Savannah, GA

I was sad that our 2 days in Charleston had gone by so quickly but
satisfied that we'd done all we wanted to do off of our scribbled list on hotel
paper that we always make on vacations...
When a day starts out waking up to this... you know that it will be a good one.

In keeping with tradition of finding good, local cuisine, J found this little gem and

we ate breakfast/ lunch here on our way out of SC to Savannah...

Hominy Grill

Boiled peanuts and fried green tomatoes...both worth trying, at least once.

J had Shrimp and Grits and I... an eggplant sandwich that only

confirmed the fact that I HATE eggplant and that I loved sweet potato fried.

It's a tiny, little restaurant that has at least a 30 minute wait outside in the scorching sun

with little shade or seating. But people wait nonetheless...

This face just melts my heart. She is heaven sent, that baby.

Our final stop in South Carolina was the Boone Hall Plantation.

This plantation was one of the movie locations for the film "The Notebook"...

I adored that movie and can't wait to watch it, along with a few others that have

been filmed in the places we visited, like Forrest Gump and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

This view, this breath-taking... gorgeous scene makes it worth going to the South all by itself.

The old Oaks... the Spanish moss that I learned is a symbol of the old South...

I could just stand there and look at it for days.

On the tour inside the Boone house.

Definitely the highlight of Ella's trip was visiting the butterfly house on the plantation...

or Boofly, as she says so adorably.

It's basically a netted area filled with plants, flowers and butterflies.

She ran around that place like she owned it, pointing out every insect she saw.

She kept sneaking off on us this little one! Climbing to the old cotton house...

After a quick ice cream stop we were off to Savannah.

I wasn't the best co-pilot. I admit, I slept almost the entire way from SC to GA...

The girls kept themselves busy with baby wipes. They're low maintenance, huh? 

I loved our hotel in Savannah, the Avia. Although no one got to eat any of them

because Kate snatched them both up on both nights, I love when a hotel

leaves little treats on your pillow at turn-down.

It just makes you feel special and gives you that extra reason to use the same hotel next time you stay.

That's why I love the Omni Hotel so much.

Too bad they didn't have locations where we were visiting this time.

Savannah was just perfect. The mugginess that weighed me down in Charleston

turned to breezy and cool weather in Georgia.

I fell in love with the squares and the fountains, the rich history and pride of it all.

Kate never lets me comb her hair anymore. I've been in hair bow withdrawal.

Thankfully, to my delight, she decided that her new love is side ponytails.

And my girl rocks them. 

She has all the right amounts of sass and confidence to pull off the side ponytail

and you can tell she feels pretty and "cute", as she calls it, when her hair's combed this way.

I don't know how I feel about that since I try to tell her as often as I can that she is 

beautiful even when she's covered in mud and wearing a pull-up that's hangin' down to her knees.

I don't want her too preoccupied with her looks.
I want her to know that there's more to life than pretty. Like smart, funny, KIND, generous, loving...

Our first official order of business in Savannah was to set our names on the list at Lady & Sons, Paula Deen's restaurant. I'm a long-time fan of the food network and among the few I love, is Paula.
She is just a jolly, joyous sweet woman with a happiness that's contagious.
At least from what I can see from her on the TV. Her restaurant is beautiful.
I really loved the old brick buildings everywhere.

There was a short wait so we took a walk around a few of the city's famous 24 squares.

The food was great. When you sit down they give you cornmeal pancakes and syrup
along with a cheesy, gooey biscuit that makes it worth going there all in itself.

The Lady & Sons

River Street was sparkly on the water on that beautiful, sunny day.

- River Street Sweets
We bought Eric some pralines here knowing that he'd love them.
Unfortunately for him, we ate them all before they made it home to him... haha

Since J was reading Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil,
we had a lot on our list to do that came from things straight out of the book.
This Bird Girl Statue was one of the must-sees. We weaved our way through the underbelly of
the museum because we had the girls in a stroller and worked our way up to the floor where she was.
Just as I've got my camera pointed and I'm about to take J's photo with the famous statue
a security came running out yelling NO. So no picture. At least I got a photo of the banner.

The Olde Pink House

This restaurant was just ok...

Inside the Pink House after our lunch. Kate was NOT happy.

We chose to take a guided  trolley tour of Savannah and then walk to the places that interested us most.

This pub is from a scene in Something to Talk About with Julia Roberts

Chippewa Square is where the famous scene in Forrest Gump was filmed. Where he says the quote
about "Life is like a box of chocolates..."
Here's J in the square alongside a screenshot from the movie.
The bench isn't there anymore, it's in a museum.

Forsyth Park
We let the girls burn off some energy in the playground at Forsyth Park.

Kate was happy as a clam walking around, collecting some 'lovely leafs" as she kept calling them.
I still have all her leaves tucked into a paper sack.

Leopold's
We then headed to get the girls some ice cream.
Leopold's was in a few of the tourist books so we went there...
best honey ice cream, paired with lavender ice cream EVER. (Jaclyne's choice)
I had mint chocolate chip...
The girls picked songs on the juke box and danced their hearts out.
Ella even approached an older man and made him dance.
I was laughing too hard to get photos of it.

Water fountain fun...
As usual, the big sister hangs back shyly while little Ella jumps right in...

Thanks to this bratty girl behind Ella, who took it upon herself to teach my girl to say Go Away,
because she kept telling Ella to go away, Ella now tells everyone she can to go away...

Sapphire Grill

We went to Sapphire Grill for our final dinner in GA...
I chose Carolina rice and asparagus but Ella ate all my rice, fed some to her princesses,
proceeded to eat almost all our dessert and then flash the entire restaurant her boobies.
It was a good night for Ella.

On the phone with her daddy...the smiles couldn't be contained.

Next, comes NC...