Carol and I were one of the tens of thousands of passengers that Southwest screwed over last week. We intended to go to Kansas City to attend a New Years Eve wedding, see friends, do a few doctors visits, eat good barbecue, etc., etc. All the things you do when you visit ‘home’. Well, thanks Southwest because your failure actually turned out to be a great opportunity.
Once we accepted that we weren’t going to KC and canceling other reservations we had to figure out what we were doing on New Years Eve. Our sons family was doing something with friends already so we were on our own. We’ve been in Enfield, NC for nearly 3 months and we’re itching to go explore. We have some friends that just moved to this area of KC a year ago and they have a newborn so they won’t be doing much, right?
Turns out they were going to Savannah, GA and staying at a VRBO and the friends that were supposed to join them had to cancel at the last minute. Would we want to take their place? You bet! This is the sort of unscripted vacation that I love! So we packed and exchanged vehicles with our son (we’ve been through Savannah last year and a Dodge Ram 3500 dually isn’t an easily parkable thing!) and headed down.
The normally 5 1/2 hour drive turned into a 7 1/2 hour drive and I-95 going through South Carolina was…um…a freaking mess. Note to self don’t take I-95 on a holiday weekend. At one point Apple Maps suggested an alternate route and we got off I-95 to take a parallel route and in less than 10 miles had us get right back on I-95. I was pretty pissed with that because I think we lost thirty minutes in that meaningless process.
Anyway, the Vrbo in Savannah was a just a few blocks from Forsyth Park and is lovely. Savannah is a very walkable city with a ton of city squares parks (one of these parks is where Forest Gump on the park bench was filmed.. From there we were about a mile from the historic riverside district where many of the bars, restaurants, and activities are located.
We did lunch at the Olde Pink House Restaurant. The building was built in 1789 and was originally known as the Habersham House. In 1812 it became the Planters Bank, the first bank in Georgia and since then been many things. The main dining room is huge and you can imagine the balls and dances that must have been held there. The restaurant is known for its “Low Country” cuisine and the service and food was outstanding. I’d highly recommend having a meal there if you can.
New Years Eve Carol and I found a wine bar (208 Wine Bar) that was doing an event. 208 Wine Bar overlooks the river. It was an intimate event with not a lot of people and not a lot of noise! We had some great conversations with some locals, the owners of the bar, and had some really good wine. At midnight the city had a fireworks display to ring in the New Year we watched through the windows. Very enjoyable experience
New Years Day we got up and went to the Wormsloe Historic Site. A walking trail takes you through some beautiful coastal forest to the 1737 remains of the oldest remaining structure in Savannah. The tabby ruins are made of seashells, lime, and other things to create a concrete like structure. The trail takes you by the Jones cemetery and to a scenic overlook of the salt marsh. They have the obligatory visitors center with a movie about the long history of the site, a museum, and gift shop. We enjoyed this immensely as it’s a major change from the New Years Day’s we’ve experienced for many years (movie marathons).
We are sad we didn’t get to see family and friends in Kansas City. We miss them dearly and can’t wait to reschedule and visit. Sorry we didn’t get to experience the memorable wedding.
We got handed some lemons last week and made lemonade. We got to spend time with some new(ish) friends, explore a very cool city, eat some great food, drink some good wine, meet some cool people, and overall did the ‘something completely different’ adventure. I can’t think of anything better.