This year the stars finally aligned for me to check St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah, GA off my bucket list. The day fell on the first weekend of the kid’s Spring Break holiday AND my sister had recently moved to a small town outside of Savannah. She had room in her home and her heart to keep the kids for part of the weekend! So this weekend getaway was part family, part romance and all shenanigans!
The soonest we could get out of town was 4:30 pm. That was actually pretty late to be leaving Orlando on Interstate 4. Especially because we had to go through Daytona Beach- during Bike Week! But it actually was smooth sailing the entire 4-hour drive to the little Georgia county town my sister has settled in. We made it in good time with the highlight being a hilarious Morgan & Morgan billboard sighting! Picture it: John Morgan’s face on a leprechaun’s body with the tagline, “Top of the Morgan to ya!”. That law firm’s marketing machine is hilarious!
Thankfully my sister had previously forwarded website links with information about the Savannah St. Patrick’s Day experience. While it provided a lot of useful information, such as the wristband situation, I couldn’t find information on some things at all. Such as a stage schedule for the bands or where exactly there might have been a kids zone!
Psst…Chandra says:
The $10 wristbands are basically your “permit” for drinking on the street for this 2-day festival. Each day is a different color and apparently, you will be fined for drinking without one! As soon as you see a tent with no line, get yours! Cash only!! There are plenty of these tents around, but sometimes we would see a really long line. And then turn the corner to workers in another tent standing around people watching!
The Hotel
We booked a hotel at the very end of the River St District. It’s a brand new hotel under the Starwood hotel chain. The Alida, part of their Tribute collection is one of those personality filled boutique hotels. Small in size but large in luxury, this place had it all! Thank goodness we called the hotel to ask about parking and road closures. They advised us to be there by 9 am or we wouldn’t be able to access the hotel due to road closures. We arrived at 8:45 am to an easy breezy valet and check-in process. Around this time the traffic was just beginning to build up at the freeway exits into downtown Savannah. Although, the hotel’s concierge said that people will have been setting up since 6 am!
We found a great viewing place as soon as we entered the parade route. The roads were still deserted as everyone filed in and claimed a spot.
(Just Google portable team bench for all your purchase options!)
Psst…Chandra says:
This viewing spot on the steps of the Custom House is free VIP! Not only do you have nothing to carry for an amazing seat, but you also have a totally unobstructed view of what’s in front of you. People in this seat also advanced view of what’s coming (if you are high enough). This is located on the corner of Bull St. and W. We had a lot of floats and groups have to stop here to adjust pacing.
The Parade
We are all quite disappointed that this parade doesn’t throw any candy! I don’t think this current generation loves a parade as mine does. And definitely, if there is no candy! The adults had a better time dancing to the marching parades and running out to kiss the troops. I would warn Moms who bring the kids to bring your own candy to distract them with! We didn’t come across any junk food vendors on the parade route. There was a mobile vendor stand selling light up toys, clothing accessories, beads, and other green costume accessories! Savannah ranks number 2 (in between New York and Chicago) in the world for its parade attendance. For such a top-ranked parade I was expecting intricate floats and lots of big name brand representation. The parade itself was a mix of family legacy groups, local school marching bands, and businesses. Orlando was even represented by the Bishop Moore Catholic High School band! It was over 3 hours long! It was just the right length of time. We were ready to go, even though we remained entertained until the very end.
Psst…Chandra says:
Do NOT try to be cute with your shoes in this historic cobblestoned town.
DON’T DO IT!
Even if the heel is low….
Even if you love those boots and they are comfortable in normal conditions….
If your feet don’t hurt, your knees will. If your knees don’t hurt, your back will.
If nothing hurts, you will at the very least be haunted by the things that you step over, around and sometimes…aw, shoot…in.
I recommend comfortable even soled sneakers that can be thrown in the wash. You’re welcome.
The Real Party
After the kids left and the parade watchers began to disperse, I saw where the real St. Patrick’s Day party would happen. River St. itself turned into a tributary of green shirts, yellow wristbands and clear plastic cups full of beer dumping people in front of stages and food trucks. Heck, even the ice cream shop had a table at the front of the door selling shots! It was so crowded everywhere! While there were 45-minute waits for nightclubs and Irish bars, they were made bearable by the characters. I even had a pretty cerebral conversation in the bathroom line about Savannah being the last real Southern city. It played an often-overlooked integral part of both the American Revolution and the Civil War. We lucked out and walked into several bars for immediate cocktail service. Beer was easier to get because there are several vendors selling in on the street. We caught a couple of fun bands on two of the stages set up on River St.
