Having spent most of my life either working in travel and tourism or traveling myself, I have grown tired of organized city tours and rarely go on them. I don’t like the standard cramped bus tour and I’ve done enough ghost tours that they have started to sound the same to me. There are plenty of resources available in cities and I can usually sift through and find what I want to see and do pretty easily. Enlisting the help of the staff at the Visitors Center, the brochure racks around town, old standbys like Yelp and TripAdvisor, and maybe an outlier like Thrillist or Atlas Obscura, I can find the best that a city has to offer, custom tailored to my personal likes and dislikes. Unless it is an in-depth tour on a specific subject I’m interested in or it provides access to something I want to see but can’t unless I’m on a guided tour, I usually give them a miss. But every now and then something will catch my eye which I simply must try.
So it was that I stumbled across a tour which I couldn’t leave town without checking out: Savannah For Morons. Savannah For Morons is an irreverent look at Savannah history and culture hosted by the Moron Twins, Johnny and Danny Moron (actually John Brennan and Dan Gilbert of the local Front Porch Improv Group). After producing a stage show of the same name, they teamed up with Grey Line Savannah and Kelly Tours to bring their quirky brand of comedy and hilarious take on local lore to a wider audience. I’m sure glad they did. Oh, and it is Savannah so you can bring your own cocktails on board as well (and you should).
I might have been at least a little bit skeptical of a comedic city tour, but this one came highly recommended by my good friends and Savannah locals Bethany and Josh (full disclosure, Josh works for Grey Line), so I was willing to give it a shot. The Morons had me cracking up from the very first minute I sat down until the minute I got off the bus. Their energy was contagious, and their synergy was incredible. Dressed in matching rompers with Savannah For Morons stitched onto the backs, it was hard not to smile just looking at these guys.
The funny thing about this tour (no pun intended) was that they actually covered quite a bit of real Savannah history, but didn’t shy away from pointing out those parts that were silly, tragic or outright ridiculous. They talked about the founding of the city, the Revolution, the Civil War, and many of the people that have lived in or passed through Savannah over the years. We traveled through many of Savannah’s historic squares and past many of the important historic homes as well. Along the way, the Morons poked fun at where everyone on board was from, but took plenty of shots at each other and their adopted hometown as well. In addition to the actual history of the town, we also heard plenty about the movies that have been filmed in Savannah, the music and literature which has been produced there, and yes, plenty about The Book (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) as well.
Halfway through the tour, we made a quick pit-stop at the Ghost Coast Distillery to unload and reload and grab a delicious cocktail on the way. From there, we passed down River Street and through some of the squares closer in to the river as The Morons acted out skits as characters from history and movies about Savannah. They even shared some of their personal recommendations for bars and restaurants as we went. The tour ended where it started and I was amazed to find that I had been laughing for the full 90 minute duration, but you know what they say: time flies when you’re having fun. At the end of the tour, John and Dan were happy to pose for pictures and answer any questions that anyone had, and even offered a discount coupon to their Saturday stage show.
This tour was honest, irreverent, self-deprecating, and hilarious from start to finish. It probably leaned towards the R side of PG-13 but in a tasteful way. It would definitely not be suitable for children, but was perfect for adults of all ages. And did I mention it was BYOB? In my mind that makes for a perfect combination for a fun afternoon in Savannah if ever there was one. No wonder most of the people on the tour actually lived in Savannah, something I promise you will almost never see on a tour anywhere else. Whether it’s your first time in Savannah or you’ve lived there for years, Savannah for Morons should be a must-do part of your weekend in town.
Savannah for Morons runs every Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m. The tour leaves from the Savannah Visitor's Center at 301 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. and can be booked online HERE. For more information on the tour you can visit the Savannah for Morons page HERE.