Snow, Snow and MORE Snow

March used to be our snowiest month - now it seems to be April!!  While I was gone to Savannah, Glenn took a couple of  pics hours apart of the deck and you sure could see the difference in the snow amounts!

 It was a LOT of snow!!  And then last weekend, the snow came again - not as much but it came over a 3 day period which is pretty unusual for us not to see the sun for 3 days!  I didn't take any pics of how deep it was but did snap this pretty picture off the deck!

It was another wet, heavy snow which was wonderful moisture for us!  Luckily it has all melted and today topped out at 65 degrees!  We are all really hoping that spring has arrived!

Savannah Belle Ferry

Time to ride the FREE Savannah Belle Ferry!   The ferry was part of the DOT system (the free bus) so you could ride the ferry free and it went to the other side of the Savannah River and then back across to another port further down!

A fire boat was out showing off their water sprayers!

The "waving girl" statue is part of Savannah history and we FINALLY found it after walking the wrong direction for a while!  The girls name is Florence Martus and she was the daughter of a Sergeant who was stationed out of Fort Pulaski.  She was a lonely girl growing up and her only friend was her collie dog.  So she started waving her handkerchief at the passing ships and they in turn would respond by either waving or blowing the ships' horn.  Eventually she would take a lantern out at night so they could see her when she was waving!  And to think she continued this tradition for 44 years!!

Patty's good friends Joel and Joyce (Joel graduated with Patty so I knew him too) were at Hilton Head vacationing with another couple and came to Savannah for a day.  So we met them at Tubby's for a drink! 

Also, if a barge ship comes by during Happy Hour, shots are $1.00 and by golly, a barge did come through so we all toasted with a shot of who knows what but it was good!!

We still had one more stop to make - the famous Leopold's ice cream - even though we were full from drinks, we decided we had to have some ice cream - the line was out the door but it was worth the wait!!

We sauntered back to a place called Zunzi's which was recommended by Amanda, Teri's daughter - we had tried to eat here one day but the line was long and wasn't moving very fast in the hot sun so we opted not to wait.  Today there was no line and the guys running the place gave us samples to taste so we would know what to order.  We actually only got 1 large sandwich and carried it back to our cottage to eat.

By the time we hit the cottage, we were all thoroughly exhausted from walking!!  The take out food was excellent and we ended the evening with wine, cheese, lots of talking about our trip and of course packing up to head out the next day!

We had a taxi pick us up at the cottage and we headed to the airport mid morning - Teri had the first flight out so Patty and I just hung out relaxing.

We enjoyed lunch together and soon boarded our flight to Atlanta - our gates were close for our next flights and soon she was off to Omaha and I was bound to Colorado Springs!

Chalk up another fantastic Sisters Trip and we're already looking forward to our next adventure in 2017 - none other than New York City!

Culinary Savannah Tour

Our tour on Tuesday morning wasn't until 11:15 so we all slept in a little bit and enjoyed a relaxing morning at The Mate Factor for breakfast!  We strolled down Jones Street where some of the most elaborate and large historic homes are located and were amazed at the architecture!  Also we saw a few more of the "squares" which were beautiful!

Here's one of the neat homes we walked by and I took this picture for Jessi - the house number was 1888!  I love the blue and purple together!


Our walking Culinary Tour started at River on the Rocks - we decided to split a drink while we were waiting for the rest to arrive so it arrived in a short glass to the tune of $14.00!!!  Guess we won't be ordering another drink there for a while!!

Our tour guide was a gal named Country and she was a hoot - kept us in stitches the entire tour with her southern accent and her stories!!

Our first tasting was right there at their restaurant and we had shellfish chowder - delicious!!

At Tondee's tavern we had shrimp and grits - Country told us the key to eating grits is to make them with lots of butter!  It was pretty darn good!  And remember the recipe to the punch that was on the place mat the first night we ate?  It was available to purchase at this pub so Patty and Teri ordered one - I took one sip and was certainly glad I didn't order one!!

As we were walking to our next pub, we walked by this "hat" shop - it SO reminded me of the hats that Southern Belles wear!!

At the Ordinary Pub, we had a pork belly slider with a key lime drop - again it was delicious!

