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Savannah, GA
Poor, brave Mel.Four days have gone by since my last blog. I last left you with images of 'Girls Gone Wild' in Georgetown, DC. I am still not over the fact that I almost got into my first official "brawl" with a crazy black woman in a huge ass caddy, but alas, it is time to move on.
Melanie and I meandered down I-95 toward Savannah, GA. Melanie had never been and from what I remember there were lots of beautiful, stately homes, moss-lined streets, beautiful flowers, good food and oh my God, the pralines. We didn't have much time in Savannah so we chose to go to River Street. This is a popular street lined with restaurants (many seafood), shops (many touristy) and bars - lots of bars - woah. Across the street are several steamboats that offer dinner cruises. By the grace of God Mel and I found a great parking spot in a small parking lot that had an incline to heaven!
We were excited to get out of the car and explore the area. It was a beautiful, sunny day with a slight breeze. The air was thick with salt. Salt of all kinds. From the sea,
Savannah, GA
The Scariest bridge in the world? from sweat and from, peanuts. One of our first stops was a peanut shop. I thought I was in a wild dream when I saw a wall lined with every type peanut imaginable. There were samples everywhere. Spicy, Cajun, Roasted, Honey, etc., I tried them all. I had to have my fill because the small cans were $10.50 each! No thank you. The cans were cute though, but still. Free is even better! 😊 Plus I like my nuts, what can I say? I have nut envy????
Mel dragged me out of the store toward more touristy shops. I knew one store we had to stop in - The Praline Store. OH MY GOD. I guess Savannah is known for their pralines. I guess Georgia and the south in general is. I had a praline (or two) several years ago and forgot how delicious they are. The smell from the shop lured Mel and I in (not that we needing luring...lol). The bubbly, black lady in a white chef's cap and smile as wide as the cat in Alice in Wonderland asked if we wanted FREE samples. Of course we said yes. Poor Melanie. The glaze in her eyes
Savannah, GA
Wow is all I can say. was one I never saw before. A mix of disgust, infatuation and dare I say lust and longing. It was like angels started to sing around her as she took the first bite. Mel was officially welcomed to Southern food. I was still on my first bite when I saw Mel licking her lips. She eyed my praline but I swallowed it down and almost ended my life. That was it. Like a hound dog she sniffed her way around the shop and said, repeatedly, "Oh my God!" - and said she wanted another praline, that we would of course, split (they were huge). After my free sample and 1/2 of the one praline I bought I thought I was going to end up hospitalized because I was in severe sugar shock but Mel was eyeing everyone around her for their pralines. I could tell the girl wanted more. Knowing Melanie the way I do, I suggested we "get a move on it" and start looking at other shops. At this point we were very hungry for real food (the sugar shock made us lick our lips like the drunk people we saw sitting at outside tables eating crawfish and
Savannah, GA
Beautiful moss trees. drinking cold beer). We literally walked down the entire street as Mel read every menu to see if there was something to her liking. I knew nothing would really "get her attention" unless it read it big, bold letters - PRALINES. Eventually we found a cute restaurant called Crab Shack (I believe) and went upstairs to eat.
The food at Crab Shack was delicious, but unfortunately due to my praline intake I was feeling a wee-bit ill so I only had 1/2 of my Cajun chicken and boiled potatoes. Mel had a great salad with grilled chicken. Yes its true, southern food is AMAZING and yes, it will kill you! 😉
Mel feeling the wrath unleashed from her praline intake and southern dinner decided to have some fat-free yogurt, so we stopped. I couldn't have any although it sure looked good. Thinking our southern food intake was done, we passed another praline shop. Shit. Crap. Poop. IBS. The lady was even more bubbly than the last! Mel, as if in a trance, followed the aroma and call of the bubbly lady. "Free sample hooneeeeeey?" We both looked at each other and because the word free was there I
said sure but Mel was already chewing the lady's hand. I handed Mel my piece as well. Poor Mel. At this point she was feeling ill. Not puke ill, although somewhat I guess, just ill. Like she wanted to run from Savannah to Anchorage, Alaska and back. I explained to her that she is SKINNY and skinny girls can have days when they have several pralines. It's okay. The girl is 5'9 and a size 6. I mean, c'mon, right? I could eat her as an appetizer. Errr.....?? 😊 I am size 12 and 5'6 (shut up mom...lol).
