Birthday Treat

It Rhymes With Banana

What’s sounds like a broken record?

“You have to go to Savannah”

This is according to every person who knew the state of Georgia. Each one had a raving review. I probably had ten of these before I outlined my itinerary.

Needless to say, I looked into the historic city on the coast (narrating with a Southern accent). And I couldn’t figure out how to swing it… To spare you the details of my pet responsibilities and strategy on mileage, it didn’t look like it was going to happen.

I accepted it as a “maybe next time”

Meanwhile, I’m relaxing with my aunt in the sun room, chatting about potential day trips ie Charlotte, Charleston, Ashville

She looked at me with big eyes and building excitement and says “Let’s go to Savannah!”

Couldn’t believe it.

So we went. :)

The day of, I worked out and hit I-95. Unexpected traffic, but it was fine for me since I had company. I didn’t realize the highway spanned the whole country from top to bottom. Two lanes going North, and two going South. Gets backed up from time to time.

We arrived before check-in, and walked to a Thai restaurant for a birthday lunch. It was delicious. This part of town was under construction and heavy on retail. It was cute and had a diverse group of people. Interestingly enough, I couldn’t tell who was a local and who was a tourist.

One orange masala later:

Birthday food? Check. What’s next?

To keep time rolling, we went to a famous plantation, the Owens-Thomas house. I was hesitant at first, because I didn’t want to confront such a treacherous part of history. But the tour ended up being great. And it saved us from the huge rainstorm that was rolling in and full blast while we were inside.

Who was the tour guide?

We were! The tour was a self-guided audio, and actually really neat. They had a QR code and 15 stations. There was an audio clip for each one, never more than 3 minutes. Our audio cut out half way, but the transcript was available to read. Total time was 45 minutes, and it gave the perfect amount of information to describe the time without sinking your spirits. It’s a great approach for engaging with history.

Another fun fact. A young man at the age of 19 was the architect of the house. He designed it with indoor plumbing, eight years before the White House.

(Wasn’t interested in documenting the house, but here is the garden installed after the ownership was turned over. I’m standing in the house and looking at the stable.)

As a quick aside, Savannah was the only place in GA that outlawed slavery. Some had to hide their enslaved labor. It wasn’t until other events a few decades later that slavery was legalized. That’s partially why I believe people love Savannah. It’s founding held more merit than most.

The man of the hour, James Edward Oglethorpe, set the laws that there would be no enslavement, children would learn to read and write, community washing and cooking was located in town squares, and for the real winners… there’d be no lawyers or Catholicism. (Lawyers promoted too much division and Savannah was the buffer town keeping the Catholic Spainard’s from seizing Northern territories. Couldn’t reflect the same religion as the enemy).

So one more time… Who got there first?

The ultimate question in history. A moment of honesty. Savannah at the time was Spanish territory, but not occupied. We all think we’re clean in our history, but Oglethorpe pulled “You snooze, you loose”. Important to acknowledge the predecessors of the land, and we’ll discuss other moonbeams later.

My aunt and I left the house with a little sprinkle. Thankfully the torrential downpour was over since we lacked an umbrella. We walked back to the hotel to check-in. There we relaxed and my aunt found a close spot for dinner.

A hot spot called repeal 33. And it was hoppin. And definitely date night. It had low lighting, dark wood, an epic jazz dj and was reflective of the prohibition era.

(From the website)

We settled at the bar where all the bar tenders were organizing the chaos of incoming drink orders. Every employee looked like one of their past lives was in a speakeasy. It wasn’t just their suspender uniforms, their own aesthetic echoed the time period.

The cat’s meow as they say

We had a great time watching them work their magic and adored our server. A gal with red lipstick, tattoos, thin cat-eyed glasses and turquoise under her bangs. So lively. The food was great and the atmosphere at the bar was perfect.

Speaking of speakeasies, did someone say fight night?

Yes. But back in Kansas City. I checked with a friend who had a fight that night (boxing). I sent him my good luck GIFs right before weigh-in. He texted me after dinner that he got a KO second round. Told him it was the birthday vibes of our season that got him going. He’s a fellow leo.

Go to sleep like a KO?

Believe it or not, no. For a summer night in Georgia, it was unusually mild. My aunt and I sat on the hotel patio for an hour chatting, before calling it a day.

A brief reflection on generous family, talented friends, rich history, healthy body, sharp mind, dreams to be actualized.

As my mom would say “there you have it” <3

A new place, a new age.

Happy Birthday from Savannah.