God's Word for Today

Friday, April 24, 2009

A stolen MeMe

Now that I am recovered from my travels and have finish the series that wouldn't end I move on. I know y'all are breathing a sigh of relief.

Several days ago Linda @ 2nd Cup did a meme that I really liked. (follow the link below if you did not read her original post)

So here's a stolen meme about blogging.

Trying to find its source of origin would have led me down a path of links that I'd still be on in 2014, so I'm just plain ol' stealing it.

I guess it is better to be a day (or a week) late and a dollar short than to have missed the party all together. So here goes!


1. What is your blog about?

When I began this blog 14 months ago I did it on a whim. I had no real purpose or direction in mind. I had a sweet friend at church who had a blog and it sounded fun so one day for no particular reason (very Forest Gump) other than “I wanted one” I set up my blogger account.

Over the course of the past 14 months I have written about many things and if I had to place a definition or theme for my blog I would simply say “ME”.

When you click over to this blog there are days when I will be sharing about my faith and how my amazing God works in my life. My opinion, God is awesome and when He shows up in an amazing way, which He always does, then I have to share!

There are times when I have to share a belly laugh with you or an embarrassing moment, my motto is if I'm going to make a fool of myself in public then I need to be willing to share it with the rest of the world. I am nothing if not honest in my deep desire to be as real a possible with all of y'all. If I have a break from reality and go postal on the poor server at the neighborhood Zaxby’s then you are going to hear about it.


2. What will you never write about?

I am not a huge fan of politics, I know who I voted for but I feel so bombarded by the political machine that when I come to my blog I want to get away for the tedious and ridiculous minutia that the political arena brings with it. So politics, not so much!

I am not huge fan of blogs that bash, except for when Oprah send me over the edge, then I feel  moral compulsion to set the records straight. So I hopeful try to keep it positive and refrain from undue negativity!

I also feel that there are some thing that just need to be kept private, if I can’t utter the words out loud in a conversation with a friend then it won’t be content for a blog post.

 

3. Have you ever considered quitting blogging?

I have moments when I feel either overwhelmed or at a complete loss. 

I either have too much to do and not enough time to do it and putting a post together is the last thing on my to-do-list. In those moments I feel the slightest pangs of “Is this the best use of my time…..” kind of feelings. 

There are other times when I am sitting at the keyboard just staring at the page in front of me and drawing a complete blank. During those times I feel like a vacant mannequin with nothing relevant to say and then I begin wondering why anyone would ever want to ready anything I have written.

Then I fix myself a latte’ and remember that thankfully the world does not revolve around me. I then remind myself again that the universe is safe from spinning off it axis  if I don’t have anything relevant to say and that blogging is supposed to be fun and not burdensome. Then I take another sip of my latte’ and just tell myself to lighten up and move on.


4. What would you do instead?

Good question?

That’s like asking “Which came first the chicken or the egg?” 

or 

“If a tree fall in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make any noise?”

Maybe lean how to throw pots, (y'all duck, bad joke I know!!) I’ve always wanted a potter’s wheel and a kiln. It always looks like so much fun!


5. What do you think blogging will be like in 5 years?

In five years I will be officially eligible for the senior citizen discount in many of the fine dinning establishments such as IHOP and Shoney’s and maybe even a few movie theaters so I may expand my blogging repertoire to the occasional restaurant or movie review. I may also consider weekly segments such as “What hurts this week?” as well as “Remember when I could remember….”


6. What is the most extraordinary thing that happened to you because of blogging?

I finally got over my fear of sharing what I write with the general public. For the longest time I had this ingrained notion that I could not call myself a writer because I have never felt like I was “smart”. I do not have a collage degree like many of my contemporaries. One day I plan to remedy that, just maybe when my girl child is finally out from under foot I may find myself back in the classroom, who knows……so with each post and the positive reinforcement I have received for my comments I feel hugely more confident in placing my thoughts and experiences down for the world to read.


7. Did you write a blog post or comment you later regretted?

I have written many posts that have been deeply personal to me. As I said before being open and honest about my life, warts and all, is critical.  At times I feel lead to post about things in my life that cause me great pain. I have never regretted (yet) opening up my heart and revealing the pain or the heartbreak that I have experienced. I have had moments of doubt, but most times I simple hit the publish button and place it in God’s capable hands.


