So I am finally recovered enough to report on our trip to Savannah!
We went from July 27 - August 5 with 14 girls and 7 adults. Here is some information on our trip - feel free to ask any questions!
THANKS to everyone who shared information before me. Your detailed accounts of your troop trip were PRICELESS in the planning process for us.
Casa Del Mar - House on Tybee Island
http://www.cottagesonthecoast.com/
We researched several accomodation choices and decided the house was worth it. We were 100 yards from the beach and only 20 min outside of Savannah. It was great! Be sure to add up all house fees – housekeeping, tax, etc, not everyone will give tax exempt for GS, double check if the "water front" house is ocean front or bay front. Book downtown hotels with suites WAY in advance - I checked 12 months out and they were already reserved. hotels were $325 - $500 per room/per person (sleeps 4). Savannah school of design offers basic barracks type room with bunk beds for $1600, bring own bedding, no kitchen.
Casa Del Mar was nice - not really equipped to handle 21 people even though website says "comfortably sleeps 22". Not enough towels and no main eating eare for everyone. And when we got there, one sleeper sofa was broken. I calleed the owner and there was no answer, left a meesage and never heard back. :-( BUT... other then that, everything was great and we were determined to not let this bug us. We went to WalMart and bought air mattresses.
Amtrak Sleeper train down, Coach back
http://www.amtrak.com/
Double check all details, at first they didn't book us on round trip, it's a 13 hour train ride, we did it overnight. they were pretty accomodating for our group of 21. have the girls board the train in the order they will be in sleeper cars. Sleeper cars include meals (dinner and breakfast) in the dining car. Bring Tylenol PM as sleeping on the train is impossible.
At least in a sleeper car you can lie down, but in a seat... well forget sleeping. we would have done better to travel during the day so the girls could chat, play games, whatever.
Rental Car - 4 minivans
http://www.enterprise.com/
We could have done 3, but it was easier with luggage, etc to have a bit of extra room, ask for discounted/corporate rate, fax driver license and insurance info for all drivers ahead of time, Enterprise we used was very poor and I wouldn't use them again, bring your own maps of area - they had nothing to help us get from the rental joint to the train station to our house. They will charge a $25 fee per car to leave them at the train station (they didn't tell us that till later) AND there is a deposit due per car, if you use troop debit card it is taken out that day.
Make sure you confirm ALL charges up front - pay with a check. Once they get your credit card, they can charge whatever they want.
Trolley Tour 90min guided, on/off all day, box lunch
http://www.historictours.com/
Do this early in trip to get an overview of the city and plan on returning to things you want to see, includes short walking tour, Ask for Cindy – she was FANTASTIC, she picked us up and drove us to the restaurant in the afternoon (we just happened to get on her trolley, but then she dropped everyone else off and drove us special!) They even made dinner reservations for us at the Pirate House!
Ghost Carriage Tour 50min tour
http://www.carriagetoursofsavannah.com/
Don't do this on the same day as the trolley tour, lots of the same sites, we would skip this tour if we did it again, stories were boring, less then 1 hour tour. $15
JLow Birthplace Tour and activity session
http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/birthplace/
Special Interest Session – Fashion, Fabric, & Frills
Victorian Dinner – Seniors only - Awesome activity, in the house after hours alone, info was great, MADE the trip, I even slid half-a-tush down the banister (a BIG no-no... but then they keep telling you stories about the grandma sliding down it!!) Ask for the new Victorian Dinner patch.
Bike Rental 10 bikes for group
THE PACK RAT, 14th and Butler, Tybee Island, Georgia (912) 786-4013, also rents other beach items, we ended up not doing this as the girls didn't need it.
Tybee Lighthouse Tour, walk to top
http://www.tybeelighthouse.org/
Tybee Marine Science Center Tour and marsh activity
http://www.tybeemsc.org/
Budget extra money to adopt a sea turtle, $10 each, buy Coastal Georgia badges at the First Headquarters or by mail.