We walked by a McDonald's (NO - we didn't stop there!!!) and it was a "walk through" instead of a "drive through".  Kind of unique!!

Next was the Scottish Bar where we had shepherds pie - pretty tasty!!

Our last restaurant stop was at Mabel's Cupcake Emporium - here's Country holding a plate of what we sampled - the frosting was extremely rich!

Our last two stops were "tastings".  First we went to a salt shop - I'd never been to one before and they had every kind of salt imaginable!!  We went to a special room and tasted 3 kinds of salts - actually there were 4 but I opted not to taste the last one as it was extremely spicy!!

And then we stopped back at the honey place and sampled honey once again!!

Did we walk a lot that day?  Yes, to the tune of 9 miles!!  But the day isn't over yet!!!

Ghost and Tombstone Tour

I couldn't seem to stop taking pictures of the trees and the moss!  In fact when I got home, I decided I needed one put on canvas (along with 3 other tree pictures from Colorado) to make an arrangement in the guest bath so they are ordered and shipped out yesterday!!

 This is the largest oak tree in Savannah - it's protected by the Savannah Tree Foundation and it is massive - 54' in height, 110' in width and 65" in diameter!

 After the walking tour which ended up at the market, we decided to go ahead and get our shopping done - of course that included more stops at the candy store to get free samples of pralines!!  I found my Christmas tree ornament and bookmark right away!!  SCORE!!  Teri wanted some honey so we went to the honey store and sampled honey - that was a treat and something I've never done before!!

Patty and I had seen a cute long sleeved pullover the day before and we searched a lot of the little shops until we found them again!!  After lunch we walked back to our cottage and relaxed before heading out again late afternoon.  We went back to River Street for "Island Hoppers" at Tubby's and then ate grilled shrimp with 3 different sides!!  DELICIOUS!!

 That evening we boarded the open air trolley for the Ghost and Tombstone Tour - we had no idea what to expect but it was fun and entertaining!!

 Our guide told us ghost stories as we rode in the trolley and we stopped at a supposedly "haunted" house to tour it - it was a turn of the century home and was interesting to see the inside!  The nursery was cute as could be EXCEPT................

 for these spooky looking dolls!!  I can't imagine little ones playing with them!!

 We also went into a cavern type building where ships would store their wares and heard some history and ghost stories as we sat on trunks amidst a lot of strange noises!!  All in all a good time!!

Then it was off to The Pirate House for dessert!  This restaurant opened in 1753 as an inn for seafarers and quickly became a rendezvous point for pirates and sailors from the Seven Seas.  There are 15 separate dining rooms and we peeked in a few as we were led to our table!

Bread pudding, key lime pie and pecan pie were the choices that we chose that evening along with coffee - YUM!!

After our dessert, we had the waiter call a taxi - Patty said she wanted to peek in at some of the other rooms and Teri and I went outside to wait for the taxi!  Well the taxi arrived immediately!!  I went in to look for Patty and couldn't find her so texted her and told her the taxi was waiting!  She texted back she was lost!!  So I went back in to find her and couldn't so went back outside and told Teri and the taxi driver to wait as I was still looking for her!!

So I went to go back inside and the door was already locked - yes, it was closing time!!  In the meantime, Patty is trying to find the door to come out and all the lights are going out and with all those rooms, she was quite lost!!  She finally found a waitress and told her she was locked inside and they had to find the manager to open the door so she could get out!!  What an ordeal!!  At least the taxi ride home was a quick and quiet ride - we laughed and laughed about the episode when we got home!!

Savannah Walking Tour

Monday dawned sunny and gorgeous!  We walked over to The Mate Factor for breakfast and coffee and then headed to Forsyth Park - it's a beautiful park and a perfect picture taking venue.

 The fountain was built in 1858 and every St. Patrick's Day the locals dye the water green - now that would be fun to see!

 After strolling around the park, we headed to St. John the Baptist Cathedral - we had seen this from a distance each time we walked but wanted to get a close up look and see the inside - it was extremely beautiful!

 Time for a quick pose outside the church!

 Then it was off to our walking tour of the historic district!    I had researched several tours and had just about booked the Savannah Trolley Tour when I found a website that offered a FREE walking tour with an excellent guide!  The reviews were great and you only tip at the end of the tour for whatever amount you are comfortable with!  I  knew we couldn't go wrong so went ahead and put our names down and it was the best choice ever!!