8. Pet peeves?

I’m with Lid, I am not fan of music on a blog. I find it distributing and most times if a blog has music in the background I will almost immediatly hit my mute button on the ol’ laptop.

Secondly, black or dark backgrounds with white type, or very little type, or when the font color and the background color are very similar, hurts my eyes! It just makes me nuts!!!!!!

Third, huge long unending paragraphs that go on and on on on and on and on………………. enough all ready. If I can't scroll through your post in a few short strokes then I start having the TMTR mantra in my head, that is everyone’s post but mine of course...

 

End on a happy note:

10 things I love about Blogging:

            All of my faithful followers!

Anyone who stops and leaves a comment!

All y’all who love my accent (God love each and everyone one of y’all!)

Post that make me laugh out loud!

Post that make my cry!

A good meme. (like this one!)

Contest, Carnivals, Give-A-Ways and Mr. Linkey!!!!!

Finding a great new bloggy friend from someplace far away!

Feeling like a rocket scientist when I figure out some new bloggy trick!!!! I am still amazed that I was able to configure a third column on my blog…..

Blog language: Blogosphere, vlog, DD, DH, MIL and expressions like Whoo to the Hooo!

 

Blessings

Robin


Feel free to steal away... this was fun!!!!!!


Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Road Trip - Part Two... Trapped in the kitchen, A fire in the oven and Easter Morning at the waters edge...

Well you were witnesses to my arrival on Thursday evening in Florida.


but here is what you did not see.


My friend and I spent a few minutes making plans for the next day. There was shopping to do and lots of food prep to get ready for the wedding. I rested for a bit after my long car ride and then sent myself off to bed.



The next morning we headed off to the ever faithful Wal-Mart for the necessary food stuffs.



We returned home with our car packed to the brim. I spent the next few hours washing, chopping, peeling and assembling the necessary veggie trays, fruit trays and other array of wedding foods for the next day.



The mother of the groom was to arrive in a few hours to make preparations for the rehearsal dinner and since I was already ensconced in the kitchen I pitched in a helping hand. Between the two of us we made short work of the dinner. Aside from a small fire in the oven which burned itself out in short order, it I'm sure will be one of the more humorous stories of the rehearsal dinner for years to come.


"Y'all remember when the oven caught fire at our rehearsal dinner???? what a hoot!!!!"



Anyway after being on my feet for nearly the entire day, (there may have been a glass or two of pinot griggio involved as well) I gratefully fell into bed and promptly went into a coma, my feet were throbbing and I was mentally going over all that needed to be done the next day.



Early Saturday I got into full blown wedding mode. The house was buzzing with young people. Bridesmaids and groomsmen were swarming everywhere and every idle hand was put to work either decorating or moving rented table and chairs or running the last minute errands.



I started early assembling the last minute fruit trays as well as other things that were to be served that could not be prepared the day before.


Well the wedding was a huge success. The weather was beautiful but the bride out shined our surroundings. The day was simply perfect.


I did take a moment from my preparations to enjoy the wedding ceremony, I mean I did drive all that way and I felt invested in this child as if she were one of my own.



I will admit to brushing away a few tears as I watched this young woman walk down the beach on the arm of her father.



It was sweet, and perfectly fitting this young couple and their youthful casualness. The four family dogs were even in attendance in there very own wedding attire.



Immediately after they were officially pronounce husband and wife I dashed straight away to the reception to remove the Saran Wrap and place the last of my platters in place and put the final touches on the all the various trays.



Aside from the hordes of locust young people that descended upon the buffet things went spectacularly. You would have thought that the hordes of locust young people were refugees from Ethiopia as there was barely a scape of food left over when it was all said and done.



At then end of the day I again fell into bed exhausted but happy that the day had gone well!



Having arrived late Thursday evening and then spending the next 48 hours chained to the kitchen working I would love to say that I was able to spend some time on the beach, but sadly I only got a precious few moments on Sunday morning.



What a way to celebrate Easter!



So with no further adu' I gladly submit the final segment of my Spring Break Blog Mini Series for your viewing pleasure, well maybe not pleasure exactly but it will at least give you something to do for the next few minutes.








Blessings

Robin

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Road Trip - Part One...On the road again...

