Chapter 15
Bye bye Disney, hello Savannah!
Well, today was the day! The sad, sad day that we were leaving Disney World. Awwww. But really, I think we felt much sadder the night before, when we were actually leaving a park for the last time! That morning, it was really more of a rush than anything else! No time for sadness!
I think we woke up a bit late that morning about 9am. Wed planned to grab some breakfast at Pop on the way out, but after we did our last minute packing, and said goodbye to our hotel room, we really only had 10 minutes in the Pop food court before the cab was due to arrive. So DF found a seat while I stood in the line. I ended up grabbing a breakfast platter with a waffle and some bacon. Lucky we only had 5 minutes to eat it, because ewwww, it was seriously bad. The waffle was soggy on the bottom, and the bacon wasnt bacon, it was just cooked fat.
I think we had about two bites, before I quickly ran back to the food court, and used up all our remaining snack vouchers on cheese popcorn to take with us on the train! Weeee!
We certainly werent sad that we hadnt eaten at Pop food court before this!! Maybe the dinners are better, but
ew. We sped out of the Pop food court, and waited for our cab in front of the lobby area at Pop. Our train wasnt due to leave til 12.50, but we wanted to get there early, since we had no idea how far away the station was, or how early youre meant to be at a train station to catch your train!
So our cab arrived, and we said goodbye to Disney World! Booo!
We also said goodbye to Disney hospitality, because our cab driver was the grumpiest person ever. He didnt speak, he grunted. Heh. Whatever! The cab ride only took about 20 minutes, which meant we arrived at the Orlando train station about 2 hours before our train was due to leave! Eeek!
As soon as we walked into the train station, we felt like wed stepped back in time. Heh, seriously. Are all train stations like that? Or just Orlando!? It was a wee bit scary actually. There was only the two of us in the whole station, plus a homeless guy, plus a scary looking dude who kept pacing back and forth, muttering to himself. It really was Goodbye Disney World!
After two hours of gripping onto our luggage tightly, the train finally arrived. And
wow! It was great! We had two seats next to each other, which were SO spacious! We could put our legs fully up, and still not touch the chair in front of us! Plus, you could stretch them right back, so we were almost lying down! Yay! We both slept for about 3 hours straight! There were a few strange people on the train, but apart from that, it was great! Much nicer than being squashed into an airplane seat! We really enjoyed watching the little towns that we whizzed through
we actually saw some small-town America! We also really enjoyed the cheeseburgers from the train café. Hehee! Seriously, they were great!
All up, the train trip took around 6 hours. Admittedly, by the end of it, we were muttering to ourselves, A flight would have only taken an hour! but hey. It was an experience! And yayyy! Wed arrived in Savannah! As soon as we stepped off the train, we collected our luggage, and looked around for a cab to take us to our hotel. A strange guy came right up to us and said, Do you need a taxi? We were both a bit unsure of what to say, since wed heard horror stories of people claiming to be taxi drivers who just like to rip people off. But we hesitantly said that yes, we needed a taxi, and he grabbed our luggage and chucked them in the back of his car! Eeep! To cut a long story short, he was a legitimate taxi driver he had the ID and everything but I think thats just how Savannah works! Its all very laid back and friendly we felt bad for thinking the worst!!
He drove us straight to the Bed & Breakfast where we were staying, via some very scary looking areas! DF and I looked at each other in the back seat and whispered, I hope all of Savannah isnt like this! But... phew! Once we got into the centre of town near our B&B, the Savannah we imagined was there. Beautiful old houses, town squares, amazing lush green hanging trees
yay! He told us then Dont leave the Historic District of Savannah, unless you want your wallets stolen. Yowza!
That may have been an exaggeration on his part, but we followed his advice anyway!
So some of you might be wondering (but probably not)
Why Savannah?! Apart from Savannah, everywhere else we were going was a major city. That was part of the reason to see somewhere that wasnt a major city but mainly, it was my idea, all because of a movie. Well, a book, really. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I watched the movie when I was 16, because I had a crush on Jude Law, and also liked Kevin Spacey and John Cusack. When I first watched the movie, I absolutely adored it, and just really liked the look of Savannah, and was intrigued by the real-life stories surrounding the movie. I read the book it was based on later, and grew even more intrigued! So yep, we were going to Savannah because of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. If you havent seen the movie, go rent it! Or read the book, whichever you prefer!
This is turning into a really long chapter! Sorry!
We stayed at a very cute little B&B in the historic district. Tridging all our luggage up the tiny staircases werent much fun, but we LOVED the place. Here I am, on the gorgeous (and really comfy!) 4 poster bed in our room
After we arrived, we had a look at a few maps wed been given from the owner of the B&B, and went for a little walk to a nearby market to buy some fresh sandwiches for dinner. Yum! We had an early night after that, after a big day of traveling!
