Information about GS Trips to Savannah

Our troop went to Savannah in the summer of 2003.  It was a great trip, and well worth doing.  Here are a few things we learned that might make other troop's trips more enjoyable:

If you take the train, you'll probably travel overnight.  Girls will have an easier time sleeping on the train if they bring a small pillow and blanket, an eye mask or sunglasses (some lights stay on all night), and a CD player with instrumental or environmental music (to block out noise).  Not all Amtrak trains have dining cars, so leaders may want to bring food with them.

We used Kelly Tours to book most of our trip (except the trip to Juliette Gordon Low's house, which troops arrange on their own).  If we were doing it again, we would be more picky about the restaurants.  City Cafe was not good, for example.  The Casbah, a Moroccan restaurant, and B&D Burgers, were very good. 

Choosing a hotel with a pool is a good idea.  Our scouts enjoyed swimming after walking around the humid city all day.

If the hotel says it will give the scouts a "continental breakfast," ask what that is.  Our hotel gave us only breakfast bars, apples, and juice.  

When telling the scouts how much money to bring, figure in the amounts they will need for any meals not included in the tour price (which may mean breakfast, too, if they do not like the continental breakfast that the hotel offers), treats such as ice cream and candy, and souvenirs.  Our scouts took $35-$50 with them, and some ran out of money (two lunches at $8-$10 each, two breakfasts at $6 each, ice cream for $2, food and water on the train for about $6 each trip, $6 for henna tattoo at the Moroccan restaurant; plus candy, film, and t-shirts).

We scheduled a trip to the Savannah Civil Rights Museum as part of our tour, and the scouts enjoyed it very much.  It was very informative, although small.  The museum can be seen in an hour.

We did the science program at the Marine Science center on Tybee Island, which may have been the highlight of the trip for some of the girls.  Make sure they bring sunscreen!

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Dear Girl Scout Friend, 

            I went on an amazing trip to Savannah , Georgia with my Girl Scout troop and it was so much fun! We did all kinds of cool activities in Savannah such as the Juliette Lowe Birthplace tour which included a Victorian Venture workshop, a dolphin cruise, toured the Girl Scouts First Headquarters, saw “Broadway on Bull Street ” at a historic theater, and went to a Moroccan restaurant.                        

            One thing that I really remember about Savannah was that on the first day we went to the First Girl Scout Headquarters. There we watched a hilarious video made about Girl Scouts in the 1920’s. It showed Girl Scouts camping, helping others, and many other things that we still do today. Another thing I really liked about the headquarters was there were a lot of old uniforms and items that Juliette Lowe’s first troop used. 

            Another day our troop went to the Juliette Lowe Birthplace where in the morning we went to a Victorian Venture workshop. This was an eye opener on how girls lived in Savannah in the early 1900’s. For example, first we put on hoop skirts and jewelry that was worn during that time period. After that we learned fan language and then we had tea. In the afternoon we took a tour around the Juliette Lowe Birthplace. Our tour guide showed us the different rooms in the house. She also told us some very surprising stories about the house and the people who lived there. At the end of the day we had a special pinning ceremony in the garden of the house. During the ceremony we were given the special Juliette Lowe Birthplace pin that you can only get at the Birthplace. 

            Our troop also did some non-Girl Scout related things in Savannah . One of them was a dolphin cruise. We went out in a boat and saw many dolphins! But watch out you will get wet! It was also fun because when we went through the harbor the guide told us about various land marks of Savannah . 

            My favorite night time activity was by far the night we went to Casbah, a Moroccan restaurant, and saw a show “Broadway on Bull Street ” at the historic Savannah Theater. Let me just say I LOVED Casbah, it was so much fun! We got to belly dance, get henna tattoos and eat great food. What more would you want? Then after Casbah we went to the most exciting show, “Broadway on Bull Street .” It was a compilation of scenes from all the best Broadway musicals. Since I’m extremely into musical theater I had an amazing time! My friends and I were singing along to Rent, West Side Story, The Music Man, Oklahoma , Chorus Line, Grease, Chicago , Guys and Dolls, the Phantom of the Opera, Footloose, Les Misérables, South Pacific, and Oliver. After the show we got to take pictures with the actors which pretty much topped off the best night ever. 

            Our trip to Savannah , Georgia was amazing and I didn’t even tell you everything we did! So I hope you and your Girl Scout Troop can plan a trip to Savannah too! 

                                                            Your Friend, Rose

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My Trip to Savannah
Alex P 

I very much enjoyed my trip to Savannah, Georgia with the Girl Scouts last summer. There is so much interesting and fun culture to learn about. One of my favorite things was the visit to Juliet Lowe's birthplace. It is amazing what a fascinating and strong woman she was. She was just the right person to start a thing like Girl Scouts. Additionally, it was really intriguing to see the first Girl Scout headquarters. I loved seeing all the different uniforms from over the years. Another neat thing that we saw there was this video about Girls Scouts. It was quite riveting to see how much Girl Scouting has changed. They used to be really strict; almost soldier-like. The nice thing about Savannah was that it was a wonderful place for non-Girl Scouts, too. There were great restaurants, stores, theaters, and beaches! We saw this great show at their theater. It was called Broadway on Bullstreet, and they sang songs from a ton of different musicals. It was great! I would love to go back to Savannah.