Playing Tourist in My Hometown

This past weekend Topher & I flew to Savannah, GA, to visit my parents. The weather was gorgeous - sunny & 70°F - and the four of us spent Saturday "playing tourist." First we took a trolley tour of the downtown historic district.

Now, every kid in Georgia public schools spends a year learning about Georgia history and doing projects on their city or county. But I haven't lived in Savannah for over 10 years, and I've forgotten most of the local lore. So the trolley tour was a great refresher: we heard about Tomochichi and General Oglethorpe, Casimir Pulaski and John Wesley, Juliette Gordon Low and the Waving Girl, and of course Paula Deen and Lady Chablis (although I don't think the last two were part of the tour I got in 3rd grade).

Afterwards we headed to the St. Paul's Church & Hellenic Center for lunch at their annual Greek Festival (more on that later this week), then home for a walk and a much-needed nap.

That evening the four of us got dressed up and went out to dinner at Elizabeth on 37th, housed in a huge old Victorian home at 37th & Drayton. Specializing in upscale Southern cuisine, Elizabeth's is definitely a "special occasion" place (read: expensive), but our meal was wonderful!

What We Ate:

• biscuit with butter & marmalade
• my appetizer: blackeyed pea patty served over shredded greens & halved cherry tomatoes, with mustard sauce - the patty was slightly crispy on the outside (a good texture, IMHO), and the mustard sauce was mild but flavorful
• salad: mixed greens & herbs, julienned red apples, goat cheese, and house vinaigrette - a fabulous salad, full of mint, cilantro, spinach, arugula, and goat cheese (need I say more?)
• my entree: mustard-garlic glazed Scottish salmon, served over shredded greens & halved cherry tomatoes, with roasted potatoes - paired with a glass of sauvignon blanc - when I ordered this, I didn't realize it was served over the same greens & tomatoes as my appetizer - I guess I got my vitamin C and lycopene for the day. The mustard-garlic glaze was subtle but flavorful, and the salmon was moist & flaky ... yum!
• Topher's entree: pork chop with five cheese macaroni and apple-cabbage slaw - although he shared a bite of pork chop with me (delicious! not overcooked, still tender and slightly pink in the middle), I did not get to taste the macaroni & slaw: he was scared that I would like them too much and want to switch plates, and he was probably right - the macaroni was full of fontina, and the slaw was full of cilantro!

The Scoop:

Elizabeth on 37th is located at 105 East 37th Street, Savannah, GA 31401. They're open for dinner Mon-Sun at 6pm. Reservations are available online or by phone (912-236-5547). (Disclaimer: I went to high school with the owners' daughter.)

Note: The photo above came from this website.