My daughter turned 13 in April of 2022. For her birthday I planned a mother-daughter trip to Savannah, GA. I was pretty worried about this trip. Bringing a teenager to a city that is filled with history, walking and culture was nerve wracking for me. I wasn’t sure if she’d enjoy this type of vacation and I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy a teenager that was not having fun. We both ended up having a blast here.
I booked a room at the River Street Inn. I heard mixed reviews about the hotel, but it was absolutely gorgeous, and the location was perfect. We could ride the elevator to the main entrance on Bay Street, or all the way down to River Street. Complaints online said it was loud, but the noise on River Street didn't bother us at all, and the views looking over the river from our window were worth it.
I purchased the City Pass and we spent our first day on the hop on-hop off trolley. This was the best decision I could’ve made. I didn’t rent a car for this vacation, so this was an excellent way to hear about the city and experience all of the different places throughout the day. We had so much fun walking through cemeteries, touring old houses, hearing about the history of the city, visiting the marketplace and walking along River Street.
We took a sunset river cruise which was a highlight of our trip for sure. There was music, snacks and fruity drinks. Seeing the city and all the little towns along the river was well worth the cost of the cruise. When we docked, there was a guy playing the trumpet on the street as we walked off. Songs like the Gilligan's Island Theme Song, the Titanic Theme song. It made those waiting to depart the ship laugh and he even played happy birthday for my daughter.
The next day we walked. We walked to the park, walked to restaurants, walked to get ice cream. The hop on-hop off certainly helped us know where we wanted to visit, which was a blessing since we were now on foot. We did attempt to use the free transit throughout the town, but even doing that, there was a lot of walking. We visited Forsyth Park, which was very pretty.
There were vendors set up along the path. We lounged in the grass. One thing to note about walking through Savannah is there are different squares, which are like little parks all over the city. In most of these squares there are groups of homeless, so we didn't cross through many. We tried to stick to busier sidewalks.
That evening we did a ghost trolley tour, which was not even slightly spooky, but still fun.
On our last full day in Georgia we caught an UBER to Tybee Island. The beach was fun, and it was nice to find the sun, though we did get sunburned. We had a decent lunch at a restaurant right on the beach (decent meaning food was pretty good, but the service was horrible and the staff pretty rude), and enjoyed swimming and walking on the pier. We found a couple of sharks teeth on the beach. There was a riptide warning while we were there, but we did still risk swimming for awhile. Something I wasn't prepared for, UBER will bring you to Tybee Island, but they fail to tell you they will not bring you back to Savannah. There are no UBER drivers in the Tybee Island area. I attempted to call a taxi and they wanted payment up front. When I asked how I would be guaranteed they would pick me up, he hung up on me. We were lucky enough to flag down a cab that had just dropped a guest off at a hotel, and was heading back to Savannah. The cost wasn't much different than what I had paid for the UBER.
We didn't have a super early flight home, but by our final day we were both exhausted, and our skin was pretty red from our beach day. We hung out on River Street for awhile, had breakfast, and stayed pretty close to our hotel which was holding our bags. We had to check out of our room so we lost our key card access to the elevator. Once we walked up the hill from River Street we were done. We did put a lock on the bridge by our hotel as a farewell to this beautiful city.
Day 1: Hop on-Hop of Trolly and Sunset River Cruise
Day 2 - Forsyth Park, River Street, Ghost Trolly Tour
Day 3: Tybee Island
Day 4: Fly home
**our original declaration was that any state we visit after 2018 counts. Matthew did not come on this trip obviously, since it was a mother-daughter vacation. This will be the only state that the two of us won’t visit together. Therefor, we may have to plan a long weekend in GA at some point over the next few years so he can see Georgia, or add it to our 2026 trip to North and South Carolina.
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