Today is our last day in Savannah. I'm sitting in the covered courtyard of The Marshall House B&B Hotel drinking coffee and waiting for Kelly to shower and join me for breakfast. Jazz plays softly; local art hangs on the walls. I am writing in my journal. Business travelers read newspapers or review reports. The food on the buffet smells wonderful.
Yesterday, Sunday, was a driving and walking day. The temperatures had warmed and the wind had calmed from the evening before. We headed out on foot in search of breakfast, ending at Gallery Expresso. Funky storefront with old sofas and chairs, mismatched tables and chairs--"early Salvation Army provincial" my father would have dubbed it. There was a line to get to the counter to order fresh baked goods and wonderful coffee from tattooed art students with aqua hair. Yes, they told me, they did their own baking, even the croissants. I took my blueberry scone with loads of blueberries back to a table. Kelly got the cinnamon roll. The scone was excellent. The cinnamon roll was amazing. It was light and yeasty, one of the best I ever tasted. We nibbled and sipped and watched a group of regulars rearrange all the sofas and chairs into a circle to settle in for a long chat.
We ambled back to The Mulberry Inn to check out. The Marshall House had not had a room for us for our first night in Savannah. The city's marathon was that day. Apparently it was a success, at least in terms of hotel rooms booked.
With no directions and only my 45-year-old memories of the area to guide us, we set out to find Hunter Army Air Base. We also needed to find a Verizon store for Kelly. At some point it hit us: Verizon Store. Yes, we have mobile phones that may be smarter than the two of us. Indeed the mapping functions on our phones got us to both places.
Savannah around the Air Base has changed a lot in the past 45 years. It's built up with many malls and more housing developments. Years ago, I lived in the area, exchanging my services as daytime babysitter for room and board until I found a real job and a place to live. My two little charges and I walked that area a lot to escape the war zone at the house. When the tables were placed on their sides to act as barricades and the crockery started flying, the girls and I would take a long walk.
However, there was no flying Melamine in Savannah yesterday. Sunday is a quiet day here; a lot of stores are closed. But, we traveled around looking at the houses and enjoying the shade of the trees in the squares, eventually ending at the Firefly Cafe for brunch at 2:00. We ate at a table on the sidewalk under an umbrella. At the table beside us was a fussy dog and an even fussier young woman. Nothing suited her. Kelly and I chose to be amused rather than annoyed although it could have gone either way. The Eggs Benedict with Creamed Spinach was so delicious, I remained remarkably tolerant of it all.
After brunch, we checked into the extremely charming Marshall House, a Savannah fixture since 1851.
Kelly and I are both Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Most cities have a Stiller's bar and a lot of former Pittsburghers around to tell you where it is. On advice from the bartender at The Shrimp Factory, we went to Isaac's on Drayton last night to watch the Steelers play the Baltimore Ravens. We were hoping for a little rah-rah action. But, fan-wise, it was just Kelly and me and a woman from Penn Hills, who looked like a woman from Penn Hills: Steelers jacket, lots of blonde hair, yinzer accent. Between the three of us, we couldn't get too much rah-ing going. Kelly and I left after the first quarter to come back to our very comfortable beds. I read a bit and was asleep by 10:30.
This morning we learned the Steelers had lost to the Ravens 23-20. Damn! Anyone but the Ravens ...
Kelly has arrived. My plate is filled with quiche, fresh fruit and freshly baked biscuits. Time to discuss what to do on our last day in Savannah. Eating and drinking is a given, but what else shall we do and where do we want to eat and drink? Kelly stopped outside on her way to breakfast and reports the skies are blue and the temperature is pleasant. Today, we will leave the car in the garage and walk or take public transportation.
No comments:
Post a Comment