Enjoying a cupcake at Tier Cakes in Savannah!

We love the dunes at Tybee Island Beach. And the weather forecast this week is so nice, we'll definitely be heading back out to the island again!

One of these such spots, Mellow Mushroom, was recommended to us by our friend Cris, and is a regional chain in the Southeast.  There is definitely a relaxed, laid back, and funky vibe to this quirky pizza place, and the food was fantastic.

To start we ordered a half order of fresh pretzels, with garlic oil and parmesan.  It turned out they simply made pretzel shapes with their pizza dough, baked them, then brushed on garlic oil and gave ‘em a good shake of parmesan cheese.  Simple, but super delicious.  Like garlic knots or breadsticks, but way cooler when in the shape of a pretzel.  We’ll definitely be making these when we get home!

We shared a small Kosmic Karma pizza, which was topped with marinara, mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes, spinach, roma tomatoes, feta, with a swirl of pesto.  This pizza was terrific.  The toppings worked wonderfully together, and we both loved the chew and flavor of the crust.

Plus, you can’t really go too wrong with a place with lime green tiles and murals of cartoon greats in the bathrooms!

One of our other favorite lunches was from Zunzi’s Express, on York Street.  It is a carry-out only spot (typically with a line out the door), but they have some cafe tables beside their building, so we grabbed a few chairs and ate right there.

We split The Godfather sandwich (that picture is just of half of it!), which was ridiculously good and definitely substantial enough to share (though I think we each could have polished one off it was so delicious!).  A delicious soft french loaf is stuffed with lettuce, tomato, grilled chicken, smoked sausage, and topped with the most delicious sauces.  We pretty much just said “Yes” when they asked us if we wanted their sauces on it.  No idea exactly what they were!  We’ll definitely be going back and splitting one more of these in the coming week.

]]> http://fravelicious.com/2012/01/27/what-month-is-it-again/feed/ 0 jbgasper savannah square flower http://fravelicious.com/2012/01/26/happy-as-can-bee/ http://fravelicious.com/2012/01/26/happy-as-can-bee/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:27:53 +0000 jbgasper http://fravelicious.com/?p=2980 ]]> There is, quite literally, the sweetest little shop on Broughton Street in downtown Savannah.  The Savannah Bee Company‘s shop is quite inviting, with their old fashioned screen porch door and promises of samples inside.  Along their counter they have a variety of jars, cheese and apples and honeycomb, as well as honey roasted pecans, and (if you’re lucky) a honey cheesecake out to nibble on.  It is very difficult not to walk out of the store without a jar or two.

I just spotted this recipe for Honey Pound Cake, and I thought it would be a great way to showcase one of SBC’s honeys (you know, without just eating it by the spoonful!).  I stopped into the shop and picked up a small jar of Sourwood honey, a sweet, super flavorful, dark hued honey.  I followed the recipe exactly, though I baked it in three mini loaf pans, which the batter fit perfectly in.  And we found a perk to going back to using a hand mixer – getting to lick the beaters!  And oh baby, is this batter fantastic!

Out of the oven, still warm, sliced and drizzled with a bit more honey (this other jar is our favorite – Winter White), this pound cake is groan-inducing.  And the aroma is off the charts.  The flavor of the honey really does shine, despite all the other ingredients.  I’m sure it will be quite delicious using local Raikowski Farm honey when we’re home too, but a few jars of this Sourwood honey will definitely find its way into our bags to take back!

I simply cannot get enough of this.

Or this.

Or this.

And neither can Buddy!

]]> http://fravelicious.com/2012/01/25/the-coast/feed/ 0 jbgasper tybee beach pier a tybee island pier tybee island beach sand buddy on tybee beach http://fravelicious.com/2012/01/24/crazy-crab-shack/ http://fravelicious.com/2012/01/24/crazy-crab-shack/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:04:29 +0000 jbgasper http://fravelicious.com/?p=2966 ]]>

Lunch today was an experience.  Flat out, one of the craziest places we have ever eaten at. We had read reviews about The Crab Shack out towards Tybee Island and were a bit prepared for some of the crazy, and the crazy did not disappoint.  Because honestly, where else in the world are we ever going to eat shrimp, illegally feed cats, and see alligators and parrots, all within 20 feet of each other?!

First off, the food was pretty decent.  We each did the Low Country Shrimp Boil, which included seasoned shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and corn on the cob.  Add a Sweet Tea, and we’re just about as Southern Coastal as we can get.  The table had a hole cut out of the center, with a garbage underneath, so we just chucked the shells and cobs and trash in there as we ate.  Easy Peasy!

But now for the crazy.  There were random cats that wandered about, and despite posted warnings not to feed them, Justin could not be contained and kept throwing pieces of shrimp down to this one.  Mom and Ruth, you would have HATED this place!! But John, you would have LOVED it!  :)

And then there were alligators!  They were much smaller than we had expected, but then, there sure were a lot of them!  Apparently you can pay to feed the buggers, but that wasn’t too high on my list to try.  I didn’t really want to see all those things swarming for food.  So all in all, this was a really fun lunch.  And the crazy is what added to every minute of it!

Today we ate lunch at Leoci’s, which we had seen walking around a week or so ago.  It was crazy good, and a good deal as well.  Julie had a seafood risotto, and I had the daily gnocchi special, which had a bacon and cream sauce and crispy pork on top of it.  It tasted as good as it looks.  Plus, since it was warm today, we ate out on their back patio, which was a nice treat in January.  This was probably our favorite place so far, and we’re looking forward to going again soon.

Seafood risotto

Gnocchi with crispy pork

Nothing left of the gnocchi

On Saturday night, we went out for dessert at Lulu’s Chocolate Bar, which was a really fun little place.  They only serve desserts and drinks, so we tried a little of both.  I started with a Milky Way martini, which was two different chocolate liqueurs and caramel liqueur all mixed together.  It was wonderful.  We then shared a sunday for two.  It was three different kinds of ice cream and it came with 3 separate sauces (chocolate, caramel, strawberry), and 3 separate liqueurs, all in an edible chocolate bowl.  Everything was top notch, and the restaurant was very cool inside.

Ice cream, sauces, liqueurs, and the Milky Way martini

On Friday night, we went with the Garrard’s to the Salt Life Food Shack in Florida.  This was a bustling restaurant and they had a lot of fun seafood, while still keeping around some family friendly options (although Presley and Cooper split sushi, of all things).  Julie had a shrimp roll, which was just a sandwich piled with shrimp and covered in cheese.  She didn’t care for the cheese, but it pulled off easily.  I had a Poke Bowl, which was rice with a spicy sauce, avocado, steamed spinach, and then covered in a huge mound of tuna.  It was amazing.  I would definitely order it again – unique and tasty.

Presley, Cooper, and Cris, and Cooper's amazing 4 color mohawk.

Shrimp roll

Poke bowl

River Street and one of the cruising paddle boats from the ferry.

A storm and rain system has moved in over Savannah, chasing away the sun and warm temperatures.  It is hard for me to clear my head of sleep on days like this.  But we ventured out despite the pallor, and took a river ferry ride over to the Savannah Convention Center to walk through the Home and Garden show that is taking place.

Looking out over the river, the ferry, and River Street from the Convention Center.

The expo was a bit of a bust and not worth the money we paid to get in, but I enjoyed being out on the water for the ferry crossing, even if it only takes a few minutes.