Savannah Saga (Part 1)

At long last, after much parleying, planning, and preparing, the highly anticipated Playgroup Moms' Getaway II arrived. This year's version would have us uniting in Savannah, coming from our various compass points in several different modes of transportation. To wit: the gang from Maryland booked a flight together; one pal from Wisconsin had her own airplane odyssey (including a bummer missed connection); the Atlantan opted to Greyhound over for the "sit back and relax" factor...and as for me, I chose to motor the 5+ hours from North Carolina because...well, in retrospect, I'm not totally sure why...but that's how just how I roll? Sure, I do love traveling, and driving doesn't bother me. But I'm gonna be honest, after about the 3-hour mark I was like "Ugh, are we there yet?" (Stop me if you've heard this before: Diet Pepsi saves the day...)

Eventually, of course, we all convened at our (gorgeous, incidentally) AirBnB rowhouse, at which point it hit us...we're all heeeeere! After two years, we were finally together again, and sooooo excited to see each other. To get the party started, we toasted with some chocolates that one of the thoughtful husbands had sent--so that was an appropriate and delicious beginning to our long weekend o'fun. Then the wheels started turning...specifically "Now that we're settled, where should we eat dinner?" (Yeah, we're nothing if not practical...and food-driven...)

After agreeing on a local establishment that sounded yummy--and seemed to be close by, according to the ever faithful Google Maps--we set out on foot to attempt to actually locate it. Which ended up being a comedy show in and of itself, as a small cohort of very intelligent, competent, and generally street savvy women literally wandered in circles, staring at the screen, wondering why the mystical eatery wasn't appearing to us. Seriously, it got so silly that we even stopped to ask a group of GIRL SCOUTS if they knew where it was. (They didn't, sadly...or just didn't want to assist us because we didn't have cash for cookies? Sigh...)

Of course, we did eventually stumble onto the correct block (mumble mumble...right around the corner from our accommodations),...but we'd forgotten to take into account the fact that it was Valentine's Day, meaning there was no room for our sizable band that evening. However, those treat-hawking young ladies had been stationed right in front of a Kroger's grocery store, so the backup plan quickly became "buy food and eat in". Done, and done!

And it worked out beautifully, since that allowed us to hang out, chat, and catch up all in the comfort of our own kitchen...right up until we took ourselves off to bed...because believe me, we had a BIG DAY of activities coming up, so we figured we'd need our rest.

In fact, the next morning--after partaking of some of our supermarket delicacies for breakfast--we hit the ground running...or, you know, "strolling", as our first order of entertainment was a walking tour of the downtown historical district. We meandered under the soaring canopy of trees lining the quaint streets, listening to the engaging guide tell stories about Savannah's past, including its involvement in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars--all of which was utterly fascinating. As a first-timer to this picturesque city, it seemed to me like every building was an architectural work of art, and every block boasted either its own grandiose church, or a charming park, complete with a significant statue commemorating one famous person or another.

Not to mention the edifices that were actually important, such as Juliet Gordon Low's house (founder of those non-helpful Girl Scouts...just kidding about that last part!) and General Sherman's headquarters (we northerners nodded politely and kept our mouths shut about that one!). It was my favorite kind of thing: both educational and amusing. I mean, how could you possibly miss with a leader who--upon spotting an apparently familiar local man, who wears a flowered jumpsuit and George Washington-type wig and offers to take selfies with tourists--dryly commented, "In Savannah, we don't hide crazy....we put it out on the porch and hand it a cocktail!" Priceless, I tell ya!

At the conclusion of our wonderful excursion, we moved on to the next endeavor...lunch...and preferably inside! You see, despite the weather forecast promising us a sunny 60*, the reality turned out to be much nippier than that...and quite blustery to boot. We were...honestly somewhat miffed; after all, we came to the SOUTH, for crying out loud, so what gives, Savannah? Anyway, suffice it to say that several of us...me included....had packed slightly more....optimistically than conditions warranted. (Yeah, yeah, I was freezing--are we surprised? But we shivered...and sucked it up...) Luckily we found a quirky little joint called Kayak Kafe where we enjoyed a tasty meal full of organic, freshly made goodness. But then we went and undid all our hard-earned toastiness by standing in a fairly extensive line for Leopold's, a beloved ice cream parlor we'd been told was a must-sample. (Also incredible hot cocoa, so I was able to re-warm. Win!)


Thus fortified (again) we continued our pedestrian spree by visiting the breathtakingly beautiful St. John's Cathedral and bustling, scenic Forsyth Park. Whew--that was a chock-full day of sightseeing, folks! We hoofed it back to our rental to regroup and spend a bit of downtime...before we had to eat again, of course. This time we'd managed to secure a reservation at the tiny Tulum Cantina, where we noshed on excellent Mexican fare to finish off our Saturday.

Happy-but-tired campers, we now find ourselves ready and yes, eager to repeat the sleep portion of our agenda...so we can get up and do some more cool stuff tomorrow. Whoo hoo! Or, good night, Savannah...zzzz