Weekend Getaway

our hotel

the view from our hotel

more view from our hotel

Tommy at Vinnie Van Go Gos

in line at Lady and Sons

Tybee Island

The first ocean water my toes have felt this year

The Crab Shack

The hunt for the perfect sunglasses is over.

Tommy and I left the kids with Nana and Papa (more about thier adventures in another post) - and headed to Savannah, Georgia for the weekend. I had just read in the AJC the week before that Savannah was voted Most Mannerly city (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2009-05-21-savannah-most-mannerly_N.htm) - it couldn't be more true.

Since I had never made a trip to Savannah where the river and the beer weren't green - it seemed like a great summer weekend get away.

Our trip was already off to a great start before we ever pulled out thanks to www.priceline.com. We landed an AWESOME hotel at more than 50% off the rack rate - yeah!!! We made reservations for the Savannah Mariott Riverfront:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/savrf-savannah-marriott-riverfront/

Never have I been more excited about checking the "0" in the "how many children" box before!

Mini van packed and ipod charged - we headed out on Friday morning. Ipods have truly changed our travel life - no more Tommy flipping through the radio stations a TRILLION times and no more loosing a good radio station in route.

We listened to a little Zac Brown Chicken Fried (http://www.cmt.com/videos/zac-brown-band/255924/chicken-fried-live.jhtml) as we passed cows in towns that we didn't know existed going down 15.

Or a little Mighty Mighty Bosstones (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7A8Mkg1qYQ) for those long streches of highway 16.

While I agreed to have no master game plan - and just wander spontaenously like vacations from the past........I did bring along a list of recommended restaruants - a girl has to eat!

We had pizza at Vinnie Van Go Gos (http://www.vinnievangogos.com/)- eccletic little hang out with lots of SCAD students - if you don't have enough worries about what your children might do to their bodies, or wear, or who they might date - then have lunch there! The pizza was awesome - reminded me of Rocky's in Athens where we ate many times in college.

Then we napped.

Friday night we hung out on River Street - first Friday of the month, so we were treated to fireworks. We wandered in and out of bars - got to love Savannah's open ness to open containers!

Saturday we wandered downtown and waited in line to eat at Lady and Sons - Paula Deen's restaruant. Actually - we waited in line for the opportunity to wait in line at dinner that evening to eat! You must arrive before 9:30 - get in line and hope you get a reservation for lunch/dinner later that day.

We had breakfast in a lovely cafe (http://www.expresscafeandbakery.com/)- so many choices! Then headed out to Tybee Island to wander around. Lunch at The Crab Shack (http://www.thecrabshack.com/)- a must for any Jimmy Buffett fan, or sea food fan, or ....anyone! The food was yummy - the atmosphere and people were awesome. Tommy was excited to feed the baby alligators.

Then we napped.

Saturday night we had dinner at Lady and Sons (http://theladyandsons.com/). We both had the buffet (but next time - I am definitely having the chicken pot pie - it looked so good!). I decided in my next life time, I am going to be the "ho cake girl" at Lady and Sons. Everyone was always excited to see ho cake girl - just when your little appetizer plate was empty, there she was with fresh hot ho cakes - as many as you wanted. YUMMY (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/hoecakes-recipe/index.html). Better yet - Tommy actually said he likes mine better than Paula Deen's recipe. Never has anyone liked anything I cook better than someone who cooks on TV - Im just saying.

Then we out on River Street again. I can assure you that there is no better people watching than that from River Street. There are a wide variety of street performers - from brazilian ju jit su fighters by day turned dancer at night to a band that will never perform at the Grand Ol' Opry....never.

Wet Willies is probably my favorite stop for drinks - gotta love those frozen girly drinks that come right out of the wall (http://www.wetwillies.com/bar.cfm?wizard=1&CFID=1747912&CFTOKEN=ded838877645c2f4-C66C1A2B-DD6A-7D9A-DA3AC7FE5948B65B).

Word of advice - no drinks called "call a cab" unless you are childfree for 48 hours.....just suggesting it might take a while to recover from that one.

Sunday morning we slept in and then meandered back home via the Locust Grove outlet malls.

I already miss the sweet tea - a sweet tea isn't just a beverage in Savannah - it's a work of art. A lot of ice, tea so sweet you can barely drink it, lemon is a must - and a beautiful sprig of mint on top - ............when can we go back?