Vacation- Day 3

Unfortunately Friday night and into Saturday morning did not offer much sleep either. It takes me a while to adjust to new sleeping environments. My bedroom at home is DARK and QUIET at night, and here I was in a different smelling place, sharing a bed with someone other than my husband, and a room with 3 other people.

Jenni and I had a 12 mile run on Saturday morning. The marathon training must go on. I plan to blog in detail about this run at a later time, but I'm not guaranteeing that it will happen. Again, our task was to run 12 miles, but more importantly was our time frame. We only had 2 hours to complete this run in order to move on to our other activities for the day. 12 miles in 2 hours is completely my pace. However, it is NOT my sister's pace, and since we were in a foreign environment, we chose to stick together....in addition to that, I stopped 97 times (literally) to take pictures of the things that we were running past. In case I don't make the time to blog my run, here are the highlights...

Running at 6am just before the sun came up...



Running through a cemetery...



And, we made it to Forsyth Park for the first time!...





At the end of the 2 hours we made it back to our hotel, and we had only traveled 6 miles...definitely NOT the 12 that were required! Do you know what I say to that!?..."Oh well...I'm on vacation." :0)

After the run we were supposed to go to a history museum, and then go to a Southern cooking class. But the cooking class was sold out, and we decided to scrap the history museum so we could catch the River Boat Ride that we had skipped out on the day before.

Walking to the River Boat...





Boarding the River Boat...





Lunching on the boat...







The eats from the buffet...



Our dessert selections...Chocolate pecan pie, apple pie, fresh fruit, and banana pudding of course...



After lunch, we made our way to the top deck of the river boat...









After the River Boat ride, we booked it back to our hotel where we met up with my dear friend Julie, who recently moved from San Diego to Georgia!



It was such a sweet reunion, and when 3 young moms have been away from their families for a few days, seeing Julie, her husband, and their 2 adorable (and WELL BEHAVED) children were a welcomed site!!! Our growing group headed over to the Savannah Trolley Tour.

Our tour guide/driver, "Red Sonia"...



We drove passed the matching townhouses that 2 sisters lived in an fought over...



We drove passed "The Mercer House"...the house where Jim Williams (the owner of the house) killed Billy Hanson (his younger male companion) in the study...as told in the non-fictional novel (and made to movie), "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"...



Beautiful scenery...



And, gorgeous structures...



Between our prior lunch buffet, the information overload, the heat, and the humidity, we were all exhausted!



After the tour we all went back to our separate hotels to rest and then get ready for our big dinner plans!

If you are a fan of the Food Network (TV Channel), you may have heard something of a little chef named PAULA DEAN!? Well Paula Dean lives and does her show out of Savannah, GA. In addition to her show, she also has a restaurant that she owns with her sons...called, Lady and Sons...



Fans of Paula Dean travel from all over the country to come and eat at her restaurant. And becuase she has such a huge following, you can't just show up at the restaurant and wait to be seated. They are only open for lunch and dinner, and you need to show up at 9am the day you want to go to the restaurant for dinner, and pick up a seating ticket. This ticket tells you when to come back and eat that night...we got an 8pm reservation. My mom and Anna picked up our seating ticket that morning while Jenni & I were on our run in the morning. All the fuss is totally worth it though. The ambiance and the food was incredible!





As soon as you sit down, they serve you the most delicious "bread" ever! You get a single griddled corn cake, and a cheddar cheese biscuit...completely hot and fresh!



Our waitress then asked us for our drink order...I wasn't planning to have an alcoholic beverage at dinner, but then the waitress told us that the special drink that night was a "Southern Belle" martini. We all got one!



To eat, we started with scallops and grits...



And fried green tomatoes served with Vidalia onion relish and roasted red pepper sauce...



For our entrees, my mom had the most delicious beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes, grilled shrimp, and baby carrots...



My sisters shared the chicken pot pie- Fresh seasoned chicken and vegetables in a rich creamy sauce and topped with a flaky puff pastry - Truly Spectacular!...



Julie had the shrimp and grits- Hot buttered grits topped with tasso, peppers and onions, finished with white wine cream sauce...



Frank (Julie's husband) and I, chose the buffet...



I don't know if I was just full from the appetizers, or completely burned out on buffets in general, but the buffet food was no where near as delicious as the items ordered off of the menu! I tried all of the other dishes at our table, and they were all incredible! For dessert, Frank and I (becuase we had the buffet) were offered a fruit cobbler, or banana pudding...of course, I had to go banana pudding all the way! :0) We were all in a food coma...



After dinner, Frank took the little boys back to their hotel for "guys night" (according to Brooks), and our itinerary had us going down to Wet Willies for "ladies night"...



I've never really been to a "club" before so I am not sure if this is what a club is like...however, this place was definitely more charismatic than a standard bar. So, hmmm, I'm not really sure how to describe it. But what I can tell you is that their main thing is that they sell alcoholic "slurpees"...



And, there is a very small dance floor...



We didn't stay there very long, but we had a good time together regardless...





We dropped Julie off at her hotel, and then we went back to ours. After we talked and laughed for a while, we settled into bed. Only, one thing wasn't settling...my stomach! I'm not sure if all of the buffets had finally caught up with me, or if it was the cheap alcohol at Wet Willies, or the lack of sleep on this vacation, or...but I spent the next couple of hours heaving over the toilet. Definitely the LOWEST part of the vacation! :0(

I was praying that I wouldn't have to miss out on tomorrow's activities!