Saturday, April 21, 2012

Georgia!!!

I love to travel and am very fortunate that I get to often.  Better yet, I am very blessed to have family spread across the country to go visit! Where to this trip? Georgia!!!!  It was Mom's Spring break and she was off to visit Jen and family so I tagged along - I'm always up for a vacation!

It was kind of a crazy start to the vacation though...  here it is Tuesday evening, April 3rd, and I get a call from Jenny around 9:30pm MT.  Jenny strongly encouraged me to get an earlier flight since the huge storm that produced all the tornado's in Texas was heading towards Georgia.  So, the earlier I get there the better to avoid a possible delayed, or canceled, flight.  I was supposed to fly out on April 4th at 5pm.  So, I looked into changing my flight only to find that I could change it for a $50 fee and I would need to call back within 3 hours of the flight I want to change it to.  That meant I would have to call around 6am for the 9am flight and then head to the airport at 7am.  Totally doable, right? Yes, but it would have meant about a 2 or 3 hour nap for me since I didn't even start packing until around 11pm when a friend and I wrapped up writing all the bridal shower invitations we need to mail/hand deliver.  (Side Note: The bridal shower was held today and it was a lot of fun- I do love throwing a good party!)  Oh, and I did need to go into work for at least an hour, which meant I would need to get there by 5:30am at the latest to account for the time on the phone to change my flight.  Oh, and I would also need to find a ride to the airport... minor details! So, when my alarm went off at 4:30am I was very relieved to see a text from Jenny that said to keep my original flight since the storm is not expected to impact me.  Phew! Okay, Georgia here I come!

I got into Georgia around 10pm local time and didn't do much that evening other than say hello and good-night! We needed to get up bright and early since we wanted to be on the road NLT 7:00am.  It was just the girls and off to Savannah we go!

Starting Our Road Trip

We made it to Savannah in just under 4 hours and headed straight to Forsyth Park.  Forsyth is a very old  park with a lot of character.  It was a beautiful day and so nice to be out of the car! 



We enjoyed a lovely picnic at the park.


See I really was there!




Alyssa- a little model!

By the way, here is a little shout out to Alyssa who is 8 today!!! Happy Birthday and congrats on your baptism.  Sure wish I could have come back to be there with you! Love you!

After the park we needed to stop at the store to get a few things before heading to the beach.  We have GPS, so no big deal, right? You would think, but GPS was leading us in circles to a place where there was no Wal-Mart!!! Luckily there was a Target right across the street so we went there instead- better choice!

 
Here is super model Emmy!

We played on the beach for a few hours and the weather was great! Have I ever mentioned Mom's gift? Mom has many gifts, but one of them happens to be the weather.  When Jenny called before I flew out and she mentioned that I should change my flight due to bad storms, I said (somewhat jokingly but mostly serious), "Why? Mom's there!"  Sure enough it ended up being just fine!


Okay,Steve calls me "Plank".  I can't for the life of me figure out why?!!! I really was relaxed in this picture as I was basking in the sun.  It was so nice!!!

I don't think this picture shows it really well, but in the sand is written, "Meg, we miss you!" She was sick and unable to join us.  We were very sad she was not able to join us, so we let her know we were thinking of her!



I love this picture of Mom running! I know she hates it and will not be happy with me posting it, but I told her I was going to.  Mom doesn't run.  So, the fact that I captured it makes it priceless!

The weather did turn rather windy on us when we were getting ready to head out.  I can only handle the beach for a few hours then I get pretty bored, so it was perfect timing! We packed up our stuff and headed to our hotel to get all cleaned up before dinner.

As we were getting ready for the evening the clouds rolled in and there was a torrential downpour! We were planning on walking to the restaurant for dinner, so looks like we were going to get wet! Unless of course Mom is with you and then as soon as you need it to clear up, it does! We walked to the restaurant and there was not a single drop of rain... until we reached the restaurant, snapped a photo and got under some shelter while we waited for our table to open, then it started tippin it down again!

The restaurant that we ate at used to be owned by my Uncle.  Who knew? I didn't even know he ever lived in Savannah let alone owned a restaurant! It was pretty tasty food! 

When we were done with dinner the weather cleared up and held off long enough for us to head down to Market (?) Street where we watched how taffy was made. It was pretty fun to see.





We were less than one minute away from our hotel when we felt a few drops of rain... do you believe me yet? When we needed it to be nice, it was! That was the theme that carried through the entire weekend!


Hangin' at the hotel


The next morning we had some time to see some sites before checking out of the hotel and making the trek back to Jen's house.  Savannah is a beautiful city rich with history and it has a very unique feel to it.  It was awesome! 

I love this picture! But, what's not to love about the flag and a gas lamp? 


We wandered through the Colonial Cemetery which was established in memory of the Patriots of the American Revolution, 1775-1783. 

Next we made our way through the Squares and to River Street where we went into the little shops there.  The stairs to get down to the shops were extreemly little and steep! Perfect photo op!

Savannah is definitely known for their candy.  We got several free samples of their pecan's and they were yummy!


Yes, I went to Savannah and I turned country!

Photo op with the pretty flowers!

Traffic was pretty bad as we made our way North, so we stopped at the outlets and did some shopping with the hopes of it thinning out.  Shopping was pretty unsuccessful, but it was nice to get out and walk around! That evening we just visited and looked at all our pictures from our excursion to Savannah.  Good times!

Saturday was another lovely day! Mom gave the flowers a drink before we headed to Kennesaw Mountain. 





Kennesaw Mountain is where a battle was fought, so the National Park Service has established a visitor center there with a small museum and gift shop.  It was neat to read of the history of the civil war... I learned a lot! Guess I need to brush up on my American history! We hiked to the top where you can see the cannons and the dirt built up around them.  It was neat. 


It was about a mile to the top so Eli needed some breaks.  That is far for a little guy!




Yeah! We made it to the top! It was a gorgious day with a great view!


In order for Eli to come he was told he had to walk it all by himself with no complaining and no begging someone to carry him.  He ws threatened to have his "man card" (yes, he really does have a card with a picture of a tiger on the front- very manly!) taken away if he complained.  He did great and when we got back to the bottom everyone did a victory pose!



After we hiked Kennesaw Mountain we dyed Easter eggs.  Steve is making that crazy face, because the dye stunk pretty bad!!




Well, I didn't dye Easter eggs, I had my very own hair dresser make me all pretty!

Steve made me an egg, it says "Plank"!


Sunday morning was Easter and yes, the Easter bunny came! The kids had fun finding all the eggs!


The Easter Bunny even found me all the way in Georgia!

Unfortunately since it was Sunday that also meant it was time to leave.   It is very sad to say good-bye.  But as Mom says, "Don't be sad that it is over, be happy that it happened!"

Mom and Jenny- fer cute!


Had to get a picture with Momisita!


Bye cute kiddos!

Thanks Jen, Steve, and family for a great weekend and letting me come hang with you! I wish we lived closer so I could see you all more often! Love you!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I think Steve said you were a plank because your arms don't look relaxed in that picture.

Looks like fun! :)

not plank said...

I was thinking that was some driftwood lying on the beach until you said something.

It's a solid talent.