CONTINUING  OF BLOG FOR vacation ( SUE, I have been working on this since Mike went to bed early.  I finally figured out that it works much faster to download when I have it ALL in my desktop computer. I guess that is due to the connections, which Mike A. told me about earlier tonight. Needless to say, I HOPE you have better luck and I doubt I'll ever be doing this again. I want to finish , though, to have the record for us. Surely the last 5 days won't take as long since 3 of them were driving and I won't blog about my reunion with Girlfriends from high school in KC at the end of our trip! Sorry if I made any errors, but I hesitate to attempt to save again, and lose a few hours of painstaking work. OFF TO BED !  

I want to include a few previous pics. that Jogged my memory. This was in an old cemetery we found near our B & B in Asheville.

IT says that the oldest grave is that of William Foster (also known as Forster), who was one of the most prominent men in early history of Asheville, who donated property for an adjacent school, church, and this graveyard.  Oct. 27, 1776 - May 2, 1826  That is a really old graveyard. When we returned to the B & B the attendant asked us if we saw the BIG GERMAN SHEPHERD that guards it at night. We were there at dusk, so I guess we were spared THAT trauma.

I guess I didn't comment yet on the TREES in this area either. They are amazing, and so moss covered at times. Mike noticed this one in Beaufort, GA. I have to say when we hit Western Kansas last Monday, my heart almost cried for missing the vegetation of Missouri, Tenn, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Northern Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Back to Missouri.  I have to drive around a bit and see the color of Northern Co. and look to the mountains, to realize once again, all states have beauty in some part!!

This is a side view of the very cool bridge that went from Charleston to Mt. Pleasant where we stayed for three nights. I learned in Savannah that it, and a similar one in Savannah, were both designed by women. I just did some research and could not substantiate it, and no single person was given the credit, at least for the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in SC.  IT is also known as the NEW COOPER RIVER BRIDGE. They have a world-famous 10 K run on it every year and limit entrants to 40,000. We saw lots of people walking, running, and biking on the one side where it is allowed. Since it is 2.5 miles and it was hot when we were there, we saved our walking for THE BATTERY. I just realized that I showed this in part of my previous blog, but this is a different view, taken from the low country bridge over some sweet grass near our hotel. 

 The marshes have a beauty all their own. I had no idea what the term "Low country" actually meant until I saw it!  Don't ask me where I was when I studied geography in school once upon a time. I will just tell you if I knew then, what I don't know now, I would have paid a LOT more attention! There are many kinds of grass and one, in particular, is used to make beautiful baskets. I saw hundreds and did not buy even one. The main reason was that I learned that slaved from African started making them, and there was one from Africa on display at Boone Hall Plantation in Charleston. I realized it is the same technique used for a mat that I have from my Grandfather when he was in Africa. What could have more meaning than that?  There was a woman there making them and it is quite an art form. HOW they sell all the ones I saw, is beyond me, but with a 3" basket going for $15.00, one can only guess they don't have to sell many. There was a baby buggy that was for sale for $3,000 I think. She said she had actually sold one, but I think it took three months to make. I admire them for their constant use of fingers as they must get very sore. Here is one of the open air city markets where they sell things like that, and anything else some tourist might want, but certainly not need.

The houses, gardens, vines , etc. always intrigue me. Mike was so patient as we strolled and looked and looked. I think it made his neck hurt to look up at so many old houses. This was a simple style but his favorite. The door facing the front of the street was actually only the door to the front porch which faced the side yard. Most had side yards as a front yard, in the more modest homes. It was also most common for homes to face south!

OF course, I liked the more extravagant ones with the BIG yards. Of course they must have gardeners and not novices like me!

I think this next house was called a 'single' house. Very quaint and cute, don't you think?

I’ll try to include some pictures from our first day in Savannah since my computer wasn't cooperating when I was there. 

Guess what, a twin bridge in Savannah, and it was so beautiful the first night!

