A Life, Lived: Savannah Update # 2

Things sort of got away from me with the blogging - there just weren't enough hours in the bloody day for it all! *smile*

Back to Saturday . . .

Today was the day when we thought we might be able to drive to Tybee Island to watch the sun rise over the ocean. David and Marcia looked up on the Internet and discovered that sunrise was to be at 7:07 a.m. This wasn't good - given that by the time we dropped into bed the night before it was close to 1 a.m. OUCH

I woke at 5:30 and looked out the window - I thought I saw a star which meant (in my mind anyway) that the threatened clouds had held off. I woke Paul (he is a trooper), we hopped in the shower and headed off to Tybee.

When we got to Tybee we parked the car and wandered the beach. The forecasters had been correct, clouds had filled the skies. Nonetheless, it was wonderful to wander the beach listening to the birds and the waves. We saw sunrise, watched some early morning fishermen, and were happy to oblige when two young ladies on the dock asked us to take their pics looking out towards the sunrise.

Once we got back to Savannah no one believed that we had been so crazy as to get up at that ungodly hour after a late night of carousing to see a sunrise - which wasn't really much of a sunrise given the weather. Happily we had the pics to prove our story!

The planning committee was in a bit of a frenzy. Saturday night's activities were to be in an outdoor venue and thunderstorms threatened. The facility, concerned about liability, was considering canceling the event and moving our group elsewhere. Given that the evening was planned with as much intricate detail as the plans for Napoleon to invade Russia this was a crisis. Paul and I were wise - we left and went shopping!

In the midst of our shopping the clouds opened up and the rain teemed down. True to form, we had left our umbrellas at home. Popping into a drug store we bought 2 more umbrellas for a ridiculous price. Of course, you know what happened, as soon as we left the store the rain had stopped! ARGH

We walked to one of the peaceful squares and sat contemplating life for awhile. I can see why the residents of Savannah adore their city so much.

At 12:30 we were to meet a group of 32 for lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant - Lady and Sons. I had seen a few of Paula's food network shows and knew that she had a deft hand with home cooked southern food - this is a lady who will fry anything and for whom butter is an essential food! Our restaurant visit didn't disappoint - this wasn't high gourmet fair, but it was bloody good home cooking. I opted for the buffet and really enjoyed the fried chicken, collard greens and hoe cakes (no, I am not being rude!)

Gail ordered a salad. Big mistake! We discovered that if it ain't fried it ain't good at the Lady and Sons!

I was exhausted by this point so Paul and I snuck back to the house and crashed for a few hours. When we awoke Palma filled us in on a few updates - the evening's festivities had been re-booked at the Savannah History museum. There had been tornado sightings and the tornado warning sirens had blared throughout the city. We had heard nothing!

Imagine sleeping through a tornado warning!

Showered, dressed, and well-greased from the quadruple martini's I had mixed for Paul, Palma, Brad, Terry, and I, we hopped on the trolley and headed around the city picking the rest of the group up. When we arrived at the museum we got to tour the exhibits and partake of the open bar (guess which one most of the guests selected?). We enjoyed some entertainment and a wonderful dinner featuring a low country boil.

After dinner the door prizes where drawn. We really wanted one of the grand prizes but lady luck was NOT on our side this evening. However, we did win an evening and a vacation rental north of Rome so we will likely need to plan a return to Italy in 2009. How sad!

Later we hopped back on the trolley for a ghost tour of Savannah. It was quite an experience winding through the narrow, darkened streets of old Savannah listening to tales of mayhem, woe, and sadness, while sipping homemade lemoncello supplied by Mac (a slowtraveller from Texas).

It was close to midnight when we got back to Washington Square. Kim, Chris, Shannon, Marcia, and Dave were also renting a house on the square. As we walked past their house we noticed that there lights were on - they had returned form the ghost tour before us. Brad and I scratched at their windows, which apparently scared the hell out of Shannon. Because we felt guilty we felt compelled to go inside and enjoy their company and their wine!

What would open expect a group to do after a full evening of ghosts and woe capped off by wine? Yes, we told our own ghost stories. It was just like summer camp as a child!

Paul and I left shortly after midnight and made our way back to our house. It had been a full and busy day - tomorrow was travel day and I needed some sleep. Unfortunately, Paul was so creeped out by the tales of ghosts that he had a fitful sleep, at best. Every time he flailed about I was woken up. ARGH

Sunday would be a LONG day!