Mansion on Forsythe is a great hotel. Recommend the tour of the mansion based on the book and Clint Eastwood movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Skip Paula Deens restaurant if its even still around. Its not worth the long wait for mediocore food.

Crystal Beer Palace for food! Former grocery-then drug store, retrofitted to restaurant. GREAT BURGERS!!! Possibly the greatest fries in the world! The whole menu rocks! Great beer selection.

Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House - internationally famous, so somewhat touristy. Folks line up for lunch starting at around 10:30. You sit at large tables with folks you're meeting for the first time. Don't have to order - EVERYTHING is brought to the tables in large serving bowls - you just take what you want. Great southern cuisine! FYI - about $18 per person (costly for lunch, but certainly worth doing at least once)- tip at the register going out.

Music/Nightlife
Bay Street Blues
Bayou Cafe

There are a couple of entertainment districts - on the riverwalk and over near Broughton St. Several brew pubs that feature live music.

If art and museums are your thing, there's the Telfair and the Jepson museums (right next to each other). There are SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) galleries and exhibits everywhere. It's the local art college and you can find exhibits, including works for sale by students (some are AMAZING!) all over town.

Savannah hosts perhaps the worlds largest and craziest St. Patricks Day parade(s). It rivals Mardi Gras - including crowd sizes and overall craziness. Parking and vantage points for the parade can be rare. Book early, if you're interested.

All of this doesn't begin to scratch the surface! I'm not a local, but I live about 70 miles away and show up often.

Great city for walking around in. One of America's most beautiful!

[Edited on 3/9/2015 by Rusty]

Thanks Rusty and OG - good stuff - me and the Mrs will be doing plenty of exploring and appreciate the suggestions! Going later this month as I have free time this March now that I dont have 3 or 4 Beacon shows to go to.

Take a 30 min trip out to Tybee Island. Along the way out is Fort Pulaski, which is worth a visit. The holes in the walls made by rifled Union cannons remain.

Also check out the Fort Screven area on Tybee. The officers' houses are cool (one formerly owned by Mellencamp) as are some of the dwellings now made from the abandoned fort's batteries. Sandra Bullock's house is somewhere nearby.

http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortscreven.html

[Edited on 3/9/2015 by Brock]

Following on Brock's suggestion, definitely check out the barrier islands nearby. One of the great unsung ecological treasures of North America. Tybee is closest to Savannah, but a modest day trip could take you to Hilton Head and some of the other islands in that chain.

I'm not really that familiar with Savannah the city, so I can't help you there, but check out the islands and you won't be sorry.

If you're a fan of the book (movie? ... eeeeh), "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", there are entire tours based on the novel. Bonaventure Cemetery is worth a look, regardless.

Yeah, Tybee - and Ft. Pulaski are certainly worth seeing. Within driving distance is Harris Neck Wildlife Preserve and Ft. Morris - a civil war fort in nearby Richmond Hill ... home of a certain organist/vocalist you might have heard of. 😉

Near Harris Neck is the Old School Diner. Out in the middle of nowhere. Call to check hours. Might run into Affleck or Bullock while there. Maybe. 😉

We did Hilton Head last year, and did a one day stop in Savannah. If you haven't seen the movie, you might want to (I hadn't, but have since watched it - it's on one of the cable stations now). I say that only because every tour there asks 'Have you seen the movie?' and then points out all the places where they filmed it - this is the restaurant, this is the house, etc.

They had a nice jump-on jump-off tour where you jumped off the trolley wherever you wanted to explore, and then jumped back on later to go further. It went through all the numerous small parks......

It is touristy there - there is a museum/tour guide spot where you can buy tickets to the different tours, and you can catch the buses/trolleys right there.

We walked around the riverfront, and also stopped in at a microbrew for some beer. We ate at a restaurant that was also famous - might have been the Olde Pink House.

It was nice, not real exciting or anything, but a good way to learn some of the history of the area.

Wife and I were there 2 weeks ago. Wouldn't ya know the coldest recorded temperature in history occurred while we were there..... LOL We didn't rent a car so had to walk or take the trolley everywhere. It's real easy to get around the downtown historic center. Lots to see and do, you wont' get bored. You HAVE to eat at Mrs. Wilkes. It's only open 11 to 2. You need to be hungry. We arrived about 11 and had to wait about an hour to get in. They brought out 22 different dishes and 2 desserts . Cost us $20 each. Felt like beached whales when we left. (Don't ya just love that feeling ?) hahaha.

Some very cool artist studios in the Market Square, mostly upstairs lofts. A few of them working on stuff so you can watch and talk to them...that was pretty neat.

Went to Hilton Head for 2 nights too. It's only about an hour drive. It's pretty but not a whole lot to do if you're not golfing, drinking or laying on the beach.

Tons of touristy shops at both locations. You can spend an entire day on River street going in and out of the shops and pleny of eating places.

Oh yea.....ya gotta try the Pralines too.....OMG....I'd never had one before. A couple candy stores give out free bite size samples. Then you're hooked.....I could have passed out from a sugar high....

Have fun !!!

Best lunch I had in Savannah was at Zunzi's. Great food and unique atmosphere. Place we ate was the original take-out-and-eat-in-a-park-only hole in the wall. I see they now have a second location with actual places to sit inside...

http://www.yelp.com/biz/zunzis-savannah

Thanks all for the great suggestions - I have added to my list and look forward to seeing this new city in a couple of weeks.

1 - Take a horse carriage ride. Lots of history in Savannah and well worth it.
2- The Pink House is definitely a great restaraunt.
3- There is also a great Ice Cream Parlour in downtown that is worth a visit.
4- The cover photo from Gregg's Low Country Blues was taken near Savannah. Very cool

If you make it out to Tybee Island and you like sea food, hit up The Crab Shack. Great food and a super cool spot in the swamp.

http://www.thecrabshack.com/

If you get a chance at City Market catch this smoking trio: The Steppin Stones.
They are from Hilton Head, just finished up a new album in Ashevlle.
They are young... but she can play and wail.

Have fun, Riverfront area is great.

Casual dining, Six Pence Pub, Bull St, great English pub fun
Fine dining, Old Pink House, nice sit down romantic dinner

Enjoy

Mike

We're staying at the Andaz in June. Looks good but never been.

Anyone have experience with this hotel?

We picked the Bohemian but I was told by a very knowledgable travel pro that the Bohemian and the Andaz were the two to choose from.

We're staying at the Andaz in June. Looks good but never been.

Anyone have experience with this hotel?

What was the name of the park in the movie that they walked the bulldog in?