Have shiny red Prius. Will travel.

ROADTRIP!!!

We are heading into day 4 of Summer Vacation 2011.  All family members are accounted for, there has been no significant blood loss, and we still have all four tires.  So far so good!!

We  headed out on Saturday morning armed with gluten-free doughnuts, a play list full of good driving music, and high hopes for a lucrative license plate game ($1 per state -- we're such high rollers!).  The kids did great, with the exception of a brief (but intense!) sob-fest as Zoe realized Ean's height gave him a significant edge when it came to spotting plates.  Another plight of the youngest sibling.

Rich apparently thought this year's vacation would be a good opportunity to gain 20-lbs (each!) and raise our LDL cholesterol:  before we left, he mapped out all of the Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives restaurants on our route.  We stopped at a place called Southern Soul on Tybee Island, GA.  I will probably forgive him for the 10 years he took off my life, because I have never tasted such succulent swine in my life.  Seriously?  I would sell my liver for those ribs -- and ya'll know how much I love my liver.

We made it to Savannah on Saturday afternoon, too late for any of the tours but just in time for Rich to do something horrific to his back.  Despite the nausea-inducing pain, we headed downtown where we wandered/hobbled around a bit.  We saw a wine tasting in progress and tasted the most shockingly horrible wine ever fermented.  The look on my face was so extreme the proprietor didn't even charge us. 

Then it rained.  Really, really rained.  Buckets.  We headed into a kitchy-artsy store to wait it out.  Zoe picked up a big sparkly pink necklace and then proceeded to drop it on the tile floor.  It broke (of course it did!) and we fleetingly considered shoving back on the shelf and slipping out of the store.  Poor Zoe was devastated as we brought it up to the cashier and offered to pay for it (they sweetly declined) and sob-fest number 2 commenced as soon as we left the store with promises never to return.

Feeling tired, sore (poor Rich) and a little thwarted, we slipped into a small restaurant for some dinner (Paula Dean's was booked and we were all rain-soaked - did I mention I was wearing a white cotton dress during the deluge?).   Our meal was inedible, but we had some wine so it wasn't a total loss.  Not wanted to tempt fate with another attempt at an activity, we headed back to the hotel where Rich and I sat in the hot tub, the kids swam and we all headed to bed early.

Some Savannah:

 

We got up early on Sunday morning, thinking we could see a little of Savannah before we headed out to Charleston.  Specifically, we wanted to bring the kids to see the synagogue because it is the only gothic-style synagogue in the country (world?).  We figured they'd be open for tours on a Sunday morning, but because our time in Savannah was decidedly Griswald-esque, it was closed.  At that point we decided to just cut our losses and head to Charleston.

Charleston was wonderful!  We stayed at the Marriott in the historic district, where we met the best concierge in the country (he might be in the market for a new job though -- and I'm SO SORRY, Kevin).  He directed us to a great place for lunch and then mapped at a tour of the city that included a lot of walking, along with a horse-drawn carriage ride/history lesson.  One of his must-sees was the inside of a catholic cathedral.  He shared with us that his neighbor was the organist for the cathedral and that his neighbor said that he could tell guests that there was a secret elevator that we could use to a get to a balcony inside the cathedral.  I got all that information, but apparently missed the part where he stressed the importance of discretion.  We got there and there were a few people in the sanctuary, right near the elevator.  Rich, who did NOT miss the plea for discretion, was giving me all sorts of bug eyes as I started to explain that Kevin and the organist TOLD US WE COULD USE THE ELEVATOR AND EVEN GAVE US THE SECRET INSTRUCTIONS!!!  I was looking at Rich wondering what the hell was wrong with him and his goofy bug eyes, and he was looking at me wondering why I was throwing our super-nice concierge under the bus. Rich shuffled outside with Zoe in tow and I somehow managed to convince the church-people to let Ean and I use the elevator. 

After, of course, I supplied them with the name of our hotel and conceiarge. Oops.

Here's some of Charleston (including a nice shot from the church balcony).  It is,, by far, the most charming city I have ever visited:

We left Charleston and headed to Asheville -- stopping at another Triple D place along with way (Pawylee's Front Porch).  It was just eh.  Our cabin though -- is not eh!  Here's our view:

Nice!!!

We're here until Sunday morning and will be visiting the Biltmore, doing lots of hiking (and probably lots of eating!), and some general poking around.

The kids have declared this the "best vacation ever".  Can't beat that!

 

Comments

[meg wilson]

Oh Tricia, I wish I would have gotten all the details from your and Rich's research before you left -- we are driving on our annual pilgrimage North too -- leaving Fri morning and am admittedly completely unprepared -- anyway you can zap me Richs list of hot spot diners and your places to see -- sounds like we are taking a similar route -- if not, no prob, i know you're on vaca and not on a rescue doug and megan mission -- continue to have safe and happy travels!!!

[Paula]

If you head home by way of Charleston, there's a really cool hot dog place north of Charleston, on Hwy. 17 N. called Jack's Cosmic Dogs. Really funky and fun. Check out their website. Sounds like a great (and memorable!) trip so far. Have a great time and a safe trip!

[boracay resort]

Did I just see the map of the Philippines in the first pic?:) hmmm. anyway, everything looks so fantastic. Hope you guys had fun.

[youth hostels beijing]

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