I decided I needed a quickie getaway, so I put together a weekend trip to Savannah, Georgia for me and Day, and invited our friends, K and J. We land in Savannah Friday morning and fly out Monday morning. We’re staying at what looks like a nice B&B, the Catherine Ward Inn, which is right in the center of Savannah, near Forsyth Park. Friday night I scheduled a ghost tour, Saturday a food tour and Sunday a history tour. The four of us usually don’t have such a stringent schedule, but I figured we were only here for a weekend, so we might as well do something. We’ll see how it goes.

Friday:

I’m usually a pretty relaxed traveler, but today, I’m a little wound up. We were up at 3:30 am, for a 6:30 flight and neither Day nor I got much sleep last night. Getting through security and to our gate went fine, but we have a connecting flight with just a 38 minute layover. And, of course our flight took off late, so now we have a 20-25 minute layover. The very big guy in the seat next to me is making no effort to make himself smaller, forcing me to lean out into the aisle which is irritating my back and neck. And now, the freakin cart lady is in my way, and I need to pee! I know this is all small stuff, and everything will be fine, but today, I am easily irritated, and for me, irritated can escalate quickly.

Sleeping on a plane is hard enough, almost impossible with the guy next to me. Anyhow, we land in Charlotte in hopefully 25 minutes, and then make a mad dash to our connecting flight (I don’t dash very well). I’m looking forward to Savannah. Day and I spend enough time traveling outside the states, and not nearly enough time seeing our big beautiful country. Here’s hoping we’ll be there in a couple of hours.

“Here’s hoping we’ll be there in a couple of hours,” yeah right! Crocs (the shoes) are great for going through the security line, not great for running through the airport. Our first flight lands, and the flight attendant makes an announcement asking all those who do not have tight connecting flights to please remain seating, so those who do, can get off quickly. Nobody remained seated of course. So, Day and I have to run from terminal D to E. We’re sprinting towards our gate, and about 100 yards away, my shoes comes flying off, and I fall flat on my face, sliding like I was going for home plate in the bottom of the ninth. A little old lady behind me asked if I was alright, and then proceeded to lecture me on the perils of running in Crocs. “That’s why you shouldn’t run in Crocs,” she said. She went on to say, “that’s what the back straps are for.” As I ran off towards the gate, I could still hear her going on and on. Did I flipout, no, ya know why, because nothing is funnier than a good fall, and this one was spectacular! The sprint through the airport and the embarrassing face plant was for nothing more than a funny story, we missed the connection. We’ll catch the next flight, and be in Savannah by 1:30, with a story I am sure K and J will find hilarious.

I was right, Day couldn’t wait to tell our friends about me falling in the airport, and of course, K and J thought it was funny as hell (it was). The Catherine Ward House Inn is beautiful, our rooms are great, and the two lovely ladies here at check in were wonderful, everyone has been. Stacey, our cab driver and owner of Chatham Cab, was friendly, funny and full of stories, Day even remarked how nice the bathroom attendant was to her at the airport. And, drivers were happy to stop and let pedestrians cross the street, I didn’t hear one horn, or see one finger. Being from Massachusetts, that’s remarkable.

After checking in, and catching up with K and J, we wandered about Savannah, got a quick bite to eat, and headed down to the riverfront. Nothing special, just a chance to get our bearings. We’re back at the inn (where I am writing this) for a bit of a rest before dinner and a 10 pm. tour of haunted Savannah. Ten o’clock didn’t sound terribly late a month ago when I booked the tour, but it’s seven now, and almost my bedtime. It’s inconcievable to me that I used go drinking, close the bars most every night, and then get up at 5 or 6 and go to work everyday. The joys of getting older, and, smarter.

Saturday:

There’s nothing much better than the time spent sitting and drinking coffee before breakfast at a B&B. It’s Saturday morning now, Day, K and J are still upstairs and I am enjoying my coffee in the livingroom of the the wonderful Catherine Ward Inn. I am having a difficult time focusing on writing because Leslie (the proprietor) and Sonia (two perfectly lovely women) are busy working, and chatting away. “Well, another lesson learned. That’s two this morning,” one says. “Two already? It’s much too early for that nonsense,” replys the other. That just amuses me, I don’t know why.

So the house is beginning to stir. Apparently there are sixteen guests staying here this weekend, and they are beginning to find their way to the coffee. I love B&Bs, it’s a great opportunity to meet people. I’m a pretty friendly guy (believe it or not) and I enjoy chatting with people, but I make no attempt at being anything other than me, so I imagine my travel companions are usually wondering, “oh God, what’s he going to say next?” I really have no idea myself, it just comes out.

Breakfast was wonderful, and the three other couples that joined us were very nice. After exchanging niceties, conversation was easy and we regaled each other with stories of the different tours, mostly ghost, we all did the night before.

The four of us did the “Uncensored Zombies Tour” with the Blu Orb Tour company last night after dinner. Now supposedly Savannah is the most haunted city in America and there are plenty of tours to choose from. You can tour specific houses and go inside, or walking tours of the city, which is what we did. They go from cheesy spookie tours, where your guide might be in costume, to a more historical theme, like we did with our guide Adam (no costume, thank God). Keep in mind, even the more historical tours are still ghosts tours, they are all a bit cheesy (in my humble opinion) but we are in the most haunted city in America, so a ghost tour needs to be on the agenda, also in my humble opinion. Just keep your expectations in check, and grab an adult beverage, because there is no open container laws in Savannah.