Well I returned from Savannah and got to unpack temporarily, do some laundry and then repack and hit the road again.

I would love to say that this second trip was going to be for rest and relaxation, however I am sure that after everything is said and done I will return home with sore feet and a kink in my back.


One of my oldest and dearest friends daughters is getting married.


She and I were expecting at the very same time. Me with my first and her with her second. My son was born and then eight days later her daughter was born. Although our children are not BFF's they have been part of each other lives since they day they were born.


The BFF's DD wanted to get married at the family beach house in Cape San Blas Florida.


The wedding was going to be on the beach and the reception to follow at a larger house just down the street from my BFF's parents home.


Now let me just state up front that what I am about to share with you is public and common knowledge.

My very dear friend has quite possible walked through her kitchen, even opened her refrigerator to retrieve a diet coke, however the operations of the various appliances such as the oven or the food processor or or to even cook a meal, well sadly this talent has missed the mark where she is concerned.


I think that in the entire 30 years of our friendship I have no memory of her ever cooking a meal, making a sandwich, yes, pouring a bowl of cereal you bet, but beyond that she has no desire what so ever to make her mark in the culinary world.

So off I went to handle all the details of getting every one fed at the wedding.

I had a long car ride in front of me and no one to talk to so I had a stroke of what could be considered sheer genius and grabbed my camera and began to document my road trip.


So here it is...










Stay tuned for Road Trip - Part Two







My Journey Home







and maybe a few wedding details as well.







Blessings



Robin

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Savannah - Part Four - We go exploring...A Cemetery, A Fort, A Lighthouse and some grilled oysters

After having spent the entire previous day exploring Savannah on foot, we decided to give our tired old puppies a rest. We headed to the car and spent the next day making the rounds of some of the surrounding area.






We made a trip to Bonaventure Cemetery, also prominently featured in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"







This short drive proved to be well worth the time invested. As soon as we stepped foot in this ancient (by United States definition of ancient) place you could feel the presence of peace and serenity.


The trees that line the drives in this cemetery are, in some places, 250 years old and have been noted on the Georgia Landmark and Historic Tree Registry.










The statues were amazing!


As you passed the family plots and saw the markers it was only natural to wonder about the lives of those who had been laid to rest there. I thought of what kind of life they had lived and what brought about their death. The occasional marker of an infant or a very young child would pull at your heart and you would feel the pain of grief for the loss of one so young. I found myself talking in hushed tones and just letting the peaceful serenity wash over me.

One of the more fascinating things about this cemetery is that it was divided up into two sections.

The Jewish section was on the right and the Christian or Protestant section on the left.

On some of the markers we saw small piles of stones either on top of the marker or in various places either at the foot of the marker or in some instances placed seemingly randomly in different locations.

I have always wondered about this practice. (click this link to find out about this Jewish practice)






We left Bonaventure and drove to Tybee Island.





Not just "drift wood" but a whole "drift tree"



We spend a pleasant few minutes on the beach.

Just over a minute of video, a little taste of the beach!



We then drove to Old Fort Jackson

Not much to look at, but it was a pivotal piece of Georgia history and it is the oldest standing brick structure in Georgia. I took several more pictures there but I will spare you the riveting details of which regiment built what after which pivotal battle ....bla bla bla bla bla.


I can sense y'alls astonishment at my historical expertise (NOT) bla bla bla bla that's what I hear in my head during those informational videos that you stand and watch at those historical exhibits.

Which we did ...bla bla bla.....

Snooooozzzzzeeeeeeeee!

Can y'all tell I'm a real fan of history!!!!



Moving on to the real excitement of the day.

After another long day of site seeing we had made plans to stop at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House. If ya don't know Uncle Bubba is Paua Deen's baby brother.
They have just opened a new restaurant.

Uncle Bubba's Oyster House.



We actually got to see Uncle Bubba live and in person behind the bar.

Sadly we did not have the clout to wrangle a reservation at Uncle Bubba's, so throwing caution to the wind we showed up at 5:30 only to be told we had an hour and a half wait......now under normal circumstances the hubs and I wait for no meal, let alone an hour and a half, however, we had received a coupon from the Lady & Son's for a buy one entree get one free so we were dug in.


