Day2: A Full Day in Savannah, Georgia
Walking in between storms and dinner at the Grey
Picking up from where I left off yesterday -at the cafe in the morning after walking through the rain.
^A hack when the wind is too strong to open your umbrella. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
The rain paused for hours so Connor and I met up with Connor’s uncle and his wife and went for a stroll. They have been living in Savannah for many years (I do not know exact years but at least a decade). Though Connor and I have been to some of the places we strolled the night before, walking around with their stories and knowledge around the area made the same places feel different.
One thing that stood out was how intertwined SCAD (The Savannah College of Art and Design) is with the city. They pointed out the university buildings (dorms, shops, cafes they used to go when they were students there) and some of their memories with them. Connor pointed out that the day before when we were having dinner, both sides of our table were occupied by SCAD students. I wondered how the city would feel like once the school starts and all the students are around.
The other thing I noticed during daytime was the beauty of flora here - I especially loved how ferns grow on branches and Spanish moss danced with winds. When the wind got strong the fountain stream joined the rave.
We were lucky to have sometime time to walk around as the weather got nasty for hours right after. Note that the fan here is not actually on power, but the wind is.
After a quick nap at the hotel, we headed to our reservation at the Grey. The Netflix episode of Chef Table about the Grey was my first exposure to Savannah. I often find the Chef Table series to be bit too serious and template-edited but I was curious to check it out, especially for the venue (old bus station) and her modern twist on Southern food at her hometown.
The restaurant was sexier and more quirky than my impression in the documentary. The show was more about the chef - her cultural heritage, her life and history around it - so it made sense that it did not capture the full atmosphere of the restaurant as you would experience as a guest. The restaurant had a good mixture of historic/nostalgic and contemporary/flamboyant notes.
Overall we had a great time. The one dish we fell in love was “SWEETBREADS; HAM HOCK VINAIGRETTE, CAPER, LEMON” which was breadcrumbed/fried beef thymus with caper sauce. Sweetbread is a culinary name for the thymus(also called throat, gullet, or neck sweetbread) according to Wikipedia. “This feels like a crispy fried chicken with the softest inside” was my immediate reaction.
I am writing this right before our checkout at the hotel in Savannah. We are about to go pick up a rental car from the airport - the start of the road trip part!
It’s already mid-week - hope you are having a good week.
Cheers,
Kye