Savannah, GA: Top 5 Foodie Stops

After eight hours in an office that feels like the inside of an ice cube, I’m daydreaming about being on a beach with a good book and an adult beverage. After all, it's August in South Carolina...I shouldn't be this cold! Where is my triple digit heat and humidity?!

Since the closest beach is over three hours away, I’m blogging about my favorite city by the sea -- Savannah, Georgia -- to take my mind off of my icy toes. Savannah’s food scene is growing by leaps and bounds. Every trip, I find a new restaurant or specialty shop to try out. Very seldom am I disappointed in my finds. So, today, I give you five of my favorite places to eat in Savannah (and the surrounding areas). These are in no particular order because I can’t play favorites.

Lazaretto Creek, between Savannah and Tybee Island

1. Café GelatOhh. Most travel guides will tell you that Leopold’s has the best ice cream in Savannah, and I’m not going to argue that point. But if you want gelato, stop by Café GelatOhhh in City Market. Rumor has it they also serve salads and sandwiches. I know nothing of those. Gelato is my only reason for visiting multiple times on a single trip to Savannah. ($)
2. The Salt Table. It’s a one-stop shop for salts, spices, sugars and other seasonings. The Tuscan Bread Dipping Oil Seasoning Mix goes great with a loaf of bread and a cheese plate. The Black Truffle Sea Salt is great with everything! The staff is great and extremely helpful. They can make recommendations based on your preferences and provide samples as you browse the shelves. ($$)
3. The Crab Shack. Fair warning: There are live alligators out front, exotic birds in the gift shop and a cat colony...well, they’re everywhere. The food is consistently great, and the view from the deck is unbeatable. Be sure to take your bug spray to ward off the no-see-ums. But if you do have a run-in with the evil little sand gnats, immediately coat the bites in Chiggerx and avoid the misery of thousands of itching bumps. (Seriously…this is the best $8 I’ve ever spent in Savannah!) ($$)
4. North Beach Grill on Tybee Island. Sure, you can go to The Crab Shack, and I guarantee a great meal. North Beach Grill, located between the Tybee lighthouse and the ocean, features local, sustainable seafood with a touch of Carribbean goodness. Just follow the sounds of Bob Marley. Grab a beer and a huge plate of jerk chicken, fish tacos and crab cakes. You won’t be sorry. ($)
5.  Ampersand. This is a ridiculously trendy gastropub, and I’m not usually a fan of overly trendy anything. I loved it. The food was excellent –the Pernil (Puerto Rican-style roast pork over Gouda grits) was to die for. The guys loved the craft beer selection, but I (really, really) enjoyed the Elder Patrick (tequila, melon liqueur, lime juice and mint) and Popcorn Sutton’s Apple Pie Moonshine. ($$$...add as many $ as you need to cover your drinks) 

The only thing between the ocean and North Beach Grill

You may notice that Paula Deen’s The Lady and Sons is missing from the list. I’ve been there, and the food was good. However, growing up in the South, The Lady and Sons was not a great adventure for me. It’s more like an overpriced, overcrowded Sunday dinner at Grandma’s house.

While we’re on the subject of Paula, you may have heard of her brother’s restaurant Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House closed a few months ago under questionable circumstances. Bubba’s chargrilled oysters were AMAZING. Luckily, if you have his cookbook (or Google), you can make your own at home. Just buy an extra dozen or so. You’ll need them.

Coming up in my Savannah Series: Sightseeing for Lazy People, Even More Foodie Stops, and The Best of The Best in Savannah. Look for it soon!

A Day in Helen, Georgia

Tucked away in the northwestern corner of Georgia is the town of Helen. It’s not what you’d expect of a Georgia mountain town. It looks, smells, and sounds like a Bavarian village, and it is perfect for a day or weekend road trip.

The Alpine Village area is filled with unique shops with hand-carved wooden toys to handmade jewelry. Stop by the glassblower’s shop for a demonstration or visit two Christmas shops filled with handmade ornaments and decorations. Fair warning: the Christmas shops can be expensive. Don’t bother planning. Just start your day at one end of the street and work your way from store to store.

For those hot summer days, Cool River Tubing Company offers daylong tubing passes down the Chattahoochee and a separate waterpark pass for under $20. After paying your fee, you’re loaded on to old school buses, driven to the top of the river, and then sent down the river for a few hours of fun. There is nothing more relaxing than floating down an icy cold mountain river…until you hit a cropping of rocks. Trust me, you’ll remember the rocks for a few days. If you’re not a fan of tubing, you can stop by one of the riverside restaurants and watch the tubers float by.

Foodies will love the choices in Helen. Many of the restaurants serve authentic German fair. The International Café has the best Reuben with homemade sauerkraut you’ve ever put in your mouth. I’m not sure what the sauce is, but it’s not the usual Thousand Island dressing. The French Dip is also worth a try. Ask to be seated with a view of the river.

After shopping or tubing all day, stop by one of the many ice cream or funnel cake shops or better yet, the candy shops. Hansel and Gretel Candy Kitchen is my absolute favorite for salted caramel fudge and Rocky Road fudge and praline pecans and truffles and HUGE candy apples and…well, you get the point. Higher Ground Coffee and More is worth a stop when you need to re-caffeinate.

There are a number of nearby wineries if you’re looking for adult beverages. I recommend stopping by Frogtown Cellars (try the Sangiovese) and Habersham Winery (try the Scarlett) for a tasting. Check their websites before visiting as the hours change seasonally.

This past weekend, I made a new discovery in Helen – Alpine Olive Tree, an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting shop. Seriously amazing! The staff was incredibly helpful in helping us find a blend of oils and vinegars that we loved. Best of all, you can get a sample box with your own combination of six oils and vinegars for under $30. I bought the Red Apple, Strawberry and Raspberry vinegars and Basil, Baklouti Fused Green Chili and Roasted Walnut oils. I’ll be revisiting their website this week to find new recipes for using my oils and vinegars. They have pastas, bread mixes and accessories for your next oil and vinegar tasting party too.

Bonus Stop:

For those of you nostalgic for the 80’s, you can visit nearby Cleveland, GA, home of Xavier Roberts…you know, the creator of the Cabbage Patch Kids. You can even tour Babyland General and see Mother Cabbage birthing the new babies under the Magical Crystal Tree. The building itself is beautiful, but the giant stone/concrete/ceramic cabbages with babies’ heads poking out and antiquated incubators are creepy. The employees are dressed as doctors and nurses who randomly check the heartbeats of the hundreds of dolls up for adoption. Be sure to ask when the next birth will occur. You’ll get an unforgettable speech about Mother Cabbage being tired after her last delivery, and honestly, you can’t predict when births will occur. (FYI, roughly every 30 minutes.) If you have kids, they may enjoy it. As an adult, it’s quite possibly the weirdest place I’ve been in a while.