See Ya Later Alligator!

March 31, 2014

I awoke slightly disoriented. Jason was in bed scrolling through Reddit as he usual would on our day off. I was still on my side of the bed, but no cats were at our feet and we certainly were not at home. This was definitely a sign that I was missing our home, which is lucky because today we make the drive back. Jason and I got ready quickly and headed toward the lobby for our free breakfast. We arrived to a slightly dimmer dinning area than usual and noticed only one couple eating breakfast. I assumed Monday mornings were simply less busy than weekends. As we walked up to the buffet we began to understand more fully, however. Breakfast was over. The lights were off, the eggs and bacon were gone, and all that remained was cold cereal. We stood there a little unsure of what to do until a woman emerged from the nearby kitchen. "Oh no, they didn't tell you either!" she said. I guess not... She explained that breakfast was over at 9 on the weekdays. They are open a little later on the weekends only. She was right, they did not tell us. She offered us some cold cereal and bowls. Jason and I glanced at each other and knew immediately that we both preferred something a little better on our last day in Savannah. I thanked her but stated we would just grab a hot breakfast from somewhere else. She reminded us that Waffle House was within walking distance from here. As we left, the couple at the nearby table with their cold cereal looked at us, smiled, and said "They didn't tell us either." We all laughed a little and then we headed to our room.

After grabbing our keys and my purse, we walked over to Waffle House for breakfast. The closer we walked the more I began to get nervous. Previous Waffle House memories invaded my mind... the dirt, the toothless waitresses, the flies.... "I hope this is a good one" I said to Jason. He agreed. We walked in and my nerves vanished immediately. The smell was of fresh waffles with syrup, visibly clean floors, and not one tooth appeared to be lost. We made the right choice. It was delicious!

To the left, a handsome man. To the right, a handsome man with bacon. Win win win!

Above, shows the amazingly simple, yet scrumptious toast that Jason and I shared.

And below, the oatmeal with fruit which I hate happily. Delicious!

After breakfast, we walked back over to the hotel and decided to pack. Technically we didn't have to check out until noon, but home sounded better than a hotel room. We quickly packed, grabbed what we could, and made our way to my car. Shortly after reaching the car, I realized that my purse was inside the hotel which had my car keys. I ran back and grabbed them as poor Jason stood there with all the luggage. No worries, I wasn't too far away. We loaded the car up, checked the room again for everything, and made our way to the lobby to officially check out. Jason grabbed some coffee from the lobby as I settled the room with the guest services attendant. After being handed a receipt, I looked over to find Jason talking to the same woman that had eaten cold cereal this morning. I walked over as she was leaving and asked what had happened. It's rare to find Jason speaking to someone he doesn't know. Turns out she wanted to discuss what happened at breakfast just a little more. Haha. Oh well, I'm glad we ate somewhere else. Waffle House's food was actually far better anyway. 

Once Jason and I were all packed and in the car ready to go, we noticed a family by the hotel swamp. I had seen them the day before in the dinning area. They left the swamp and began walking to Waffle House. I guess they missed breakfast too. We were about to drive off when the husband noticed us in our car and began trying to tell us something as he pointed to the swamp. Eventually I was able to realize what he was trying to say. We got out of the car and he confirmed what I thought. He was, indeed, saying "There's an alligator in the swamp!" We both looked at the swamp and tried to find it. At this point the man's wife and daughter were almost in Waffle House. The man, so excited that we were interested, left his son and began walking closer to us instead. He pointed to the alligator and, sure enough, there he was calmly waiting for his breakfast as well. 

To the left is a picture of the swamp with the alligator in it. He's small (must not be full grown) and is in the center of the swamp. Kind of hard to see him from this picture, but he's there. We zoomed in on the picture at home and it is definitely an alligator.








To the right is a picture of us, super excited and surprised by the alligator!

To the left is a picture of a duck that we watched. He was fishing for something. This is him in mid-dive.

 To the right is a picture of the same duck as above, but this time he's enjoying breakfast...he caught something.










To the left again is the same duck, peacefully sitting in the swamp.

