Day 32: Savannah, GA

Our spot under these ancient oaks was perfect. There were tours that went by at night, but they stopped before it got too late, and we always use white noise anyway. I got up and went for a walk first thing (needed to use the bathroom back at the grocery store), while the boys woke up. We fixed breakfast, and then I ran to the Mercer house on the other side of the square to get our tickets for a tour.

Once we were all ready for the day, we walked through the park,

and went to the Mercer House to see this beautiful piece of architecture.

Then, we made our way to the riverfront, passing through as many of the squares as we could.

Love all the old trees and houses and parks.

And Spanish moss--can't get enough of it!

Savannah is such a great mix of history and water views.

We walked along the river for awhile,

stopped by the Savannah Candy Kitchen.

Then, we went to the Pirate House for lunch. We have always stopped here for a southern buffet lunch.

The history of this place is interesting--there are tunnels going down towards the river, they think perhaps used to shanghai people to work on the pirate ships.

It's the oldest structure in Georgia.

Besides visiting old favorites, we also explored some new spots. I'm so glad that we discovered the Olde Pink House which was built in 1789.

The bar in the basement is incredibly cozy!

Love the layers of this city. There are still old stairs and 

cobblestone streets down by the river.

We found a Christmas market as we made our way back to the van.

Stopped in a few shops to see the artwork and Christmas decor. Loved this dino Santa and his "reindeer".

More incredible architecture.

There are old houses everywhere you look.

And streets tunneled by old trees.

We were so glad to get to spend a day here. It's been a long time.

And then it was time to retrace our steps a little farther north. We didn't get to stop on the coast in SC on the way down and didn't want to miss another of our favorite cities.

It's hard to believe that we've been on the road for over a month now. In some ways, it feels shorter, and in others, it's been a lot. We've seen so much--history, friends, family, nature. And had some fun times, as well as some challenging ones as we navigate the small space and constant decision making and travel with all that entails. 

 

Day 31: Backtracking

While we were in Florida, we stayed at a KOA campground. It was the perfect homebase for spending time at Universal Studios--pretty close by, showers, laundry facilities, electrical hookups, and even a hot tub which we got to use the first night. It was our most expensive camping situation, but way cheaper than hotels in the area.

But it was time to say goodbye to Florida. We had rushed down there so we could make it to Univeral Studios midweek, but had some stops we wanted to make back up the coast.

Made it back to Georgia! I didn't get a picture, but we saw a bunch of pigs along the freeway, just at the edge of the forest as we drove. Not the wild animal we usually see.

And our stop for the --Savannah!

We had time to walk around a little after we made dinner.

The architecture here is just incredible. 

It's one of our favorite cities.

Stopped by the fountain at Forsyth Park.

And then ran to the grocery store on our way back to the van to grab a couple of things for breakfast. Peanut thought it was funny to find a car that is smaller than he is.

We found a spot right on Monterey Square in Savannah for the night. Only a couple blocks from a grocery store with a bathroom, quiet, and a beautiful location.

Lucky Beach Weekend

We'd been planning a trip to Hilton Head Island this last weekend for months. It had been four years since we'd been, even though we'd always planned for it to be an annual occurrence, but having a Peanut who screamed in the car, interfering family trips, and a last minute funeral has meant that for the last three years, it just hasn't happened.

 

And then, this year, the weather forecast leading up to the weekend was TERRIBLE. At one point on Wednesday, weather.com was predicting 80% chance of Thunderstorms all three days we were going to be there. I was having serious regrets that we'd bought our hotel through Priceline and couldn't make a change to our destination.

But we packed up Thursday and prayed the storms would blow over. The forecast was already looking better by the time we left and it ended up being better than we could have hoped for. No rain, no lightening, and temps in the 70's which made for nice enough beach weather. Granted, I grew up in northern California where a beach day in the 70's was a miracle and the water was always freezing. But it really was pleasant for both walking on the beach and splashing around in the water. We felt very lucky.

Love this reenactment of the kids from our first visit. They've grown a lot in 5 years.

We took a long walk the first morning and found a ton of these tiny shells. I love the spiral ones.

 

 

We spent the second day in Savannah. I can't decide if I like Savannah or Charleston better. They are both such beautiful old cities.

Of course, Savannah does have more Spanish Moss. It's everywhere (except in this picture of the Spanish Moss Inn, hahaha.)

I love how everywhere you turn, there are reminders of just how old this city is--crumbling old steps, cobblestone streets, original buildings and underground passageways.

Of course, a trip to Savannah requires a stop at the Pirate's House for lunch. They have a pretty decent southern lunch buffet, and even better atmosphere.

And the pirate costumes are always a hit.

Love us some pirates.

We also toured the Owens-Thomas House, which was beautiful.

No pictures allowed inside, but it was truly amazing.

And with that admission, we also were able to visit the Jepson Center, which had some really fun hands-on art exhibits for the kids, as well as a pretty amazing exhibit by Whitfield Lovell called Deep River. I love art that you can feel a part of and this really allowed for that.

The kids could have spent hours building

(and the hands-on was great after spending an hour in a house they weren't allowed to touch.)

Check out the pirate ship he came up with.

A stop in one of the many squares to watch the fountain.

Peanut was getting excited about the water. He wasn't brave enough to try running through it, though. Only the other two did that.

I cannot get enough of this cute little boy and his "observation" stance.

Another square. There are still 21 of the original 24 squares that this historic section of Savannah. They make it such a walkable city. A new park every couple blocks.

City Hall

The architecture in Savannah is so beautiful. So many different styles and time periods represented.

I'd live here. In fact, we picked out the square we want to live on if we ever move to Savannah. Bean and I kept imagining sitting out on one of the porches, writing our novels. Such an inspiring place.