Anniversary Trip: Part 2

We had another busy day last Tuesday in Savannah since it was our last full day in the city.  We spent the morning walking around a bit more and after lunch, we drove to a couple historic sites and over to Tybee Island. 

Day 3 (Tuesday, August 21)

• Forsyth Park
• Forrest Gump's bench
• Cupcake Emporium
• Lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant: The Lady & Sons
• Wormsloe Historic Site
• Fort Pulaski
• Lighthouse on Tybee Island
• Napping/Lounging
• Dinner at The Distillery

We walked about a mile from our hotel to Forsyth Park; it's the largest city park in Historic Savannah and was created in 1840

Famous Forsyth Fountain

Close up of the fountain

After a quick stop at the liquor store so Todd could buy some Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, I wanted to go back to one of the city squares where part of Forrest Gump was filmed.  The scenes where Forrest sat on the bus bench while retelling his life stories were filmed in Chippewa Square; however, they had to remove the bench a few years ago because people were vandalizing it.

Scene from the movie

The bench was located right where the Chippewa Square sign and One Way sign are now

 

The Independent Presbyterian Church is next to the square and was seen at the beginning of the film when the feather is floating down to the bench

I've become such a sucker for cupcake bakeries that I try to stop at one on every trip we go on.  In Chicago, we went to Sprinkles and in November when we head to NYC, I want to go to Magnolia's Bakery.  In Savannah, we went to the Cupcake Emporium & it definitely didn't disappoint.

Cupcake Emporium

We made it back to our hotel shortly before noon to drop off Todd's booze purchase and walked a block over for our lunch reservations at The Lady & Sons, which is Paula Deen's restaurant.  We had heard the day before that the buffet here wasn't as good as the one we had at Mrs. Wilke's (apparently we started with the best) so we just ordered from the regular menu even though most people go for the buffet.

The Lady & Sons

Everyone starts with a hoecake (kinda like a greasy pancake) and a garlic cheddar biscuit

Todd got a crab cake sandwich and I got a chicken pot pie

It looks big but it really wasn't that big and was the perfect lunch size portion

I couldn't turn down Paula's famous gooey butter cake for dessert but it seriously tasted like pure sugar

Hey Y'all

 

After lunch, we picked up our car and drove over to Wormsloe Historic Site.  I didn't know much about it except there was a really pretty view of their drive with the live oaks and Spanish moss.  Once we found out how much we had to pay to go visit, we changed our minds.  I read online though that it's an old plantation that are mostly ruins now and they have a museum you can visit.  

 

The view I really came for (although this is technically an "illegal" picture because there was a sign that said you had to pay admission to drive down the road to the historic site and to just take pictures of the drive)

Our next stop was Fort Pulaski National Monument, which was used by the Confederates during the Civil War.  The Union army used the newly invented rifled cannons against the Confederates here,  damaging the structure of the fort and causing them to surrender.  This was also the place Todd was looking forward to the most because he likes forts (he is a guy) and he could get a stamp in his National Parks passport.  The only thing I got at Fort Pulaski were a lot of mosquito bites and fear that I might have contracted West Nile (as of now, I have not).

Moat around the fort

Inside the fort

Todd loved the drawbridge

We drove over to Tybee Island and saw the lighthouse

We drove back to our hotel and hung out...well actually, I took a nap while Todd watched Repo Games.  We were finally starting to feel hungry around 7:00 PM that night and walked over to The Distillery for dinner & drinks.  They had a ton of beers on tap so Todd was able to choose a couple he'd never had before.

Outside The Distillery

Todd  &I

Todd had an Elvis Sandwich: Peanut Butter, Banana, and Bacon

First slice of pecan pie I've ever had & it was delicious!

We walked around Savannah one last time before going back to the hotel and calling it a night.  We had a long day of driving ahead of us on Wednesday.

Day 4 (Wednesday, August 22)

• 10.5 hour drive back
• Lunch at Five Guys

I really don't have much to note about the drive home except we took a different way back since we were going to Columbus and we had left from Cincinnati so that was a nice change of scenery.  I drove a few hours so Todd didn't have to drive the entire way and both times I drove (going down and back), I somehow got stuck driving when there were torrential downpours and Todd didn't drive through any rain.

Oh, one more note about the drive, IT WAS REALLY LONG.  I don't enjoy car rides because of my short attention span. 

Stopped for lunch in North Carolina at Five Guys....seemed fitting to end our feast of the south at a greasy burger joint

Weekly Recap: August 20-26

Last week was a HUGE week for me as I hit 50 miles (first time since college!).  We were in Savannah Mon-Wed so those runs were all done on the treadmill.  I try to avoid the treadmill (which is funny because there are points where that's all I do exclusively) but sometimes it's easier if I'm unfamiliar with where I'm running (as was the case in Savannah) or if the weather is bad outside (typically only if it's raining or icy).

Next week will be another cutback week since I'll be in Akron for a couple nights for a wedding I'm in and won't be able to fit in a long run.  Then, I'll have two more big weeks before I start to taper for Akron.

5 weeks till Akron Marathon
10 weeks till NYC Marathon

Monday: 8 mi (8:00 pace)

Tuesday: 7 mi (8:12 pace w/ 2 mi @ 7:30)

Wednesday: 6 mi progression run (7:49 pace; 8:28-->7:16 pace)

Thursday: taught 1 hr Spin/TRX Combo class

Friday: 4 mi w/ Todd (8:27 pace)

Saturday: 21 mi (8:12 pace)

Sunday: 4 mi easy (8:48 pace)
taught 1 hr Spin/TRX Combo class

TOTAL: 50 mi (!!)

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.

 

We had reservations at The Olde Pink House...

and got the best seats in the house with a romantic candlelight dinner for 2 in the wine vault

One of the best things I've ever eaten: BLT salad with fried green tomatoes

Enjoying our anniversary

Compliments of the restaurant

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our trip early next week...