Telling A Good Story: January 2013

It was just about all planned. My 40^th birthday was coming up and J wanted to do it right. We were heading to the Big Apple. For months we’d been making plans…what to do, where to go, what to see. I wanted to go to the Met, ice skate at Rockefeller Center, try to get tickets to the Daily Show, see my sweet friend CB who moved there last January, eat a cupcake at Baby Cakes (the best GF baked goods I’ve ever had in my life…they have only two bakeries--one in NYC, one in Orlando). J was excited to go to the Stock Exchange, see a show on or near Broadway, stroll Central Park. We had the kids covered for five.whole.days! thanks to my parents. We were ready.

We just had to get our plane tickets. We’d been looking at Travelocity, trying to find some good deals, when all of the sudden, SuperStorm Sandy appeared on the radar. We watched CNN with such sadness for our fellow citizens up North as Sandy lashed out. We cried and prayed and sent donations to help. And then we looked at each other and said, “I guess it isn’t the best time to go to New York right now.”

So, we made alternate plans. We thought about going to Charleston, which we love, but visit often. We thought about Atlanta. We thought about Boone.

And then we decided on Savannah, Georgia. Google said it was about 3.5 hours away and we had only ever driven through on our way back from Florida when we were just engaged and barely knew each other (that’s a whole ‘nother story for a different time).

We shortened the trip from five days to three (with hopes that we would not burn all our chips with Dad & Step-Mom & will still get to go to NYC at some point) and made reservations at a sweet, Victorian era B&B house.

Well, to our surprise and delight, Savannah was just what we needed. It was quiet and serene, full of beautiful houses, gardens, public squares, architecture, and incredible iron work. We found amazing food (gluten free, vegetarian food abounds), local honey, great coffee and even gluten free CHEESECAKE! (Do you hear the angels singing? I do.) We took a bus tour through the historical district (and were joined at one stop by Forrest Gump), wandered the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) campus, visited the Mercer House (of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame), and ate and ate and ate some more. We also walked our tootsies off all over town, not getting in the car from Friday when we arrived until Sunday when we left, so we felt ok about all that deelish food we were consuming. We were absolutely smitten with this Georgia beauty.

It wasn’t NYC, but we don’t regret our change of plans one little bit. We discovered a new favorite place, just a few hours from home. If only Baby Cakes would open up a shop there, it would be practically perfect. :)