Then we went back to our hotel because our rooftop lounge at The Alida had the best party in the District in our opinion! We could enter right away, thanks to our wristbands designating us as guests of the hotel. And $5 drinks with the souvenir cups we were given at check-in was a great perk!
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Hotel wristbands for security + souvenir cup -
The View from the Rooftop Bar
The Morning After
The process of getting River St back to normal is a local news item the next morning. The clean up apparently began at 3 am with leaf blowers and workers with gloves and trash bags.
The end of festivals and events like this ALWAYS remind me of one of my favorite scenes from “Charlotte’s Web”. Here is a reminder of the scene when Templeton gets let out of the cage to enjoy the Schmorgasbord…..hahahahaha….I love that rat!
Since I didn’t stay out super late, I was up early enjoying the chilly air. We had the BEST breakfast ever at The Alida! It was a simple breakfast, but so expertly prepared. Every morsel was enjoyed in record time! Only the elderly, a few bleary eyed parents pushing strollers and we were up at that hour. River Street was deserted and still stank of dirty grease, sloshed beer and leftover food. But it was pretty clean already! Stages and food vendor areas were coming down for another year.
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River St. : The Morning After -
The Iconic Waving Girl Statue
One of the things I love about old cities is the painted or engraved names on the sides of some of the buildings that announce their past. I found this one, had the urge to Google it and learned that Savannah holds an important part of our nation’s pulp and paper industry! This building seems to have passed through the hands of several businesses beginning with Atlantic Paper and Pulp Co spearheaded by Charles Herty.
Back to Reality
After leaving Savannah, we spent some time with my sister’s family and headed out for some beach time the next day. There are several beach vacation options to choose from on the way back to Orlando.
Tybee Island is the closest geographical option. We also haven’t been there yet, but we decided to get farther away from the crowds. It is really close to Savannah. But it is rich in culture and Southern history so we will get there eventually!
Amelia Island is the other place we were considering however; my husband and I have been there before. The kids weren’t with us though, so it would be new to them.
At the end of the day, we chose Jekyll Island, Georgia because none of us had been before. My husband works for Marriott, so we are having a great time discovering all the new brands available to us under the new BonVoy umbrella. We assume this a derivative of Bon Voyage, and we are taking that sentiment literally! We stayed in the Westin. It is right on the water. We were upgraded to an ocean view and loved falling asleep to the sound of waves. The only disappointment with this location was that the pool/hot tub was down for construction. They expanded the pool (which must have been tiny, because it’s still pretty small) and added a hot tub. Construction was just completed that day! They were only waiting for the building inspectors okay to reopen. That will make it a perfect location!
Jekyll Island has four tides a day! That explained the hard packed sand on a beach that looks more suited for a 5k than a sand castle competition. I’m not sure how little families deal with that. I know my kids would have been pretty upset! The weather didn’t allow us to explore any other beaches to know if this is typical. The waves come all the way up to the wooden walkways when the tide is in.
There is a $6 fee to pay to enter the island, which is mostly state park and protected wildlife areas. We didn’t get to stay long at this beautiful place because an intense windstorm brought in a cold, dreary day. There isn’t much to do on Jekyll Island that doesn’t involve the outdoors. Although we had a great walk in the historic district on our first evening. Once the wind stole WIFI signal from us as well, we hightailed it back home.
The Final Verdict
In summary, Chandra says knock this one off the bucket list but leave the kids home. (That is unless you have an amazing family member like my sister!)
I’m not sure if this weekend would qualify as a great “family getaway”. From the slight disappointment in the parade, to the not very play friendly beaches of Jekyll Island, I would label this trip “Grown-Ups Only”.
The shenanigans to be had in Savannah during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday weekend are best when done people watching into the wee hours of the morning and then escaping to a quaint exposed brick hotel. Being able to wake up at my leisure to a pretty amazing breakfast for two had our Irish eyes smiling!
Until next time,
Great job sister! As you know I haaaate reading!! Your blog kept my attention, your pictures were GREAT and it sounds like you had a great time. Its always great to have my family around, glad I could assist you in your wonderful getaway💗.
Thanks girl! I’m glad the post was interesting to you.