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Meet Amber Capps, the voice behind The Long Weekender, a blog celebrating Savannah. As a resident, Amber shares tales of travel, fitness, fashion, and local discoveries, inviting readers to immerse themselves in the charm of the Hostess City. She traveled to Milledgeville in December of 2023 and explored all the festive finds in the historic downtown district.
As the holiday season is in full swing, I am always looking for new, festive cities to travel to and experience the holidays as a local. We decided to slip away from Savannah for the weekend and head to Milledgeville. It was our first time in Milledgeville, and we will certainly be back!
Friday
After settling into the cutest Airbnb just minutes from downtown, we walked around downtown Milly, which was all decked out for the holidays! Every corner was so fun and festive! We stopped by the Milly Market, which had a few local vendors selling handmade items. I mean, how cute are these Grinch ornaments? After we did a little shopping at the market, we walked by the beautifully decorated Christmas tree for a fun photo op and then went to Buffington’s to grab a drink and some appetizers. We lucked out because they also had live music when we were there, and we love live music! Buffington’s is a casual spot for lunch, dinner, or to watch football, and we had some of the best wings when we were there. Highly recommend the ‘Gucci Mane’ sauce for your wings – SO GOOD.
We then hopped over to The Brick for a nightcap. Whenever we travel, we like to have a drink and a snack (or two) at several spots each day to make sure we hit all the spots during our trip! It’s a fun way for us to fully experience the city we’re visiting + we are total foodies. We ended up going to The Brick twice over the weekend – it’s that good!
Saturday
On Saturday morning, we went on a historic trolley tour, which was one of the best tours we’ve been on – our tour guide was engaging and fun, and we learned a lot about the history of Milledgeville – I had no idea Milledgeville served as the capital of Georgia during the Civil War. There’s a ton of history in Milly!
After the trolley tour, we grabbed coffee at Blackbird Coffee and brunch at Local Yolkal. We also did a little shopping at Firefly Boutique and Southern Roots. Firefly had so many cute holiday outfits – I came home with a festive sweater for an event I have in Savannah this month. We ended up going back to our Airbnb for a few hours to relax and watch some football – having the house so close to downtown was super convenient.
Saturday Night, we went on a candlelight tour at Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion (which was home to eight Georgia governors), and it was magical! The Mansion transforms into a Christmas wonderland. It was beyond beautiful, and it was so special to hear the choir sing in the rotunda. As you can see, the tree was decorated beautifully – like straight out of a magazine beautiful! More information on the tours can be found here.
One thing we didn’t get to do (due to the weather) was walk through Lockerly in Lights – we heard it was great and will definitely have to come back to experience the light display. Tours occur every Friday and Saturday night through Christmas. Friday nights will be a drive-thru experience, and on Saturday nights, you can walk the charming one-mile trail.
Sunday
Before heading back to Savannah, we had brunch at Bollywood Tacos, which was the perfect way to end our holiday weekend.
We had such a fun little getaway in Milly – if you are looking for a holiday getaway this season, make sure to add Milledgeville to your list!
-Amber @the_longweekender & https://thelongweekenderblog.com/
Save for your next trip to Milledgeville!
Where we ate:
Brunch:
-Bollywood Tacos: Highly recommend the Huevos Rancheros.
-Local Yolkal: We ordered the Crab Cake Benedict, Capital Breakfast, and the Sweet Corn Nuggets
Coffee:
-Blackbird Coffee: We grabbed coffee here each morning – such a cozy coffee shop!
Dinner/Drinks:
-The Brick
-Amici – we had spinach dip and salads – it’s also a great spot to watch football.
-Metropolis Café – stopped in for drinks before our candlelight tour of the Mansion.
Casual/Late Night Spots:
-Buffington’s: They had live music when we went which was fun + we had some amazing wings.
-The Velvet Elvis: Wings + a good spot to watch football
Things to do:
-Candlelight Tour at The Mansion
-Lockerly in Lights
-Historic Trolley Tour
-Go shopping! We bought some local items from the Milly Market, I bought a cute sweater at Firefly, and we also went into Southern Roots.
