Renee Stelle: Savannah, Georgia

We took a weekend trip to Savannah, Georgia to meet up with my sister Karen and her friend Nathan. It was a 4 1/2 hour drive. We arrived Saturday afternoon and checked into the hotel. We had gotten a deal online through a 3rd party that gave us $40 off the room, but it was for a smoking room only. We asked the receptionist if we could change to a non-smoking room but she said they were completely booked. I believed it, because a little while later there were 13 taxis lined up outside waiting for their fares. We saw some kids dressed up so it was either a wedding party or some other formal event.

I unpacked all the baby stuff (Pack 'N Play, toys, food and bottles) and settled into the room. Minutes later, I realized Alisa's bare knees and the tops of her shoes were black from crawling on the floor (I hadn't put her pants back on yet after changing her diaper). I was horrified! The dirt wiped off easily with a wet washcloth but I didn't want her to crawl around on that dirty floor once she was in her pajamas because they wouldn't wipe so clean. A little while later, the toilet wouldn't flush anymore so Craig called the front desk. The receptionist said it had broken earlier and they had done a quick fix until they could buy a new chain. She said a room did open up and since the quick fix no longer worked, we got to move to a non-smoking room that was larger and had a separate sitting area with a pullout couch bed and another TV. Wahoo--free upgrade! We packed everything up and then unpacked again in the new room, putting Alisa's bed in the separate area so we wouldn't disturb her. Alisa's knees did not become black from the carpet so I realized it was just soot from the smoking room--disgusting!

Alisa loved feeling the smooth hotel bedspread:

We ate dinner at a great Mexican place called Cilantro's that was near our hotel. Then we drove around downtown so Alisa could take a nap in the car and we could scout out the town. It was dark by then so we got to see what the town was like all lit up. We drove down River Street by all the shops and restaurants and then up and down some other streets, passing many of the 22 town squares. We didn't see Karen that night because her flight arrived after 9 PM and Nathan picked her up.

Bridge over Savannah River:

River Street:

River Street Market:

One of the 22 squares (most had fountains or statues in the center):

There are lots of cool houses like this in town:

Sunday morning we ate free breakfast at the hotel and it was delicious. I had a sausage biscuit and french toast (nice for a continental breakfast!). We met Karen at Nathan's RV, which was parked with the other circus vehicles at the Civic Center. From there we walked around town looking at the old houses and pretty squares. Nathan briefly joined us for lunch at The Mellow Mushroom (pizza place) and then we walked back to the Civic Center to see the circus. There was a mixup with our tickets at the Will Call booth so we called Karen's cell (she was then backstage with Nathan) and Nathan had to call some people to figure out what happened to the tickets he had set aside for us. By the time they found them, we had missed the preshow (where you can see some of the animals and entertainers up close) and Nathan was late to his position.

Alisa enjoyed watching the performers in their sparkly costumes at the circus. Craig had her in the baby carrier at first and she happily bounced up and down. She drank a bottle while watching the little daschunds and the elephant do tricks. She fell asleep during the last 20 minutes but woke up as we were walking out.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking and shopping on River Street. We ate an early dinner at Kevin Barry's Pub (Irish) where the Shepherd's Pie and Irish Beef Stew were excellent. Craig headed back to the hotel room to watch the Superbowl on the 42" plasma TV and the rest of us walked to a coffee house for dessert. Alisa took another nap in the stroller and woke up about 20 minutes before we left the coffee house. I had a very rich and super delicious piece of chocolate toffee mousse. I'm sure it had a ton of calories in it, but it was so good that I didn't care very much. It's okay to splurge every once in awhile. We made it back to the hotel room in time to watch the last quarter of the very exciting game.

Monday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel again, walked around town and then ate lunch at The Pirates House. Most of the 15 rooms were closed off due to renovations so what we saw was not very impressive. The food was good, but the buffet was overpriced. One of the staff was dressed up like a pirate and closely resembled (in dress and speech) Johnny Depp's character (Captain Jack Sparrow) in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He entered the room singing to Alisa because the lyrics of the song that was playing had something to do with a sweet child or girl (I can't remember the song right now). Alisa looked worried when she saw him and started to get upset so he left before she could escalate. We walked up and down River Street again and then Craig, Alisa and I headed home. Karen and Nathan drove to Tybee Island (about 25 minutes from downtown) for some camping. They were going to stay the rest of the week to explore the city more and do things, like a trolley tour.

Alisa loved riding on the cobblestone streets...she made noises so her voice would vibrate as she bounced along in the stroller. She also enjoyed the streets that had oyster shells in them because they were rough too.