Savannah, GA - Days 3 & 4

Savannah, Georgia - Monday, April 22
Day 3 

Tory woke up early at 5:50am, let herself out of her walk-in closet bedroom and helped herself to a box of crackers left out on the kitchen table. I drug myself out of bed and followed her so she didn't completely destroy our Savannah condo by her lonesome. We purchased a few containers of yogurt for Tory to have on our mornings in Savannah. Tory Bean is usually starving when she wakes up and has a full-on meltdown if she's not fed within minutes of being up and moving. I settled down on the living room sofa with Tory and assisted in her self-feeding of yogurt while we watched an episode of Dinosaur Train on PBS. My lucky husband was still asleep in bed.

Eventually, I called for Andi and encouraged him to get up. Tory had already eaten two yogurts and had a look in her eyes like she might soon eat my arm off too, except, I didn't really have any more food for her to eat in the condo. We quickly dressed and head out the door to The Sentient Bean coffee shop, just on the North end of Forsyth Park and within walking distance from our condo.

Walking toward breakfast

When we arrived at the cafe, we placed our orders for an egg and cheese croissant (for me), quiche (for Andi) and coffee and grabbed an open spot in the seating area. Tory wasn't acting naughty by any means, but she did have some toddler energy to burn and climbed onto a coffee table and a couch where we're seated. I caught sight of about twelve dirty looks from grungy hippies sitting in the cafe area (Oh gawd, a baby in a coffee shop. How rude!).

Just sitting on a coffee table, mouthing the dirty trophy that was our order identifier - no biggie.
(Parenting award of the year right here)

When Andi returned with our coffees, I told him to change our order to-go because we were disturbing the other customers. (We truly weren't, but people were just being snotty around us). Soon enough, we grabbed our breakfast and walked back to our condo to eat. PS: Sentient Bean Coffee Shop - your coffee tasted like chewed up coffee beans. Blegh!

After breakfast, Andi cranked out some work emails for 20 minutes or so, while Tory and I watched an episode of Sesame Street on TV. There's only so much I could do to entertain her within the space we were allotted, so we probably poisoned her brain with way too much TV this trip. Oh well ...

The weather was pretty crummy Monday morning, so my original plan to play in the park while Andi conducted a few work conference calls wasn't really in the cards. The Savannah Children's Museum is outdoors so that was out as well and a cool kid's art museum called Art-Zeum didn't open until Noon. We decided to drive to Savannah's Olgethorpe Mall to play at the play land while Andi worked in the car. Tory is always up for indoor play parks, so she had a fun time interacting with the other kids there.

Tory playing at the mall's indoor play park

Andi finished his calls around 11:15am, then we hopped in the car and headed to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for the day. Tory was due for a nap and fell asleep within minutes of hitting the road.

Exhibiting her excitement about visiting a new state

Andi and I hadn't even considered visiting Hilton Head when we booked our Savannah trip, but when we realized it was so close (only 45 minutes away) we jumped at the opportunity. I've always wanted to visit Hilton Head because I'd heard it was just beautiful and it'd also earn Tory another state in her Places book. In fact, neither Andi or I had ever been to South Carolina before, so it was a new adventure for all of us.

Our first stop on Hilton Head Island was for lunch. We decided to eat at Market Street Cafe. The restaurant was jammed packed with elderly people (as we soon realize most of Hilton Head is) and none of the restaurant patrons could get enough of Tory - a very opposite experience from our morning run-in at the hippie coffee shop in Savannah. All the grandpas and grandmas in the restaurant visited our table to pat Tory on the head and tell us what a doll she was. Tory was also very hungry, so she was particularly well behaved in the restaurant and shoveled her peanut butter and jelly sandwich into her mouth just as fast as she could muster. Of course, she was covered elbow to fist in peanut butter by the end, but I didn't mind the clean-up so long as she was pleasant during our meal.

After lunch, we walked around area shops and made our way to the beach. The sun came out and warmed things up to be a particularly beautiful day. We walked along the beach for what seemed like forever and let Tory out of her stroller so she could run in the sand. I showed Tory what seashells were and she was fascinated with collecting them in her hands and shoving the extras in Andi's pocket.

Hilton Head's beach was practically desolate (maybe because it was a Monday or because it had been cooler temperatures in the morning?) but in any case, we enjoyed the peacefulness of our surroundings.

After a while, we walked back to the shops across the street for ice cream at Rita's. Andi returned a few work calls while Tory and I wandered around the water fountains and shopping area.

