Monday, February 25, 2013

Shivering in Savannah, Day 1

Ally had last Monday off from school for Presidents' Day, so we took advantage of the three-day weekend and ran away to Savannah, Georgia. Ally and I had quickly toured the city with my Dad just before we moved out to Washington, but this was Chris' first visit. The weather put a damper on our original plans to take a walking tour of the historic district and snap a bunch of pictures. It was too cold, rainy, and windy to do much outdoor wandering, but we made the best of it.

Our first stop was the Official Visitor's Center. They have a huge painted mural on the wall, a gift shop, and a funky bathroom with a fireplace in it. The girls danced around a bit and pretended to be an information booth while Chris planned our attack on the city.

Since it was lunchtime, we drove over to the Pirate's House for some grub. How often do you get to eat where real pirates once ate? The original part of the house was built in 1754, so it's kind of a historic place with funky rooms and old-timey sea decorations. And the food was pretty good, too.

Ahoy!
Pirate Girl

Against our better judgement, we decided to start our exploring along the river area. It was COLD, and places along the waterfront always tend to be COLDER. For the record, Savannah is no exception to that rule. While bundled up, we saw the Cotton Exchange building, the replacement griffin fountain (the original was taken out in a 1-vehicle car crash), George Washington's big guns (cannons), and lots of shops.


We walked along the streets paved with ballast stones from the shipping boats, sampled some pralines, and rode the trolley to get out of the rain. From our dry seats on the trolley we were able to see a WWII monument, an old tall ship, and the waving girl statue.
Old bricks and ballast stones.
Old building meets new conveniences?

At the Riverwalk Visitor's Center, we realized Savannah has DOT buses that run through the historic district for free. Since the rain was not stopping and the sun was not shining, we decided to take advantage of the ride. The bus was not conducive to picture-taking, but it was nice to rest and warm up a bit while still being able to see part of the city.
Yay for public transportation!
Old Exchange Bell
Statue Allyson
We finished our Saturday with dinner at the Sweet Tea Grill and swimming at the hotel's indoor heated pool.