To pass the time we bellied up to the bar for our wait. The hubs had a glass of wine and I sampled a "Summertini" it was OK, not $8 good, but live and learn.

Since we were starving, we ordered a dozen of there house specialty: The Famous Grilled Oysters




If you like oysters then this will send you over the edge. A generous helping of melted butter, melted Parmesan cheese served fresh from the grill over top sizzling oysters on the half shell, along with two pieces of garlic bread for soaking up all the left over buttery garlicky oyster juice.

Sounds Good and it was!

Having staved off our hunger pangs "temporarily" we continued to wait for our name to be called.

Finally after nearly one hour and 45 minutes, we were ushered to our table.

The hubs ordered what they call "The Full Bubba".

A sampling of everything from there seafood menu served up perfectly fried with a side of rice and a veggie.


On the advice of the waitress I opted for the Crab Stuffed Flounder and also helped myself to a few of my husbands fried delicacies. The scallops were fantastic, and I am not a huge fan of seafood, but everything we had was wonderful.


My only criticism was I did not think that the decor (diner style) and the atmosphere was in line with their prices. When all was said and done we spent way to much for our meal. We spent as much at the bar as we would have normally spent for the two of us to have dinner back home, but we are total cheapskates, so in my humble opinion it was a bit pricey.

Oh and we got the Key Lime Pie and Pecan Pie to go and enjoyed that back at the hotel.

Between the bar and the dinner we spent almost $85.00 and that is with an entree for free....YIKES!!!!!!!!!!

And last but not least, the picture of the trip!

This was by far the most beautiful picture I took while we were in Savannah.

I wish we had been able to have gone exploring this historic site but sadly on they day we were there it was closed to the public. I was able to wrangle a picture by a few well placed camera angles through the locked wrought iron gates.

Can't y'all just see the southern belle's in their hoop skirts and the horse and buggies making there way down this shaded driveway.

Tomorrow I plan to post the 300 plus additional pictures I took while I was there with an in-depth description on each one.
NOT!

For those of you who stuck it out till then end of my Savannah dissertation I humbly thank you and beg your indulgence for my lengthiness of this series.
I have probably lost all of my followers.

It was simply so beautiful and so much fun I just had to share!

Blessings
Robin

Friday, April 17, 2009

Savannah - Part Three - Deep Fried Ecstasy

I confess, I'm a foodie! I love all things Food Network and I especially love Paula Deen. When we made plans to come to Savannah I was salivating at the opportunity to dine at this southern landmark, this mecca of deep fried ecstasy.


As I said in my earlier post, my dear friends daughter was able to wrangle us the much prised reservations. And after a long day of walking the city we headed back to our hotel for a bit of a nap before dinner. We needed to be fortified for the experience of entering the inner sanctum of all things southern.


After a very short walk, it was raining, but just a light spring shower and we had a large umbrella so we arrived dry and cool after our short walk from our hotel. We found ourselves standing in front of the sanctuary of fried chicken and black eyed peas.


My mouth is watering just thinking about the food.


The Lady & Son's




Earlier in the day we stopped into the Paula Deen Store (right next door to the restaurant) to do a bit of shopping. I picked up two cookbooks. One is the traditional "Lady & Son's" Cookbook the second one is more of a journal type thing. The DD and I look forward to filing it with our own recipes as well as shared memories of our time in the kitchen.

This for me is one of the things that I like about Paula, she never fails to share about her expediences as she cooked with her grandmother Paul in the kitchen and I love watching her get side by side with her boys as well.




and look y'all, all the cookbooks in the store were personally autographed by her!


But I digress.......

Back to dinner.

At 4:30 on the dot our names were called out in a loud voice. My excitement grew, I was actually at "Paula's" notice how I refer to the restaurant by her first name, this infers that there is a personal one on one relationship, like I really know her. But you see when you watch her on television you really get the sense that you are pulled up to her kitchen counter just hanging out while she cooks.

I keep getting distracted...my exuberance, excitement, anticipation....I was just "eat up with it"

Where was I, oh yea were in the elevator....

The elevator doors open and the aromas filled the air. The atmosphere was one of friendly homeyness. The hostess ushered us to our table and we took our seats.

The decor was simple and inviting. Our table was set with a lovely plain white doily and silverware.

