Savannah

Floating like a lily pad atop a sprawling network of rivers and marshes, Savannah lies at the subtropical intersection of Southern gothic and modern sensibility. Commonly referred to as “the Hostess City” (and cheekily described by Lady Astor as a “beautiful lady with a dirty face”), it has undergone an epic face-lift—buoyed by the founding of the Savannah College of Art and Design in 1978 and the popularity of John Berendt’s 1994 novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil—that has restored its once tattered streets and public squares to their magnolia-scented glory. Today, blue-blooded natives of the historic district and pink-haired art students alike wander, with cocktails in hand (yes, that’s legal here), among historic homes and the Spanish moss that hangs like tinsel from the city’s ancient live oaks. 

New students—or parents in town for the weekend—should stretch their legs and set out on a self-guided tour of the historic district, where nearly all of SCAD’s sixty facilities are located. “For students, Savannah is what you might call a ‘textbook’ city,” says Andrew King, an undergraduate architecture student enrolled in SCAD’s School of Building Arts. “Just about every major style and movement from over the last 300 years—from Georgian to Gothic Revival to International Modern—is represented. For a lesson on form, space, and order, one need only walk the lanes and squares of the city.” Both the Trustees Theater (216 East Broughton Street, 912-525-5050, trusteestheater.com) and Lucas Theatre (32 Abercorn Street, 912-525-5040, lucastheatre.com) boast live music, opera, ballet, and more. Just a short jaunt west, the Jepson Center for the Arts (207 West York Street, 912-790-8800, telfair.org) is a magnificent modern structure that houses an impressive array of revolving art exhibits. On the southern end of the district, Forsyth Park (Gaston and Bull streets) serves as an idyllic gathering place; businesses along the park’s southern tip, such as Sentient Bean Coffee House (13 East Park Avenue, 912-232-4447, sentientbean.com), double as headquarters for the growing arts community.

Savannah has widened its palate beyond the comfort food of Paula Deen to offer an eclectic range of cuisine and prices. “Savannah is a place where you can find anything from a filet mignon to a killer gyro to tide you over on those (many) all-nighters,” King says. In the historic district alone, one can hop from the award-winning Sapphire Grill (110 West Congress Street, 912-443-9962, sapphiregrill.com) to The Jinx nightclub (127 West Congress Street, 912-236-2281, thejinx.net) for a live rockabilly or punk show and stumble three blocks west to Lulu’s Chocolate Bar (42 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, 866-461-8681, luluschocolatebar.net) for a sweet nightcap. While downtown lacks a 24-hour diner or coffeehouse, night owls in the know fill their bellies at Vinnie VanGoGo’s (317 West Bryan Street, 912-233-6394, vinnievangogos.com), a popular pizzeria that serves pies and slices, as well as beer and wine, into the wee hours. And if you scream for ice cream, Leopold’s Ice Cream (212 East Broughton Street, 912-234-4442, leopoldsicecream.com) has major Savannah history and arguably the best scoop you’ll ever taste.

On bustling Broughton Street, students and their folks can find everything from designer duds at BleuBelle Boutique (205 West Broughton Street, 912-443-0011, bleubelle.com) to antiques and baubles at The Paris Market & Brocante (36 West Broughton Street, 912-232-1500, theparismarket.com). Thrifty shoppers will find solace in vintage boutique Civvies (22 East Broughton Street, 912-236-5441) and neighboring Primary Art Supply (14 East Broughton Street, 912-233-7624, primaryartsupply.com), every artist and art student’s personal and professional mecca.