The next morning we had a big sleep-in, until 10.30! Yayy! After such a hectic, busy week at Disney World, it was so nice to be in quiet, slow-paced Savannah. Even the toilet flushed slowly! Really! We went for a walk that morning around some of the beautiful old Savannah squares, and to Forsyth Park, where this gorgeous fountain is
(Apparently every St Patricks Day, they put green food dye in that fountain, so the water is green! How cute!
)
Savannah was definitely the most beautiful place we went to in America. It might even be the most beautiful place Ive been, ever! It was all so charming the friendly locals, the cobblestone walkways, the old houses
everything! The whole place has such a calm, friendly vibe to it, but with an added bonus that every place you went, had a quirky historical story behind it. We just loved it!
Heres one of the lovely town squares, like where Forrest Gump was filmed! I just loved all the hanging moss, like out of a ghost story. So pretty!
For lunch, we wandered to Lady and Sons which is Paula Deens restaurant. That might mean more to you than it did to us apparently she has her own tv show and cookbooks? We had the best southern fried chicken ever there!! Yum!
That afternoon, we went on an old-fashioned paddle boat down the Savannah river. Nice!
We heard lots of great old stories of local Savannah people, who now still hang around in the form of ghosts, of course! Seriously, if you didnt believe in ghosts before you went to Savannah, you would when you left! Heres DF enjoying the sunshine on the boat
Dinner that night was at a cute little English pub, where we had some great drinks and a delicious chicken pot pie! Southern food is great! Well, except for those southern greens from 50s Prime Time. Ew. We followed our lovely dinner with a quiet night in at the B&B. Life in Savannah is great!!
The next day was my big day
a tour of the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil sights! Weee! Our bus driver for the tour was fantastic shed lived in Savannah all her life, and seemed to know absolutely everything about it. So not only did we see all the famous sights from the book / movie, we heard all about the history of Savannah and its people! Yay!
Heres the house where it all happened in Midnight the Mercer house, which was bought by Jim Williams, who had lots of big expensive parties, and later killed his gay lover inside the house. Yowza! Jim Williams died a few years later some say he killed himself, some say he had a heart attack, some say the ghost of his lover killed him, and some say he died of AIDS. Ohhh, the mystery! This house was literally around the corner from where we were staying I may or may not have chosen our B&B because of that.
Hehee.
In the Midnight tour, we also went to the creepy old cemetery where a lot of the action took place in the book / movie. It may sound strange, but we loved this place. I suppose most cemeteries do, but it had such a strong, spooky vibe about it. Like you could turn around and come face to face with a little ghost. Hehee. Plus it really was very pretty.
One quick story
during the tour, our tour guide showed us one particular haunted house, and said that if you take a photo of the house, your camera battery will immediately go flat. I half-believe in all that stuff, so I didnt want to take a photo, in case my camera died!
And nobody else in our tour wanted to risk it either, so we didnt get to test her theory, until
Later that night we went on a Ghost story tour in the dark, on a horse-drawn carriage. It was fun, and we werent taking it too seriously, except guess what! We went past that same old house, and a lady sitting opposite us took a photo of it, and then said to her son, Charlie, I charged my batteries before we left, didnt I? to which Charlie replied, Yeah Mom, you did. And she said, My batteries just went flat. My camera wont work. Whaaaaat!? Auuuuh!! We told her about what our other tour guide had said, and she totally freaked out. We asked our current tour guide if she knew that story too, and she nonchalantly shrugged and said, Oh yeah. That happens all the time. Sorry, I should have warned you. Seriously. Ghosts or not, something spooky is going on there!
Hehee, back to that afternoon. After the Midnight tour finished, we went to visit the Mercer-Williams house, which is now a museum, and had a tour through there. DF was in awe of all the amazing things inside like candlesticks which used to be owned by George Washington. I was just in awe of being in the actual house. I kept whispering to DF, This is where Jude Law stood when Kevin Spacey shot him! Hehehee.
Aaaanyway. That was our time in Savannah really, because the next day, we were heading to Washington DC! We really wished we could have stayed longer in Savannah. We only allowed 3 nights, but definitely could have stayed a week at least. There was so much to see and do, and so many great stories to hear. It really is just a lovely place, and one of our favourite places of our whole trip! We were definitely sad to be leaving, but looking forward to visiting Washington DC
and dont worry, we were flying this time, not going by train!!
Next up
Museums, landmarks, and anti-George Bush protesters
we must be in Washington!
but I'll get to that shortly!! 
And yep, I agree that Abercrombie & Fitch's clothes are made for teeny little size 0's. I have hips, so I had no hope for their skirts or pants... but I bought a few t-shirts and 2 hoodies, which I love! It doesn't exist in Australia... I'd love to introduce it over her, but in sensible sizes!! 
I think that it has the whole Moulder/Skully sexual tension thing without the "freak out" factor of monsters in the sewer or people under the bed.
