Trip Day 4 - April 27 - Charlotte -> Richmond Hill -> Savannah
To get to the Balls of Steel Evil Dead Launch Party and Tournament by 1:30 today in Richmond Hill, I had to set out no later than 9 AM or better 8 AM from Charlotte. I woke up at 5:30 because I was completely anxious and was on the road by 7:30. Luckily, it was a Sunday so driving wasn't too heavy and I got to Richmond Hill by 12:20.
Balls of Steel is a private pinball club run by Sterling Martin. The machines are in terrific condition and a lot of them have additional modifications. There were 25 players participating and I didn't make it into the top 8, finishing at position 11, which was still better than I thought I would do. There are some fantastic players in this group.
After the tournament, I headed to my AirBnb in Savannah and checked in. This place was formerly a carriage house. There are a number of them that have been converted to apartments. This area is very quiet and right across from Forsyth Park. When I originally googled the distance, it said 10 minutes to the Savannah Historic District, but that was driving time. I walked downtown to Poe's Tavern and it was about 35 minutes.
Well, at least I got my steps in. With, all the events I'm doing are around there, so I will either be walking a lot or looking and paying for parking.
Trip Day 5 - April 28 - Part 1 - Savannah
This became a much busier than planned day, because my desserts tour rescheduled from tomorrow to today. It kind of messed me up because I had planned to go to the Graveface museum today - I thought I could go tomorrow, but it's closed after today until Thursday.
I went on the First Squares Culinary tour with Savannah Taste Experience and Gail as our (excellent) guide. We tasted a bunch of local items there including pickled okra and cheese straws. Our first stop was The Little Crown by Pie Society - the smallest pub in Georgia. We went to a small room at the back called the snug and had a sausage roll. This was followed by Rhett where we had she-crab soup. We took a look into the JW Marriot Plant Riverside (formerly a power plant) and saw some of the exhibits in the museum there. At Andaz, we had shrimp and grits. At Common, we had a pork belly donut slider. Yes, a donut. We finished off at the Savannah Bee Company where we tried 3 different honeys: acacia, tupolo and wildflower. We got to try a mix of flavor palates with a slice of apple topped with honeycomb and Tomme cheese. At the end we also got a honey cookie.
History, food, and a nice walk on very nice day!
Trip Day 5 - April 28 - Part 2 - Savannah
I had walked the mile to the first tour and back, but for the second tour, I took the Beast and let it look at the view of Savannah.
I first ambled over to the Graveface Museum, where I caught a short tour and checked out part of the John Wayne Gacy exhibit. They were closing at 5 PM and would be closed on my other full day here, so... I might just have to come back another time.
The dessert tour hit six stops:
- Rocky Road milkshake at Locally Made Savannah
- Peach cobbler at The Peach Cobbler Factory
- Banana pudding at the Paula Deen Store
- Pralines at River Street Sweets
- Several small cookies at Byrd’s Famous Cookies
- Butter pecan ice cream at Leopold’s
We even got a few extra treats to take home. Great tour!
In the evening, I went on a ghost tour. (There were at least three others swirling around us!) Our guide was a SCAD student, Rebecca, who was very good. I didn’t get a pic, but she made it really entertaining.
It was an entertaining tour, but I'm too much of a skeptic and all the stories are overblown and exagerrated though spooky and fun.
I checked my step count - over 20k steps for the day!
Trip Day 6 - April 29 - Savannah
In 2022, Savannah had 17 million vistors. Locals say about 10 million a year. Busiest months are April/May/June - wow, did I ever hit it at the wrong time. It's not really crowded though, so I wonder if this included out of country tourists which have reduced considerably. The weather has been great - lows in the 60s and highs in the low 80s. Sunny and a nice breeze too.
My food tour today was moved from 11 AM to 1 PM because I would have been the only one. The 1 PM tour had 5 others, all great folks. It was with the same company from yesterday, but with a different guide, Sally, and a different set of restaurants:
- Zunzi's - Conquistador Chicken Sandwich
- Savannah Theater - Cheese Straws
- Mint to Be Mojito - Chicken Empanada
- Sorry Charlie's - Fried Green Tomato with Crab Salad and Boiled Peanuts
- The Drayton Hotel - Gnocchi
- Leopold's - Chocolate Ice Cream - we actually had it at the Savannah Taste Experience Shop so we wouldn't have to deal with the crowds at Leopold's.
Both tours were good and they had different foods though with the same company. Sally's narrative of how General Sherman spared Savannah was awesome.
Because of the later food tour start, I went to Oglethorpe Mall and went to the Graveface store there to play some pinball. I went there again after the tour. Their machines are in so-so condition.
