Savannah, GA

On our way out of Charleston in the morning we stopped for breakfast at Early Bird Diner. We got there just minutes before they opened and got the last available seats. It was featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Clay had a traditional southern breakfast of fried chicken and waffles. It was yummy but a little odd for us. I ordered a la carte eggs, grits, bacon and pancakes. The pancakes were excellent and the grits were the best I've ever had.

When we got to Savannah we headed straight for River Street. There was a seafood festival going on down by the river. Right as we came down we got to watch a huge container ship come into port. One of the best parts was sampling pralines from River Street Sweets. 

 

We walked around the historic district and visited the Juliette Gordon Low home. We did not take a tour but did visit the gift shop.

Just 2 months ago, Rebekah bought a pretty puzzle at a silent auction. It was a painting by Thomas Kinkade, titles Savannah Romance. It had so many flowers and was so pretty. When Clay & I finally decided to go to Savannah as part of our trip we said we must go to where this painting depicts. It wasn't hard to find out that it was a painting of Forsyth Park. 

Forsythe Park is a beautiful lush green park. Huge old trees with Spanish moss growing everywhere. Beautiful crisp white fountains. But I was disappointed. Mr. Kinkade led me astray. There was not a single flower in bloom anywhere. 

We had lunch at Zunzi's, they had a gyro and great sauce. We also stopped at Leopold's for ice cream. We had a great time exploring the city. I loved how the city had all these Squares -little garden parks. As we walked around we saw weddings taking place in several of the Squares. Everything was green and lush. Just not so many flowers. All the homes had really cool details.

 

We had perhaps our best dinner ever at The Olde Pink House! They had amazing biscuits. We tried fried green tomatoes. Then we had the best filet mignon and braised pork shanks. Since Clay & I started a "Biggest Loser" competition we didn't want to order dessert. Our waitress brought us strawberries and cream  for dessert. We even spotted a bride we saw earlier in Forsyth Park having a quite dinner together at the Olde Pink House.

Many thanks to Deanna for watching the girls making it possible for us to take this trip!!

Charleston, SC

Clay's mom, Deanna, came out to help us celebrate our Anniversary. She stayed with the girls so we could get a weekend away. We left on Thursday around lunch time and started to drive south. We arrived in Charleston, SC late that night. 

We got an early start with breakfast at Toast. We had omelets, grits, and biscuits. While enjoying our food we took a little time to discuss and plan out our day. We headed to the Visitors' Center and booked a carriage tour for later that afternoon. We took the first ferry to Fort Sumter. It was so cool to see canon balls still embedded in the walls. 

We walked down to city market to look at the local wares. Bought ourselves a new ornament for our Christmas tree. We walked in and out (a few times!) of Charleston's Candy Kitchen for free samples of fresh warm pralines. So good. We stopped for lunch at Cru Cafe. We were lucky enough to get one of the last seats available. The food was excellent! We had tomato bisque and falafel pita.

We took a carriage tour of Charleston. It was great to get some history of the town and see some great homes. Though it was very hard to take any pictures while riding in a carriage. So we walked around to see things better. Here are some of the things I loved about Charleston. 

All the homes had window boxes and pots with beautiful plant arrangements. Loves the piazzas -porches running the length of the home to capture the cool cross breezes. I would LOVE to have a home like that. Every home has this little narrow strip of land that they created beautiful gardens for their own enjoyment. Each home also had the ever-burning lanterns waiting for a loved one's safe return. There were just so many things to make this such a charming city.

 This is Waterfront Park with it's famous pineapple fountain.

 The city has lots of great parks. Even the cemetery was lush and green.

We finished our day at Five Loaves for dinner. They had food type quotes on each table. I liked this quote from Julia Child. We had Mexican chili, red pepper zucchini basil and Gouda soup, salmon and curry chicken. Very good food. We also stumbled upon this old furniture store by the name of Chase. Wonder if they are related somehow...