The bed and breakfast is housed in an old, historic home that was built in 1892 by William Kehoe, a successful iron foundry owner.
The house features 13 guest rooms and multiple private and semi-private balconies.
Read reviews here
Our walk took us through Emmet Park as we headed back to our hotel to relax for a while.
Once we were back at our hotel. we headed for the balcony to watch the ships float by.
Of course, with this being our last night, we couldn’t leave without taking our pictures out on the balcony. 😉
After spending a few minutes at the hotel, we headed back out to continue our tour of Savannah.
Our first stop was the Unitarian Universalist Church. The church was a 5 minute drive from our hotel.
The church was built in 1851. It was physically moved from Oglethorpe Square to the western side of Troup Square, a distance of a third of a mile, in 1860.
The church is known as the Jingle Bells church because, the Christmas carol “Jingle Bells” was written by the church’s music director James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893).
He copyrighted the song, with the name “The One Horse Open Sleigh”, on September 16, 1857, while he was living in Savannah.
Troup Square is small but beautiful.
This Armillary Sphere statue that is located in Troup Square, was designed in 1968 with zodiac signs around the sphere and functions as a sundial.
As we continued our walk, we passed the Andrew Low House.
The historic mansion was built in 1849 for Andrew Low, a wealthy cotton merchant from Scotland. 
It’s known for being the home of a prominent family, including Andrew’s daughter-in-law, Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts.
Read reviews here & Purchase tour tickets here
We then passed the incredible Hamilton-Turner Inn.
The Inn was originally built in 1873 as a private residence for naval officer and prominent businessman, Samuel Pugh Hamilton.
John Berendt’s novel “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” made note of the raucous parties thrown by Joe Odom, who at one time managed the property.
Years later, the Inn made a cameo appearance in the Clint Eastwood-directed film of the same name starring Kevin Spacey and John Cusack.
Read reviews here
Next, was the Flannery O’Connor Childhood home.
Flannery was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She wrote two novels and 31 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries.
The home was built in 1856 and now serves as a museum.
Read reviews here
Continuing our walk through the South Historic District.
Next, we came up on the Armstrong Kessler Mansion.
This house was incredible!
The structure was built between 1917 and 1919 for the home of Savannah magnate George Ferguson Armstrong.
The Historic Savannah Foundation sold the Mansion to preservationist and antique dealer Jim Williams who restored it as his home.
Eventually, it was sold to a major Savannah law firm as offices. The mansion was featured in The American Architect in 1919, and listed in A Field Guide to American Houses in 1984.
The historic mansion now serves as a luxurious wedding venue.
We passed the former home of Ralston College.
The college was housed in the historic Noble Hardee mansion that was built in 1860 however, they just recently sold the historic building to an American investor who has a passion for conserving historic properties.
After this house, we walked back to our car and headed to the historic Laurel Grove Cemetery.
The cemetery first opened for burials in 1853.
It includes the original cemetery for white people (now known as Laurel Grove North) and a companion burial ground (called Laurel Grove South) that was reserved for slaves and free people of color.
The south section of the cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and the north section was added in 1983.
The cemetery has countless graves of many of Savannah’s Confederate veterans of the American Civil War. Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts is also buried here.
The cemetery is beautiful…..huge, moss covered trees were scattered throughout the cemetery!
You can either drive through or park and walk around.
We decided to park and check out some of the gravesites.
There was only one other couple here when we visited.
There were so many old and unique headstones.
Read reviews here
After spending several minutes here, we headed to the Victorian District to check out Savannah’s own Rainbow Row. 
Following the Civil War, crowded living conditions downtown and technological advances such as paved streets, a streetcar system, and electricity promoted the development of suburban residences.
When a streetcar system was installed in 1869, real estate developers followed its tracks, building inexpensive wood frame houses in the southern edges of the city.
Now called the Victorian District, this area was designated a National Register District in 1974.
The houses in this area were colorful and beautiful!
As we continued our walk, we saw so many gorgeous, historic homes!
We took tons of pictures!
We spotted the historic Bynes-Royall Funeral home.
Maj. William Royall established his coffin and cooling board company in the year of 1878 in response to the yellow fever epidemic of 1876 because blacks were dying in large numbers without a business in tact to dispose of the remains.
Bynes-Royall relocated here in 1963 and remains the oldest Black-owned business in Savannah.
Walking through the Victorian Disctrict
More beautiful homes!
After taking 987 pictures of the houses, we headed back to 0ur hotel to walk to a nearby area that looked like it had shops and restaurants.
Passing the back of our hotel
A shot of our balcony.
This area had once been the home to many old manufacturing warehouses.
They have now been converted into shops and restaurants.
It was really cool!
We spotted the old Cotton Exchange building.
The Savannah Cotton Exchange building was completed in 1887 during the era when Savannah ranked first as a cotton seaport on the Atlantic and second in the world.
In its heyday as a cotton port over two million bales a year moved through Savannah.
The cotton exchange went out of business in 1951.
The building has been home to Solomon’s Lodge, No. 1, Free and Accepted Masons, since 1976. It was established by founder of the Province of Georgia, General James Oglethorpe, in 1734.
The fountain that sits in front of the building is just as beautiful!
After leaving here, we headed to dinner at the Pirate’s House. 
You will definitely want to go online and make a reservation if you want to eat here!
The Pirate’s House was first opened in 1753 as an inn for seafarers, and fast became a meeting point for pirates and sailors from the Seven Seas.
It is said to be the oldest standing structure in the state of Georgia!
The restaurant has fifteen dining rooms and can hold up to 120 guests!
Since we had reservations, we were seated as soon as we arrived.
We took a few minutes to look over the menu.
I ordered the grilled snapper with mashed potatoes and collard greens and the hubby ordered the honey pecan fried chicken with the same sides.
The food and service were both great!
Read reviews here
After dinner we headed to Leopold’s for some more of that delicious ice cream!
I had to have some more of their Lemon Custard ice cream before leaving Savannah!
It was so good!
Read reviews here
After our ice cream, we headed back to our hotel and headed to the balcony!
We loved watching all the cargo ships pass by!
The Georgia Queen Riverboat passed by….it was all light up!
This concludes our time in Charleston and Savannah!
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for our next adventure in Alabama!
Click here to see links to all of my blog posts