A few weekends ago I had the pleasure to visit two great American cities with a lot of history: Savannah and St. Augustine. We were driving back from Atlanta to Miami, thinking of only stopping in St. Augustine, Florida when our Airbnb host suggested we stop by Savannah, Georgia,and so we did.
Located 3 hours away from Atlanta, on the Savannah river, the oldest city in the state of Georgia welcomed us with a bright sun and cobblestone streets. Savannah was founded in 1733 by British General James Oglethorpe, and the city still maintains much resemblance to the original settlement plan Oglethorpe had created for Georgia and Savannah.
Savannah is home to some of the most charming and well kept Southern homes, which not only grab your attention because of their beauty, but because many of them have two set of stairs (one on the right side and another on the left side) that lead to one main set of stairs to enter the house. This was because it was customary for people to scrape off their shoes on the stairs before entering a home and men could not look at ladies’ ankles, so they would have two different stairs.
Savannah is also home to several historic churches, like the first African-American Bryan Baptist Church, the Temple Mickve Israel that is the third oldest synagogue in the U.S., and the Roman-Catholic St. John’s Cathedral. The Cathedral’s architecture, stained glass, and absolute detail trick you into thinking for a moment you are in an European Catholic Church.
After spending most of the day in the Savannah, we headed to Florida. When we arrived to St. Augustine 2.5 hours later there was still sun and the heat was still strong. We went for diner to Blackfly, a tropical inspired restaurant with dishes from the caribbean, fresh fish and local veggies.
Everything on the menu looked amazing so it was hard to decide but we finally ordered conch fritters, ceviche, crab cakes, lobster risotto, a salmon dish that came in the shape of a giant sushi roll, and we finished with a banana bread pudding.
The conch fritters and crab cakes were very delicious. The fritters were crispy and full of flavour, and you could really taste the crab in the crab cakes. The ceviche, although the presentation was very appealing, it was very bland- no real taste of lime, the fish and other seafood were cut into really small pieces so you couldn’t tell what it was, and in all it just lacked flavour.
The main dishes were amazing. The lobster risotto was a very good portion, with a full lobster tail, and the taste was just perfect. The salmon dish get points due to its originality, and in fact it tasted very similar to eating a sushi roll but with cooked and seasoned salmon.
The banana bread pudding with ice-cream was OK, but nothing you cannot find somewhere else.
What Blackfly sure gives you is a authentic coastal atmosphere, with fresh seafood and great service. Be sure to stop by if you get a chance.
Now off to visiting St. Augustine city, the oldest city of the United States founded in 1565 by the Spaniard Pedro Menéndez de Avilés.
But before we began our adventure we fueled on this cute Australian café, called the Kookaburra. I was particularly adamant of going there because I lived in Australia for 4 years and was dying to eat a meat pie!
Chicken Curry pie, delicious and full of flavour!
Meat pie with cheese topping-to die for!
And I couldn’t leave without trying an authentic aussie scone 
Now off to Castillo de San Marcos.
The Castillo de San Marcos was created by the Spanish in the 17th Century when Florida was part of the Spanish empire. It served a fortress from other conquering nations such as France and England. The Spanish finally sold it to the United Stated to focus on their South American colonies.
The original canons used to fire at threatening ships remain in the castle.
Beautiful old buildings give the streets have an incredible charm.
The Cathedral of St. Augustine, is also a place you don’t want to miss…
If you feel adventurous be sure to climb the Lighthouse. It’s a lot of stairs, but the view is completely worth it.
In all both St.Augustine and Savannah are cities very well kept and equipped to receive tourists. Savannah is definitely a larger city so perhaps I would stay there more days, but I would definitely go back to St. Augustine as well. They are not only beautiful and welcoming but by visiting them and getting immersed in their old streets and buildings you also learn a lot about American history.
Hope you enjoyed this post!
xx