As soon as we sat down a young girl promptly came up to the table and began out meal with a hot off the griddle hoe cake, we were given the instructions that there was a maple syrup dressing available right on the table if we wished.

Not wanting to miss out on one moment of the experience I grabbed the syrup and poured a generous helping over my hot hoe cake. Now I am certain that this maple syrup is not the low calorie artificially flavored syrup that resides in my pantry.

I took one bite and it was wonderful.



This same sweet smiling faced young woman then came by with a huge basket filled to overflowing with hot fresh from the oven cheese biscuit. She placed one on my plate as well. I took a tiny bit, not wanting to spoil my appetite for the main event. It was light and fluffy with just the right amount of cheese as well as buttery and melt in your mouth. Oh my stars, y'all it was too good!



On Sunday's the Lady and Son's only serves a buffet, so after savoring our hoe cakes and cheese biscuits we made our way up to the buffet.



Where to start????

Crispy slightly spicy fried chicken perfectly cooked, tender BBQ with an amazing sauce with an even bigger kick to it, baked chicken (which I passed on, I mean come on people when there is friend chicken in the house who in the right mind would opt for baked chicken....not me).
There were black eyed peas, butter beans with ham, the creamiest mashed potatoes I have ever put in my mouth, gravy, rice, corn bread stuffing, collard greens, candies yams, mac & cheese. Now let me say a word about the mac & cheese. It was super cheese and fluffy all at the same time. Oh and I forgot the creamed corn and the green beans and new potatoes.

And yes I took a picture of my dinner!


The meal we had was one for the books. I have to tell ya that there was not one thing on the buffet that was a disappointment. I am not a real fan of collard greens but I vowed to at least sample a tiny bite of most everything. The greens were really good. The only thing I did not try were the candies yams. Off to the side of the buffet was a small and rarely visited salad bar. In my wildest imagination can I ever picture myself visiting "Paula's" for a salad. That just isn't happening.

Our servers name was Nic. He was a personable young man with a friendly conversational way. I asked him how many times a day he got his picture taken, and he just smiled and said that it as "a lot".



After we had both visited the buffet....twice...our wonderful Nic brought out the tray of deserts.

Our selection are fresh from the oven Peach Cobbler, Paula's Famous Gooey Butter Cake and Banana Pudding with real Whipped Cream.

Maybe it was because we are exceptional people (LOL), maybe it was because he liked the way we looked, maybe it was because he wanted a big tip but rather than force us to choose between all this deliciousness, he simply placed one dish of each on the table and told us to enjoy the third option on him. Maybe Nic was an angel sent from heaven to guard my sanity as having to choose between banana pudding and peach cobble might just have sent me over the edge after the free range we had experienced at the buffet.



Gooey Butter Cake....very good
Peach Cobbler.... super yummy
Banana Pudding....over the top, too good, to die for, slap your momma good!

I thought it probably was not appropriate to pick up the little bowls and lick them out, but I thought about it!



Y'all, I have to tell ya the meal was wonderful. Even if we had had to wait in line, and I am truly thankful that we didn't, but even if we had to wait in line it would have been worth it.

Amazingly after all that wonderful food we were actually able to stand up from the table to have our picture taken with our wonderful sever Nic.

Isn't he handsome, Nick I mean, the hubs is cute and all but Nic won my heart when he averted a possible desert crisis.


And yes we left him a big tip!

Well that it our evening at Paula's.

It really was as Paula would say "Best Dishes"

Best meal I have had in forever.....

If you are ever in Savannah and you have an opportunity to stop in on a Sunday afternoon don't miss it, and go early because they close at 5:00 PM on Sundays.

Have Mercy it was GOOOD!

Blessings
Robin

Stay tuned for ......Savannah - Part Four coming to a blogroll near you.

Just a hint of what is to come. There is Bonaventure Cemetery, Tybee Island and a bit of Georgia History and quite possible the best picture I took during out entire stay.

(edit - I forgot to mention my review of Uncle Bubba's Oyster House)

OK
Now I'm Done

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Savannah - Part Two - Were walking...were walking...

After a good nights rest we helped ourselves to the wonderful Sunday Breakfast Buffet. It is a real treat to have an omelet chef at the ready. I had mine with spinach, fresh tomatoes, onions and cheese, yum!






