Savannah, GA

We continued our 20th Celebration Vacation in Savannah, GA.  We waited until the last minute to book a room and ended up staying at the Judge White Cottage, built in 1799.  It was a gamble, but we decided to go for it.

You start to wonder if you've made a good choice on your lodging when all the tour guides drive their vehicles right past the front door of the place you're going to stay for four nights, including the Hearse Ghost Tours!

Then you really start to wonder when your husband reads the guestbook the first night you're there and very casually mentions that one of the guests saw a ghost.  What!?  I vowed to NOT read that book until our last morning there.  I also refused to read the chapter on 'our' cottage in Savannah's Little Crooked Houses: If These Walls Could Talk until our last morning.

During our stay, I blamed any any unrecognizable sounds as 'old house' noises and any misplaced items on Howard (he'll find this out when he reads this).  By the way, as I write this post, Howard is playing primary songs.  It's an odd combination - pleasant children's music and creepy ghost stories.

On checkout morning, I finally read the guestbook.  This third entry gave me pause.  Why didn't Joe finish his Day 2 entry?  I want to know what happened to Joe!  By the way, there were many other guests who did NOT have close encounters of the third kind.  We didn't write anything in the book.  When in doubt, leave it out.

Our cottage, along with a few other historical cottages, was located on Greene Square - one of 22 squares in Savannah.  Homeless folks, rather than tourists, seemed to hang out in this square.  One day as we were walking only a few blocks from the cottage, a woman driving past us felt the need to stop to warn us that we were leaving the nice part of town.  We weren't just afraid of being inside the house!

This back room addition to the entire 734 square feet contained a kitchen and a bathroom.  The kitchen leaned a little so the fridge was on shims.  We had everything we needed to make a few meals 'at home'.  The water pressure was powerful in the very tiny, but updated shower.  Taking a shower in there was akin to being attacked with multiple blow darts, minus the poison.

The backyard patio of the cottage was a bit unkempt, but still quite charming.  It was too hot to ever sit at the cute little wrought iron patio table.  It would've induced an immediate hot flash!

Do these steps make my feet look big?  This is the ladder staircase up to the bedroom.

Fortunately, during our four nights I only had to make a few midnight bathroom trips downstairs.  My new little flashlight came in very handy.

These three interior photos come from our hosts' airbnb webpage.  This is exactly what it looked like.  It was extremely clean for a 200+ year old house.  This is our third airbnb adventure, and they have all been adventures!  But seriously, you have to stay at the Judge White Cottage at least once!

And one last random photo.  This one is for my dad, who was a professional mason in his younger years and who built or rebuilt every fireplace in all of our childhood homes.  This building was next to our cottage and was made of handmade bricks.

It is really hard for me to write short blog posts.  I get going and I can't stop myself.  Imagine, this post is just telling about where we stayed in one place!

Soaring Like an Eagle at Dollywood

When you live in Tennessee, you just have to go to Dollywood.  So we did, for three days in a row.  We're pretty spoiled by Disneyland, where we spent lots of time as kids and teens before we knew each other, and then later as a couple.  But, we enjoyed Dollywood, and it definitely has its own charm and character. 

Most of the big rides are roller coaster rides.  I'm not a big fan of roller coasters and amusement parks in general.  I'm especially terrified after my hand therapist told me many horror stories, the worst being the one about the young woman who had both of her feet severed by a malfunctioning ride in Kentucky.  True story.

Anyway, I made myself go on most of them for research sake.  Howard and his brother are working on a game app and we were collecting data on the rides.  Above is a shot of the Thunderhead roller coaster.  It's very rickety and throws you all around at speeds of up to 55 mph.  I really didn't like this one.  But I like this shot because it gives you a feel for how picturesque Dollywood is, nestled in the Smoky Mountains.  There are lots of wooded shady areas throughout the entire park.

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We were pretty close to getting on the Tennessee Tornado after about a 30-minute wait, when they informed us that the ride was closed due to lightning in the area.  I think it was a tender mercy.  I later learned that this thing goes up to 70 mph with a 128-foot drop and that it throws you all over the place.  After learning that, this ride went on my 'um, no thanks' list.

The Mystery Mine was my first-ever upside-down roller coaster ride.  I told you, I don't really like roller coasters.  But, I gathered up my courage and went for it.  It wasn't too bad.  It looks more upside down than it feels.  We even went on it twice - better for data gathering.

