Thursday, December 29, 2011

"The Diner" in Savannah, Georgia

The clerk at the registration desk at the La Quinta Inn in Savannah suggested we try “The Diner” up the street from the hotel for our supper. She noted that she had not been there herself yet but had heard many good things about it. It was easily within walking distance – less than two good blocks – but the clerk noted that the hotel did not recommend we walk along the road since there are no sidewalks. Oops, she made a mistake. There is a good sidewalk on the same side of the street as the diner.

Once at the diner we seated ourselves in a booth and were promptly given our menus and cutlery. Then we waited. Interesting 50s decor – vinyl covered booths, a few counter stools, metal light fixtures, polished metal finish. Lots of customers. And we waited. Arborite tabletops. 50s music playing in the background on a very poor sound system. More customers coming in. Did I mention we were waiting? A couple of older ladies sitting across the aisle from us were told they would have to wait for the waitress to take their bill payment since she was so busy. They finally left their money on their table and went on their way.

And we finally got a chance to order. Rob ordered the pork chop dinner with side salad, hash browns, and texas toast. I ordered a club sandwich on rye toast, a small cup of chili, and a side of cole slaw. Cole slaw is what I really said. Regrettably, both Rob and the waitress heard me say “a croissant.” The meals were served fairly promptly but not before Rob noted that the two waitresses on the floor were not really getting along with each other. And more customers are arriving minute by minute.

We both enjoyed our meals – although I did not eat the croissant. We got refills for our drinks – coke and root beer – when our meals were served. We finished our meals. And we waited. More customers arrived. Some customers left. A new 'waiter' came on the scene. I asked him about getting our bill. He said our waitress would be with us as soon as she could possibly be. So we waited. Not too long, though, and the bill arrived – not our bill though. It was a bill for scrambled eggs and pankakes (Yes, that is spelled right; according to the menu). So I took the bill back to the waitress and we waited some more. Our bill finally came. By that time Rob and I had decided we would pay with cash and not wait for our waitress to process a credit card payment. We paid. She commented we should have paid the other bill since it was cheaper. We walked back to the hotel.

Savannah

2011-12-29

"Florida Here We Come"


So, Here we are in Savanah GA.

Nobody been here before, not me, not BJ, not Jack.

Rave reviews.


We drove from Fayetteville, NC.

Got here without issue, by mid afternoon today.


BJ pushed, so we went down town this afternoon.

BJ had an ok time.

I had an ok time.

Jack had an f'ing blast!

Everybody in Savannah now knows Jack on a first name basis.

If BJ or I had Jack's personality, we'd be rich.


Old town Savannah, much like New Orleans in my mind.

But bigger, more shops, fewer drinking establishments.

(Not bigger in the sense of the city overall, but bigger in the sense of the historic area of Savannah vs the French Quarter & Bourbon St.)

Lots of "history".

Lots of 'buildings'.


Glad to be back to our hotel.

Not spending a second day.

We'll be in St. Petersburg tomorrow night.


rg


Day 3

This morning (Thursday, Dec 29, 2011) we woke up at a Quality Inn on Jim Johnson Road, outside Fayetteville NC.

Yesterday was an easier driving day.  We got away at a good time from Baltimore, and had only a couple of serious slowdowns in traffic - caused by nothing in particular that we could see...
Lots of traffic around Washington, even at 10 am on a Wednesday.  There was a major slowdown caused by an accident on an off-ramp; was everybody slowing down to "see"?

BJ has been taking Jack for his morning walk, and has had no health issues since the first day.

Mabel had a cold when we stopped to visit in Princeton Junction yesterday.  I've got the sniffles this morning.  Is this payback for me giving her the cold last year?  I took echinacea this morning.

I must say that the bike rack we borrowed from Gary is working really well.  It sits in the trailer hitch, and allows us to open/close the trunk without muss or fuss.  And there is none of the worry about straps moving / stretching that is there with our trunk-mount rack.

Supper last night was at a Cracker Barrel.  Good plain food, quick service, good prices.
Jack got a good walk; I needed to walk off supper.

We're off to Savannah, GA this morning...

rg

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Driving South; day 2

We're in Baltimore this morning (Dec 28th the start of day 3).

BJ wasn't feeling well our first day out; so our agenda got shifted a bit. We spent our first night in Kittery.

Off to a slow start, we had a short visit with Pat and Mabel (my cousin & aunt) yesterday afternoon.
But then we experienced driving hell to get to Baltimore:
Rain and dark made it difficult to get back on the turnpike near Princeton;
and then we experienced two LONG stretches of stop and go (mostly stop) traffic, caused by a)construction and b)an accident;
and finally we drove back and forth on the highway in Baltimore, until I finally gave up on the Tom-Tom, and we stopped to ask directions at a store. Luckily (the clerk was a ditz) a fellow there had at least some idea of the street we wanted and how to find it, so following his directions we found our hotel. (The TomTom hadn't been wrong; the streets are just too weird to follow the directions. Has anybody down here heard of the concept of a "block" ?)

We don't expect to get to Savannah until tomorrow (29th).

rg

Sunday, December 25, 2011

D Minus Ten Hours

Our departure (D) time is currently projected for 8 a.m., Monday, December 26th.  We are both packed, more or less, tomorrow's lunch is prepared, and it is now a matter of getting everything in the car, adding the bike rack and the bikes, boarding Jack, and moving out!  The weather appears to be cooperating for our departure under relatively sunny skies.

We had a wonderful Christmas Day dinner with Nancy and Sharon in Elmsville...turkey with ALL the trimmings - and then some.  Turkey, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, green bean casserole (very yummy!), dressing, gravy, marinated mushrooms, dill pickles, icicle pickles, white wine, raspberry cheesecake, and mincemeat pie, and coffee.  Can you say stuffed!

Rob is currently preparing print copies of maps and directions from Mapquest.  I am starting our blog.  We will post regularly and hopefully you will be inclined to follow along.  Your comments are invited and most welcome.

Two firsts this trip:  Jack (our golden retriever, almost 4 years old) is coming along with us and this will be my first time in Florida.  Jack will not be a problem.  He handles drives very well.  I hope I will not be a problem either.  Looking forward to warmer weather, beach opportunities, seeing new destinations, meeting new people.  Our home base will be in Englewood, Florida on the Gulf Coast about an hour south of Tampa.  Watch for further posts in the coming days as we make our journey from St. Stephen through Hartford, Princeton, Richmond, Savannah, and Tampa to our 2012 winter home.