Monday, August 24, 2009

Family Vacation Part I

Dear Jace',

Thank you for giving me the strength I needed to approach the blog again today. And thank you for the reminder that my blog is not "too good" for Office Wisdom. My blog and I do heartily apologize for our inconsiderate and insensitive treatment of your Office quotes. My blog and I know you spent many a long, long, long hour compiling the quotes and we sincerely appreciate your efforts. In an attempt to make you happy...AGAIN....we have included one of OUR favorites at the bottom of this post. We promise to never ignore you or your efforts again. (That's what he said...but I think he was lying!)

Love always....Patty and her blog.

Tonight I will begin to chronicle the summer vacation I took with my parents. Many thanks to Mom and Dad for extending the invitation to me. This vacation was EXACTLY what the doctor ordered for ALL OF US! It was a lovely trip....
However it must be said...as a general rule when my family travels together we put the Griswald's to shame. This family vacation was no different! There is only a slight difference...I do not have a brother, my father would have no clue if Christie Brinkley drove up next to us and we are Mexican-American. THAT'S IT!

Here we are...or rather there "they" are. The two heads of the Griswald family. We arrived in Jacksonville, Florida because that is where Southwest flies. From there we took a healthy road trip in this black mafia car my father rented! To his credit, it was comfortable and got some excellent gas mileage. (The fog on the camera is due to the ABSOLUTE SWAMP LIKE WEATHER in Jacksonville. My cold camera met the 100% humidity and fogged up the lens. I am not sure why I expected anything other than swamp like humidity...but I did. Silly girl!)
Below Mom is preparing for one of our flights....
Mom and Dad attempting to pack the mafia-mobile again....
From Jacksonville we drove to Savannah, Georgia. I had long wanted to visit Savannah. Well, ever since I saw Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil as I suspect is the case with many of Savannah's tourists. The trip was roughly two hours; most of which I spent creating a music playlist I thought would please the parents. Once we entered the city limits I was transfixed! I simply did not have enough eyes to take it all in.
We checked into our hotel The Mulberry Inn (Holiday Inn). This hotel is centrally located and perfectly charming! From our window we could see the Savannah river. The hotel has high tea at 4pm daily and a lovely Sunday brunch; both complete with entertainment. It is ideally situated in the Historic District. From here you can walk to a number of points of interest and it is incredibly close to many excellent restaurants. For it's perfect location and left over charm I highly recommend this hotel.

Unfortunately we ran into a good bit of rain. We actually got stuck in this restaurant...which was fine because it had a very unique vibe. (We never thought to take umbrellas with us because we no longer are familiar with the concept of rain.) This restaurant is called B. Matthew's and is located right along Bay Street. The FIRST thing we ordered was fried green tomatoes. I forgot to take a photo...but I did manage to take a picture with my completely normal, not southern, salad! However, it was damn good! I adore goat cheese and it adorned every salad I had on this trip. (And you all know that was many, many, many a salad!)
Below is a photo of Mom and Dad waiting for the cab to take us to dinner.
Above is a photo of Mom and I waiting for the cab to take us to dinner. Note the fantastic Stella & Dot jewelry set I am wearing!

Dinner was at Vic's on the River. Here is a photo of our second round of fried green tomatoes. (Yes...we DID order them every opportunity we had!) I had scallops and risotto and they dish was OUT OF THIS WORLD! If you are ever in Savannah...and everyone should be at some time in their lives....you MUST eat here!
Unfortunately we were only in Savannah for roughly 24 hours. That is a shame because there is so much to see. However I am certain I will get back there many, many, many more times! I loved it. Below is a photo of Mom and Dad outside one of the cemeteries.
Below are some photos I took at the cemetery. Morbid...I know. But JUST WAIT for the Charleston photos! Head stones and grave markers galore! I like this photo because I was able to capture bits of the moss that grows on all the trees. Makes me feel spooky!
I played with color and shading on the photo below. I like the way it turned out and am thinking of having this one framed.
Mom and Dad in the cemetery. Dad is frowny faced! It is very hard to capture a likeness of him a)looking at the camera, b)with his eyes open, c)smiling and d)appearing as if he is enjoying himself! God love ya, Daddy!
This entire brick wall was covered with these tablets that sit flush up against the wall. This was the best angle I could get without catching the other people hoping for a similar picture.
I convinced Mom and Dad to drive by Forsyth Park just before we left town. I HAD to have a photo of the fountain that Ms. Chablis is walking towards when she is talking about her "Kickin' Chicken" recipe. This fountain was created in 1858. It is located in Forsyth Park. The park extends from Gaston Street to Park Avenue along the Bull Street corridor.
Below are some close up photos of different parts of the fountain. The park is truly lovely. Again, if you are in Savannah this park is a MUST SEE.


From Savannah we moved onto Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Bet you all can't wait until the next post?

Just a final note....The Vela family had a total "Big Ben, Parliament, Big Ben, Parliament" moment. The only difference is now there is GPS and instead this annoying female voice just kept saying, "Recalculating. Recalculating. Recalculating," over and over again! Oh...technology!
It's good to be paranoid. People need to be more paranoid. Case in
point, JFK. If I had been JFK, I would've seen all three gunmen. I
would've pulled out my concealed Luger and fired first. Man in book
depository, boom! Grassy knoll, boom! Fake Jackie, boom! Then I'd shoot
myself, so I don't change history and create a paradox, boom! But right
at the last minute I twist out of the way of the bullet. Nice try,
history. Better luck next year. -- Dwight

Goodnight, friends. Family Vacation to be continued....

2 comments:

  1. Looks like a great time was had by all! My husband and I visited Savannah this summer on the way back from Tybee Island to Atlanta. It is a beautiful place and I look forward to visiting again next summer!
    Tracie

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  2. "Whenever I'm about to do something I think would an idiot do this and if they would I do not do that thing."

    ReplyDelete