Georgia On My Mind

July 16

I had a really nice night in the motel 6 outside of Jacksonville last night. Brought in my down comforter and giant oversized pillow to get them totally dry and cranked the air conditioner down really low. Even with them, I got cold in the night, but snuggled down and slept well. The irony is that I had just written an email to a friend about how I've been staying without air, and there I was spinning the electric meter.

Got up in the morning, did the Higbee walk and got cleaned up. Drove into Georgia, was really pleased to see a new state. But for some reason I was really tired and felt like I had to close my eyes. Got smart and pulled over to take a 30 minute nap with the car running (yup used up more fuel) and when I woke up, I got two candy bars and a diet coke to shake the sleepies. Not a great thing to do healthwise, but it worked!!!
Drove into Savannah, and wow what a beautiful town!!! It's a fairly small town, just over 100k residents, and the historic areas are amazing. I'm certainly not the first person to say thing, but the live oaks were dripping with moss. The architecture is stunning, and the people are super nice. I was in the bank a few years ago, it was a bank that I visited often and knew most of the tellers, and the guy said, "can I help you maam?" I replied, "maam? What? I'm not a maam!" The teller then quickly replied, "Are you here with your mother, young lady?" Well, guess what? Here again, I'm a Maam again, and I actually appreciate it now and like it (maybe I’m getting old). I use it too, and it feels good.
Went on the tour of the Williams-Mercer House. The home was owned by Jim Williams (and his family still owns it) and both the home and owner were used as inspiration for the book and movie, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." Again a beautiful home. I love how Savannah has fairly small parks strategically placed all over the town. Maybe 5 blocks apart, there's always a park that's filled with oak trees and usually a statue or monument. Even in the heat of the day, it's relatively cool in these parks and lots of people use them.  So do dogs, but here (as opposed to Houston) people pick up their dog’s poop. And yes, I actually spotted the quintessential southern gentleman - wearing a seersucker suit and a wide brimmed hat!
I got a parking ticket -- my first traffic violation on the trip. I parked the Sequoia on a meter, but the trailer was behind it without a meter in a yellow zone. I couldn't talk the meter maid out of the ticket (she was all business) but ended up moving the rig forward and had to pay for two meters. But here's my take on the situation: I'm guessing that the ticket and the extra meter money is less than the cost of a possible smash up that might have occurred from being parked wrongly.

Higbee and I walked all over town. When I hear people say, "oh, she's so beautiful!" I tell myself they are talking about me! So when I say, "Thank you" I really mean it!! And I walk a little taller being recognized for my stunning beauty!! Hahahaha!!! We walked by the oldest bar in town, and it smelled like it – a couple opened the door to walk in and the stench of spilled bear wafted out and nearly knocked me down!
Before I left Savannah, I enjoyed a really nice meal on the sidewalk at a small restaurant near the river walk. Four giant, juicy scallops, each on a new potato cut to the size of the scallop in a lovely buerre blanc and greens. I wasn’t sure it would be enough, but I honestly had a hard time finishing the meal! Had a nice glass of wine with dinner, and then had to sit at the table for a while and wait for the effects of the wine to dissipate. That’s the problem with having this clean yoga body – I can’t drink more than a glass of wine! When I was working up in Tahoe, I had a half bottle of wine each night (with macaroni and cheese), and the only effect was a considerable “puffiness”. I don’t ever want to go back to that kind of eating and drinking again, but I would like to be able to drink more than one cocktail and be able to walk a straight line!!

July 17

Spent the night in yet another Motel 6 on the outskirts of Savannah. First time I had a run in with the seemy side. Was completely asleep and the phone rang. Groggily answered and listened to a guy offer his services in a very graphic and vulgar way. Barely got off a sound of disgust and hung up. Then woke up fully and wondered how that happened. Called the front desk, and they said someone had called in from an outside line and asked for my room number. I told her that I was concerned for my safety, and she said she’d ask the police to patrol a little closer than they usually do. I checked to be sure the bolt and latch were on the door and put my trusty dog on alert. I figured with those precautions, I’d be fine, and returned to sleep for the rest of the night.

Drove over to Beaufort – Eileen has insisted that I see the place, but I didn’t have time for much other than a drive around the antebellum homes. Eileen – I promise I’ll go back and get a Gullah tour. Then continued north to Charleston and met up with David Kiser at the only Bikram studio in South Carolina. What a beautiful studio!!!! I’m really impressed.

But more on that later.