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Published: April 1st 2007
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Ok, so I didn’t see any of the sights associated with the book but the title is just too good to pass up. I’ll have to read it again now that I’ve been to Savannah. Somewhere outside of Charleston, the MINI reaches 4,000 miles on the trip. Woohoo! No problems until we get to Savannah. We stay in a flat in a historic building on Lafayette Square—great location with beautiful mid-1800s homes and a church surrounding the square. The back of the inn has parking so I drive down the alley and pull into the parking space but the MINI gets stuck. There’s a dip in grade between the alley and the parking space and the MINI is too low to make it through. Cathy gets out of the car and notices a plastic thing on the ground that came off the car. Crap. Fortunately, C has MacGyver-like skills and notices a similar part elsewhere under the MINI and she snaps it back in. I park on the street instead. Turns out the plastic thingy is used when jacking up the car to change a tire. I’m just glad it wasn’t a mechanical problem and scraping the underside of the
Savannah, Georgia
Steamboats on the Savannah River MINI didn’t do damage.
After a long day of driving, we enter the flat and are greeted by my friend and colleague, Anthony, who found the flat on-line (Suites on Lafayette). He’s got a bottle of wine open. We immediately settle in on the rear balcony. After traveling for eleven days and staying in a different motel or hotel every night, I was happy to stay in one place for five days. It felt like sharing an apartment with friends and gave me a little taste of Southern living. And it was 1,800 s.f. which is almost twice the size of my house in Seattle. Very Jack, Chrissy, and Janet on “Three’s Company.” We were in Savannah to attend an architecture-related conference, but also had some free time to explore or to not do anything. Good time to rejuvenate. Savannah is a beautiful city and very walkable—great urban blocks and squares to explore and the Spanish moss on trees gives the city a certain mood. I’ve never been to a city with so many tour groups going through. We were staying on a square that was on the many tour routes—architectural tours, Midnight in the Garden of Good and
Savannah, Georgia
Carriage ride through the city Evil Tours, ghost tours, horse carriage tours, etc.
C and I go on an all-day conference tour which takes us to Beaufort, South Carolina and Daufuskie Island. Beaufort has some stately pre-Civil War homes and is a pleasant community. There is an old firehouse converted into a café and bakery where we took a break and shared a tiny rum bundt cake and a raspberry muffin. Bakeries are my weakness and the rum cake and muffin were some of the best I’ve ever had anywhere—I mean top three. Yum. Totally unexpected. Who knew? Daufuskie Island is a residential sea island between Savannah, GA and Hilton Head, SC. Until recently, the island was home to a sizeable Gullah population (descendants of freed slaves). The island can be reached only by boat. Once on the island, the group got on two old school buses—ours was the rainbow rastabus and the guide was a character. He dabbles in a lot of businesses and is one of those people who can tell stories all day and you’re not sure how much of it is made up.
Food in Savannah is good—lots to choose from but it seems like everyone is trying to
Savannah, Georgia
Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's old headquarters. get into Mrs. Wilkes (a family-style Southern food with a line out the door) or The Lady & Sons (Chef Paula Deen’s Southern comfort food place). It’s pretty much impossible to get into either one without an insane wait so we bag it. Three places I went to were Sapphire Grill (very good, more upscale place serving New American cuisine); Clary’s Café (ok, this was the diner in the movie version of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil); and Wall’s BBQ (a hole-in-the-wall restaurant facing an unimproved alley or lane as they call it). I was in search of great fried chicken and ribs. Didn’t find the fried chicken and the ribs at Wall’s were ok. I’m finding out there are regional differences in the art of bbq’ing ribs so it’s really up to individual preference. Benj of "Le Shaque" fame and Anthony joined Cathy and me for the rib dinner at Wall's.
Savannah was warm—mid-80s and a little humid but not bad at all compared to what it will be like later in the spring and summer. Dreadful. The city was having its highest pollen count on record. Am surprised my hay fever didn’t kick in.
Savannah, Georgia
Wall's BBQ dinner The MINI was covered in radioactive green color pollen. Heading out of Savannah, we look for a real carwash to give the MINI a bath. Of course, I have to find a carwash with the right kind of equipment before I send the MINI on through. Once again, the Red Menace was nice and shiny.
We leave Savannah after five days. Next stop: Birmingham, Alabama and then up to the Midwest.
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Susan
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STILL at the office
Wall's BBQ dinner....you are scaring me with those side dishes that look like big globs of cholesterol....and who else do we know who can tell stories as long as there's an audience, with possible minor (or major) embellishments....hmmmmm....eagerly awaiting your triumphant return!