March Forth on March 4th

On Tuesday, March 4th, Ladd and I “march forth” into Savannah. Before our march we enjoyed a Continental Breakfast in the “Old Bar” room our “17 Hundred 90 Inn”.
As we walked to get to the starting location of one of the trolley tours, Ladd and I quickly discovered how cold it was, especially for Savannah. The HIGH temperature for today was 45 degrees! (We realize, of course, when you consider the bitter cold  temperatures at home, that it’s all relative. But after the warm temperature yesterday in Savannah and the very warm temperatures in Panama City Beach, it seemed hard to take.) So we walked VERY quickly to the “Old Town Trolley Tours” for the tour of Savannah. The tour was an “on/off” tour with fifteen spots you could get off to explore and get back on when ready. Ladd and I stayed on the trolley tour through 13 stops for two reasons: we were enjoying all that we were able to see/learn and because it was a LITTLE bit warmer on the trolley than walking <g>. On the trolley tour we saw and learned about “City Market” (similar to a smaller version of “Quincy Market” in Boston), the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the Girl Scouts), The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the Hull Street location of the bench “Forrest Gump” (Tom Hanks) told his life story, the “Herb House” circa 1734 – oldest surviving house in Georgia which expanded to a seaman’s tavern and later became “The Pirates’ House”, and much more including awesome historical examples of Colonial and Victorian architecture.
We got off the trolley to explore Bay Street, but by the time we got to River Street we were freezing again. Time to get some lunch and warm up. Last night we saw the menu for a place on River Street that offered some great-sounding soups. We found the place called “Bernie’s Oyster House“ and decided to give it a try. Ladd had seafood chowder and a beer and I had crab bisque and an Irish coffee. Yum! Now full and defrosted, we set off again.
As we started walking we were surprised at how quickly we got cold again and decided to go back to my car and dig out our winter coats we were wearing when we left New York!  Then we were warm and “hit the road” again. We walked to “City Market” so I could cruise the shops. Then we walked to Ellis Square to visit Paula Deen’s store.
For our next excursion we went back to the Inn to get my car. We drove to “Tybee Island”: rated as one of the top ten city beaches in America. Although I was already 100% certain it was NOT beach weather, I did think we could walk to the end of the cool long pier there. We were about a third of the way out when the freezing winds really hit. Ladd and I looked at each other and in silent agreement turned around and headed back to land. In the warmth of the car we went to visit Fort Pulaski: a Civil War fort, now part of our National Park System.  First we watched a short video in the Visitors’ Center that gave a summary of the history of Fort Pulaski. It was built on marshy Cockspur Island to guard river approaches to Savannah. The design of the fort supposedly made it “invincible”. As with the “unsinkable” Titanic, this “invincibility” also proved to be not the case. During the Civil War Colonel Olmstead of the Confederate Forces surrendered Fort Pulaski to the Union Forces. It was nonetheless an impressive design and structure. Since we had arrived an hour before closing, Ladd and I had to rush on our walk through the fort, but we loved seeing the moat, draw bridges, hilly mounds surrounding the fort, different rooms, cells, stone spiral staircases that led us to the upper level with cannons, etc. We really wish we had more time to visit here.
For dinner we stayed at the restaurant in our “17 Hundred 90 Inn”. We enjoyed a great meal in a classy, historic setting. When we were served our complimentary cocktails, the waiter brought us an amazing “treat”: rolls topped with honey-butter. Normally Ladd and I are not big fans of rolls, but these were obviously homemade and TRULY melt-in-your-mouth delicious, especially with the honey-butter topping. BOTH of us asked for a second roll! (Good thing we did all that walking today…LOL!) For our entrees Ladd had shrimp and scallop scampi over linguine and I had Boursin Chicken stuffed with a garlic cheese and mashed potatoes. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! Members of the Clean Plate Club again! (Guess we’ll have to walk twice as far tomorrow – ha!)
Since we had such a fun time last night in the bar attached to our Inn, we decided to finish off our Savannah visit there. Last night we enjoyed a great conversation and laughs with a new friend, Chris. We were happy to see Chris there again tonight, so we picked up where we left off with our shared life stories and laughs!
Savannah is such a beautiful, clean, and interesting city! We hope to visit again some time!
 