 (DID I mention that Savannah has 12 parks(they call them squares) in the historic district that have houses built all around them?  Each is unique and they are well used. We saw a wedding in one, one evening.  Some have memorials to different people, etc. also.) This was Columbia Square, centered with a fountain.

Fri. morning we headed out for the Paula Deen TOUR. Mike was not thrilled but thought lunch at Uncle Bubba’s Restaurant sounded OK. Uncle Bubba Is Paula’s brother and known for his Oysters.  Our guide was fantastic (again, Mike was not that impressed but I enjoyed all her trivia about Paula’s life) and knew how Paula had gone from rags to riches, and showed us places of interest in Paul’s rise to fame. She had a short first marriage and birthed two children. When her husband left, she had to find a way to make a living, and started making brown bag lunches. A friend who owned a small grocery (we saw the flower shop it has become) gave her credit and sometime free stuff for the bags. Paula’s sons went door to door to sell them. As the boys got older (I may have to read her autobiography to get the correct timing and details) she did some catering and opened a restaurant. As it grew, she needed more help and her sons were old enough to go into business with her. Soon she had to move it and decided to call it Lady and Sons, so they sort of felt compelled I guess. It was successful too and then the food network got a hold of her. The friend in New York who promoted her had her cook at his house in New York first and we all thought THAT was her house.  Oh well………ON with the tour…we saw the ranch house she rented with her two sons, that the owner now rents to tourists who WANT to pay big bucks to spend time in the house she had cooked in first! Wasn't he a smart one? We also went to the bakery she frequents and met the owners who have been on her show.   That was so fun, as it is called “Back in the Day Bakery.”

  I was intrigued with Cheryl and her staff. She gave us samples and offered to sign her cookbooks if we bought one.   Lindy and I will have fun reading her tips, LOOKING at the pictures and attempting  to make the right altitude adjustments. She said just to use the internet, but I Doubt she has EVER cooked in Denver or FC !   I bought a snicker doodle and Mike bought coffee. He said the cookies were no better than Lindy’s!  Everyone needs a doting Dad like Mike! After that we stopped at the vegetable market Paula Deen goes to and met the owner who has also been on her show. He gave us samples of fresh boiled peanuts.

 I thought they sounded awful, but they were good!  She also showed us how peanuts grow, right there in the ground. I guess it is a demo garden by their stand.

It looks like a lot of work to me--no wonder peanuts are so expensive. Did I tell you how yummy the different flavored peanuts were at the store on the Riverfront? Free dessert one night! :-)

  I bought a basket of cherry tomatoes that were the best I have ever eaten!! Georgia has GOOD soil!! Next stop was Bethesda, the first boys school in America. It was started in the 1700’s by a Mr. Whitefield. We went to see a chapel dedicated to him, and it is a beautiful little chapel which is where Paula was married to a River Pilot (her second marriage just a few years ago to Michael) and also our tour guide was married. It held about 100 people and had a beautiful setting! I guess they have lots of wedding there too. 

The boys school is a working farm, and is so successful that others in the community send their boys there during the day to attend with the orphans?.  All graduates go to top flight colleges.   

Next stop was Uncle Bubba’s for lunch. They set up a private room and buffet for us, but each person was given an appetizer of a roasted oyster with Parmesan cheese melted. Mike got three since our table partners did not like oysters. I tried it and was not impressed, but Mike loved them for the umpteenth time, this trip!  The buffet was better than the previous night and again, fried chicken, fried fish, corn on the cob, wonderful Cole slaw, and delicious biscuit/rolls and I don’t remember what all else. MORE peach cobbler though! After wards we met Paula’s brother, Uncle Bubba, whom I have seen on her shows. He was quite a card and Mike and I were humored by women who insisted on having their picture taken with him! 

The setting on the water was beautiful ( Island) and the driver/tour guide hinted that Paula lived on the next island, but she could NOT drive us over there. IT is TOP SECRET!  After that it was back to town and Mike and I were off and running to tour some more of the historic district.

