Savannah Meets Savannah

 

There is a lot to tell about our Spring Break 2009 Road Trip but Savannah’s foray into Savannah deserves a blog unto itself.

I mean people, it was big. Very, VERY big.

Like her very own Super Bowl…that she had invited her brother and sisters to attend.

Like she was coming home…after 8 long years, like she had finally found her people, her place.

Savannah was in Savannah.

Not even Christmas Day topped the excitement that girl exuded as we drove into “her” city limits.

She told anyone and everyone “My name is Savannah”. I seriously think she might have been waiting for the mayor to declare it “Savannah meets Savannah Day.” Or at least give her a key to the city. I mean really…it was like she was a walking Savannah billboard for the entire time we were there.

 

Even Jacob kept saying…“I just LOVE Savannah.” But I think he was saying that mostly because he had never seen a revolving door like they had at our hotel…the kind you circle around in and it dumps you either outside or inside the building. He could have stayed there for hours and was kind of sad he had to leave…

until he realized there were really cool streets like these he could walk down.

But Savannah (the girl) had a lot more she wanted to see of Savannah (the city). More photo ops you know … with her dad who was loving that she was loving this!

 

 

Brittany enjoyed Savannah too, but for a completely different reason. She bought THIS hat that said “Happy Birthday” on it in the hotel gift shop and wore it for the entire day.

She giggled and said “thanks” as pretty much everyone she saw wished her a happy birthday. Never mind that her birthday was in January. I have no idea why she wanted that hat or enjoyed wearing it so much, but enjoy it she did.

 

Savannah is an absolutely charming city made even more beautiful by the blooming azaleas everywhere we looked.

We spent a good part of one afternoon playing in a park known as the Central Park of the South. I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been.

 

The city squares are world famous….and who can forget Forrest Gump sitting on the bench in Savannah quoting this phrase…”mama always said life is like a box of chocolates….you never know what you are going to get”. Bill and Jacob felt compelled to act out this particular scene in the movie.

 

We got in the requisite pool swim and then went back on the town to another square to enjoy some of the best pizza we’ve ever eaten.

 

Bill told us our trip wouldn’t be complete without a visit the next day to the “Pirates House” restaurant (notice Bill’s cheesy pirate grin…RRR he was saying).

And we enjoyed just that, complete with a visit from a pirate to our table.

 

Bill did work while we were there (he has this picture to prove it - and as an aside, is he not SO cute in that blue Bob the Builder hat?!? and those matching blue coveralls?!?),

but honestly, Savannah never even noticed he was gone…did I mention she was totally lost in the experience?

Jacob however did notice and wondered aloud….“when does daddy get recess?” We really barely noticed he was gone though as we did our pool swim and some hotel time one day and we all slept in the next morning as he worked.

 

But just like any good movie, our visit to Savannah had to come to an end.

 

And just like that, we were “Gone with the Wind” off to Destin for the second half of our Spring Break road trip.

 

I don’t think anything about Savannah’s trip to Savannah disappointed her at all….except for maybe when she asked when we were going to see the Eiffel Tower. Maybe it’s in third grade they learn that Paris is in another foreign country.

We did enjoy seeing the “Waving Girl” statue

and THIS beautiful fountain (and yes, Savannah is pushing Jacob out of “her” picture).

 

Oh, and there’s one other thing I should tell you about our trip to Savannah. Remember a while back when I, let’s just say, poked fun of Bill for buying Savannah all those t-shirts?

 

Well, apparently the city had the same effect on me too. Not an hour and one t-shirt store into our trip and I’d succumbed to the Savannah t-shirt plague. I mean these things were seriously cute … or as Bill says, “they just seemed to scream her name.”

 

So all in all, our trip to Savannah was a huge success. For sure the trip of a lifetime for an 8 year old little girl who shared the same name as the city.

 

I’ve mentioned before about the movie “When Savannah Smiles”… well, let me tell you, on this particular day, Savannah BEAMED.