Keepin' it on the downlow(country) at HHI - New TR link - pg 31

[Reddog1134]

I defy you to walk past the pool without taking a picture of the Big Dipper slide.

Challenge failed.

 

[glennbo123]

Well I am super excited to be here!! Thank you!

Sorry there's so much time between updates, but stay with me!

Challenge failed.

So I take this to mean that you were there recently? If so, Awesome! Did you send the new young'n down the slide?

 

[Reddog1134]

So I take this to mean that you were there recently? If so, Awesome! Did you send the new young'n down the slide?

No, that was from our 2012 trip. I went through the pictures to see if we had one. Obviously, we did.

Next trip is WDW in February for the twins 1st birthday.

 

[glennbo123]

No, that was from our 2012 trip. I went through the pictures to see if we had one. Obviously, we did.

Next trip is WDW in February for the twins 1st birthday.

Okay, that makes sense. The new tyke is probably a little small to be dragged along on a trip to the beach. Anyway, thanks for proving my theory about the Big Dipper slide, and here's to February!

 

[eandesmom]

My last entry was, “Man, the cushions on this pull-out bed really migrate out when you try to sit on it as a couch for any length of time.” “Oh, and while I’m at it, the microwave buzzer is really loud, and particularly annoying.”

Squirrel!

 

[thornton0511]

Sorry there's so much time between updates, but stay with me!

Ha! No judgements here. I think I may hold the record for failure to update Trip Reports in a timely manner

 

[MEK]

I am totally ready for an update over here.

 

[Steppesister]

Glennbo, my friend...

Just cruising the boards before I toddle off to bed, and wanted to say howdy! Hope everything in your world is fabulous. I'm in scarce-mode right now- the term is off and running and I'm barely keeping up!

 

[glennbo123]

Squirrel!

Are you saying that I'm easily dis....hey, ice cream!

Ha! No judgements here. I think I may hold the record for failure to update Trip Reports in a timely manner

Oh yeah...good point! Although there are a lot of people in contention for that title.

I am totally ready for an update over here.

Well you're in luck. I've got one on the way!

Glennbo, my friend...

Liesa, my pal...

Just cruising the boards before I toddle off to bed, and wanted to say howdy! Hope everything in your world is fabulous. I'm in scarce-mode right now- the term is off and running and I'm barely keeping up!

Actually, things are pretty swell at the moment. There's light at the end of tunnel for Judy's school year. The kids are doing fine. I'm a week+ away from being able to make Fastpass+ selections, which means that Disney can't be too far away!

 

[glennbo123]

Road trip! (to Savannah)


Today would be Road Trip day, to Savannah. But first, I wanted to re-try the bike-to-the-beach video so I got up pretty early for a vacation day, 6:30am. Breakfast was pretty unexciting, but I was bound and determined to keep up with the food photos on this trip, especially the in-suite ones.

I set off for my second attempt. But first...a wise man once said that you can never take too many mossy-tree pictures.

And then I was off. Second try:

Even though this version was a little shorter, I wasn’t able to upload the video to Youtube this time around either. I was getting a little irritated watching it upload for several minutes and then fail. Fortunately, memory space on my iPhone never became an issue and I was able to upload both videos without trouble when I got back home.


We ended up leaving for Savannah a little after 9 and arrived at the Visitors Center a little after 10. With the added time of deciding which tour service to use, waiting for a trolley, etc., we didn’t get started on a tour until 10:45. We went with Old Town Trolley. They give you a map of the route and you can ride the whole thing or you get off at any stop, explore as much as you like and get back on another Old Town Trolley with the benefit of a sticker on your shirt identifying you as a paying customer. I’m sure all of the tour services operate the same way.


This is City Hall. It has a beautiful gold dome on top, which you’ll see in a later picture.

Here’s what the inside of our little tour-trolley looked like.

A few stops into the tour, we got to the closest stop to celebrity chef Paula Deen’s restaurant, “Lady and Sons”. It was a little early for lunch, but we’d have to ride for quite a while to get anywhere near it again, so we decided to get off there. Judy had gotten an app for her iPhone that listed restaurants with gluten-free offerings, and Lady and Sons was recommended so we figured we’d give it a shot, Paula Deen controversy or not.

