The Gill Family: September 2022

Savannah, Georgia. The trip that almost never happened. Julie, Sarah and I planned this trip two years ago, intending to go over Labor Day weekend in 2021. Three days before the trip, Graham tested positive for COVID and all plans were off. We delayed to Labor Day 2022, which was almost deferred by my dad becoming suddenly very ill and all of us considering calling the trip off. At the urging of my husband, my mom and even my dad, we decided to go anyway, and it was a much needed recharge with my wonderful friends from MSU.

We stayed right downtown in the historic district.

We were proper tourists and ate at all kinds of fun and delicious restaurants. We started our trip at The Grey, a repurposed 1930s Greyhound Bus station. It was fun and interesting inside, with the most bizarre menu that I still don't quite understand. But the food and drinks were great, the company even better and the ceiling light art installation is worth a stop in if reservations are full. We shut the place down, leaving with the staff that night.

Our trio is notoriously bad at remembering to take pictures, luckily our house was so close that I accidentally ran by the restaurant the next day and got this photo.

This city was so awesome to run in! The mornings were less humid, cooler and had a constant breeze. There was a sidewalk right along the water, and when you ran through the streets, each house was more beautiful than the next!

I took a slight detour and was able to pass right by Juliette Gordon Low's birth home. The founder of Girl Scouts was born, and eventually also passed, in Savannah. There were Girl Scout troops walking through the city and visiting this house throughout the weekend.

The Girl Scout crest is the gate to her home

We walked the city on Saturday, including shopping in City Market, the pedestrian street that runs through the heart of Savannah. There were bachelorette parties aplenty, and the open carry laws keep everyone well lubricated during the day. According to our visit to the American Prohibition Museum Savannah's history with alcohol is long and bumpy, but they seem to get along just fine now.

That night, we ate at Cotton & Rye, another hip, interesting spot. They are known for their desserts, so even after we were all nice and full we had to try their poppyseed lemoncake (meh) and homemade Twix bar (yummm!) desserts.

A ghost tour was a fun extension of our day. We got some spooky pictures, and had a fun ride around town, but no one saw any ghosts in real time. We did get to see some very loud, very inebriated ghost tour patrons, which was entertainment enough for the night. The tour walked us through the married home of Juliette Gordon Low, which is also where she died. It is a museum by day, spooky stop on a ghost tour by night. Go figure.

Brunch at B Matthews was a hit! This corner spot was a recommendation from my parents, and ended up being just one block from our house! Another morning run allowed me to add our name to the dining list early and skip the over TWO HOUR wait by the time we were ready for food.

We jumped back on the trolley for the hop on hop off tour and got to see even more of the city. This police station keeps a car out front reminding people to find a sober ride home. There is a sign out front that simply says "Choose your ride home", clearly a taxi to your house, or a police car to the station.

My favorites!!

Julie and I toured Forsyth Park and the super cool Colonial Park Cemetery. We were even approached by a young girl that couldn't find her mom. We either appear very friendly, or very mom-like, we chose to take it as a compliment.

We finally remembered to photograph our cheers like kids these days do. If only we could figure out the boomerang video feature. These lovely cocktails were the beginning of our dinner at Husk, a lovely restaurant, but definitely better if you are a seafood lover.

We spent our last night together returning to the Olde Pink House. We had a meal here earlier in the trip, and the house itself is a sight to see. We returned to the basement bar that had fun live piano music all night. This nice piano player and a solo traveling woman joined our crew for a final night of stories and updates.