My (Surprise Birthday) Trip to Savannah, GA

For my birthday my awesome hubby surprised me with an overnight get away JUST the two of us! It was AMAZING! He took me to Savannah, Georgia. We have been to Savannah in the past, but never just the two of us- let alone without kids. SO we actually got to do adult things! Though you know me… most adult things consisted of ghostly haunts, and historic facts, and drinks with my hubby in between. On the trip down there my hubby kept me in the dark as to our destination by letting me read him almost the entire novel Georgia Ghosts by Nancy Roberts. So not only did it make the surprise that much greater, but it also filled our heads with the best places to visit while we there with fun little stories to go with each place. If you haven’t read that book, you should.  If you didn’t already know, Savannah, GA has been labeled THE MOST HAUNTED CITY IN AMERICA. You can never fully understand why unless you visit, so therefore… you must.

Well we spent the day sight-seeing, snapping pictures left and right, and hitting up Zunzi’s. We HAD to hit up Zunzi’s- The Conquistador- for me and The Big Boy Burger- for my hubby. We went to Zunzi’s because we had seen it the weekend before on the show Best Sandwich in America on the Travel Channel with Adam Richman. The Conquistador made it to the top three of the best sandwiches in America. I have to say it definitely deserved that too! It was DELICIOUS! I couldn’t finish a whole one though- one sandwich is definitely enough to share! They also have this delicious African Sweet Tea. When we were in line at Zunzi’s (be prepared to wait in line for about 20 minutes on the weekend or during lunch rush- but don’t be discouraged it is well worth it) we were lucky enough to be standing behind the epitome of all know it all tour guides on her lunch break. She knew the answer to anything you threw at her with an anecdote as well.  She would seriously be The Person to hang out with on a Friday night in Savannah. Though since we only had one night we asked her the best spooky secrets she knew, and the best places to eat, drink, and visit. Though with having lunch at Zunzi’s we were too stuffed to actually have another meal after that, but we did grab drinks (you can get alcohol to go in Savannah… we are thinking about moving there now) and split an appetizer later in the night before my next BIG surprise…

We found some awesome bars called The Cotton Exchange, and also Kevin Barry’s. At The Cotton Exchange I found my new favorite drink called Abso-Stoop-Party (pretty sure that’s the name) and it was fantastic! It cost the same as a beer and was a lot less filling, so it was nice to drink while walking around. At Kevin Barry’s we split a chicken tender appetizers grabbed a couple of Founding Fathers brewskies and had great service (downstairs only- we tried upstairs first, but after a few minutes of being ignored we went down stairs and it was a completely different atmosphere).

Me and Hubby exploring Savannah

I love the area around River Street

The Cotton Exchange Tavern

Kevin Barry's Pub

We spent a lot of time walking and driving around historic savannah so we could catch a glimpse of all the places listed in my book, and fit as much as we could into the time we had. We got some AMAZING pics. For my fellow history buffs, even those of you who don’t believe in ghosts, Savannah is a bottomless well of interesting stories, facts, and historical events.

SO to get to the meat and potatoes of my surprise… Tyler took me on the “In the Dead of Night Ghost Tour”!!!!! OMG IT WAS FANTASTIC!!!! We read the reviews before we met the tour guide and my favorite one read along the lines of “I couldn’t sleep at all after the ghost tour because I was too freaked out.” That gave me some hope. I have ALWAYS desperately wanted to go on a ghost tour in Savannah, but always knew I probably wouldn’t get any more than a few extra historical facts I hadn’t yet read, and some spooky personal experiences thrown in by a tour guide. (*SPOILER ALERT*: I got MORE =D)

Those of you who have been on the “In the Dead of Night Ghost Tour” (or any other ghost tour for that matter) PLEASE tell me about your experience, who your tour guide was, and if you have any pictures PLEASE share!!!