Standing in the doorway waiting to be seated, I could see that the buffet was the big seller here. It was off to my left and appeared to be well-stocked with fried chicken and mashed potatoes and all of the southern comfort foods that you would expect from Paula. They were able to seat us without a reservation, and actually took us to an elevator for a ride to a higher floor. We were seated, I ordered an iced tea, and we started to look at the menu. Judy was disappointed to see that there were only a few gluten-free options: two different salads, and steamed shrimp with rice, or steamed tilapia with rice. She was like, “Gee, I could make this at home”. I asked if she wanted to leave and she said yes. Just then a server came by and was about to put a biscuit on my plate and I stopped him before he put it down so that it wouldn’t have to be thrown out. I was also able to find our waiter and cancel our drink orders as we made our way back to the elevator. The attendant at the elevator asked if we were leaving because of the gluten-free options (or nearly-lack thereof), and he seemed to understand.


So there you have it. Sorry that I don’t have any pictures inside Lady and Sons, but we’d just walked out of our second restaurant of the trip!


At this point, Judy probably said something like, “well now what do we do?” And I said, “why don’t we go to ‘Vic’s’?” “MEK recommended it, and she steered us right with her ‘Vine’ recommendation, so maybe it’ll be good too.” So we set off walking to Vic’s. It was only a few blocks away...just head for the waterfront.


Some obelisk we passed.

This gold-domed building is City Hall. I’m definitely going to remember this street if I ever have a DeLorean and need to go back in time. It looks perfect. Just enough room to get up to 88mph, clock right where it needs to be, lightning rod at the top of the dome -- check, check, and check.

Here’s Vic’s, across the way.

Cool little footbridge.

Yep, this looks like the place.

We were seated toward the back, next to a window overlooking the Savannah River. The place was almost empty.

They started us out with some biscuits and marmalade. Itchy gitchy ya ya da da. Sorry, I can’t say “marmalade” without that song popping into my head. Anyway, they really only started me out, since they’re nothing but gluten, but hey, I was in heaven.

These were nice and flaky, and reminded me of biscuits my mom makes.


While we waited for our next course, I got a better look at something behind me on the wall that was really, really cool -- a Civil War map, drawn on the wall.

This plaque gives you the whole story.

It was so cool that this hand-drawn map had survived all the years since the Civil War, and was right there in front of us. A good bit of history occurred right on this very spot…where I was about to have lunch.

I ordered an appetizer that was really to settle a curiosity -- fried green tomatoes. I tried making these myself one time, but had no way of knowing if mine tasted anything like they’re supposed to taste. I can’t remember mine anymore, but these were good. The presentation was definitely way better than mine.

I thought about threatening to send them back because they weren’t ripe. I’m sure they’ve never heard that one before.


For an entrée, we both ordered the shrimp and grits. I think when we were ordering, I selected that and the waitress told Judy that she could have that also, as it was a gluten-free dish.

It was delish. Judy really liked it, and she’s not a grits person, so that’s saying something.

This is Judy’s bowl after she finished. I think she liked them.

This was the view of the Savannah River we had as we dined.

Here we are, with some Instagram filters applied. Oh, you can see our Old Town Trolley stickers on our shirts.

The unfiltered photo.

continued in next post

 

[glennbo123]

continued from previous post


We left Vic’s and felt like walking off some of that food. We walked west along the waterfront, and then turned south and came to these fountains. It was such a hot day, these were very tempting.

We walked past these, to the street beyond the guy in the picture pushing a stroller. That street had a bunch of shops that we browsed a little, and there was a bar that reminded me that the U.S. was in a World Cup game at the moment, as a bunch of people were watching it. I had completely forgotten.


We found a trolley stop and waited to board. We were ready to ride for a while.


A nice statue. Savannah has a lot of squares like this, with a statue or obelisk, and of course, beautiful Spanish Moss-laden trees.

Although, we also noticed (especially back near the Visitor’s Center) that there could be a strange juxtaposition between a beautiful mossy-tree-filled park at one intersection and a McDonald’s or some other commercial-type building at the next. While quaint in spots, Savannah is still a fairly industrial, working city.


I thought this house looked nice. Apparently -- I can’t remember why I took a picture of it. I was wondering if it was the first Girl Scouts Headquarters, which we saw on the tour, but this isn’t it.

I took a picture of this obelisk, commemorating Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski, because we have the Pulaski Highway near us, in Delaware. It’s a little hard to take decent pictures out of the window of the moving trolley though.

A nice brick house out the bus window. We had a palm tree like that one in our front yard when we lived in North Carolina. The similarity ends there though!

Another nice park.

I like how this stutue picture turned out. I can’t believe that I was able to keep the statue sharp, considering that we were moving.

This was a big park we drove around.

