July 18th, 2018

Yesterday I jumped ahead to the absolute BEST part of the birthday week mystery trip but honestly, every bit of it was wonderful. So today I'll back up to the beginning.  And remember I had no idea what was about to happen at all. I just knew we were travelling. And there is always a certain amount of prep involved with any trip.

First of all, I had to put on vacation colour polish on my toes.  Generally I wear a colour that isn't too showy and goes with everything. Usually either coral (which honestly goes with everything I own and I have no idea why) or this metallic rose/gold colour which practically matches my skin only shiny.    But a vacation calls for a change.  Before vacation I always find something that is utterly out of character like sky blue or pale yellow with sparkly bits or a jarringly bright orange.  This time it was  bright peony pink.  Not only did it not go with anything I packed but it clashed wildly with my red sandals.  It was perfect :)

Then of course I had to plan meals around what was already in the 'fridge to use it up rather than throw it out.  At the beginning of the week, it's no big deal and meals are not really out of the ordinary.  However as the week goes on, the meals get stranger and stranger until I am practically reduced to serving peanut butter with cornflakes and tap water.  Waste not, want not and all that.

I always feel the need to do a huge house cleaning too.  I'm not sure why it's so important to me, but I want to come home to a very clean house.  Not that it usually isn't  tidy but there are degrees of clean.  There is the "it'll do" level where I am satisfied if nothing is sticky, the house doesn't stink and while it's obvious that people live there, there are no piles of debris stacked around on any of the horizontal surfaces.  Then there is "company clean" where I want everything to fairly gleam with polish and cleanliness.  The house smells of lemon with faint hints of bleach, there are vases of fresh flowers around and nothing is out of place.  When things are "company clean" you know that I have not only cleaned the things you immediately see but even the things you don't usually notice, like light fixtures and the top of the refridgerator.    The" I'm about to travel" clean lies somewhere in the middle.

Then of course there is the laundry.  It must all be done so that A) dirty clothes have not been fermenting while we are away but also B) so we have everything to choose from when packing.  I never know for sure what I'm going to pack until the last minute. Especially on mystery trips.  Obviously if we are flying somewhere I need to edit my choices down to one normally sized suitcase.  However, if we are driving, I can pack that car to the rafters if I so choose.    It was while packing that I learned that this was going to be a driving trip.   Rafters it is!

Tuesday morning bright and early, we jumped in Tim's car and drove to...…..a rental car place.  (?)  I followed Tim who was driving the rental car back home and we loaded up the rental vehicle. Interesting.

It was a very comfortable car and I had my own temperature control for my side so I was happy happy :)  We were on the road and heading...….north!  

If you are going to drive in Florida the first thing you need to know is that Florida is a much larger state than you probably realize.  It takes forfreakinever to get out of this state. But I contented myself with looking out the window, listening to music, working on crossword puzzles and occasionally games on my tablet.  I found this quiz on line:  "55 Things you should know about your partner".   We did very well.  It was fun and interesting and managed to kill about an hour of the drive.  By mid-afternoon we rolled into Savannah!!!!  Our first stop.

I've only been to Savannah once before.  But it was the wintertime, wet, cold, gloomy and much later in the day.  Not a good first glance but I was still interested enough in what little I saw to mention to Tim, at the time, that some day I wanted to return.  Apparently this was the day!

We checked into a funky place called The Bohemian on River Street.  It was lovely and weird with chandeliers made from shells and jeweled light covers and a river view. Gorgeous.

We dropped our stuff in the lovely room with a bang and without another moments hesitation headed out to explore Savannah.  I don't know if you've ever been there. If not, let me see if I can describe it for you.  She is elegant, charming, quirky, classy and welcoming.  Like an uptown version of the French Quarter of New Orleans and I adore New Orleans.

Cobbled and bricked streets led to interesting shops and restaurants and lovely homes at every turn.  History surrounded us but it's living history. These aren't just museums but people's homes and businesses and churches. I am particularly drawn to the architecture of the place.  It's about the details. Both form and function. Sigh, I am in love.

We walked and oogled and photographed and explored our way from the river all the way to the fountain at Forsyth Park which was even prettier than had been described to me.

We passed so many interesting restaurants and adorable shops and of course gardens and parks every few blocks with benches to sit and enjoy the view.  We were surrounded by greenery and flowers even in downtown.  It was so beautiful!

We ended the day with a fantastic meal and a walk along the river to watch the sunset. Perfect.

All in all, it was an amazing first day and I had no idea that it would get even better as the trip continued.  How could it possibly be any better than that first day?  Oh, how little I knew.

If you are still interested in the travelogue, stay tuned because tomorrow we move on to the next stop!