 We toured one historic home that was the first in the city to have running water and toilets.  They system had two cisterns and that was a pretty big deal back then. I think they had running water before electricity.  In this house they did not allow us to walk up the free floating spiral staircase, and we had to use a back one.   It had a beautiful garden outside too. After a while it all blends together, but in a day or so you find yourself curious about peeking into another home and seeing history and families as they were so long ago.

      We also had a lot of fun at RIVERFRONT. 

   There were always HUGE barges going by. We have seen many but these were enormous looking, even from our room 1-2 blocks away.  River Street had many shops, restaurants, and interesting people.

  It had a couple candy stores, but one was 4 rooms long!  The best thing I tasted was chocolate covered pecan toffee! you! Our favorite place was the NUT STORE! They must have had 200 flavors of nuts and peanuts. You could taste about any kind you wanted. I just didn't worry about germs as it was so fun! We didn't buy much but the OKTOBERFEST down there was really fun. Friday they set up booths of all kinds, mostly crafts and artwork. It was very fun to talk to the artists too.  FRI. night we ate seafood, walked over to Market STREET on the other side of the hotel and people -watched, and visited a few shops. There were more candy shops, and a live band.  WE kind of crashed early that night though!

         Sat was open to do all the leftovers and Mike didn't want to do museums or houses, at least inside. We just decided to walk some of the historic district we had seen from the bus on Thurs. since I could never get enough of it. THIS is why we walked and walked, no matter how much sweat dripped down our foreheads due to the humidity.

 I said we COULD walk to the park where they were having the BUDDY WALK for Down’s syndrome and see if we could SEE Paula Deen, who was going to be the Grand Marshal. After a walk to see the rest of the historic district we were almost to the city park. So we ventured over there.  It was the day of DaySpring’s dash also. After a bunch of introductory remarks, they introduced Paula and her son, and her cute little dog.She thanked everyone for their support during the last few difficult months. She also said how much she supported this event for Downs Syn. Families.

  I took a few pictures and then we were going to leave the crowded place. We had already walked about 8.000 steps just to get there. As we were leaving, Mike looked back and Paula, her son, and some people were crossing the sidewalk behind us so I got “up close and personal” –she was about 10 feet away.  I did NOT ask her for an autograph or anything. In case you think I am a groupie or something, I did pay $12 to be a participant and help the Low Country Support group for families with Downs Syndrome. What an awesome and CUTE bunch of kiddos!

Paula is at the center taking off on the walk!


 We went on back to the downtown area to do accomplish our task of trying Leopold’s Ice Cream, supposedly one of the top 10 homemade ice creams in the world. I Think my MOM Would have even be impressed. She always said that only Aunt Oassie and Cousin Boyd's ice cream were better than DQ !  By the way, we did check out DQ in  Neb., and two other places when we could not find a diner, local shack, barbecue, or fish place that appeared local and interesting. One was in the middle and one was near Western KS on the way home. 

H—m-m-m-  So, I got a baby cup of  peppermint flavored ice cream. I said, “What is in this?” and they replied just peppermint and Cream. Well, that explained it!!!  Mike got chocolate with chocolate chips and fudge sauce. OHhhh, I got a taste and yummy!!!  SO, I wanted to try one more kind and I chose mint with chocolate chip!  It was really good too—I could have stayed all day! We met some people in there from England who had been to Cherokee Ranch near Livermore. It was shocking to mention Fort Collins and have them know exactly where it was!

         After that we went back to the River Walk, did some shopping, and had a small lunch.


  The booths at Oktoberfest were unique and I purchased my girls each a bracelet. Lindy’s was made of a bicycle spoke, and Kara’s was made of old Guitar strings. The stories behind both artists were interesting.  We went to a very busy pizza place for dinner that night, and then on to the grand finale for Savannah, music variety shows near the Chippewa Square, which is where the scene with Forrest Gump on a park  bench was filmed. 

The music and dancing was fantastic and we really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the pianist, whose fingers flew over the keys like nothing I have ever seen before.  It was a great way to spend our last evening in Georgia!