Life, Love, and Marathons: Anniversary Trip: Part 1

Todd and I wanted to do something special for our 1st anniversary and we love travelling so we decided to take a short trip down to Savannah, Georgia. It worked out that my cousin's wedding was in Cincinnati a couple days before our anniversary so we got up early on Sunday morning, had breakfast with my parents, and hit the road for the long drive.

*As with most of our trips, there will be picture overload in this post as well as the next one when recapping our trip. Sorry, but this is my way to document everything*

Day 1 (Sunday, August 19)

10.5 hr drive to Savannah
Stop at Sanders Museum Cafe
Arrive at our hotel, Avia
Dinner at Moon River Brewery & ice cream at Leopold's Ice Cream

We are those suckers who see a sign for some tourist trap on the side of the highway and will stop to see it. Luckily, the Sanders Museum & Cafe was only a mile or two off the highway exit in Corbin, KY and it was well worth the stop. So what was this place? None other than the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken!

Sanders Cafe

Todd looked but it wasn't in his passport of National Parks & Historic Sites

Hanging out with the Colonel

This was the museum part but literally to the left of this was the counter to order food like you would at a normal KFC

Todd & the Colonel

Glad we can check that off our bucket list!

We arrived at our hotel in Savannah around 8:00 PM, quickly checked in, and walked a couple blocks away to have dinner at Moon River Brewery. No trip is complete without a stop to the local brewery! We ended the night at Leopold's for an ice cream sundae.

Beer for Todd + ice cream for me = 1 happy couple

Our hotel from Ellis Square, Avia (owned by Hyatt but was being remodeled and rebranding to Andaz)

Another view

We were upgraded from a regular room to a king suite with balcony

A nice note from the hotel on our bed

The view of the 2nd floor pool and cabana area from our balcony

Beer flight at Moon River Brewery (which I found out later is one of the most haunted buildings in Savannah)

First taste of southern food with our fried green tomatoes

Old ice cream shop

Huge sundae hit the spot

Day 2 (Monday, August 20)

Walk around Savannah
Lunch at Mrs. Wilke's Dining Room
Tour of Juliette Gordon Low house
Carriage Tour of Savannah
Walk around the Savannah Riverfront
Anniversary dinner at The Olde Pink House

Monday was our first full day in Savannah so I got up early to hit the treadmill in the hotel fitness center before we began enjoying the sights.

I was actually pretty impressed with the fitness center

Bottled water & cold gym towels...yes please!

First time trying shrimp & grits at breakfast

The nice thing about the historic area of Savannah is that everything is within walking distance. Our hotel was close to the Riverfront and the farthest we ever had to walk to get anywhere was only a mile. I enjoyed the walking because of all the squares/parks throughout the city....and because I was eating so much delicious southern food it helped me work up an appetite for our next meal.

We had an early lunch at Mrs. Wilke's Dining Room. Mrs. Wilke owned a boarding house and the first level was the dining room where she made all kinds of southern dishes. Now, the boarding house is closed and the dining room is open to the public for lunch Monday-Friday from 11-2 so needless to say, you have to get there early to stand in line to wait for the place to open. We got in line around 10:15 AM and were in the first seating at 11:00 AM. There are a couple rooms with large round tables that seat 8-10 people so you end up sitting with people you don't know. The food is already on the table when you sit down and is served family style and let me tell you, it was delicious! I was able to try some food I'd never had before (fried okra, collard greens, etc) and had the best fried chicken.

Sign outside the house

Todd standing in line

I kid you not....this was our table with all 22 different dishes

After that feast, we continued to walk around and had some time before our carriage tour so we took a tour of Juliette Gordon Low's birthplace.

One of the squares located throughout the city

Birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts

Clearly, we love all things tourist (see above: Colonel Sanders)

One of the things I was most excited about for our trip was the carriage tour of the city. We had already walked around quite a bit of Savannah but it was nice to learn more about the famous houses and sites we were seeing by having a tour guide.

Our carriage ride

Todd & I

One of the prettiest (and most expensive) streets in Savannah, Jones Street

After our hour carriage ride, we walked over to the Riverfront to hit up some of the stores and see a different view of Savannah.

Stores & restaurants along the river

Thank god for a self timer and mini tripod

Todd's highlight of the trip were to-go cups of beer; Savannah is only 1 of 4 cities with no open container law so he took full advantage

We also had free drink coupons from our hotel so we enjoyed a cool drink out of the rain on the pool/cabana level

Our room was the 2nd balcony from the top

Since Monday was our anniversary, we exchanged presents and got dressed up for a nice dinner out. Since our present to each other was going on this trip, we set a budget of $10 for something smaller and related to "paper" since that's the gift you give for your first anniversary.

I got Todd three black & white photos from a race track, Powell Motor Speedway, that used to be where our current house exists and hosted Nascar races in the 1950s. He had mentioned in passing awhile ago wanting to go to the Powell Historical Society to find some photos so he could hang them up in his man cave (which will be in the basemen if we ever get it finished) so I did some internet researching, downloaded these photos, and ordered prints from Shutterfly. He got me a print of one of my favorite Pre quotes that I plan on framing.