Our guide was young (and cute!!) and boy did he know his history!!  He rattled off dates and names of people and stories and answered every question that was asked of him!!  Again, highly recommended if you ever go to Savannah!

Back to the movie Forrest Gump - do you remember at the very beginning of the movie when a feather floats down from a building and Forrest picks it up?  Well, this is the building the feather came off of!

 It was also a perfect day to get photos of the moss hanging from the trees - the moss is a bromeliad or air plant and is a close cousin of the pineapple - who knew?

It was a good day to wear our tennis shoes as we ended up walking almost 6 miles that day - the tour covered probably a mile or two but it didn't seem like it as you were listening to the fantastic stories that were told by the guide.     To Be Cont'd.......................

"Rewind" in Savannah

One of the best things about the market was the FOOD!!!  They had an awesome candy store which had 3 rooms - their specialty was pralines and every time you walked in, they would give you a warm sample right from the oven.  YUMMY!!!  I bet the grand kids would have loved this room!!

 Since the praline just whetted our appetite, we went to the ice cream shop.  I chose peach and of course it was delicious!!

 This is one of the 22 squares - squares consist of a city block that is covered in trees, benches to sit on, grass and usually a monument.  I think by the end of our stay we had been to 20 of them!

 We headed to the Savannah Theater  for our entertainment Sunday afternoon and look who was standing outside - Forrest Gump!!  He sounded just like the real thing and of course was carrying his box of chocolates!  We were all very excited to see the "bench" where he sits at the bus stop during the movie but found out the actual bench was a prop - it was filmed in one of the squares and we did see the spot but that was all.  I have a video of Forrest running but can't seem to get it downloaded from my phone to my computer but it is cute!!

 Check out the front of this car that we're sitting on!!

 "Rewind" was awesome - it was a group of singers that sang songs from the 50's, 60's and 70's and we all thoroughly enjoyed it!!  We relived song after song and it was so fun to hear the old songs.  The different sets were very unique and one of our favorites was a campfire scene, just singing around the fire! 

After Rewind we went around the corner to Gallery Espresso and sat outside enjoying a fruit and cheese tray!

After our dinner, we sauntered back to our cottage for a relaxing evening - we enjoyed our own drinks along with our pecans and more cheese and crackers.  And we laughed a lot - a whole lot!!  What an awesome day with great plans for the next day!!  To Be Cont'd...............

Glorious Savannah!

I was so tired that I never moved all night in my bed - woke up in the same position that I started in!!  And even with the time change I woke up about the same time that I do at home!

Patty had researched a cute coffee place that was only 3 blocks from our cottage so we headed there and loved it so much that we ate breakfast and had coffee there every day!!  The place was called The Mate Factor and the people there were so friendly!

 There was a loft area that we headed to after ordering and that became OUR table for the next 3 days!  They served a couple of breakfast sandwiches which were delicious and I ordered "Mayan Mocha" coffee - it was delicious!

 The bakery section looked fantastic so after the first day, we would order one sandwich and split it 3 ways and then split a muffin - my favorite was the blueberry - gosh, it was tasty!!

 On our walk each day, we passed this house and I loved it!!

 Our first tour that we had booked was the cemetery tour sponsored by Dash Tours - it's called Dash Tours because they inform you what is BETWEEN the dashes (in the cemetery, the stories about peoples' lives)  Our tour guide was Timothy and we were picked up in a van and taken out to the Bonaventure Cemetery.  It was a 2 hour tour and we learned so much about many of the people buried out there..................  The cemetery was gorgeous as you'll see from the pictures - love that Spanish moss hanging down!!

 Of course I've forgotten most of the things he told us but all of the stories were so interesting!!  Johnny Mercer, the composer, (Moon River was one of his pieces) is buried out here and all of the gravestones around him of family all had a line from one of his songs!

It was a fantastic tour and highly recommended if you ever go to Savannah!

We were dropped off at "City Market" which is a huge place with lots of shops, eating places and live music playing - right down our alley!!  Lunch was at Goosefeathers which was highly recommended and it didn't disappoint!!  To Be Cont'd.......................