Okay. So Georgia was done. Full on southern food we hopped (or plopped is the better word) in our car and drove south to Florida. When we arrived Jacksonville there was a storm moving out and a gorgeous sunset that lit the sky up in the most breathtaking shades of pink and blue. To our surprise there was a HUUUUUUUUUUUGE rainbow in front of us. It was surreal. There were two actually. The sky was pink and then this vividly colored rainbow was just ---- there. I frantically tried to take pictures but the pics just don't do it justice. You
had to be there. Ah, I love travel. Those rainbows will go down in my top 10 all time favorite weather scenarios.
We eventually arrived Orlando at 10pm and checked into the Holiday Inn Express near Universal Studios for one night before moving to Springhill Suites by Marriott the next day for 4 nights.
I was SO excited to be in Orlando. It just makes me happy. It is that simple. I wish I was seeing Orlando for the first time. There is nothing like having that experience of experiencing a new place for the first time. Think of your first time in Vegas? Your first time in Hawaii? Here! Anywhere! So exciting. Orlando is just fun. Theme parks, great restaurants, nightlife, shopping, sunshine, tourists (I love seeing people from other states/countries) , etc.,
When we woke up Monday we headed straight to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. It was overcast out, which was a good thing since it was HOT! I couldn't imagine how it would feel with the sun out. Mel was so cute. She had never been to either theme park so she was excited but VERY, VERY, VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERY nervous. Melanie hates rides.
Savannah, GA
River Street Well, not really. She just hates anything that moves, dips, twirls, drops or you sit in. But she was brave for me. She pushed her glasses up and went on her first official ride, Shrek-4D. This ride, geared towards kids, is an amazing attraction. You sit in a stadium and watch a 4D movie. The seats move a little and you get sprinkled with water and other special effects but it is NOT a motion simulator. Trust me. But poor Melanie had worked herself up into a tizzy that even if she tripped she would've needed a Dramamine! I didn't know what was more amusing - the ride or Mel. There were children everywhere. I think one woman gave birth on the ride as I saw an infant with 3D glasses on!? Everyone was laughing and having fun but my poor, sweet Melanie. She was scared shitless. She said over and over - "I am going to puke!" - half joking and half as serious as an F-5 tornado! She was making me so nervous I thought I would puke on her! But she made it and said it was cute but I knew that if THAT was bad -
Savannah, GA
Waiting for dinner - River Street. Mel would not being going on many rides..lol. We went on Twister and Mel liked that but freaked a bit at the end. We went on the Terminator 3-D ride and Mel freaked on that, however, she loved the E.T. Ride located in, a'hem, KIDDY LAND! LOL!!!! How cute is that? 😊 She also flipped over the Nickelodeon studio and Sponge Bob stuff. We walked the entiiiiiiiiiiiiire park and then went for lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. We split a delicious grilled chicken dinner and then walked to Islands of Adventure. We didn't go on any rides at Islands Of Adventure but we did walk the ENTIRE park. Did I mention we walked both parks? Yeah. Woah. By the time we got back to the boat that takes you to the Portofino (where we "parked" for $2.00 - ::wink wink:😊 we thought we had died! Our legs hurt us, but in that good way. We went for Chinese that night at a small hole-in-the-wall place that was delicious and then back to the hotel room for the night.
The next day we went to Sea World. Sea World is so much fun! Melanie was excited because it was educational
Savannah, GA
River Street too. I never stopped to read so many things in my life. Mel wanted to see (and apparently READ) everything in the entire park. Let me explain to ya'all. Sea World is a BIG park. Huge. Large. Not small. If anyone from Sea World is reading this you kind people need to get a sidewalk that moves, planes to air lift, rental roller skates, a magic transporter or anything because you are going to kill people! Now listen, I am not being mean here but from my observations I noticed that many of the people that go to Sea World are older and, um, a bit out of shape. Melanie is IN SHAPE and ATHLETIC and she was cursing in Latin by the end of the afternoon!!!! We saw the entire park (although the last 1/2 is a blur). The Sea Lions were great. The penguins. The dolphins. Yeah, yeah, yeah but what in the fuck of all things fucking are they thinking about getting from Side 1 to Side 2???? People GET SOME WATER TAXI's going! Hire a magician to twinkle us back to our hotel -- something, anything. Melanie and I were getting violent. Some poor black lady
Savannah, GA
Dinner at Crab Shack that worked at one of the gift shops toward the end of the park had alcohol on her breath because she probably can't take the pain of walking back to her car! What are you doing Sea World? What, I ask? Save the humans! Save the humans! Mel and I finally reached the parking lot and in a sweat-psycho-killer haze had a hard time trying to find our car that looked like every other fucking car. I hit the emergency red button and oops, there it is! Do this if you can't find your car! 😊 It works.
