Southern Hospitality at its Best

So here we are at the beginning of our 3-month road trip, with our first stop in Savannah, a 7 hour drive from Anna Maria Island.

We found this quaint old city ~ which really had more of a “town” feel ~ to be absolutely delightful. Our first glimpse of the historic downtown area was a trolley tour, giving us an overview of the city before deciding which areas to explore on foot later in the day. It was a good opportunity to appreciate the history and architecture of the Savannah’s 22 squares in the Old Historic Downtown District. We found the layout of squares with their trees, grand homes and beautiful gardens to be just enchanting.

It really is all about the trees ~ huge live oaks ~ massively draped in Spanish moss. The squares each had a charm of their own, with statues or water fountains as added features. We actually walked 14 of these lovely squares, continually finding something to delight us.

We experienced our first taste of southern cooking from Paula Deans restaurant (arch enemy to Weight Watchers)...... oh my how do those southern gals manage to keep their figures, as it truly is 'finger licking good'.

The old Colonial Park Cemetery which is right in the middle of this district was both sobering, because we both realized we are more than twice the age of most of the deceased, and fascinating because many of the head stones had been defaced (by the changing of dates/details)during the Civil War when the troops were garrisoned there.

We have had a wonderful "Couch Surfing" experience, first night staying with George and Jake. George was a restaurateur for 10 years and treated us to a most delicious gourmet dinner, with classical music playing in the background; it was most charming and entertaining. In addition to tending his own extensive flower and vegetable garden (oh and did I mention hens), George is also know as “The Gardner” to some of the historic, downtown gardens.

Our 2nd and 3rd nights were spent with Nancy ~ a friendly gentle lady, her friendly dog and shy cat, ~ in her farmhouse, again another knowledgeable gardener, on the lovely "Isle of Hope"…such a charming community and again another wonderful experience. We enjoyed our stay in both of these homes enormously.

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