I’m back!

I took advantage of my consecutive days off last week and headed down to visit my grandparents for a quick three-day visit in Savannah, Georgia.  It was a whirlwind trip, and Perry the trusty Subaru clocked over a thousand miles, but I had a wonderful time.

I opened the shop last Tuesday and finished work at noon, then got on the road right away.  The 8.5 hour drive down was relatively uneventful – it was gray and rainy, but nothing too unpleasant to drive in.  The roadtripping playlist on my iPod and The Shadow cassette tapes that I dug out of my glove compartment kept me entertained.  In fact, listening to Sufjan Stevens while driving past views like this was the perfect sort of melancholy:

A few hundred miles later, I made a quick stop to refuel and survey my kingdom:

Manning, South Carolina!  Pretty cool town, huh?

I got to my grandparents’ house a little before 9:00pm, and given that I’d gotten up at 4:30am to go to work, it wasn’t very long before I was sound asleep.

We woke up the next morning to clear, sunny skies and a temperature in the 70s – not quite the February weather I’m used to, but a perfect example of why I love Savannah in the winter.  We ventured into the historic downtown area in the city so my grandma and I could do something that neither of us had ever done in Savannah before: a horse and buggy ride!

I’ve been to Savannah more than ten times in my life, but I’ve never seen the city this way!  Our carriage ride took us through the oldest part of downtown, winding back and forth around all the lovely little squares that are set in the middle of the streets.

Our guide had a lot of fun facts to offer about the historic architecture – those fun little quirks that every old city seems to have, like signs that were painted over and uncovered decades later, or windows accidentally installed upside down.

Savannah is such a lovely city – definitely one of my very favorites – and my grandma and I both agreed that it was so quaint and charming to see the city while listening to the horse’s hooves clopping along.

After we said goodbye to our friendly guide and our equine chauffeur, Laurie, we spent some time walking around the more modern shopping district near the city market, and stopped in two fun local shops called The Salt Table and The Savannah Bee Company: specialty salt and honey stores, respectively.  We both walked away with a few tasty souvenirs and a newfound love for honeycomb (seriously, try it if you ever have the chance – you’ll never go back).

We found my grandpa again before heading down to River Street to have lunch at The Shrimp Factory – does that sound Southern or what?  I had the best shrimp and grits I have ever had in my life, and we made a last stop at River Street Sweets to pick up a few famous Savannah pralines before heading on home.

By the way, if anybody can tell me the difference between “historic” and “historical” and when to use them, I would be much obliged.  Until then, I’m sorry for my grammar.