12/3/2013

weekly update 12/2//2013

It took me all day long on Monday, but I cleaned the condo. I was getting ready for Allen's visit, and I didn't want him to be put off by the dust and dirt around here, so I really worked hard. I won't have to do that again for a while.

Because the weather in New York was bad on Tuesday, Allen got a late start from Albany. His plane was delayed for about 2 hours before it took off, which meant, of course, that he missed his connection in Atlanta. It still wasn't too bad, as he arrived only a couple hours off schedule. It was raining in Savannah when he touched down, so the welcome to the sunny south was delayed, too. It was cold by Savannah standards for most of his visit, but I think he believed it was positively tropical compared to reports of what was going on in New York. We didn't do much on Tuesday - a late lunch at my favorite hamburg place and then visiting and getting caught up at my condo.

Wednesday we spent in Savannah. We had wanted to visit Temple Mickve, but since Chanukah had just begun, there were no tours. We did get to the Mercer Williams House, and we had a good tour there. That was amazing because I've never had a good tour there, but this docent was very good. We then toured Massie school because there's a lot of info there about historic Savannah. As we were going back toward the car, I thought the line at Mrs Wilke's Boarding House didn't look too bad (the line is almost always to the corner of the street), so we joined the crowd and waited for ONLY 90 minutes to get in. As always, it was worth the wait. This is southern comfort food at it's finest, and I'm glad I had a chance to get Allen in there. With very full bellies and ready for naps, we walked to the Telfair Museum to try to rejuvenate a little. Allen liked the art gallery at the Telfair, so we also went to the Jepson, which is right next to the Telfair. We were there within an hour of closing, so we didn't get to linger; we saw everything there was to see, however. We had parked the car near Forsyth Park, because I'm too cheap to feed meters and it's free that far south, so we had a chance to get a couple of photos by the fountain. Then back to the condo for and evening of visiting and tv. 

Mercer Williams House

at the fountain in Forsyth Park

 

Thursday was turkey day, and I had planned to do nothing except sit in front of the tv and watch the NFL games. And that's what we did. We did have to go out in the morning to pickup the turkey dinners that I had ordered from the gourmet take out place not far from the condo. They were excellent! There was way too much food: both white and dark meat turkey, cornbread and herb stuffings, whole cranberry sauce, corn, green bean casserole, real whipped potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, and two kinds of pie. The only thing missing was the aroma of a turkey roasting. The Lions and the Ravens games had outcomes I liked, but I wish the 'Boys could have lost. I was most thankful to be spending the holiday with Allen. Additionally, I'm thankful that the Bills season is almost over and that they're a young team, so the hopes for next year are high. 

turkey dinners at the condo

 

 

We got up on Friday and drove to Beaufort, SC. Beaufort is a historic city just across the Savannah River from Georgia, and although it wasn't going to be warm (by southern standards anyway), the day was promised to be sunny. We took a horse carriage tour, then walked around a little. There is some wonderful antebellum architecture because before the Civil War, Beaufort was a very wealthy town. It was occupied by Northern soldiers for nearly all of the war, and was a strategic blockade port. After a nice lunch at a restaurant that used to be a hardware store and had a lot of interesting flags and pennants on the walls (Colgate? Hamilton? these aren't southern universities, are they?) we took a boat tour in the inter-coastal waterway. We saw a few dolphins, so that was cool. We spent the whole day there, so there was nothing else to do but return to the condo and eat leftovers in the evening.

our horse carriage ride

just an artsy-fartsy photo taken from the boat ride

Saturday was a day of Nothing Working Right, from the ceiling light in the kitchen, to the computer. So I was my usual pissy self - poor Allen. But we cheered up in the afternoon when we went to Coach's to watch some of the college games. There were some good games with the SEC that we were interested in. When we got there, a booth was open (that never happens on NFL Sundays), so we sat there and asked if they could change the channel of our tv to the Syracuse game. We watched that, while Auburn and UGA were on the big monitors over the bar. What amazing finishes for all those games! And the crowd went wild when UGA and Auburn won. Lisa joined us so she got to meet Allen. It was after 7 by the time the games were over, so I decided that trying to drive downtown, finding a place to park and then walking to the Riverfront to see the lighted boat parade wasn't going to happen. We just went back to the condo. (I guess I didn't get any pictures at Coach's - too busy watching the great games and eating wings).

Sunday we got up and went to church. I never go to church, but on the few occasions when I have been, I've gone to Wesley Monumental Church. Savannah has a history of Methodism, and this is a historic church, plus the architecture is grand. As my luck would have it, not only was it a baptism Sunday (the baby's name was Matilda! who names their baby that?), but it was also communion. It was a nice quiet way to spend time with Allen, however, so I'm glad we went. Since it was almost kickoff time when we got out of church, we went over to City Market. We'd already done Coach's, so we went to watch at Wild Wings, a sports bar in CM. We sat out on the porch and watched the games on the monitors and also listened to some live music that was playing. Since we were at CM, we went into some souvenir shops so Allen could find some things to buy for friends up north. Both the Bills and the Chiefs were playing in the 4 pm games, and they were both going to be televised on network stations (and I still had leftovers to try to foist off on Allen), so we watched the late games at the condo. Both teams let early leads evaporate, and that was disheartening. After the excitement of the college games on Saturday, the NFL was a let down. 

at

  at Wild Wings at City Market

 

Monday was to be our last full day together. We began by driving out to Tybee Island. We'd done a lot of that the last time Allen visited - the Lighthouse, the Crab Shack, the beach - but we went out anyway. We walked out on the pier where a dolphin was entertaining the few people who were watching by swimming around close to the dock. We went into a few more souvenir shops. We drove around to look at some of the homes and cottages on the island. Then we went to the Historic Savannah district again. It was nice enough to put the top down on the convertible, and Allen doesn't get any chances to do that in New York in December, so that was a treat. We went to the Civil Rights museum, which is closed on Mondays. When that didn't work out, we went down to River Street to sip suds along the river and people watch. It's not tourist season any longer, so the people watching wasn't that good. We met a friend from Bonaventure Cemetery who has just been licensed to give tours at Laurel Grove Cemetery late in the afternoon, and he gave us a nice walk around the historic cemetery on the west side of the the City. Donna joined us for that, and I was glad because I was afraid that she might not get a chance to meet Allen while he was here. The three of us went to a German Restaurant that I hadn't even know about until Allen mentioned it. Then back to the condo for an evening of MNF and packing to get ready to return to the reality of Albany for Allen. 

 people watching on river Street

 

the memorable statue of Silence, who guards the Confederate Soldiers' plot at Laurel Grove North

I had hoped that Allen and I might decorate my condo for Christmas while he was here, but when the string of lights didn't work, that didn't happen. He brought me two new Bills' t-shirts from New York (I needed those, as you can't find Bills apparel in Georgia) and a calendar with photos of historic Rochester (which I like very much, as I'm up to my eyeballs in historic Savannah photos, but not so much of Rochester). Lisa also left a package with me before she left to spend December in Wales. I have all those things (except the new shirt that I wore on Sunday) scattered beneath Audrey. If I get to Walmart for a new string of lights, I may deocrate her for the holidays. Audrey could become my Christmas Tree.

We didn't have much time on Tuesday before we had to leave for the airport. We sat there with some coffees while realizing that we would miss each other greatly. It was so great to have Allen visit. He's very easy to entertain and doesn't seem to mind that I cook nothing. I watched him go through the security checks, and when I could no longer see his red UGA cap, I turned to leave the airport. It was lonely in my little car for the ride back to the condo.

And now - let the laundry begin!