Marilyn's March to the Sea

Monday morning we loaded up our car and checked out of our beautiful Panama City Beach condo. (We REALLY loaded up our car! It was packed “to the gills” since we had our things and Tommy’s and Donna’s things, too. But my trusty Prius was up to the task and handled it all!) We took Tommy and Donna to the airport for their flight back to Texas. After our good-byes to Tommy and Donna we started our drive to Savannah, Georgia. Good-bye, Florida! Thanks for an AWESOME week!
After driving seven hours we arrived in Savannah. We are staying at a beautifully renovated historical inn called “17 Hundred 90 Inn”. One of the rooms in the main inn is reputed to have a ghost, Annie, make appearances. We are not staying in that room, but I’m sure Annie knows I’m here, and that I’m friendly. I will let you know if she makes her presence known to me!
We quickly unpacked our things for our two days here and walked down to River Road by the Savannah River. River Road is full of great shops and restaurants. I found a FANTASTIC candy store named “Savannah’s Candy Kitchen”. Of course, I bought a couple of samples to enjoy later tonight! They also had homemade ice cream and you could also watch them making Pralines. We stopped at a restaurant/bar called “One-Eyed Lizzy’s”. Mondays are “Margarita Mondays” at “One-Eyed Lizzy’s”, so I’m sure you know what I ordered. Ladd had a beer and we munched on some GREAT, spicy Taco Dip with taco chips. One of the best things about our visit there was our fun waitress/bartender, Rhonda! Thanks for the conversation and laughs, Rhonda!
As we headed back to our room at “17 Hundred 90 Inn”, we decided to stop in at their bar. It brought to mind “Cheers”: full and welcoming. We met a couple at the bar and had a good conversation and many laughs with them and with the bartender.  It definitely didn’t take us long to feel “at home” in Savannah!  

Where did the week go?

Sunday, our last day in Panama City Beach, was slow and easy. The weather was BEAUTIFUL again with warmer temperatures and bright sun. After breakfast in our condo, I went down by the pool to read and soak up some more sun. I really got too hot sitting in the sun and swam in the pool to cool off.
Then Ladd came down and we walked on the beach. We laughed at both the antics of the “Spring Breakers” and of the cute terns. Upon return to our pool-side spots, I nagged Ladd to put on sunblock as he was starting to get red. It was definitely a day you could easily get burned!
When Ladd had had enough sunbathing, he headed back up to the condo, but I just did not want to leave. I read and relaxed, swam some more, repeat, repeat, repeat, <g>!  I figured I had better “bite the bullet” and head up to start laundry and packing up. As I walked in, Ladd said he wasn’t sure I was EVER coming in! (I wasn’t either!) With the fantastic weather we’ve had, I actually have a tan, which will probably be faded by the time we return to New York. Oh, well, I will have pictures to prove it…LOL!
Ladd cooked cheeseburgers and chicken sliders for all of us. Tommy, Donna, Ladd, and I chatted about our fantastic week in Panama City Beach. The week has gone too, too quickly, but we have savored and loved every single minute!

Invasion of the Spring Breakers

Saturday morning Florida greeted us with bright sunshine and warmer temperatures. Another chance for a beach/pool day…hooray!
We went grocery shopping again to restock for our last two days here. (It gets to be so expensive eating out.) We had eggs and bagels for breakfast.
As we were checking the temperature and pool/beach activity from our condo balcony, we discovered that the “Spring Break Attack” had begun! Some bikini-clad coeds decided to try the pool directly in front of our balcony…the UNHEATED one. One girl dipped her foot in the pool and said, “Whoa, it’s freezing!” Another braver girl plopped her float in the pool and jumped onto it. We could actually hear her scream through closed balcony doors, “It’s like the Arctic!” She made it out of the pool in Olympic-record time! Then some kind seniors walking by told them the next pool over was heated.
About two minutes after breakfast I was walking down to the pool and beach. I read my kindle by the pool for a while and then walked the beach by myself. There were many more people walking, sitting, and playing on the beach today. This included the influx of Spring Break college kids. As I walked I came upon a rental house on the beach that previously appeared empty. Well, today it could be called “Animal House”. There were about twenty-five loud, laughing coeds crowded on the porch. I thought I should go back to the girls at our condo and inform them of the location of “Animal House”, but figured they would be industrious enough to find the fun on their own…LOL!
As I was walking back toward the condo, Ladd came to join me. We walked some more in the other direction. Our entertainment was provided by some cute little terns. They took their quick little steps into the wet sand to get their food and then were chased back by the incoming waves. One particular tern was the bravest and went out further seemingly not minding getting “caught” by the waves. At the risk of sounding like a “looney tunes” I will tell you that I was talking to the terns, and this brave one let us get right next to him before moving away.
Donna and I were then reading by the pool when Ladd and Tommy joined us. Donna and I swam in the pool (the heated one…ha!) for a while. Shortly a line began forming at the little window in the “club house” building. Some of the resident seniors had just returned from a golf outing and were buying hot dogs for $2, wine for $2, beer for $1. Needless to say we are “quick learners” and joined the line for beer for Tommy and Ladd and a wine for me! (Sun, warm temperatures, beach, ocean, pool, a little wine: may I just stay here forever, please?!) Every day we’ve been here we have seen a plane towing a “Geico” advertising banner along the shoreline. Well, now that Spring Break has begun, a second advertising banner appeared. (First take a guess at what this second banner was advertising. Then take a look at the pictures to find out.) Then the banner for the seniors was being followed close behind by the banner for the college students! Too funny!
An old friend of Tommy’s, Steve, and his new wife, Justyna, who is from Poland, happened to be in Florida and came over to visit. While Tommy and Donna welcomed Steve and Justyna, Ladd and I went over to another building in our complex to explore the “Happy Hour” held there. When we first walked in there was only one woman there along with the bartender. We joked with the woman wondering if this was indeed the place for the “Happy Hour”. She was so nice and friendly and told us we WERE in the right place, and that attendance would pick up shortly. As we chatted with her and her husband more seniors (our age and older) came in. They were from all over the United States and Canada. We ended chatting with about eight couples who were all welcoming and fun. (An interesting fact we learned was that ALL the couples there were married for many, many years and ALL to their original spouses!)
We then had to return to the condo since Ladd was the chef for the dinner for us and Tommy’s guests.  After some spinach dip and cheese and crackers for appetizers, Ladd presented us with an awesome dish: pasta alfredo with chicken and garlic bread. Yum! Yum!! Yum!!! (Thanks, Chef Ladd.) We not only enjoyed our food, but also the GREAT conversations with Steve and Justyna. We shared our travel adventures with Steve and Justyna, and they shared theirs with us. I think we talked even more than we ate! (Steve and Justyna also shared their travel blog with us and vice versa.) Thanks for a fun visit, Steve and Justyna.
We said good-bye to Steve and Justyna, wished them safe travels, and fell into bed exhausted!  