I have a few notes of things we learned on the tour that don’t really correspond to any particular picture in this chapter, so I’ll just list them:


The Savannah River was originally 12 feet deep, but now it’s been dredged and can accommodate almost any ship.


We passed a church that was part of the Underground Railroad. It had a false floor with breathing holes drilled in, and another floor 4 feet below.


The oak trees are called “live oaks” (like Hilton Head Resort’s “Live Oak Lodge”) because they keep green leaves year-round.


We passed a cemetery where northern soldiers had camped during the Civil War. They were a little mischievous, and changed a lot of the gravestones. The tour guide said, “Now we have graves of 800 year old people. Sons born before dads. Men with girls’ names, etc.”


I also noted that I got tired of this particular tour guide’s sing-song melody in her delivery.


Anyway, back to pictures. You know, taking pictures of mossy trees never gets old.

What a beautiful house this was. Reminds me of my Auntie Bellum’s.

There were lots of stops where we could’ve gotten out and explored on foot or gone into a church or other place of interest, but we decided to just ride it out. But it was sooo hot, we were tempted to find a place with some A/C.


Another very inviting park.

I was a little slow in getting the camera out for this picture. I was trying to get “The Shawshank Redemption” on the marquee. We love that movie, but joke about how it seems to always be on tv!

We got closer to the waterfront again, and here’s a picture of an alley with footbridges overhead, like we crossed going to Vic’s.

Then we passed a famous Savannah landmark -- the Waving Girl statue.

You can read a little bit about it on this wikipedia page on Florence Martus. I remember that the trolley driver tried to play up the angle that she was waving to ships in hopes that one would contain a beloved sailor from her youth, but I don’t know that that’s true. I mean, what sailor would leave a girl in port?


“The sailor said ‘Brandy, you’re a fine girl. What a good wife you would be. But my life, my love, and my lady is the sea.’”


But I digress. With a song from the 70’s, yet again.

We rode the trolley back to the Visitor’s Center. It was mid-afternoon, and we were “done”. Hot, tired, thirsty, and toured-out.


I took a picture of what the trolley buses look like for you.

We got back in our car and each guzzled a water bottle that had been frozen when we got there that morning. Then we headed back toward “home”.


Judy took this picture of Savannah from the bridge, as we headed out of town. You can see the riverboat that was outside our window at Vic’s, and the gold dome of City Hall.

All in all, Savannah was a nice city to tour. It has more than its share of history and beautiful parks and landmarks. But now that I’ve done it, I don’t need to go again next time. I’ll be happy with more beach time or visiting sites a little closer to Hilton Head.



Up next: Bluffton Farmer's Market and more sunset pictures
Link to next chapter

 

[jedijill]

You didn't go see the Forrest Gump bench? You just have to go back to Savannah now! Seriously, looks like a fun day! Savannah is a beautiful city...too bad Paula didn't have more GF dishes but Vic's looked amazing!

Jill in CO

 

[MEK]

That is exactly what I had at Vic's and I could eat those shrimp and grits and fried green tomatoes every day for the rest of my life. Ok - maybe I am exagerating, but I see that Judy agrees with me on the shrimp and grits! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!

Love the view. I am feeling nostalgic for Savannah. I want to go back. Waaaaah! I love that town. The second time I went I totally skipped the trolley ride and just walked.

What? No side trip to Tybee?

Sounds like a lovely afternoon. Sorry you guys had to walk out of Lady and Sons. I heard its hard to get a table, but maybe not anymore.

Great update!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Breakfast was pretty unexciting, but I was bound and determined to keep up with the food photos on this trip, especially the in-suite ones.

We admire the dedication. That is one impressive bowl of cereal.

It was off to my left and appeared to be well-stocked with fried chicken and mashed potatoes and all of the southern comfort foods that you would expect from Paula.

Well, that would be all I needed to see in order to sit down.

The attendant at the elevator asked if we were leaving because of the gluten-free options (or nearly-lack thereof), and he seemed to understand.

D'oh! That does seem like a crappy list.

This gold-domed building is City Hall. I’m definitely going to remember this street if I ever have a DeLorean and need to go back in time. It looks perfect. Just enough room to get up to 88mph, clock right where it needs to be, lightning rod at the top of the dome -- check, check, and check.

Save the clock tower! Save the clock tower!

It does seem to fit those requirements perfectly. When that baby hits 88 mph, I expect to see some serious @#$%.

Anyway, they really only started me out, since they’re nothing but gluten, but hey, I was in heaven.

for gluten! Er, sorry Judy.

It was so cool that this hand-drawn map had survived all the years since the Civil War, and was right there in front of us.

