Day 4: Charleston to Savannah

After two full days in Charleston it was time to make the drive south to Savannah, Georgia. The weather was unusually mild with temperatures in the mid 60s F, but the skies were sunny for a day on the road.

The journey down Highway 17 through the marshlands and countryside of South Carolina is rather pleasant. We stopped along the way for coffee, cider, and cookies at a roadside stand.

As we came to what would have been the intersection the I-95 for the quick jaunt into Savannah, we decided it was time to take a detour to another plantation that was on the map. Or so we thought.

Frampton Plantation

Frampton Plantation was right off Highway 17 and as you approach the house it looks quite nice. Unfortunately the house is nothing but an souvenir store and there is nothing to actually see and do at the house. Calling itself a plantation is only a way to get roadtrip visitors to stop at the house.

So in other words it’s a lame tourist trap.

Beaufort

We had some time to spare and I had read that Beaufort was really nice seaside city with historic houses and a plenty of good restaurants. We decided to visit Beaufort for a couple hours before finishing the drive in Savannah.

We parked in the Waterfront Park area and took a quick stroll along the bayshore before turning into the town to visit a souvenir shop. after buying a shot glass for my collection we asked the cashier if she had a recommendation for a place to have lunch. She suggested Plums across the street.

I had a shrimp Po’Boy sandwich and Southern Pecan Ale. The food and beer were both relatively good, but the service was pretty slow. I don’t think it would be our first choice if we returned to Beaufort.

We were kind of anxious after the long lunch to get to Savannah (one reason I have no photos to share other than a photo of my beer), so we set off to finish the drive across the Savannah River. We avoided the interstate highway, which was a win as well.

Savannah, Georgia

Crossing the Savannah River meant entering Georgia for the first time for Shelley and Evan, and only my second time in my life. Savannah and Charleston are often compared to one another but the two cities are actually quite different.

Savannah had a noticeably less sophisticated feel, geared more toward entertainment and more geared toward adults. The antebellum architecture and the city blocks full of statues and trees with dangling moss make the city unique and picturesque.

Arriving at the Marshall House hotel we were truthfully rather disappointed. Since it was Halloween season I thought it would be a fun choice since it’s regularly listed among the most haunted hotels in the country. During the Civil War it acted as a hospital and many soldiers inevitably died there.

The hotel’s historic charm is obvious, but the service from the staff on arrival was lacking. No one was attending the valet parking (really the only option) and the front desk staff seemed uninterested in checking us in. Usually the higher-end hotels offer assistance with luggage and help you to your room. They left all that to us until we exited the elevator.

The room was also not exactly as well maintained as we would have liked either. There was peeling paint and stains on a serving dish in the room. It should be a matter of pride to keep the hotel in as excellent a condition as possible, no matter how old the structure may be.

Despite these issues, we found out that on Tuesday nights there is trivia in the lobby and of course Shelley and I were willing participants. They offered wine to the players and we imbibed to our contentment. The trivia was entirely pop-culture so our performance in the game wasn’t up to our standard.

Ghost Tour

I had reserved a ghost tour for the night of our arrival in Savannah, and at 8:30 PM we made our way to the starting place at Chippewa Square. The tour was a much slower paced experience and had many stops at various houses along the way.

We did our best to try to photograph ghosts at the locations where they were purported to be found. One abandoned house in particular piqued the interest of my son and I and we tried various ways to capture the supernatural entities existing within.

Many plagues, wars, and bizarre murders have happened in Savannah over the centuries and these events have left a rather interesting legacy on the city. Trees that were planted in a town square brought forth the bones from people that were buried there a century before. And, according to the tour guide, nearly every square foot of the city sits atop a cemetery or graveyard.

Whatever the truth is, between the Marshall Hotel and the cemeteries of Savannah we had a few days to live amongst the ghosts. And in fact, we did hear some pretty weird things in the Marshall hotel overnight.

The following day we’d get a better feel for Savannah.