Our tour started at 11pm and was a 90 minute walking tour. Yes, walking tour. As in walk for 90 minutes- two of the couples in our group apparently didn’t understand that and therefor wore high heels and got pretty buzzed before the tour… they didn’t last long, lol. It was good exercise, but you don’t even notice until the tour is over because it is really interesting. Each tour is different, and if you want a recommendation: Go on Ricky’s tour! He is awesome! He tells you up front he is a skeptical believer, and doesn’t make up fun stories just to scare you, but tells you actual facts and real experiences… which will scare you even more!!! ;)

I don’t want to go too in depth into where we went, what we saw, and the stories we were told because you all need to go and experience this yourselves, but I will share SOME of the pics I got. I captured around 20 orbs in photographs out of all 200+ pics I took while in Savannah. I have been to many haunted places, cemeteries, etc. and never once have I captured orbs. So I was TRULY excited when in fact I finally did! They are all in different places- never in the same place in two different pictures, and even behind things in some of the pictures. They are not glares of light, they are orbs. I showed them to our tour guide, and a couple other people in the group, and they were all just as excited as we were. Only one other girl said to have found orbs in her pics while on the tour, but others very well could have as well. I for one only thought I had captured three, and didn’t realize how many had showed until we took a better look at the pics when we got back to our hotel. I believe orbs are spirits or energies captured on film, but that is my opinion and you do not have to have the same.

The freakiest thing that happened to us while on the tour happened to Tyler, my husband. We were standing outside the Colonial Park Cemetery on our guided tour. Most of the time I stayed right by him… ghost tour in the middle of the night in the most haunted city in America? Yeah… I stayed pretty close to my hubby all night; except, of course, when I would venture off to take as many pics as I could. We were standing in front of the main gate of Colonial Park Cemetery listening to our tour guide tell us about  some interesting events that are believed to have happened here. Tyler  felt me snuggle up to his back and saw my camera flash, so he turned to see what I had just taken a picture of. So you could imagine his surprise when he turned around and saw that I was standing 10-15 feet behind him taking a picture of him, and no one was touching him… at least that he could see… Here is the pic I was taking of him… Look at the pic: in the middle of his back, and (if you can zoom in) look at the top of the gate as well…. 

The orbs in this pic were the first I saw right away. My hands were shaking when I looked in the pic screen. At the same time Tyler was a little shaken from what he had just felt and was still trying to make sense of it. I kept hearing footsteps down the street next to us, but never saw anyone, and I had this overwhelming sense of someone watching us. A few minutes after the above photo was taken... a cat showed up out of no where and gave everybody a fright! It was a sweet cat, and let people pet it, but I wonder if they would have pet it if they had seen what was by the cat in all the photos I took, for I didn't even notice until I took a better look at them later....zoom in if you can and look at the entire picture of each... 

Most people like cats, and apparently ghosts like them as well....

Continuing on with the tour...

If you do not have goose bumps yet, then maybe a few more random photos I took will help. Be sure to zoom in for the full effect (right click on pic, open in new window, and zoom in and out to investigate each picture... and NO these photos were not edited or tampered with in any way)

look next to the tree...

Did Tyler have an admirer, besides me? Look to the left... hiding in the bushes.

zoom in... look behind the top of the fence...

far left... is that the woman who was hung in this square still searching for her lost child?

a couple?

zoom in... in the middle there is a cluster of three orbs- different sizes... is it a family?

After we got back to the hotel we were truly freaked out. We spent a while talking about how we felt, what we experienced, and looked through the pictures a little more closely. We were shocked by what all we found in the pictures that we hadn't noticed before then. It took us a while, but we eventually went to sleep. The next day we went by the rest of the places we hadn't had a chance to the night before, and they were beautiful. If you are planning a weekend get away... plan it in Savannah, GA. It is beautiful! So much to see, and do. We cannot wait to go back! Though before you do... Read up about it in a book or two.

I have to be completely honest. For someone who loves all things spooky, writing this post has taken me longer than I thought it would. Our experiences in Savannah were so amazing, and yet so unreal. I don't know how to share it all, or do it the justice it deserves. Going through my camera to find the best pics to share makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I have goose bumps remembering how I felt when I took each picture. Trying to find the best words to explain what we saw, what we felt, and what we have captured on film sends shivers down my spine. The best thing to say is... take what you will from my story, believe what you want to, see what you want to, but go and visit yourself, and take pictures, and take a tour at night... then hopefully you will understand. Then maybe you too will believe that Savannah is REALLY the most haunted city in America. At least the most haunted city I have yet to visit.