This New Year’s, toast to the future in a city with a rich and colorful past. Ring in 2019 in Georgia’s oldest city and one of the oldest in the nation. Come to Savannah and create your own itinerary for saying goodbye to the old and welcoming in the new. You’ll find plenty of cool activities to choose from.
New Year’s Eve Afternoon
Begin with experiencing the city’s history. Old Savannah Tours has a variety of tours that bring history to life. Visit Old Fort Jackson where they stage daily cannon firings from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. This national historic landmark has daily interactive programs. Drive a little further out to Tybee Island and tour a light station with a history dating back to 1736.
New Year’s Eve Night
For the dinner hour, mix history with entertainment at the City Market. The place Savannahians gathered for goods and services in the 1700s is now full of restaurants, pubs, galleries, and shops. The market will feature live music outdoors on New Year’s Eve.
If there’s anything other than history and ghosts this town is famous for it’s the drinking, and since it all began with pirates and rum, it’s just another part of Savannah’s history. Embrace it with a bar crawl. If you’re wondering, bar crawling is well-organized bar hopping, and Stafford Productions does it well with their themed bar crawls. (Gobble Wobble, 12 Bars of Christmas.) It’s a race, of sorts, and you earn drink specials and free stuff along the way. Best of all, a portion goes to charity. Register for this event online or at Stafford’s Public House on Factor’s Walk.
Keep your ball drop, NYC. Savannah’s answer to a midnight countdown is Up the Cup. This year marks the 6th year for this event on Rousaki Riverfront Plaza. The final minutes of the year are marked by a giant to-go cup that moves up, not down. A fireworks display follows.
Beachside Celebrations
Pyrotechnic freaks will want to put Tybee Island’s firework’s display on their agenda. In fact, one option is to change your itinerary and remain beachside for the evening after touring the Tybee Lighthouse. Tybee’s display is the largest New Year’s display in the Southeastern U.S. It launches from the pier when the clock strikes twelve. Don’t worry about food, bars, and entertainment. You’ll find plenty at this lively beachside town. Be sure to make lodging arrangements well in advance if you want to stay overnight.
New Year’s Day
Whether staying at the beach or in town, you’ll have some great options for a hearty New Year’s Day breakfast or brunch. Go for shrimp and grits at Huey’s On the River near the Historic District. Out at Tybee, you’ll see why the line is long at the Breakfast Club where the atmosphere rivals the homemade breakfast fare. Don’t be surprised if a spirit drifts by to tease you.
Either way, you’ll want to be at the beach at noon for the 2019 Tybee Polar Plunge. Around 2,000 brave souls will dash into the chilly Atlantic waters. Watch from the pier or a beachfront bar or better yet, register and take the plunge along with them. You’ll get an official collector’s item t-shirt. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit Tybee Post Theater.
You’ve likely learned about other great things to do around Savannah, and that’s a good thing because you can add them to next year’s itinerary.