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West Virginia
When I started my retirement travels in 2009, I wanted a way to share it with family and friends as it was happening. Hence, "My Travel Journal". However I realized I wouldn't always be on a trip and wondered what to do with the blog in between times. My daughter pointed out, wisely, that travels can also include trips to the kitchen to try a new recipe, trips to visit family, trips to my neighborhood Starbucks, or a fun day trip with a friend. You're welcome to join me on any of these journeys! I've set up individual pages for each of my major trips (see tabs above).

Also, I have an Etsy shop where my current needlework resides. The last pieces I posted here were in 2013! So if you'd like to see what I have accomplished recently, go to (and I apologize for having to copy and paste):

www.etsy.com/shop/thedollhouseneedle

I recently added an "Italian Word a Day" thingie which shows up at the bottom of every page. You see the word and can click to hear it pronounced. I've been enjoying it and I think my accent is improving as time goes by.

March 10, 2011

I WAS in Savannah - Just Late With a Report...

Yep, we left Florida bright and early on Monday morning and had an easy trip to Savannah.  We stopped for a quick, light lunch right before we got to the city cause we figured we were going to have a nice dinner that evening.

Our hotel was about 3 or 4 miles out from the historic center of town but with Peggy's GPS, we found our way to the visitors' center and set out on a roundabout walk to the Savannah River.  I didn't take too many pictures because with all the beautiful old trees and houses and buildings right near the street, it was difficult getting good shots.  But here's what I did take:

This the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and I would have loved to be able to get all of it in the picture.  It's a really beautiful building, I think.  It's painted a soft white with non-metallic gold trim so it's not opulent or incredible or anything.  Just very lovely.  And I took a few of the interior which was also very beautifully decorated - gorgeous stained glass windows which, of course, never show up well in my pictures because of the light shining through them.  But here's what I have:




The altarpiece was like a mini cathedral itself...I've looked it up now that I'm home and the original parish for the current cathedral was established in the late 1700's, so it's about as old as our country is.  Apparently, the parish was established because of the large numbers of refugees coming in from Haiti and France.  The current cathedral was dedicated in 1876 and building then continued on the spires.  I very much enjoyed seeing it.

Oh, and this is just an old house that was across the street from the church - a little cafe on the first floor, I think.  But I thought it would sure be a nice place to have an apartment cause I forgot to mention there is one of Savannah's many pleasant squares right at the end of this street - just past the cathedral. 

Gosh, and seeing it again now, I really would like to live there!  Well, except for the summers...

So then we continued our walk down to the river and sometime during all this, the beautiful blue sky and sunshine had disappeared so my pictures became grayer and grayer, but what the heck, is what I always say.

And I couldn't even begin to get all of this building in a picture but it's another beautiful church - this one Presbyterian.  I love the spires on both of these churches - they really reach for the clouds...

And this is City Hall with its brilliant gold dome.  I thought I had straightened this picture pretty well, but it's looking crooked...

And from this street level, you finally come to a long island-area in the street and there are several old, steep staircases here and there that take you down to the old cobblestone River Street right at the river.  The shops there were not much to speak of but we had been forewarned that they were pretty much for tourists to buy tourist stuff so we didn't mind. 

After our trip downstairs, but not on the river side of these buildings yet - but you can see how old it all is.  Very atmospheric...

And my favorite thing once we got there I think was this gorgeous tall ship.  And turning around from that you see this:

Which doesn't show up well against the gray sky but it's the same kind of bridge we have in Huntington (ours is only one span) and I love them.

There were lots of restaurants down here too but I had my mind set on going to Vic's - a restaurant we had passed on the way to the river that looked real inviting.  Peggy said she had eaten there before and enjoyed it and I liked the idea of it's not being in the "tourist strip".  So after having a nice hot cup of tea and sitting at Starbucks until a decent dinner hour, that's where we went and it was really nice.  Our food was delicious and the staff were also very friendly and pleasant.  Even the people at the table next to ours were friendly.  I had a salad that was pear slices, roasted butternut squash cubes, roasted pistachio nuts (and good grief, they were good!) and feta cheese served on arugula with I forget what kind of dressing, but a good one.  It was just delicious.  Then for my entree I had pan-seared scallops served with a creamy, cheesy risotto.  And when the waitress brought me my glass of wine I said "and cheers to me because it's my birthday" and she said in that case, we'd be getting a cupcake with a candle for dessert which was nice.  But, at the end of the meal she told us they had run out of cupcakes and so we were getting a piece of their praline cheesecake instead.  And here it came with its candle and a little blob of whipped cream with blackberries, red raspberries and blueberries - what a treat!  Peggy's entree was a blackened fresh salmon which she said was incredible so we were both happy campers.  And we had planned to take the free shuttle back to the visitors' center and when we left the restaurant and walked to the "dot spot", here it came.  All in all, a good day and evening.

Next day (Tuesday), an uneventful, long trip home and here's a picture of our last stop on the WV Turnpike:
Yes, SNOW!!!

4 comments:

Christopher said...

Your brief tour of Savannah sure seems nice... and the scallops sound fantastic! A nice way to celebrate your birthday, it would seem!

January said...

That cathedral really is something else! I'm glad you got to wander somewhere other than the tourist shop street - that's all Maggie and I really saw when we went, and it wasn't that exciting.

Christopher said...

...PS---forgot to say how beautiful St. John's interior is!

Jamie said...

Sounds like you guys had a blast. I love the pictures of the churches and the house with the apartment. It is adorable. Glad you made it home safe and sound!

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