Savannah vannah bo bannah banana fannah fo fanana mee my mo mannah, Savaaaannah

-->

Savannah is sweet. The amount of fun that is available to be had here makes every other city I’ve ever been to look like an instructional video for a toothbrush. To start the day, Snides set an alarm for way too early in the morning, which, upon threat of violence, was then reset to a much more acceptable 9:00. We left the room at around 10 or 10:30 and hit the Charleston market as soon as we could find it. After some light trinket-shopping and the best Arnold Palmer I’ve ever had, we did a bit of walking around the city and then set off for Savannah, a little over 100 miles away.
On the way we saw a super dope tree.

Once you get into the midtown area, Savannah is a beautiful city. The many parks are all perfectly manicured and covered in old statues and picturesque benches, though we felt gypped when we went to the location of the Forrest Gump bench only to find that there is no Forrest Gump bench!

Original location of Forrest Gump bench

Walking around the city, we found a giant chess board with three-foot chess pieces and a guy named Mark who challenged us to a friendly game. We had Mark on the ropes for a while until we made a few costly mistakes, which Mark took advantage of to quickly bring the game to an end. Downtrodden from our defeat, we took comfort in a nearby happy hour, where the Barcelonés bartendress provided us with some free shots and quality conversation. Amaya tried a little flirtation but she was clearly too much woman for him. After grabbing our all-important to-go beers (which is apparently a normal, legal thing here!), we found a nice pizza place to eat at, then perused River Street, the city’s strip of shops, bars, and restaurants along the river.

We walked back up to a park area to watch a basketball game on a giant screen, and an older, possibly homeless guy wearing camo pants and an open vest, showing a full field of chest hair, came up and started talking to us about where women hang out in the city. He then gave us an amazing long speech to say to any women we came across (which we unfortunately didn’t catch on video). Then, when I compared him to Martin Luther King, Jr in his speaking abilities, he recited (paraphrased) a full King speech, much (all?) of which we did catch on video. We all held hands at one point in the speech; it was a moment. He gave us two palm fronds folded into roses, told us one more foolproof line to say to the ladies, and then asked for “donations,” which we gladly provided in exchange for all the entertainment he provided. If I remember correctly, the line was something like “Please excuse me for invading your privacy, but I just have to tell you, girl, you have eyes that hypnotize, here’s a rose, can I please have your name?” Then we were supposed to give them one of the palm roses (which he must constantly have been carrying around in his pockets) and then we had to take it from there.

After that whole experience, we called it a night and retired to our hotel room (which had amenities this time!) to get up early for some complimentary continental breakfast (fancy!) before the long drive to the Smoky Mountains. –J

We've created two separate accounts of our day in Savannah because why not.

5/31/13-Day 4

On I-95, leaving Savannah to Smoky Mountains National Park

This morning we left the little hotel we were staying in on the outskirts of Savannah, Georgia. Back on the road again, headed to the Smoky Mountains on the Tennessee side. Let me tell you, Savannah is a hell of a town, with large houses and hanging Spanish Moss lining the streets, it feels more like you are coming into a garden instead of a City on the water.  A place so alive that it seeps into your pores. Everywhere you go in Savannah something is happening. The four of us managed to get spanked in a game of jumbo chess against a kid a few years younger than us. When the hunger set in, there were too many places to choose from, many of them had live music, even in the early evening. We settled on a little pizza place at the end of the City Market section that did its best impersonation of New York style thin crust. Our outdoor table offered a great view of all the passersby and happenings of the area.

The older gentlemen with their straw hats and golf shirts mingled with the pretty young women in their flowing summer dresses. Things in Savannah just seem to flow in a natural fashion, everything happening at a perfect pace. Cars stop to let groups cross the street and folks smile at you and ask “How y’all doing?”

                We made our way to one of the nearby bars, and after having a nice chat with the beautiful Spanish bartender, we took advantage of one of the best practices we have experienced, the “to-go cup.” Drinks in hand, we made our way down the steep stairs to River Street, another jewel of the Savannah downtown. The long river walk is so vibrant, it feels almost like a movie. The Man with the saxophone provided the atmosphere and as the boats floated on upriver everything felt right. A breeze so sweet, fat cigars and good company in a city that is bustling, but never crowded.

                I think we all could have stayed there for a few more days, but the road and many more undiscovered gems out west were waiting for us. Savannah will still be there and we will be back eventually. -A

Chapter Two: Charleston Chew

-->

            The journey to Charleston was delayed due to a requested detour to a historic plantation, which turned out to be a bit too expensive for our budget.  The detour wasn’t entirely fruitless, as we caught a glimpse of some rare specimens of quail, or possibly pheasants.  On the way we found a nice place to enjoy some good old Carolina BBQ and hush puppies.

            The Priceline Negotiator® was able to secure us a very decent room at a desirable rate for one night outside of Charleston, and we got to enjoy the rest of the evening in the city, which we decided is kind of like a more southern version of Old Town Alexandria.  We got to experience the local fare at a town hotspot where we enjoyed half price burgers and $4 pitchers of PBR.

            Tomorrow we are checking out the downtown market in Charleston before heading out towards Savannah, GA.  Apparently Savannah is nice, but more importantly it is the location of the bench from Forrest Gump.  -L

The Maiden Post

-->

The first day of the road trip has taken us from Alexandria, Virginia,  along the better part of  Skyline Drive, down to Boone, NC, where we are crashing for the night with our long-time friend Isaac. We left at 3 AM Tuesday, May 28, 2013. We took the scenic route, around 10 hours to get to Boone, but we got some beautiful pictures out of it so it was well worth it. After we got here, we spent a few hours hiking the mountain trails and absorbing the landscape, which built up the appetite for some $0.40 wings at a spot near Isaac’s apartment.

Tomorrow morning (at a more reasonable hour this time) we leave for Charleston, where we still need to figure out what exactly we will be doing and where we are staying for the night. That isn’t how we want every location to be, but it’s nice to leave some places a little bit up in the air, so we can find our way to anything cool that is going on in town. It should be fun. -J