Savannah, GA

When I opened the gift I truly had no idea, complete surprise. For the first time in 9 years Phil and I were going on a trip WITHOUT kids. Phil, my family and Nana Patti were able to work out the logistics so we could be gone for 4 glorious days.

Friday March 16th we were off to Savannah, GA. Over the years, Phil and I had been there for our 1st Wedding Anniversary which was FABULOUS. Last November on our way to Florida we stopped there over night with the kids and they loved it. But together Phil and I had never experienced St. Paddy's Day down there. I was VERY excited.

We arrived about 4pm Friday afternoon parked the car and the rest of our travelling would be on foot. We walked most of Bay Street every day. Saturday morning we were up very early walked to mass at the Cathedral, watched the parade, went to eat, watched more parade. One of the things we tried to do was support only local restaurants and not the big franchises. We found terrific food. I tried so many new foods in those four days than I did in 40 years.

We stopped by the Mercer House (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), the first Girl Scouts House in the US, St. John the Baptist Cathedral (twice: once for Mass and and the other for pictures), admired the simple beauty of the squares, walked River St multiple times, a dueling piano bar and Savannah's Vietnam Memorial was really cool. One afternoon we walked through the Colonial Park Cemetery. There was something about this cemetery that just draws you in. The last time someone was buried there was 1853.......Yes I said 1853. One of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence was buried there.

There was one thing I saw that took my breath away and just stopped me in my tracks. There was a family plot that had a headstone that was five feet by five feet. I had never seen a burial stone so big. If I remember correctly there were eleven names carved out on this GINORMOUS stone. That was a big family. After taking a closer read, Phil and I discovered they had 6 children buried in the plot. Not one of these children lived to their 3rd birthday. It was very sobering to think of the heartache that mother must have carried. I felt so fortunate to have such a beautiful family.

One afternoon we decide to take the car to Tybee Island. I heard about what a beautiful place it was but had never been. It would be fun to take the kids and stay there a few days. We also discovered a Civil War Fort. I never knew one was there. So we walked all of Fort Pulaski. This is a must see if you are ever in Savannah.

I posted several of my pictures on my pinterest page for viewing here's the link: http://pinterest.com/addler99/my-photographs/ I will be posting more. I think I took close to 300 pictures if not more.

This trip would have not been possible without so many of you. Thank you to Phil and my family for scheming to put it all together. Thank you to Patti for taking the time out of her schedule to fly in and take care of the kids (that was a gift in itself). Thank you to Ray and Linda (Kaitlynn's god-parents) for taking care of the kid logistics and getting Patti at the airport so Phil and I could get the heck out of dodge. Quite possibly this was the best birthday present ever.

Thank You.

TTFN~