Fort Jackson Tour and program
http://www.forttours.com/pages/fortjackson.asp
We enjoyed this program, guide was great, not too long and interesting.
Barrier Island Cruise 5 hour boat cruise and marine activities
http://www.bullriver.com/
Great tour to empty barrier island for shelling, super accommodating, would recommend to everyone.
Moonlight Cruise 1 ½ hours on a riverboat with dancing
http://www.savannahriverboat.com/
This activity was ok, we had fun but there were a few odd things about it. I don't know if we would do it again. Drinks not included and it was hot!
Food Groceries & meals out
Have groceries delivered from Tybee island IGA, fax in order- don't use online ordering form, make all dinner reservations 1 day in advance to get group rates, don't forget to add in tax and tip.
Pirate House – good food and great ambience, $17 - $25 per
Dolphin Reef – we don't recommend, really crappy service, $20 - $30 per, great view
Other tips
- Visit the Savannah Visitors Center on day one to receive maps, buy parking passes (2 day pass, $8), ask questions, and get info.
- Make up binders for all chaperones
-One tab for each day
- Friday tab, Friday itinerary, copied contracts behind that, copies of other needed info
- Who tab – roster with home phones, permission slips, codes of conduct
- 911 tab – council crisis contact info, health forms, copy of insurance cards, recent photo of each girl, maps to hospitals, local Dr contact info
- We followed school dress code for when we were out in public, we wore matching shirts for travel and on one other day, we required uniforms for the Birthplace (white shirt, tan or black bottom, vest)
- Girls carried a laminated card with their name, home phone, medical info, chaperone cell phones, and Birthplace phone
- My Council requires you to purchase extra insurance for all trip attendees
- Email your trolley tour company and request maps to be sent to you in advance, they are the best maps!
- Most tourist type places are closed on Tuesday in Savannah
- When girls pay their deposit have them return a sheet that explains the payment schedule and cancellation policies, we had a girl and her mom back out of the trip 1 month before leaving and they wanted ALL their money back
- Open a separate bank account for all trip money, hard to track trip and troop money in one account for 12+months
- Pay as many reservations in advance as possible to ease check in
- Organize house kapor patrols in advance, post patrol list as well as detailed instructions for each job and tell the girls to "check the fridge", include a detailed menu
- Bring extras pins and patches for the girls vests, inspect them a few days before the visit to the Birthplace
- Pack a foldable cooler for lunches and water bottles, store in car
- Share itinerary info with the girls – we posted a daily itinerary (who, what, when, where, what to pack, what to wear, etc) in each bedroom and kitchen, tell the girls – "check the paper"
Money Earning Projects
- SU Sock Hop, my daughter organized this dance and it was a BLAST, over 120 girls attended, and she made well over $400 profit after paying her helpers!
- SELL COOKIES! I know you don't want to hear this, but we had 5 girls sell almost 500 boxes of cookies each! They can do it if they put thier minds to it! Have girls sell Cookies from Home to area business's BY THE CASE. My daughter sold 6-7 cases this way.
- SU Camporee, I organized this for the troop and with good planning, we were able to make a hefty profit. All the troops knew it was a fundraiser and we filled camp anyway. It was a great time.
- Magazine, candy and nut sales - only one girl really sells these in my troop
- Bake Sales at WalMart, they donated $200 to our troop each time
- Flea market - not enough traffic, we bombed that one
- Sell store coupons for Boscov's, Bon Ton, etc (big department stores) - they have a special coupon day, orgs can sell the coupons for $5 each pure profit, they hold raffles & more at the store
- Gift Wrapping at Borders/Barnes & Noble, ASK every customer on the way out, if you don't, you won't make any money!
- Basket Bingo, buy baskets and fillers, solicit business sponsors for each basket, host bingo event to win prizes, LOTS of work and we didn't do as well as we would like, but with practice this could be a very good event.
Hope all this is helpful to someone!
Ask questions if you would like more info!
