It was hot when we arrived on the west side of downtown Savannah, crazy hot, like a desert. I hadn't been in Arizona since 2005, but I felt the same kind of sweltering heat like I just wanted to stay out of the sun.
We had two free tickets to the hop on/hop off Olde Town trolley. It consists of 15 stops through the historical district of Savannah, which is not a large area, only 2.5 square miles. Our first stop was Chippewa Square, the spot where the famous bench scenes from Forrest Gump were filmed. But there's no bench there!
Hungry as can be, stop number 1 was Zunzi's, which specializes in South African sandwiches. We actually took the trolley just one stop just to make the stop at this sandwich haven. When we arrived, we saw they were only open for take out and curbside. But on my first day in Savannah, there was no place I wanted to visit more. I had seen the Conquistador chicken sandwich featured on Best Sandwich in America and I wasn't going to miss this.
We ordered the number 1 and the number 3, which are the chicken and salmon sandwiches respectively. I placed my order through the company website and it took about 15 or 20 minutes for the food to come up. I also got a small bag of Byrds mini cinnamon sugar cookies and two South African half and half iced teas.
Since there was no indoor seating, we walked to the adjoining square park, one of about two dozen in the city, and sat on a bench. I guess the additional side dish was black flies (hey, black flies matter, right?) because about a dozen of them joined us. I guess they're a big fan of Zunzi's too.
I was all about the homemade bread, it was soft, and had a flavor, it didn't become soggy. But it's all about the sauces, they actually have more sauces than they have sandwiches. I wish I could have taken a shot of each one of them lol! But the combination of the sauces provides a sweet and garlic combined with a mild peppery spice. It's one of those food situations where the whole is more than the sum of the parts.
Salmon was also very good, though it reminded me a little more of a smoked salmon. It also had honey mustard on it but it was a little more mustard than honey, it was quite tangy. But the conquistador chicken was definitely my favorite, it was one of the best chicken sandwiches I have ever had.
That all came to about $34 for the sandwiches, drinks and one bag of Mini cookies. It's not what I would call cheap but it's unique and it's great quality so the price is very much worth it.
After completing the remaining 14 stops on the trolley tour, we checked into the Springhill Suites and it was quite the interesting room. There were two bathrooms. One had a shower and double sink, no toilet. The other had a toilet and single sink and was half the size of the other bathroom. Strange, strange setup. The other problem was there wasn't a clean up crew to be found. I'm glad mom had some disinfectant wipes. Another thing with the hotel, there is no room service right now. They have a restaurant but it is only open from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Why can't they be open on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday? That's when a lot of businesses are closed, so would it not make sense to be open when other places are closed so they can make more money?
I had made dinner plans at a Cajun style restaurant about 2 or 3 blocks from our hotel and then 3 hours before dinner, I got a call from the restaurant that one of their idiot employees tested positive and that they were closing for the next several days. Just as bad, the same thing happened with Leopold's ice cream, which is an absolute landmark and now we can't go.
So we managed to score a 5:30 reservation at Vic's on the River, which is on Bay St and overlooks the Savannah Riverboat, which sits in the harbor. Very nice atmosphere with the piano player and the tall wall of wine. We weren't overwhelmed by the entree options so we decided to get a couple of appetizers. We first got a basket of buttermilk biscuits with honey butter, because...why not. Then I ordered a baby kale salad, and it was a really unique blend of flavors between the fried garlic and the cider honey vinaigrette. We also got an Asian style calamari, chargrilled octopus, and a lump crabcake. All of the appetizers were good, but I would probably say I preferred the crab cake, since it had a lump meat and I like the mustard sauce that accompanied it. I would have like the octopus more if it had a little more seasoning on it.
But the apps were nothing compared to dessert. I thought about the peach trio, but I went with the pecan praline basket (hey it's Georgia) with homemade vanilla ice cream, strawberries, and blueberries. This was a top 5 dessert I've ever had. Junior's cheesecake, Emeril's banana cream pie, Elegant Farmer apple peach pie, Caroles cookies, and this. Crispy praline, nice punch of vanilla bean in the ice cream, fresh berries. Perfect. 9 bucks for bliss.
We walked on River Street and it was still over 90 degrees out, even at 7 pm. But I guess I still hadn't had enough sugar because I dropped by Byrd's cookies for free samples. What I didn't anticipate was how many free samples I'd get. After trying the scotch oatmeal, lemon drop, key lime cooler, almond shortbread, and two others that I can't even remember anymore, I was pretty sure I was on the verge of needing dentures.
The shops were closing at this point, so we began the 15 minute walk back to the room. The hotel didn't have an open bar or restaurant, so that was it for the night.
The shops were closing at this point, so we began the 15 minute walk back to the room. The hotel didn't have an open bar or restaurant, so that was it for the night.
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