Last week both kids were attending a christian youth development session called, Uplift on the Harding campus.  They were thrilled to be able to attend!  This was Luke's first time being old enough to go.  They even got to stay in the dorms!  Both kids haven't stopped talking about it yet, so I know it hit home with them.  Meanwhile, we decided to take time to ourselves for the first time since having children 14 years ago! Where should we go?  We kept throwing places around in our heads.  We decided to go to the Historic district in Savannah, Georgia.  We were NOT disappointed!

The first day we checked in to the hotel and mentioned it was our first kid free trip since having kids and they happily upgraded us to a suite! We went for a walk around the squares and decided to eat dinner.  Thomas found a magazine with a restaurant guide and he wanted to try one of the local places out.  So that first night we ate a candlelit dinner at 17 hundred 90 Restaurant and Inn.  It was so good, and I wished I had taken pictures of the inside and outside of this place!!  Of course, it's supposed to very haunted!  Rest easy, friends, we saw no ghosts, not even the one of poor Anna, who threw herself from the top story of the inn window, in despair over lost love.  The current building is only a couple of stories high so I assume the original inn, which burned years ago, was taller?  Anyway, the funny story there was, it was totally a romantic place.  The piano player was playing, the room was extremely dim, lit only by candles on the few tables they have scattered about the room. All of the sudden there was blinding light to our right.  The hostess put us in a corner and the table, in the center of the room, had four older people reading the menu.  Apparently, it was too dim for them to see so they pulled out their large led flashlight!  We kept laughing all night about how funny they were.  They were telling old war stories and they unknowingly entertained us as well!  Anyway, dinner was excellent and so was the gluten free dessert they offered!

We walked all around the squares.  Thomas loved the Spanish moss and all of the ferns growing in nooks and corners of the Live Oak trees.  

It was good that we had comfortable shoes because this was not a lay around sort of vacation!  We walked A LOT!!  The second day we were going to head over to Tybee Island but we found out the lighthouse was not open at all on Tuesdays.  Thomas had never seen a lighthouse so he really wanted to go on a day they were open.  Instead of going to Tybee, we hung around Savannah and visited the shopping district.  They are the only place ever that has a Goodwill a few stores down from a Marc Jacobs store.  We had a nice laugh about that but I still didn't go in either.  We did go to a consignment shop down from the Goodwill and those prices scared me.  We walked right back out!  I did visit a outdoorsy type store that carried lots of backpacking gear and some beautiful hiking clothes.  

That evening we did a ghost tour by carriage!!  That was a fun way to see the city and hear some local stories and histories.  After we went there we ate at Leopold's.  Oh my.  They make their own ice cream and their own sauces!  We ate there twice.  The first time I had a hot fudge sundae, which was incredible.  The second time we went I wanted to try some ice cream that I could only get there.  So I had a double scoop bowl containing, Chocolate Raspberry Swirl and Honey Almond.  PEOPLE!!!!!  The Honey Almond is probably the best thing I have ever put in my mouth!!!!!  My taste buds were dancing and singing the Hallelujah Chorus!!  At some point in the day we went to Savannah Bee Company. Our friends said we would love it and we did!!  I tried about 20 types of honey.  I was in love with all forms of honey on this trip!!

We also visited a catholic church while we were in Savannah.  We aren't catholic but this building is so beautiful I had to photograph it.  I felt bad about photographing inside but the lady in charge of tourism assured us it was ok.  

The next day we had to leave.  Sad sad sad.  We went to Bonaventure Cemetery that morning.  Have you ever been there?  Apparently, over one hundred years ago families would mourn their loved ones by commissioning statues of them.  Some of these are of the actual deceased (from paintings I suppose) and some of them are of angels or one was even a giant statue of Jesus.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing!  My two favorites were of the actual deceased.  One was a woman and one was a child named, Gracie.  Both were so sad to see.

There was a Jewish section and some of the tombstones marked people who were survivors of the Holocaust.  My heart just broke thinking of what atrocities this beloved wife, mother and grandmother saw.

Finally, we went to Tybee and saw the lighthouse and walked the beach.  It was such a lovely vacation.  If you ever have a chance to go there, I would recommend it in a second.  I think next time we will stay at a historic inn or at a B&B.  Do you have any special places you enjoy visiting?  I will leave you with a few more of my favorite photos including my favorite couple of cottages we saw walking through town and the Jesus statue.  My very favorite statue was one that simply said, "God is love".  I think that sums things up perfectly.

God is love. GOD IS LOVE