Charleston / Savannah Day 4 & 5

Before heading off to Savannah, we stopped at Early Bird Diner (1644 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407) for the best chicken and waffles of the trip. Look at this! It's one portion, split between two people - that half portion made me so full that I could barely have dinner later in the day.

Upon arrival in Savannah, we took one of the trolley tours which was a great way to get oriented and hear quite a lot of history in 2 hours. The trolley driver suggested that we head to Rocks on the Roof (102 W Bay St, Savannah, GA 31401) for a drink in the sunshine with views of the city, so we did. My bloody mary was perfect and came topped with an enormous shrimp and pickled okra.

The afternoon was spent wandering around Savannah's beautiful squares - we knew we had a dinner reservation at Paula Deen's restaurant so attempted to build up an appetite. Alas, all the walking in the world was not enough to burn off our chicken and waffle breakfast, so by the time we sat down at The Lady & Sons (102 W Congress St, Savannah, GA 31401), we knew we were going to have to skip the fried chicken buffet. Instead, we ordered a Lady's Choice Salad (mixed greens with hard boiled eggs, bacon, shredded cheese, tossed in a tangy ranch dressing, topped with fried red onion rings) and the broiled fresh seafood platter with shrimp, scallops and squid. Considering we were ordering the NOT fried, NOT butter-drenched, NOT heart-stopping items on the menu, it was pretty good, though of course now that I am not overly full I wish I had a chance to sample the famous buffet, which most of the rest of the diners were ordering.

We popped into Moon River Brewing Company (21 W Bay St, Savannah, GA 31401) for an after dinner drink - it was nice enough but nothing to rave about. I think exhaustion took over at this point.

The next morning we went to our trolley guide's other recommendation, J. Christophers (122 E Liberty, Savannah, GA, 31401), for brunch. They serve breakfasts in skillets, which is cute - because the menu is so big and diverse it took us ages to pick out crab cake benedict and a skillet with chorizo and chicken - both were wonderful, especially sitting outside in the sunshine with fresh squeezed orange juice. And all too soon, it was time to leave Savannah and its charms behind.