Here I am celebrating a successful landing after riding the Wild Eagle.  My heart was racing and my palms were sweating while waiting in the line for this 61-mph ride with four inversions.  It added to my stress that you have to store all your loose items, including shoes that might fly off during the ride.

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The very cool 'trains' are eagles and you get to sit on their wings.  Notice the dangling feet.  The worst part for me on this ride, and all rides like this, is the first drop after you climb slowly to the top of the sky!

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I can't believe that the very cautious, chicken-me rode this ride.  Twice.  You wouldn't have recognized me in line the second time.  I was telling all the petrified crying children (who were being forced by their parents to ride it so they could conquer their fears) that it wasn't so bad, that it was actually fun. 

Here's our failed attempt at making it look like I'm dangling from the claws of this very cool metal eagle sculpture near the Wild Eagle ride.

One of the calmer and more relaxing rides of the three days was the steam engine train ride up into the nearby Smoky Mountains.

Okay, it was relaxing for us, but not for our fireman.  He was shoveling coal during the entire 20-minute ride.  Of course I had to ask him important questions like:

1. How much coal does it take for one trip? (200 pounds)
2. Who does your laundry? (He does, but he has a second washer for coal-covered clothes only.)

There's a lot of focus on food at Dollywood, but we didn't eat there very often.  It's not very tempting to eat a big meal before riding a bunch of vomit-inducing rides.  They serve up 12-pound 30" pizzas and 25-pound apple pies.  If you don't feel like eating the whole pie, you can buy a single slice that weighs only a little over 3 pounds!  

They have a bakery in an old mill where they grind their own grain and sell delicious smelling cinnamon rolls.  I'm proud to say that although we were tempted, we even passed those up.

There are also a lot of shows, similar to Branson, MO.  We went to a few of them.  We saw the Kingdom Heirs, a southern gospel quartet.  It wasn't the kind of gospel music we were hoping for, but we enjoyed it and we heard the lowest bass we've ever heard in our lives.  Howard said his lowest note was lower than the lowest note on a piano.  Now that is stinkin' low!

The quartet has changed over the years, but these are the four guys we heard.  Listen for the jaw-dropping low notes of the bass on the right.  Make sure you hear the last chord.  Remarkable!

Holy Jingle Bells, Batman!

We're celebrating our 20th!  It's hard to believe that we've been married that long.  It's been a great ride.  There have been lots of ups and downs, but we're always trending upwards.  Speaking of rides, I faced my long-time fear of roller coasters.  More about that later.

We started our 20th Celebration Vacation in Pigeon Forge, TN where we stayed at the Inn at Christmas Place.  All the halls (and rooms) were decked out for Christmas.  I'm tempted to go back in December just to see what they could possibly add to the decor.

Here's what I loved about this place:

• The grounds were beautiful and well maintained.
• I slept in 'heavenly peace' because the beds and pillows were divine.
• The staff was attentive, friendly and sometimes jolly - there were a few Santa sightings.
• There were lots of little homey touches, like: lemonade available throughout the day, daily chocolate kisses from housekeeping, chestnuts roasting on an open fire (not really), and freshly baked cookies in the evening.
• The breakfast choices were overwhelming and amazingly delicious.  I was so delighted to learn that figgy pudding is NOT a breakfast item, but pecan pie is!

Here's the front door where you are always greeted by smiling and helpful doormen, sometimes up to three of them!

There are lots of displays like this one throughout the inn where you're encouraged to take 'elfies'.  This isn't exactly an 'elfie' but you get the idea.

You can buy Christmas decor year round in their shops across the street.  If you're ever looking for a nativity in June, this is the place to go.  Or, you can just check out their website.  Beware, the cool-looking blue and white nativity that looks like it was made in Holland was really made in China.  So disappointing!

Back to the shops, there's also a whole room devoted to Department 56.

For just $240.00, you can have your own Downton Abbey mansion!

For all you Christmas Story movie fans, did you know that there's a Department 56 village based on that movie?  But beware, it's fra-gi-le!

There's also a life-size version of the lamp for that special guy in your family!  But seriously, you must stay at the Inn at Christmas Place if you ever find yourself in Pigeon Forge!

Here's my first every trip advisor review, with the same title as this post.