With our tummies full we set to explore Savannah.



The minute we stepped out of the hotel it was a constant feast for the eyes.






Around every corner were....

Beautiful homes




Carriage rides...


Picturesque squares, 22 of them to be exact, each one we strolled through was unique and you could just envision yourself whiling away a spring morning with your coffee and paper under the dappled shade of the life oaks.





With only a few days we did not get to visit all 22 of these wonderful little parks but we saw almost half of them.



Each park had a name and most times some sort of historical statue or plaque telling you about the famous person represented in the statue or marker. Some of the squares even were the final resting place of some of the more prominent Savannah citizens back in the day.





















This next place was by far one of my favorites.






Forsyth Park.






I had seen this fountain many times on television, however standing in front of it was amazing. The tree lined view of it form a distance was stunning. As we approached the central focus of this beautiful park we noticed that there was a wedding be set up.








A wedding in Savannah







Can you imagine having this as the backdrop for your wedding!













or walking down this rose petal lined path to meet the man you love??







Sadly, we did not have time to linger to actually see the wedding, but it was nice to imagine it.



The live oaks were amazing and covered with the elegantly draped Spanish moss. There is something about strolling beneath the tree lined streets with the Spanish moss swaying over your head that transports you back to simpler times. It set the tone of days gone by. Visions of southern bells strolling down the avenues under there parasols (I can't seem to stop using the word strolling) or dapper young gentlemen in morning coats discussing the purchase of a new thoroughbred, or the gray haired patriarch's of the town having their afternoon tea on the shade of there front porch.















Sadly we had missed the peak of the blooming of the azaleas, but there were a few left tucked her and there.





The iron work on some of the houses was amazing.







We took another stroll to City Market. This is a small avenue lined with open air cafe's and storefronts.










I am still enjoying the divinity and the pralines I bought at The Savannah's Candy Kitchen.













I am not sure what these were but anything covered with chocolate and chopped pecans is a winner in my book.
















Look how beautiful these candy apples were. They are almost to pretty to eat.













We saw Mercer Williams home. If you saw the movie or read the book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" you will know who this is. I must admit the quirky Savannah you see in the move is a bit exaggerated from the Savannah we experienced.

We did see the occasional SCAD student with bright red hair or the odd looking homeless person but sadly we failed to see anyone walking an invisible dogs or the herds of hat wearing socialites or the cross dressing working girls. If you saw the move you will know what I am talking about.

The Mercer Williams Home





And of course you can't go to Savannah with out at least walking by the birth place of Juliet Gordon Low. We did however run into several troops of eager girl scouts in rout to this historic girl scout destination.



The birthplace of Juliet Gordon Lowe



From what I have heard no trip to Savannah is complete with out a "stroll" down along the river. Well we did just that. We walked along the cobble stones and took in the sights from the river, all the paddle boats getting ready for there evening gambling cruises, the smell of pralines being cooked was heavy in the air, the savory aromas of all the various restaurants washed over us a we walked past. The different shops, if it was Irish they sold it, if it was seafood you could get it, if it was sweet you didn't have to go far to find it!




All in all a jam packed first day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


With all this sight seeing and walking around we worked up quite an appetite.




Which of course we had been anticipating the experience all day. A dear friends daughter was a graduate of SCAD an a former employee of the "Lady and Son's". She was able to get us the much prized reservations to this Savannah landmark.
No standing in line for us.
But given my love for all things Paula I have decide that this spectacular dining experience is worthy of an entire post all by itself.
So you will just have to come back in a few days to read about our deep fried culinary experience.




Blessings


Robin

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Savannah - Part One - Bumper to Bumper Traffic & an Emu

Well after nine days of being on the go in one form or another I am finally home.


I have much to share about the happening of my spring break and in an effort to be systematic as well as refraining from long windiness I have decided to launch my first ever ....

Blog Mini Series.

Please, please...... try to contain you excitement!

Now that you have had a few seconds to let the awsomeness of this groundbreaking blog event wash over you I move on to.....

The Great Escape....
Savannah, Spring Break 2009 - Part One


Our adventure begins on Saturday, April 4th.

