This past week Mel met her Nana and Papa (Meric's parents). It was Mel's first time meeting any family from the Powell side. Living so far away it has been hard to find a time to go and visit family. I love traveling and knowing that Mel will get to experience a lot of new and interesting things but it is hard knowing that we won't get to see family very often. I was happy someone else got to met my sweet little monkey.
Nana and Papa flew into Augusta late Thursday night. On Friday we stayed home and they played with Mel most of the day. In the afternoon I drove them around the town of Wrens (where we live) and then down to Waynesboro to visit a Confederate cemetery. On the drive Nana was especially fascinated by the cotton fields all around us. Right now they are harvesting the cotton and it was interesting to see the crop go from balls on the plants to bales piled in the field.
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| Snowy cotton ready for harvest |
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| Bales of cotton |
Saturday we headed into Augusta to visit the street market and see the sights. James Brown, godfather of soul, lived in Augusta growing up and is very celebrated still in the city so we had to get a picture in front of the statue.
We wandered from sight to sight and stopped for lunch at Hildebrant's. Hildebrant's is a deli/grocery that has been owned and ran by the same family since 1879. The food was good and the atmosphere was very unique. There were many pictures of the family and store throughout the years. At the end of our visit as we were paying for lunch they let us draw a slip of paper from a fish bowl. On each paper was written a different prize that we won. Meric won a moon pie, Nana won a bag of chips and Papa won a pack of mints. I let Mel draw out my prize and she won me a Hildebrant's t-shirt. Mel is one lucky kid!
On Sunday we packed up the trailer and headed down to Savannah GA. Ever since we moved to the east Meric's mom has wanted to visit Savannah. We figured since Savannah is only 2 hours away from us we should take advantage of it and visit. Also it is nice that our house is mobile and we can go for a couple days.
We got to Savannah and immediately left to go to Hilton Head SC. We wanted to see the ocean and Hilton Head had several dog friendly beaches. Even though it was chilly and getting late we were still able to enjoy our time on the beach.
Monday we headed into Savannah to see the sights. We stayed in historic Savannah and along the river. All of us love history and enjoyed walking around the town. There are several squares throughout the city that were part of the city's original design.
The squares are like little parks. We enjoyed the unique architecture.
The trees draped with Spanish moss were also very unique and beautiful.
We were able to take a tour of the oldest extravagant mansions in the city.
(The tour was free to military members and their families thanks to a donation from Fifth Third Bank.)
www.telfair.org/visit/owens-thomas
After the tour we hopped on a free shuttle and headed to The Pirate's House. The Pirate's House is the oldest continuous running pub/restaurant in Georgia. The food was good and the history of the place was very interesting. It is even referenced in the book Treasure Island. They had a pirate who walked around and gave tours of the place. Mel liked the pirate and thought he was funny. She also liked the Okra gumbo that Papa was feeding her. The Pirate's house comprised of many older buildings. The part we ate in was part of the original restaurant.
There were stairs that lead down to a rum cellar where the real pirates use to hang out. The restaurant also incorporated the house next to it which is the oldest house still standing in Georgia.
www.thepirateshouse.com
After lunch we walked a short distance to River Street to check out the shops along the river. We really liked the candy shop.
It seemed like a kids dream with trains running along the ceilings, a conveyor belt of taffy, fresh made pralines (free YUMMY samples) and candies galore.
It was a good thing we were still full from lunch or we might have gotten lost in the shop.
www.savannahcandy.com
It was amazing to see the historic buildings and boats along the river.
River street is down a level from the rest of the town and there were old stair cases dotted along the way to get from one level to the next. Some were narrow, some were wide. Some were short little stairs and all had signs that said "Historic Stairs: Use at Own Risk"
Savannah is a beautiful city full of history and things to see. It is easy to navigate and has a free shuttle that will take you around town and a free ferry that will take you along the river. There was a lot more we could have done and Meric and I are planning to go back for another visit.
Tuesday morning we headed back home. We were able to spend a little more time together before we had to take Meric's parents to the airport. It was a nice visit and Mel enjoyed having people come to see her.
