Our hotel was close enough to the Savannah airport that the planes came in low over the parking lot, and Wes stood out there Saturday morning with his coffee watching them like a boy at an air show. He didn't need to be on one. Neither did I. We drove down on Friday, September 12, about four hours on I-95, and the drive down took a little over half a tank.
Savannah had been on my list for years. It's within our four-hour rule, barely, and I'd read enough to know that most of what makes the old part of the city lovely is free. You can walk the squares, sit under the live oaks and look at houses all day without paying anybody.
Why we stayed by the airport
Hotels in the historic district wanted well over $200 a night for a September weekend, plus city taxes and overnight parking that alone would have been a big chunk of our budget. Out by the airport, a plain chain hotel with breakfast was $79 a night before taxes, $182 for both nights after them. It had a big free lot, a decent bed and a waffle machine I got very familiar with.
The catch is that you have to get downtown. We drove in, about 20 minutes, parked once in a city garage and left the car there. The city runs a free downtown shuttle that loops through the historic district, and we used it whenever our feet gave out. Parking for the two days came to $14.
Squares, oaks and River Street
The old city is laid out in a grid of small squares, each with its own trees, benches and usually a monument. We walked from one to the next with no plan at all. Some are busy with tour groups, some are nearly empty, and all of them are shaded by live oaks with Spanish moss hanging down like gray lace. Forsyth Park, at the south end, has the big white fountain everybody takes a picture of, and we did too.
We spent Saturday afternoon on River Street watching the container ships come up the river, close enough that you feel small. The cobblestones down there are rough on the ankles, so wear real shoes. Lunches were from the cooler, eaten on park benches: sandwiches, fruit, and some cookies I had baked Thursday night. I bought $18 of extra groceries for the weekend.
One more free thing I'd recommend is just sitting. We found a bench in a quiet square around four on Saturday and stayed there an hour without saying much. That hour is what I remember best.
We had agreed before we left that we'd have one real supper. Saturday night we got a table at a seafood place a few blocks off the river and ordered shrimp and grits and a fried flounder plate with two sweet teas and a slice of pie to split. With tip it came to $64. That's more than I like to spend on one meal, and I don't regret a dollar of it.
Sunday morning we filled up on hotel waffles again and drove one more slow loop through the squares before heading home. I bought a small box of pralines for Mr. Earl, $8. Coffee on the road was $5.
Our three days, line by line
The round trip with the driving in and out of downtown was about 520 miles. At 31 miles per gallon that's close to 17 gallons, and we paid about $2.89, so gas was $49.
- Gas: $49
- Hotel near the airport, two nights with tax: $182
- Downtown parking: $14
- Seafood supper with tip: $64
- Extra groceries for lunches: $18
- Pralines for Mr. Earl: $8
- Coffee on the road: $5
- Total: $340
That's $40 over our $300 target. I'd do it the same way again. If we'd skipped the dinner we'd have been under, but then we'd have been two people in Savannah eating sandwiches for three days, and the point of the trip account is to remember the trips.
Next on the calendar is the Outer Banks cottage at the end of the month, which I've already read the fine print on more times than I'd like to admit. It's hurricane season, so we'll see what the weather has to say about it.
