The Holy City, Nashville & Savannah
In loving memory of Ari. Wherever we go you're with us always.
It's been awhile, and after a long harsh winter a good road trip south was something we desperately needed to help clear our heads and souls. Looking for a southern city we haven't dared to visit yet we went with Charleston South Carolina, a stop in Nashville and a day trip to Savannah Georgia. Please note we did take covid precautions and were vaccinated before our trip.
We set out from the Coven headquarters with our Google maps set for Nashville, TN. We've never been and thought a stop in the music city would be fitting to see if it's worthy of a lengthier trip in the future. A few hours later settled in we were cruising around the city taking everything in. The bombings in recent months along with looting made for unmissable scenery in The District. We found this heartbreaking but were glad to see the Honky-Tonks going strong with many patrons about.
Due to lifted covid restrictions we didn't feel safe enough to explore more in the heart of town, but visited The Parthenon replica that was breathtaking. We highly recommend going and spending time taking in the Greek replica. The food and music make this city very unique. We're definitely planning on revisiting Nashville in the future and enjoying more it has to offer in better times.
Hitting the road bright and early, we aimed our sights on Charleston. This leg of the drive did have us crossing mountains through Tennessee and North Carolina. It was absolutely one of the most scenic drives we've seen on our journey's and recommend it highly to anyone who's never been. The highway through the mountains follows a river, that wove through trees and beautiful views. We took route I- 40 to US - 74 to then I-26 straight into Charleston. Which was around 9 to 10 hours drive.
Finally hitting Charleston, around dinner time we happily settled into our AirBnB and decided food was desperately needed. Prior to visiting any city we like to start scoping out everything and we mean everything. What's on TripAdvisor, Pinterest, Instagram, anyone we know who's been there, etc? We then start compiling a list of what frequently shows up on each recommendations. Then we plan out our assault on the city. Yes this might seem like a lot to consider but you want to experience the most a city has to offer while you're visiting right?
Charleston's reputation for becoming a foodie city is a recently newer label that we were intrigued to test out. We're not about super fancy restaurants but we'll budget out what we can fit in while visiting. Carolina BBQ was something we found hitting our gram feeds and a must have try.
The most impressionable was the Swig and Swine. Why? Well anyone who has a family platter of an array of all their bbq is a win for us. It's on the pricier side but we had 3 hungry people plus a hungry husky to feed. For 60 dollars trying all the bbq-ed meat they offer, three sides, and sauces was a terrific buy. It's a meat lovers bbq dream come true and is absolutely fantastic. We were left impressed, stuffed and wishing we lived nearby after eating.
Now we previously said in other travel posts we are A-type travelers. We're huge on getting the most out of a city we're in. Meaning we don't spend time in our hotel or our AirBnB. For us it's a place to sleep, shower, sometimes eat and get going. For our first full day in Charleston we hit up everything we could manage. Our first stop was a carriage tour, now before you go all activist on us. Please know we were not aware of the negatives on carriage tours. Now fully aware, we'd most likely looked elsewhere. If you're asking yourself or might not have guessed it we do have a fluffy pup on our adventures. Bring Fido is a wonderful site to look into while traveling with dogs. It's bone ratings have helped us find great dog friendly places in lesser known cities to us.
The carriage tour was a recommendation from bring fido that was a dog friendly way to see the city. In our reservation we made prior to the trip, we let them know we had a dog in our party and they were great in accommodating him. We booked with Palmetto Carriage Works for those interested and they fill up fast! The first thing to note about the carriage tours is there's a lot of them. What we didn't know was though that each tour, no matter the company, takes part of a raffle for which part of the city you get to tour. It was a little disappointing as you're not sure what you'll get. Also that it's only some history but for the hour we were absolutely thrilled with our tour. We had a couple from Georgia who also told us this was the best carriage tour they've been on after going on quite a few in their visits to Charleston. So that was a huge plus! Nicknamed the Holy City Charleston we learned has numerous legends of how it was bequeathed it's title. The main rumor is the name was given by a fond admirer of the city that stuck. It was also known in the 1700's for its tolerance for all religions and it numerous historic churches that you'll see while there. Something unique for a city during that time. It also has more churches than any other city per square footage.
What we didn't plan on for our first tour was going into the macabre. Saying that we're gonna go into some in this paragraph. If you're a bit squeamish skip this one, please. Being a person who's trips involves at least on graveyard/cemetery on the list, ghosts, hauntings, etc. I'm a fan. We however had a guest on our trip and didn't plan on subjecting them to much, to my tastes. Yet Charleston had other plans. This started with the details in the carriage tour. For those of you unknown to Charleston. It's a sea port town that was built on history with pirates, war, natural tragedies and known as one of the most haunted towns in America. The land is low country which is below sea level, so how do you build a city on land below sea level? You need to fill it, which they filled with landfill and dead bodies. Yes, you read that right. Yes, we didn't believe the first guide who told us this, which lead to another tour that did (and lots of googling). Recently a mass grave was discovered and that's just the most recent one in the city. The running joke is that if you dig you are gonna either find trash, a body or a live cannon (more on this in a min). The city's history of pirates and their lawless lives lead to duels in the streets, imprisonments, and brothels lends a huge hand in this area. The history is far too much to go into on this blog but worth googling and reading into if you're intrigued.