Very, very cool!

I ordered an appetizer that was really to settle a curiosity -- fried green tomatoes. I tried making these myself one time, but had no way of knowing if mine tasted anything like they’re supposed to taste. I can’t remember mine anymore, but these were good. The presentation was definitely way better than mine.

Julie loves these. I am...less fond.

It was delish. Judy really liked it, and she’s not a grits person, so that’s saying something.

Are these magic grits? Do the laws of physics cease to apply on your stove?

That street had a bunch of shops that we browsed a little, and there was a bar that reminded me that the U.S. was in a World Cup game at the moment, as a bunch of people were watching it. I had completely forgotten.

It's ok. Most of the rest of us have, too.

I took a picture of this obelisk, commemorating Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski, because we have the Pulaski Highway near us, in Delaware.

Delaware highways shout out!

We passed a church that was part of the Underground Railroad. It had a false floor with breathing holes drilled in, and another floor 4 feet below.

Also very cool.

They were a little mischievous, and changed a lot of the gravestones. The tour guide said, “Now we have graves of 800 year old people. Sons born before dads. Men with girls’ names, etc.”

Uh oh. This sounds like the kind of thing that could get you into real trouble.

I was trying to get “The Shawshank Redemption” on the marquee. We love that movie, but joke about how it seems to always be on tv!

True! And I always stop what I'm doing and watch it!

We got back in our car and each guzzled a water bottle that had been frozen when we got there that morning. Then we headed back toward “home”.

Total veteran move right there.

All in all, Savannah was a nice city to tour. It has more than its share of history and beautiful parks and landmarks. But now that I’ve done it, I don’t need to go again next time. I’ll be happy with more beach time or visiting sites a little closer to Hilton Head.

I agree. I always feel like a stick in the mud when someone raves about Savannah, but I remember after visiting just thinking, "That's it?" It's a beautiful city with a nice southern feel to it, but I much preferred Charleston, because I felt like there was a lot more to do there.

 

[afwdwfan]

But first...a wise man once said that you can never take too many mossy-tree pictures.

So I hear.

Standing in the doorway waiting to be seated, I could see that the buffet was the big seller here. It was off to my left and appeared to be well-stocked with fried chicken and mashed potatoes and all of the southern comfort foods that you would expect from Paula.

Wow... I can only imagine the conflict going on inside you when the lack of gluten free options was exposed. I mean I'm sure you wanted to do the right thing for your wife. But leaving all that good, beautiful, delicious food that you had just walked past. Just brutal!

The attendant at the elevator asked if we were leaving because of the gluten-free options (or nearly-lack thereof), and he seemed to understand.

Wow. You'd really think that they would have a lot more options there!

I’m definitely going to remember this street if I ever have a DeLorean and need to go back in time. It looks perfect. Just enough room to get up to 88mph, clock right where it needs to be, lightning rod at the top of the dome -- check, check, and check.

Oh my gosh!!!! You're right!!!!

They started us out with some biscuits and marmalade. Itchy gitchy ya ya da da. Sorry, I can’t say “marmalade” without that song popping into my head.

... and now it is in my head. Thanks.

It was so cool that this hand-drawn map had survived all the years since the Civil War, and was right there in front of us. A good bit of history occurred right on this very spot…where I was about to have lunch.

Wow. That's really cool. And I'm sure the path of destruction you left through the south as you ate your lunch was only slightly less impressive than the destruction left by Sherman.

beautiful Spanish Moss-laden trees.

I hear you can never get enough pictures of them.

Anyway, back to pictures. You know, taking pictures of mossy trees never gets old.

See...

I was a little slow in getting the camera out for this picture. I was trying to get “The Shawshank Redemption” on the marquee. We love that movie, but joke about how it seems to always be on tv!

The theater owner has excellent taste in movies though. The Shawshank Redemption and Top Gun.... I could hang out there for a few hours.

But I digress. With a song from the 70’s, yet again.

 

[glennbo123]

You didn't go see the Forrest Gump bench? You just have to go back to Savannah now!

So that explains that pesky feather we saw floating around! Actually no, I didn't remember to look it up. But I saw it in a movie once!

Seriously, looks like a fun day! Savannah is a beautiful city...too bad Paula didn't have more GF dishes but Vic's looked amazing!

It was a nice little day trip. Vic's was a good choice and it sure looked like they could use our business more than Paula's place.

That is exactly what I had at Vic's and I could eat those shrimp and grits and fried green tomatoes every day for the rest of my life. Ok - maybe I am exagerating, but I see that Judy agrees with me on the shrimp and grits! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!