We along with all the other parents of middle school and high school children joyfully drop our beloved off-spring off for the annual UMYF Spring Break Retreat. It is a much anticipated event in the lives of all the youth and this will be my DD second trip with this group. The chaos is organized and the noise vibrates as they all patiently wait to board the bus.


This is a picture of my DD (far right) and her BFF's as they gear up for Spring Break fun!!!!!




Having experienced this rite of passage before as well a sending off my DS for many many years the allure of hanging around to see the buses pull from the parking lot has lost it's poignancy, not to mention that we had our bags pack and we were anxious to be on the road for a much needed bit of husband and wife time.

We snapped a few pictures gave a quick kiss and a hug and then we high tailed it out of there like we were on fire.


Can you tell that we were eager to take advantage of the opportunity to be free of the parental responsibilities for a few days.


Our exuberance was short lives as we found ourselves in bumper to bumper traffic for over an hour and a half.

Being the first travel day of the spring break holiday the Georgia Department of Transportation thought that it was also an appropriate day to close down all but two lanes heading out of town to replace a few signs along the highway.

Another example of our tax dollars being put to good use.

Don'tcha just wanna be here!


Finally we cleared all the in town traffic and we it the open road..........for about 15 minutes.

Yes, more bumper to bumper traffic, by this time my DH was about to blow a gasket but with a bit of effort and many many different topics of conversation we managed to persevere the inching along.




Needless to say we spent from 9:00 AM until about 12:30 PM just trying to get out of town!


In desperation we inched off the expressway to find a bathroom, along with about 500 of our fellow travelers. By this point people were just throwing caution to the wind and using the shoulder of the road as an additional lane. We exit off and pull into the nearest gas station, the hubby goes in and promptly returns announcing that if I "really have to go", which I did, then unfortunately this was not an option as the line for the ladies room was 30 plus deep.


A quick scan of the surroundings, and we were saved.

My beloved Kohl's, I knew they would have a bathroom. We pulled into the parking lot and quickly took care of our necessary functions and then since we weren't going anywhere and I had a 30% off coupon in my purse we took the opportunity to do a bit of shopping.

The hubby got a couple pairs of shorts and I was able to return a bathing suit that I had bought for the DD.


Boring boring boring yes I know.


However a kindly sales lady took pity on us as we were ringing up our purchases and gave us directions to bypass the rest of the traffic.


Praise Jesus for the kindness of strangers.


Finally free of the constrains of the bumper to bumper madness we found out tummies grumbling.


Gotta love a spicy chicken sandwich and fries and of course a frosty for the road.

I am partial to the new vanilla flavor.





On our thirds pit stop we found a small roadside gas station. Along with a bathroom break we got to visit with a donkey...




an emu




There were some cows, chicken and goats as well, but you had to pay to get inside the enclosure so I opted to enjoy the livestock from afar with the zoom lens of my camera.


At last we arrive at our destination.


The Hilton DeSoto in Savannah, GA. There are some benefits to business travel. The hubs had enough hotel points to get us the entire weekend for free and they even comped us the breakfast buffet for our entire stay as well.





The Lobby. WOW!



This is our room...



One of my favorite things about hotel stays are the tiny little shampoos and soaps.

Crabtree and Evelyn, very special given the fact that I'm a generic store brand kinda girl.


This was the view from our window. In the distance was the bridge (I think to Hilton Head).
The Hilton DeSoto was right in the heart of Savannah. We were within walking distance from just about everything we wanted to see.

This is a small patio area where you can sit and drink you coffee or just relax.


A spitting lion (I guess) rather un-lion-like I thought, but attractive all the same and the sound of the water was soothing as you relaxed on the patio.


We spent a few minutes unpacking and then we took a short stroll outside. One block over from the hotel we found a small pub.
We popped in for a light supper. We enjoyed a wonderfully rich and savory bowl of French Onion soup and a roast beef sandwich. It really hit the spot after a long ride in the car.


Well that is it for our first day.

I crawled into my fresh clean white sheets on my king size bed with a down comforter and feather pillows, I know some enjoy a good feather pillow, but I have decided that as pillows go I prefer my pillows on my bed at home, even with this small pillow problem I fell blissfully asleep.
Tomorrow we look forward to exploring all that Savannah has to offer.
Blessings
Robin
Keep your eyes peeled....coming to your blogroll soon....Savannah .... part two

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