Savannah, Georgia

So Southern...

So charming...

So much fun :)!

Savannah has long been on my wish list of places to visit.  I don't know why it has taken me until now to get there...

We got up early to beat the traffic and hopefully find decent parking.  It wasn't necessary...the streets were pretty empty and parking was a breeze.  We left our car at the Savannah Visitor Center on MLK Jr. Blvd. with plans to catch the dot.  That worked out well until we were a few blocks from Forsyth Park and then traffic came to a complete stop.  Many of the roads were blocked for a race that was going on that morning, so our bus driver offered to let us off with directions on how to get to the park on foot.  No problem, Savannah is best seen by foot anyway :)...

We got to the park, hoping to have it halfway to ourselves since it was so early in the morning.  SO didn't happen!  That race that was rerouting all the traffic?  Well, it was a Color Run and the finish line was smack dab in the center of Forsyth Park.  Oy...

that, my friends, is a color cloud...

Oh well, it just added another layer to the experience :).  We dodged color splattered racers and made our way to the famous fountain.  After obliging several racers and taking photos of them with their cameras, I lined my bunch up for a photo of our own :)...

rainbow!

The park was very full and very beautiful.  We walked from one end of it to the other...

...and discovered a Farmers Market!  Yay!  Farmers Markets are (one of) my favorite :)...

Farmer Joe :)!

i wish :)

Next we decided to walk towards the part of town with all the wonderful shops.  Admiring the architecture along the way...

The Paris Market drew us in with the little peeks of fabulous we could see from the street.  Inside?  Wow...

Not too far away was The Lady and Sons restaurant.  We had reservations for lunch, so we headed on over to check in.  While we were waiting, we popped in the adjoining store for a look around...

Time to eat!  The food was really heavy, but oh so good.  I don't think a single one of us had seconds, though.  That giant glass of sweet tea was a meal in itself :)...

cornbread, cheddar biscuit, and the BEST sweet tea evah!

As tempting as it was to linger at our table and watch the world go by, we didn't.  It took a minute, but we managed to waddle ourselves back out the door ;), hehehe...

We certainly needed to walk now, so we continued on towards the river...

River Street runs right along the Savannah River.  There are shops, restaurants, sculptures, all kinds of things to see and do...

After we had our fill of exploring the city, we turned around and headed back towards the VC where our car was parked... 

jasmine...mmm :)

The building was open when we got there, so we checked out the museum and grabbed some drinks.  Wondering why we were so tired, we added it up and realized that we had walked a total of almost 7 miles.  That'll do for PE, dontcha think ;)?

St. Simons Island, Georgia

Still pretty much keeping to the coast, we left Florida behind and headed north into Georgia.  Our next stop of the day was on St. Simons Island...

As you all know, my kids really like to do Jr. Ranger programs.  We try to stop at all of the participating parks along our path because it is simply a lot of fun :) (and educational, but my kids don't have to know that ;)...).

So anyway, we went out to the island to check out Fort Frederica National Monument.  Boy were we pleasantly surprised :)!  This park had one of the most detailed (in a good way) Jr. Ranger programs we have ever seen.  The kids were given packs to wear that contained all sorts of goodies...hats, a spyglass, compass, Colonial era toy, etc.  The books themselves were awesome, too.  They are pop-up and lead the participants on a journey through the town of Frederica.  The kids had a lot of fun with it :)...

There has been extensive archeological exploration done around the 18th century town and the things that have been uncovered are amazing.  Each site has the foundation of the building exposed, some with brick work still intact.  There are also display cases containing artifacts from the site that were uncovered along with a story of the people that once lived and worked in that particular building...

What remains of the British fort at the water's edge...

After reading the book and following it's directions around the grounds, we headed back to the Visitor Center to check out the displays inside.  When we got there, the Ranger was waiting outside for us with badges and certificates for the kids because their power had gone out and the building had to be locked.  Oh well, that's ok.  She went over everything with the kids, awarded them their prizes, and we were back on the road.

A quick drive down to the end of the island to admire the St. Simons Lighthouse and then we were on our way to.....Savannah :)!