Sweaty, feeling criminal and hungry we decided to stop at Maggiano's Little Italy for some lunch. Maggiano's is located at The Pointe! Orlando on International Drive. The Pointe! Orlando has undergone a major renovation and is now home to not only Maggiano's but Tommy Bahamas Tropi-Grille, B.B. King's Blues Bar & Grille, Taverna Opa (Greek), The Capital Grille and more. Magianno's was BEYOND delicious. Better than Federal Hill / Providence, RI (where I am from). Yes, that good. We shared the gnocchi and had side salads. Wow. We had a gay, old man waiter that was such a sweetheart. He recognized
Savannah, GA
Mel having some yogurt. our accents right away. He was a lot of fun. He reminded me of Libbarochi (sp?) but looked and acted nothing like him. Um? He seemed like he would have a chandelier in his house, several cats, lots of pink and oriental decor. His hair was a whitish/stained blond color and one eye went to the right. Nice, nice guy.
After lunch we went back to the room to do some work and rest. Later that night we went to Downtown Disney to see the movie, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was a very cute comedy about a guy that gets dumped and shows his penis a lot. It takes place is Hawaii and Mel and I really enjoyed it. Well, except for the penis. We then got side salads at House of Blues and went back to the hotel.
Yesterday we woke up early and after our free breakfast at the hotel we headed to Fort DeSoto Beach, voted America's # 1 beach a few years ago. I was thinking this place had to be good! I mean Destin, FL is like paradise - the Caribbean and never won that award so this surely had to beat it,
Savannah, GA
River Street right? Wrong! Fort DeSoto is located near St. Petersburg, FL (also not impressive) and is about 2 hours from Orlando. Don't get me wrong the beach was VERY pretty and had a gorgeous sand bar but the clarity of the water and sand don't even come close to Destin. We had to walk along the sand bar in a puddle of small fish to get to the beach. We did enjoy it though. We didn't stay a loooooong time, but a nice amount of time. The sun was beating down and we were burning up. Neither of us wanted to go in the water since the purple and yellow flags were up (caution and sea critters). That is all Mel had to see. She READ about the stingrays that hide in the sand and prey on human flesh, well, that is what Mel thought. I am glad we went though. I had always wanted to visit this beach but Destin and the Panhandle section of Florida still have my heart as far as beaches go.
Later that night we went to Margaritaville. I had a delicious turkey club and Mel had a salad with grilled chicken. We were lucky
Savannah, GA
Beautiful Southern sky to be there in time to see the house band. What a talented group of guys. It was our 20th month anniversary (lol) so it was a nice way to celebrate it.
Today we went to gorgeous Blue Springs State park (about 45 min from Orlando). This is the second time Mel and I went here. It feels like, what I would assume, Costa Rica, Belize and sections of Puerto Rico would feel like. It is so lush and almost jungle-like. There are tons of things to do (swim, kayak, hike, sightseeing boat etc.) but my favorite is walking the path and taking photos. Mel was going to swim but after READING the Alligator signs (what is it with SIGNS on this trip?) she was waaaaaaaaaaaaay too nervous! Poor, poor Mel! LOL! She did try to go in though - but the water was too chilly.
We got semi lost in the Chinatown section of Orlando, went by Orange World in Kissimmee and bought 4 rotten oranges, I took a poo in a greasy Travelodge and rushed back to the hotel to finish. So ends another day on vacation! 😊
Tonight we are going to Taverna Opa,
a Greek restaurant with belly dancers. I also heard they throw stuff and break dishes....YES! I am beyond excited.
Until next time.
PS. The things humidity (not humility) does to the hair. Wow. That is all I am saying. Wow.
Happy Travels!
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