Sunday, September 26, 2010

Familiar Faces.

On Thursday and Friday, Gearry and I were treated to our first guests from home since our arrival. (We met friends who were vacationing on Hilton Head for dinner one evening last month, but these were our first visitors actually in Savannah). It was beyond fantastic to see familiar faces: Veneita, Gary, Chris & Michelle! They were down this way for Chris's half-Ironman race in Augusta (today) and decided they would make a mini-vacay of it, scheduling a couple of days in Savannah for some sight-seeing and hanging out time.

On Thursday evening after I got off of work, Gearry and I met the Apples at their riverfront hotel in the historic district, The Bohemian, which I must say is one of the most uniquely beautiful hotels I have ever been in -- absolutely no expense or detail spared, from the lampshades to the drawer pulls. It was so great to see family! We made the long trek to Cilantro's (literally a one-minute walk across Bay Street) where we ate some delicious Mexican food outside by the fountain, took advantage of 2-for-1 margarita Happy Hour, and laughed long and hard. After dinner, we took a short walk through City Market to stretch our legs and then made our way back to The Bohemian's rooftop and riverfront bar, Rocks on the Roof. It was a full moon and the views of the river and the Talmadge Bridge were breathtaking. We enjoyed a few more drinks and shared lots of stories and memories from growing up. Unfortunately, I had to work bright and early the next morning, so we had to call it a night around 10:00. But, after a long day of traveling (for them) and working (for me and Gearry), a reasonable bedtime didn't sound too bad.

Gearry amazingly had the day off on Friday (he's in between quarters right now, the fall quarter beginning this coming Wednesday) and so even though I had to work all day (not an option to take off since I had just started my long-term sub job a couple days before) he was able to play tourist on Friday and spend the whole day with the Apples. They took a trolley tour of the historic district, checked out some of the historic sites, like the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (gorgeous!), and had lunch at Tubby's Tankhouse on River Street. Later in the day, they headed out to Tybee and checked out the view from the pier. Shortly afterward, I finally finished up at work, did a super quick shower & clothes change routine, and met them for dinner at Marlin Monroe's. We sat outside on the beach deck with a spectacular view of the ocean. In preparation for leaving for Augusta in the morning and after a long day of sight-seeing, everyone was ready to turn in relatively early, so we said goodbye at the restaurant and Gearry and I headed home while the Apples headed back to the Bohemian, where they were treated to an awesome fireworks show over the river before turning in for the night.

Chris took some neat pictures, so hopefully I'll be able to put a few of them up in the near future. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, but it's nice knowing that Thanksgiving is so close and we'll have four days in Indiana to spend time with everyone, and then another 7-10 days at Christmas. LOVE Savannah and we know we made the right decision, but definitely can't wait to see everyone again!

No comments: