Palmetto Buff and a Day in Savannah

One of my most favorite places in the world happens to be Bluffton, South Carolina. And my favorite place to stay there is the Montage at Palmetto Bluff. This property is like heaven on earth. I know that sounds a tad dramatic, but I promise - it is amazing. Those of you that have already been there can attest to this!

This beautiful property is a part of a 20,000 acre preserve and because of this, it has so much to offer.  You can play golf, take hikes, go fishing, ride bikes, take horseback trail rides or just relax at their spa or pool. 

Another nice feature about this property is that it is not far from Savannah Georgia. The property sits between Hilton Head Island and Savannah. It is about a 35 minute drive from Palmetto Bluff to Savannah, Georgia. You can take a day trip there for a fun activity, which is what we did! 

Where to Stay

The Montage Palmetto Bluff has many choices for your stay. They have lovely rooms in the inn, cottages and even residences that you can rent that have anywhere from five to two bedrooms, each depending on the size of the group you are traveling with. 

What to Do

While at the Montage, we rode bikes around the beautiful neighborhoods, we took a dolphin watching boat ride, went on a day trip to Savannah, and went on a very informative and fun nature hike. One night, we ate s’mores and enjoyed the evening by a camp fire. 

“Friendly” Alligator

If you are in a cottage close to the river you may even spot a “friendly” alligator or two lying on the bank catching some rays. I saw one large alligator several times sunning outside of our room. He must be a fixture around there because no one seemed too bothered by it, but this city girl was fascinated and frightened at the same time. 

Where to Eat at the Montage

While we stayed at the Montage we ate at several of the restaurants they have on property. They are all delicious and we loved each of them. 

This is where we ate breakfast during our stay and it was super yummy. I still dream of the egg white frittata that I had. Sounds weird, I know, to dream of that over something like pancakes but it was just so yummy. We also ate dinner there one night and it was excellent. The breakfast had traditional items like steel cut oatmeal, sweet cream pancakes and a farm fresh egg sandwich. For dinner they had Red Snapper, Shrimp and Grits, Short Rib and Pork Tenderloin. I am not even finished with this post yet and I am hungry now! 

This is a casual place for enjoying some Italian cuisine. We  tried this for dinner and it was great! They have traditional Italian cuisine on the menu like meatballs, bucatini and ravioli but they seemed to have a bit of a twist. For example, the bucatini has clams and a white wine butter sauce. The brick oven pizza was amazing too!

This restaurant has a farm to table approach, or more like a river  to table approach. They source their ingredients for the Canoe Club directly from the May River so you are getting super fresh shrimp and oysters. The seafood and vegetables are all sourced from local suppliers. This is a dressier dining experience and was a fun treat. 

This is a casual and fun BBQ place. Coming from Texas, we know our BBQ and I feel like I can be a tough judge of BBQ.  I realize BBQ can also be regional and different from Texas BBQ.  Y’all - this is some good BBQ! They offer things like Pimento cheese, pulled pork nachos and Southern fried pickles to start. They have various salads as well as choices of different BBQ meats and mouthwatering sides like mac and cheese, fresh slaw and whipped potatoes. 

With all these choices – each with great food - you really cannot go wrong when you are eating while staying on property at the Montage. 

 

A Day in Savannah

Where to Eat

The Collins Quarter: We ate here for breakfast with our friends before our walking tour and it was delicious. It was a fantastic breakfast and I highly recommend it. They have Bananas Foster French Toast, a Breakfast Sandwich, Eggs Benedict or Avocado Smash to name a few things from their menu. 

The Olde Pink House: We did not get to eat here during our most recent visit, but we have been there before and it was delicious. It seems to be a staple for anyone going to Savannah. 

Both 45 Bistro and Vic’s on the River are two recommendations our tour guide had for us while on our tour. We did not eat there so I cannot share any information on them. However, when I go back to Savannah I am going there for sure since they are recommended by a local. 

What to Do

In Savannah we did a walking tour and, if you read my Charleston post, you can tell we are fans of a good walking tour. It is such a great way to see the sites and to be educated on the history of the city while you walk. In Savannah we had an awesome tour guide and we did this private tour with two of our good friends that were on the trip with us. It was nice to just have four of us on the tour.  The guide’s name was Robert Edgerly and he was great. He has been in Savannah his whole life and knew all about the town. You can contact him for tours if you want by accessing his website at SeeSavannah.com. He took us all over town and during our tour we even walked right through the middle of a restaurant that had a small balcony so he could show us the Savannah River. Robert also gave us recommendations on where to eat in town while we walked around.

One other thing to do that I highly recommend is going to visit the First African Baptist Church in downtown Savannah. This is the oldest black church in North America and was a stop used in the Underground Railroad. It is such a moving experience to see this church that was organized in 1773 and has many beautiful historical elements. Slaves who were members of this church built the church at night when they would sneak away from the plantations that they worked at during the day. I will never forget the front doors, floors and pews of this church. The front doors are painted red and back then the African people would paint the doors red to indicate they owned that property. If a church had red doors, it meant they were a sanctuary for freedom. The floors and pews were equally as significant. The pews have carvings at the ends of them that were carved by the slaves. In various parts of the church, the floors have these holes in the floors that are arranged in unique designs. The reason for the holes was so the slaves hiding beneath the floors would be able the breathe. The church also has beautiful stained glass windows that date back to the 1880’s. This church played a large part in helping the runaway slaves and is a National Historic Landmark. You can take a tour of the church to learn more about its fascinating history. 

So, there you have it! A quick trip to one of the loveliest places on earth, the Montage Palmetto Bluff and then a day trip to the charming town of Savannah Georgia. If you ever find yourself in this area of our country, I highly recommend a visit! 

Marci Priest2 Comments