Weather Gods Are Smiling

Our Friday could be described as a “meteorological gift”! The forecast had predicted a cloudy, rainy day. We woke up to some wind and cooler temperatures, but clear blue skies and beautiful sun! Gorgeous all day!
We decided to head out for breakfast. Ladd’s computer research again succeeded in finding us a great place: “Emmas Too”, “down the road apiece” in Panama City Beach. Tommy had eggs, sausage, homefries, and toast. Ladd had a cheesesteak with mushroom omelet, homefries, and biscuit. Donna and I both went for the bacon and cheese omelet, homefries, and biscuits. If I tell you that we were all “members of the clean-plate club” you will know how delicious it was. We knew it would hold us till dinner!
Then the “shopping Marilyn” got a little pushy and requested (insisted?) that our next stop be “Pier Park”, also in Panama City Beach. It is a newly developed, HUGE outdoor complex comprised of 80+ stores (some chains like “Old Navy”, “Target”, etc. and some little, local specialty shops), jewelry stores, shoe stores, toy stores, salons, 30+ restaurants, rides for kiddos, and more places being built, too. They were setting up for “Mardi Gras” parades and entertainment for Friday and Saturday nights, but since we came from New Orleans and the “real” Mardi Gras celebrations, I doubt if we will return for those. “Pier Park” is built by the shore with a pier so the husbands had a beautiful place to sit while the wives shopped…LOL! Anyone who knows me knows that I was “in 7th heaven” at “Pier Park”! We did NOT manage to visit ALL the shops, (good reason to go back-ha!), but Donna and I did manage to leave with purchases!
Upon return to the condo I headed straight to the beach to walk and enjoy the sun. Only the young had swimsuits on, but there were A LOT of walkers enjoying the beach with me. I walked for quite a way both directions from our condo and collected three special shells to bring home for my parents and me as “memory keepers.” At the end of my walk I just sat for a while on the beach watching the waves, the seagulls, the terns, the people, the advertising banners flying overhead, and the Air Force jets doing practice fly-overs. (I DID send positive thoughts and love to Dean upon seeing the A.F. jets since he was not able to join us at the condo due to a “dead” car. Why couldn’t you have one of those jets fly you here, Dean? LOL)  I totally understand, but miss you, Dean!) It always amazes me how being by the ocean brings such feelings of peace and relaxation…ahhh!
As I walked back up to the condo I saw quite a few people by the pool…the heated one. Never one to miss any vacation activity time, I quickly put on my bathing suit and joined them! I happened to be the only one in the pool when I went in, so I felt as if the pool was “mine”. My mom, who loves swimming and swims almost every day for exercise, will be proud of me because I took advantage of being alone in the pool and swam laps. (I actually LOVED it in the sun and being a solo-swimmer, Mom!) Donna came down to join me and read in the sun by the pool. I think both of blood-pressure rates went down there.
For dinner we headed just down the road about a mile or two to a little, informal restaurant that had received good reviews: “Hognose Snapper “.  We all shared two appetizers: spicy shrimp and a portabella mushroom prepared with sauce, cheese, and skinny onion ring pieces on top. Tommy had fried shrimp and fries for his entrée. Donna had steak, a baked/stuffed potato, and mixed vegetables. Ladd had grouper, mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables. I went with an Italian steak sandwich and a cup of Lobster Bisque. Oh my goodness, we will probably all go back home twenty pounds heavier!
We were all so full that we didn’t feel like doing much at night. We settled in with some balcony time and watched one of the DVDs from the condo collection (“Timeline”) before heading to bed. Any friends reading this next line are probably tired of my repetitiveness, but it’s true: another great day in Florida!