If there are two things all tourists indulge on almost every stop on their travels, it's shopping and dining. And it's because of that truism that every time I sit to compose posts of my pictures from a travel excursion, I try to devote one or more posts to those keystone pastimes.
And given that we've made six trips to Savannah now in the past six years, I've visited a lot of restaurants there. (You can peruse the list, which includes repeat trips, in the "Restaurants" folder of my photos at SmugMug.com).
Our recent trip involved four nights and three full days. In that time, we dined out four times in Savannah and once on Tybee Island. We also stuck our heads into seven picture-worthy shops and spent time briefly at two hotels where we visited artwork displayed there by Savannah painter Tiffany Taylor, an artist both Lee Ann and I first became acquainted with on our last trip to Savannah, in March of 2022, because her then-gallery was just around the corner from where we staying. I'll devote a full post to pictures of those artworks in Part V.
After we learned her gallery had closed in December 2022, I decided to devote a full post in this series to pictures of her work that I took at those hotels.
Two of the four restaurants in Savannah where we dined this time were return visits -- The Ordinary Pub and Six Pence Pub. The two new ones were Tequila's Town and Poe's Tavern. I already covered the trip to The Crab Shack on Tybee Island.
Of the seven shops we visited, six were new to us -- Whispers, Something Different, Saints and Shamrocks, the Copper Penny Boutique and George Davis Fine Art & Antiques, while the seventh, E Shaver Bookseller and Tea Room, was a return visit.
Here is a summary (with pictures, of course) of each of those:
THE ORDINARY PUB
I gambled with my fare on this visit and ordered the Honey Glazed Salmon, which was salmon served on a chimichurri sauce and sauteed arugula topped with fresh pineapple pico and fresh basil. Even after the dish was served at our table, I felt sketchy about it. But the more I delved into everything, the more delicious and flavorful it was. I ate every bite of the serving. The salmon is the first photo below.
Lee Ann went with the bacon cheeseburger and fresh cut fries (second photo below). As for drinks, I had a margarita (fourth photo below) and Lee Ann ventured with a house special cocktail but can't remember what was in it (third photo below).
At the bottom of this section, I include a photo of a large sign of the pub name in lights alongside the bar, something I don't remember from our previous visit.
TEQUILA'S TOWN
My most memorable experience in my first visit to Tequila's Town, a Mexican restaurant at 109 Whitaker St., was the large margarita (with the house tequila) that I consumed (first photo below).
Other than being in a large mug, it wasn't anything extraordinary, but it hit the spot on the night we were there. Lee Ann ordered a premium margarita (second photo) which had a label tequila. She couldn't finish it (and didn't expect to), so she gave what she couldn't consume to me. By the time I got to her drink, I couldn't really notice the higher-shelf tequila.
I ordered a taco salad as seen in the fourth photo below (I wasn't feeling too adventurous), while Lee Ann had the Gringa Quesedilla (third photo).
SIX PENCE PUB
The first of our two return visits to local eateries was the Six Pence Pub. We'd eaten there three times previously, and each time I had the pot roast and mashed potatoes, and each of those times, it was absolutely delicious. Lee Ann had grown fond of the pub's Shepherd's Pie, which she also had found delightful in the past.
We were both disappointed with those same dishes this time around, though. Not sure why Lee Ann wasn't happy with hers (first photo below), but my pot roast (second photo) was dry -- despite the gravy on top -- and on the tepid side (as opposed to hot out of the oven).
With did notice that the pub's tribute to Queen Elizabeth had been replaced by a photo of King Charles III (third photo below).
POE'S TAVERNI'm pretty sure this pub is relatively new to Savannah. It's on the far western fringe of the downtown historic district, so if it has been around a while, that would explain why we hadn't known of it before this trip.
Poe's has traditional pub fare, and the day we were there we both were in a burger mood. I got the simple Gold Bug Burger with Swiss cheese (first photo below), while Lee Ann opted for the Gold Bug Plus (second photo below), which enabled her to top hers with Pimento cheese (not available with the simple Gold Bug). Our burgers were good, as were the fries.
The place has lots of Poe-related wall hangings, and I include two photos of the like below the food pictures.
GEORGE DAVIS FINE ART & ANTIQUES GALLERY
The pictures with this section were taken at the above named gallery at 408 Bull St. I liked a lot of what I saw, and after taking a few pictures, a gentleman came out from the back, and I asked him if he were George Davis. The looked at me oddly and and we exchanged a few more uncomfortable questions and answers about George, he explained that he was George's partner (I presumed he meant in the business). Then he asked me if I knew George, and I said no and that I presumed the person I would meet in the shop would be the gentleman for whom it was named.
That's when he told me that George was deceased and that he was now running the establishment. He said the shop displays art by several artists and sculptors, and we talked about one or two. As we made our way out the door, the gentleman followed us outdoors quickly and locked the door behind him.
I felt offended, but hey, what do I know? We moved on. As I said before, I really liked the art in the shop. So much so that the photo leading off the post was also taken inside this gallery.
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
This shop on River Street near the River Walk is aptly named. You'll find oddities, novelties and funny sayings on an assortment of merchandise. The photos in this section are from our stop in that store.
SAVANNAH BEE CO.
Lee Ann and I both have interest in quality honey, Lee Ann to use in her hot teas and me to consume raw versions on a daily basis to help negate symptoms triggered by environmental allergies to pollen, dust, mold and cat dander. So we spent time perusing the offerings this shop, also along River Street but in the tunnel on the west end of the River Walk. The Sourwood honey (last picture in this section) was particularly delicious, so we got some of that.
WHISPERS
Another River Street shop, Whispers is -- as the photos should convey -- a women's clothing, shoes and accessories shop. My interest in going in was photos; Lee Ann actually bought a couple of shawls and the three pins you see at the bottom of this section. She has become friends to dragon flies because they are a gardening cohort (they eat pests that can harm the garden), she has a cat named Millie and she's always liked butterflies.
THE COPPER PENNY BOUTIQUE
We didn't spend a lot of time in this Broughton Street shop, but I will point out that the man who seemed to be the owner and/or manager was very congenial and even offered me an opportunity to sit and enjoy a beverage while Lee Ann looked around. These four photos are the entirety of my shoot there.
SAINTS AND SHAMROCKS
This shop at 309 Bull St. is another fun place, reminiscent of Something Different except that the merchandise is confined to light religious and Irish fun merchandise, including clothes, wall art, books, coffee mugs and the like.
I don't recall if we walked out with anything, but I do remember we enjoyed a folk tune that was playing on the store streaming system ... so much so that I asked the staffers if they could tell me who the vocalist was, and they said Harry O'Donoghue. They did not say if they had any of his recordings for sale, but I'd have to imagine they would have directed me to them if they did.
E SHAVER BOOKSELLER AND TEA ROOM
Like a lot of people, it's hard for Lee Ann and I to not stop at a local-owned bookstore, which is what E Shaver's is at 326 Bull St., just off Madison Square. We'd been here on a previous visit, and I believe I presented some pictures from that visit in a blog post at the time. But I couldn't help but taking more pictures again, and speaking of cats, a couple of the pictures were of the shop's resident cats.
Next Up: Tiffani Taylor paintings find homes in historic district
Previously in this series:
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