That's too funny -- I did not remember that that's what you ordered also! But seriously, thanks for the recommendation...you're two for two!!

Love the view. I am feeling nostalgic for Savannah. I want to go back. Waaaaah! I love that town. The second time I went I totally skipped the trolley ride and just walked.

Skip the trolley and miss that sing-songy canned delivery?

What? No side trip to Tybee?

No, maybe another time. We'll only be at HHI a couple of days this summer, so I'm not sure that I'll fit it in then either. But one of these days!

Sounds like a lovely afternoon. Sorry you guys had to walk out of Lady and Sons. I heard its hard to get a table, but maybe not anymore.

Great update!

We were sorry we had to leave too, but Judy's options weren't getting her too excited to eat there.

The upper floor that they took us to was only about half-full, I'd say. But it might have been a little early for the lunch rush.

 

[glennbo123]

We admire the dedication. That is one impressive bowl of cereal.

A picture says a thousand words. I can't get much more than "cereal", "bowl", and "spoon" out of that one, but there's gotta be 997 more.

Well, that would be all I needed to see in order to sit down.

They don't like it when you block the doorway like that. Fire codes and everything.

D'oh! That does seem like a crappy list.

Not too inspired.

Save the clock tower! Save the clock tower!

It does seem to fit those requirements perfectly. When that baby hits 88 mph, I expect to see some serious @#$%.

Very, very cool!

I thought you'd like that Civil War map.

Julie loves these. I am...less fond.

You probably like your tomatoes ripe, with some lettuce and BACON, maybe?

Are these magic grits? Do the laws of physics cease to apply on your stove?

They ceased to apply on Vic's stove, I guess!

It's ok. Most of the rest of us have, too.

Hey, we've got our own version of "football" and no other country has beaten us at it yet! And someday, we might even invite them to play.

Delaware highways shout out!

All the makings of phenomenal trip report!

Uh oh. This sounds like the kind of thing that could get you into real trouble.

I'm sure those guys paid dearly for their tomfoolery! And come to think of it, that was one of the names on the gravestones -- Tom Foolery.

True! And I always stop what I'm doing and watch it!

Get busy livin', or get busy watching Shawshank one more time.

Total veteran move right there.

Yes, and I happily take complete credit for my wife's idea to do that.

I agree. I always feel like a stick in the mud when someone raves about Savannah, but I remember after visiting just thinking, "That's it?" It's a beautiful city with a nice southern feel to it, but I much preferred Charleston, because I felt like there was a lot more to do there.

We stopped in Charleston on the way home...

 

[glennbo123]

So I hear.

The word's getting out!

Wow... I can only imagine the conflict going on inside you when the lack of gluten free options was exposed. I mean I'm sure you wanted to do the right thing for your wife. But leaving all that good, beautiful, delicious food that you had just walked past. Just brutal!

The one thing that saved me was that it was still early, so I hadn't worked up a huge appetite yet. If it had been later, I'm sure I would've been like, "I'm sure you can find something to eat!"

Wow. You'd really think that they would have a lot more options there!

Yeah, a little lame. I don't think Judy was the first gluten-free person to head out as fast as she came in.

Oh my gosh!!!! You're right!!!!

That's all I could think of when I looked at the picture.

... and now it is in my head. Thanks.

You're welcome!

Wow. That's really cool. And I'm sure the path of destruction you left through the south as you ate your lunch was only slightly less impressive than the destruction left by Sherman.

I left only crumbs!

I hear you can never get enough pictures of them.


See...

I feel sorry for the people who have to drape that Spanish Moss on 'em.

The theater owner has excellent taste in movies though. The Shawshank Redemption and Top Gun.... I could hang out there for a few hours.

Two of the best!

I think one earworm negates another. I hope. For your sake.

 

[KatMark]

Thank you for the picture of your breakfast.

One must never leave out food porn.

I'd skip the fried green tomatos , but the shrimp (even with the grits) sounds heavenly.

I'm so glad you found a place for you and Judy to eat that would work for her. It's too bad that the first place didn't work out.

I've always wanted to go to Savannah and so happy to see all of your pictures.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Seriously Glenn. All these people going to great lengths to photograph Mickey Waffles and other assorted items. But none can compare to a shot of Cornflakes.

a wise man once said that you can never take too many mossy-tree pictures.

Odd. I don't even remember saying that. But I do agree.

Wow, the Underground Railroad. Not much else I can say about that. That is pretty impactful.