Ahh Savannah! How I enjoyed my short stay! How you are welcoming! I am hopeful #Amtrak will play an active role in my travels for the next few months, from the ticket agent at Fayetteville Station to the agent in Savannah that checked me in #Amtrak, made it so easy! Packing for a train trip pack light and be prepared to buy what you forgot. I used my TUMI  multidirectional roller bag, 1/2 empty to be used for wrap smalls and books if necessary.  Using the NY Times 36 Hours in Anywhere is a good start to plan a trip, but Roadtrippers is also a good alternative to planning a short trip. I definitely would have done this from Friday to Sunday on a non-holiday weekend because this affects hotel prices and sometimes car-rental prices.

The weekend started out rainy, all I could do was snooze and thank God I wasn’t going to slide off the road or some jackass was going to slide into me.

Rainy View from my seat

     Business class for any trip less than 8 hours is key. Leg room and sparsely populated for maximal relaxation. Wifi is bit sketch, so one should download movies prior to getting on board. I was glad cell signal bad, although I saw a Verizon dish. Keeps telephone calls to a minimum, and it is never appropriate to carry on an entire conversation on your speaker phone.

The train scene with the food car depicted on I Love Lucy are long gone. It’s all microwaved fare and filled with annoying-still-drunk-girls at 8am on Saturday morning from NJ. But you may get a decent half bottle of Pinot Grigio and bring some pre-heated Crab bisque in a Thermos. They will not micro-beam it for you in the Food Car, against regulations.

Lyft, very dependable. Everyone on their hustle, there will be no cancellations as they pull up to take a fare on a longer trip. I spent maybe $20 total with tips because of new promo over 2 days.

I stayed at the Homewood Suites near the river. Excellent location, valet parking non-existent for a big truck; therefore, Uber or Lyft key. At the #Hilton Riverview and Riverfront with balcony 2 totally different things. Riverview means 90% of your view is a partially demolished building, overgrown parking lot, and you have to lean on 1 leg and crane your neck to see the river from your 1 window. I think for the same price, I could have stayed #Marriot on the river, and had room service, but no kitchen in my room.

Unless you are a writer or self employed coder, taking your work with you for someone else, should not be an option. Toting 2 computers, decking station, hotspot, headphones, was team too much, will NOT be doing that again.

So back to what to do in Savannah. #Forsyth Park was beautiful, the flowers, the fountain, the trees, the weirdo hippies…

At my only antique stop, I had the oddest  interaction with who I presume was the owner, Alex Raskin, the owner of his spooky decaying establishment.

I would have rather cruised the used bookstalls at Books On Bay , The Book Lady, or even the stalls at Picker Joe’s in search of the history of Savannah and its famous planters houses.

Books On Bay

 

I finished up getting BBQ at Sandfly.

 

Having a long read and a Grapefruit Vodka infused drink at the Bar on the Roof.

 

And I plan on doing it all again over another weekend soon. Savannah, I’m coming back for ya!