The tour also highlighted the war history of Charleston. You'll find Fort Sumter. It dates back to the war of 1812, and where the civil war began in 1861. The most notable battle for the city was the siege of Charleston from the British. It lasted 6 weeks and lead to the city taking cannon fire every single day. Combined with the civil war this has lead to the findings of live cannons from both wars to this day in the city.
For our lunch time break we stopped for coffee and decided to hit up the Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens. If you're interested in hearing about the cutest roadside coffee shop we've ever seen please see our Brown Fox Coffee Co review in The Drip. Plantations are a very controversial attraction, one that we can completely understand.
The pain, history and atrocities committed in these locations is horrific. There's a certain tone of going into a plantation seeing the beautiful grounds, main house and then to be quickly reminded by the slave quarters, this isn't what it seems. Boone Hall is most known to the later generations from the Notebook as Allie's family summer home. Yet what cinema goers don't see is slave quarters next to the avenue of oaks. Looking beyond the beauty there’s an underlying tone of cruelty we couldn’t feel at peace with and left immediately.
To end our first day in Charleston we had to do a ghost tour. We found the The Ghosts of Liberty Tour by Ghost City Tours after a ton of googling and review reading. It again helped it was also dog friendly but most outdoor tours are but we recommend double checking. Now we'd first like to start by saying a ghost tour is far different from a ghost hunt. Some people don't seem to recognize the difference and give horrible reviews saying we didn't see any ghosts! Yet, there's professional ghost hunters who haven't even seen ghosts but somehow on an hour tour you believe you will? We feel like most ghost tours are more macabre history tours than anything, so please go easy on the reviews and your guide. You learn about accounts of seen ghosts in that area, history of deaths, and more macabre facts.
Our guide Michael was one of the most factual historically savvy guides we've ever encountered. He gave us the hour long tour and even went over time and gave far more information we thought we'd learn. It was a great walking tour to see the city at dusk into the night and learn about the hauntings of Charleston. We'd love to go back and do it again the next time we're in town.
One of favorite things about road trips is the ability to have a day trip to areas around the city we are exploring. Sometimes with larger cities you need days to explore but some smaller not so much. Charleston is on the smaller side so we thought a day trip to Savannah with a quick tour and of course, a cemetery stop, would be a great idea. The drive from Charleston to Savannah is around 2 hours so nothing too crazy but almost too much for a day trip. Looking for the best places to hit along the way we drove to Beaufort and Hilton Head for extra scenery. Quaint but cute towns we loved the southern charm as we essentially passed through. We booked ahead of our trip Oliver Bentleys Historic Dog Walk Tour in Savannah. It's a 90-120 min walking tour that caters to walking your dog while exploring the history of Savannah. Before we hit up this pup friendly excursion we made an important stop at the Bonaventure Cemetery. Now if you're not aware this cemetery was made famous from the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It's beautiful, notoriously haunted, and built on a former plantation.
It's 100+ acres set on the scenic Wilmington River bluff, designed based on Victorian cemeteries. If you're lucky you also might get a sighting of Gracie Watson who died of pneumonia at 6-years-old. She's rumored to seen near her grave site by visitors. Those wandering the grounds also might hear dog snarls, children playing and the cry's of an infant. Regardless of the rumors this is one of the world's most beautiful cemeteries that is worth a stop if you're in Savannah. Admission is free and Bonaventure is open to the public, as always, please be respectful and adhere to proper cemetery decorum.
Headed back to the city center we meandered to the Six Pence Pub to grab a drink before our walking tour. An iconic British looking pub in the heart of Savannah, with a traditional red phone booth. It‘s a great place to grab a quick bite or drink if you need to a waste a small amount of time as we did. Drinks in hand we then finally went on our walking tour of Savannah. This was a fabulous long tour with many bits of history, haunts and houses toured by foot. This one ends with a doggie treat bag for your 4 leg furry friend after too.
We went in not sure what to expect but for 30 per adult, 12 per child (dogs are free), this was the most bang for your buck we could've wanted in tour. It also highlights the dog friendly aspects of Savannah that any owner traveling with their pup would love!
For our last day on our trip in Charleston we decided to hunt down Bill Murray and attempt to kidnap him (we're kinda joking). We made a day dedicated to the beach and headed to Folly Beach and then Sullivans Island. Of the two Folly Beach is far more touristy and has a boardwalk, restaurants and lots of shops for those visiting town. Sullivans Island has far less people but offers even better views and just as beautiful beaches.
If you're looking for a bit more seclusion but beach fun we highly recommend Sullivan's. Yet Folly Beach we did find some amazing taco's at the fiesta fun outdoor Taco Boy restaurant. It has a cute vibe, good food, and a great view that's very photogenic. If you're looking for a quick bite while touring the city that's southern but on the faster side we recommend Callie's Hot Little Biscuit. Located in on King Street and also in the City Market it's an adorable grab and go. We had this on our list of must have stops but we're destined for biscuit's when visiting the City Market and ran into their location there. The market runs 4 blocks long with various vendors with jewelry and sweetgrass baskets. It's a National Historic Landmark in the United States that's a great way to spend the early morning or afternoon. We enjoyed the friendly locals and their selection of handmade items.
Sad to see our trip end we decided Charleston hasn't seen the last of us yet. It's food, beautiful city and charming residents make the Holy City a wonderful destination for a quick getaway. Our drive was bit long, but just a flight away for many it's a must see for all.
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