I am again sitting in the livingroom, waiting. Waiting for Day, K and J to get themselves together, and head out for the day. We have a food tour scheduled for 11 am. Head north on Bull St, towards Savannah River, east on Liberty St. to the Smith Brother’s Butcher Shop, where our tour begins. Along the way we could check out the farmers market at the north end of Forsyth Park, if my crew gets moving!

Smith Brother’s Butcher Shop is closed apparently, and if I had read the latest email from our tour company, Savannah Taste Experience, I would have known our tour begins at East End Provisions and not the butcher shop. No worries, we just hightailed our butts north up Price St. for 12 blocks! Nothing better than a brisk walk to burn off the delicious breakfast we just had at the B&B. Move over breakfast, here comes lunch.

Savannah Taste Experience offers two tours, we did the “Famous and Secret East Side Food Tour” with Pamela. Pamela was a great guide, she was energetic and engaging, and her script was a good balance of food, history and personal experiences. The group was on the larger size, about sixteen, but it was a good group, and the food was great. If you’ve read any of my other posts, you would know Day and I are huge fans of walking tours, and our favorites are the food tours. Our tour with Pamala and Savannah Taste Experience was one I would recommend it to anyone.

Sunday:

It’s Sunday morning now, our last full day in Savannah. I’m downstairs again, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing.

Yesterday, the food tour was definitely the highlight of our day. Afterwards, we walked East Jones St, voted the most beautiful street in the country. That’s a bit of an overstatement I think. It was nice, but the prettiest in the whole country? There was a wedding going on inside the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist when we went by, so we weren’t able to see that.

That’s alright, I was feeling like it was about time for a nap, it was already 3 pm, we’ve been eating all day and have probably walked 6 or 7 miles by now (plus that terrible run from the butcher shop to our tour in the morning). So back to our B&B for coffee, chocolates and a rest. We did have our best meal thus far, last night at Cotton and Rye. I think J had the winner with fried chicken thighs, but my mussels were fantastic, as was everything else. Cotton and Rye had mixed reviews, so don’t take my word for it, do some asking around and your own research.

Back to the B&B and breakfast; the oven baked blueberry pancakes were fantastic this morning, I’m stuffed. A history tour (walking) with Bethany from Toursbylocals is just what’s needed now. Day and I use Toursbylocals quite a bit, and Bethany’s bio looked great, I’m really excited about this tour and can’t wait to get started.

Monday:

So now, it’s Monday morning. Yesterday was quite long, so I had no energy to write last night. We’ve said “goodbye” to K and J, and Day and I are on the plane. When I last wrote, we were about to meet Bethany, our guide from Toursbylocals.

The question between the four of us this morning in the airport was, how would we rate our tour with Bethany? There was a misunderstanding and some miscommunication on all three parties (us, Bethany the guide and Toursbylocals, the tour company).

There was a mix up with the tour itself. I thought lunch was included in the price of the tour, Bethany did not. We had lunch just the same, but paid. I showed Bethany our confirmation email that stated lunch was included, and within an hour after the tour ended, Toursbylocals had emailed me, apologized for the mix up, and refunded the appropriate amount of money. Boom! Beautiful, it’s a non issue.

Now, at the beginning of the tour, Bethany asked if we had other plans today, and if time was an issue for us, we all said no. Bethany took that to mean we were hers for the day, and what should have been a 4 hour tour, turned into a 6 hour tour. If you’ve ever been on a walking tour, 6 hours is a long time, and unfortunately instead of thinking this is the best tour ever, we were thinking, when is this going to end. This was clearly a miscommunication and more our fault than Bethany’s. Now, with all that being said, Bethany was freaking awesome! Bethany was one of our best tour guides ever!

Bethany was incredibly kind and friendly. She greeted all of us with big hugs, and I really got the feeling she was looking forward to the tour as much as we were. She was born and grew up in Savannah, knew everything about her city, and as a black women who went to school during the segregation/desegregation years, she had great stories. She was kind and friendly, funny as all hell, and, brilliant. She was, a great story teller, and a true Savannah treasure, and has nothing but love and hope for humanity. She also said let the Confederate statues stay, and let them serve as a reminder of our darkest days. I agree.

With the extended tour, there wasn’t much time left to do anything other than take a rest and then head out for dinner. Dinner was fine, an Italian restaurant they chose, which I don’t understand. We’re in Savannah, I was looking for something more southern, like the chicken and waffles J had the night before. But all is good, Savannah was great, our trip was a good weekend getaway, and seeing K and J was, and is always great.

My photos weren’t the greatest on this trip, off season, nothing in bloom, and every day was cloudy and dreary, not one spectacular shot.

Savannah is beautiful, not that you could tell from my photos, so if you haven’t been, put Savannah on your list. Find a great B&B, and be sure to call Stacy and have him pick you up at the airport. Go ghost hunting, don’t miss the prettiest street in America, take a food tour, and be sure to find Bethany on Toursbylocals.

Ingnorance is the root of prejudices, bigotry and racism. Travel and meeting people like Stacy and Bethany are the cure.

Explore. Dream. Discover. Travel, travel, travel!

Luv ya,
Curly