Next, we decided to hop in the car and visit Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island. This is another shopping area with restaurants and bars, a lighthouse and marina. We walked around this area a bit, admiring the big boats and beautiful scenery.

Harbour Town Marina area

Tory was getting pretty tired by this point in the day, so we decided to pack up and head back to Savannah. During our 45-minute drive back, Tory was particularly fussy and not in the mood for any of my usual car seat entertainment tactics, so I finally asked Andi to stop at a McDonald's on the way to get her some dinner. There was no way she was going to wait until we arrived at the condo and secured food in Savannah. I felt like a horrible mama for feeding my toddler McDonald's on Earth Day no less (what happened to me? I used to be so green!) but when toddler hunger calls, it needs to be satisfied. Andi and I had a good laugh as we watched Tory devour French fries in the back seat. Somehow by the time we arrived at our Savannah condo, she was covered head to toe in ketchup.

Back at the condo, I bathed Tory, dressed her in pajamas and read her a few books. She was asleep on her inflatable toddler bed the minute her head hit the pillow. Meanwhile, Andi ordered Mellow Mushroom pizza for us and we sat in the living room watching Mad Men on the computer while eating our dinner together. (I do realize Mellow Mushroom is a chain, but Andi was nice enough to cave on his "no chains" rule when I was craving white sauce pizza).

Our day in Hilton Head was one of my favorite memories of our weekend trip to the Savannah area. I loved the beach and the glamour of Hilton Head Island.

******

Savannah, Georgia - Tuesday, April 23

Day 4

Our last day in Savannah was the least eventful. Our flight home was at 8:00pm and I encouraged Andi to call and bump us up to an earlier flight if possible. I knew Tory wouldn't sleep on the plane and she'd be a complete mess by bedtime. Three hours on a plane with a screaming child is not my idea of a good time. Luckily, there was an earlier flight at 2:00pm and we were able to make the  change in schedule. That still gave us time to see a few sights between Savannah and Jacksonville, FL (where we were flying out). 

Our first stop of the day was Goose Feathers Bakery in Savannah. The cafe was empty when we arrived (perfect for our rambunctious toddler) and we ordered freshly baked croissants to share, a waffle (for me) and yogurt (for Tory). The food was delicious at Goose Feathers. Andi bought a few treats for later including a Heath bar cookie, croissant and muffin which proved to be very helpful in entertaining Tory on the plane ride home.

Breakfast at Goose Feathers Cafe

Next our plan was to hit up some of the beach towns along the way to Jacksonville, including Jekyll Island and to get Tory a passport. We've been trying to find time to get her a passport for months now and can never get a date on the calendar when we're all together during the work day (read also: find a time in Andi's work day; Tory and I aren't so busy). I brought all of our documentation along and Andi and I planned to knock out that task as well. Except, as it turns out, getting a passport in Georgia or Florida isn't the easiest thing. Andi probably called 20 post offices / courthouses and every single one required an appointment. All appointments were at least 30 days out. We finally found a place that accepted passport walk-ins, but they didn't take photographs so we had to stop in another town along the way to get a photograph. This task was becoming a major pain in the butt and we were running out of time to sight see before it was time to go to the airport. The icing on the cake was Tory's full-on meltdown when we tried to get her passport picture taken at Wal-greens. You would've thought we were torturing her! 

Thanks to Andi for capturing this lovely moment on film

Finally, we decided to scrap the passport idea and head to the airport. Following Tory's scream-fest in Wal-greens, I buckled her into the car seat and we headed to the airport. Except, I couldn't get her to calm down for anything. She bawled the entire 45 minute drive to Jacksonville and never did take a nap. By the time we arrived at the airport, she was beyond exhausted and desperately needed a nap. I hoped she's sleep on the airplane, but knew she probably wouldn't and I'd be fighting an extremely tired toddler the entire way. Luckily, she wasn't too terrible and only cried a few times. There was another little boy who was louder and naughtier so he stole most of the plane's spotlight (phew!).

Overall, our family trip to Savannah was a great one. Tory was at a great age to travel with, and was overjoyed by all the things she experienced - the beach, the park, walking to various sights in the stroller. The only catch was her early bedtime of 7:00pm by which time she was pretty much spent for the day. It was ok though, because Andi and I were tired and looking for downtime by that time of day anyway. 

Savannah was a great city to visit - lots of history, shops, restaurants and things to see and do, with plenty of close-by side trips to take along the way.