 Jason and I watched the animals for a little while and then decided to be on our way. There were two animals in particular we were very excited to see and they were quite a few hours away.  Poor Peanuts and Fred were so upset when we left. Fred even refused to let us pet him. In order to pet him, he made us follow him as far away from the door as possible, in order to make it difficult for us to leave him. He's so cute! 

We began our road trip very similarly to the way we had a few days ago, by listening to the book Stiff. This time, however, the author was discussing cadavers and car crashes. We both thought that this was an eerie way to begin a long drive, but the book was too good to put away. We made it home safely, too. Win win. This drive was very different than the previous one. It was a very bright and lovely day out and much more traffic. The trip went by quickly though and we were home in no time. Neither one of us felt like eating lunch so we continued to drive. 

Once at home, we checked the mail and immediately said hello to our cats. They missed us so much! We were going to take a picture but forgot. Here is a picture from 2010, right after we were married. They were so little!!

 

After unloading the car, Jason and I sat down and watched our favorite show, Community. We relaxed a bit and then decided to go eat. We ate a little early since we hadn't had lunch. We chose Pita, our new favorite restaurant in town. We got our usual and then decided to take our evening stroll in Ashley Park. Walking felt really wonderful after having been cooped up in a car for so long. The mosquitoes, however, we biting so we ended our walk a tad early. We then made our way to Target and then Ross. Jason was looking for some tea cups and a tea strainer since he recently purchased some exotic teas online. Each tea is named after something in Harry Potter and is really wonderful! So far my favorite is the raspberry chocolate, although I'm not sure what it's called. Delicious!

After shopping, we headed over to see my Mom and Dad. March 31st is my Mom's birthday! We bought her some delicious chocolates and taffy from Riverstreet Sweets! Delicious! We talked to Mom and Dad for a while and heard about their weekend and were able to tell them about our trip as well. So much fun! We were able to stay as long as we normally would have, however, due to being excessively tired from the trip. We said goodbye and made our way home. We blogged the day before and then went to sleep. It's been a wonderful mini-trip! I'm so lucky to have Jason, he's the most caring and adventurous man... life with him is only ever more fun and exciting!

Monumental Undertakings

March 30th, 2014

The only way to begin a day is with compliments. Complimentary breakfast, that is. Jason and I showered and dressed in order to make our way to the lobby for some excellent hotel compliments. Jason had oatmeal, eggs, and an apple. I went for the sausage and eggs, along with an apple and juice. Not too shabby for free breakfast. As I had done the day before, I also stole an apple and placed it in my purse for Jason. An apple is a great way to avoid sugar crashes. While I finished thieving, Jason grabbed a cup of black coffee for the road. We then headed back to the room.

Today was going to be different than most days in Savannah because we planned a special adventure. We bought tickets the night before to attend a tour at Bonaventure Cemetery. We had technically seen the cemetery before, but only in the film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Today we were going to see it in person. We are both excited. Many people think you're morbid when you love cemeteries, but I like to think we're mostly lovers of history with a deep appreciation for our ancestors. I can only hope that others will one day walk near my name and quietly ask "I wonder what she was like? What was life like for her?" No greater way to honor life than to visit those who were before us.

Before making our way to pay our respects, we spent the extra hour or two that we had before the tour to buy some bottled water and snickers. The snickers are important because I get chocolate only once a week. This alone was another wonderful adventure for me. I shared them with Jason, no worries. We returned to the hotel room to regroup and take some allergy medication. Spring time is one of the best seasons to visit Savannah, but it does not come without some small drawbacks, such as massive amounts of pollen. We hopped in my once bright orange car, which was now dusted with a thin layer of dull yellow, and set off for Bonaventure.

The ride to the cemetery was stunning. We came across more scenery than usual on our ride, due to Bonaventure actually residing in Thunderbolt, Georgia. Savannahians lay claim to many things.

We found our destination on the side of the cemetery, on the Jewish entrance. We arrived half an hour early in order to take a peek and give ourselves enough time to find our tour guide. We were lucky we did. Just a few minutes into exploring we realized how large a place it is. Jason looked at the ticket's information on his phone and learned that we were to meet under some green umbrellas at the Jewish entrance 10 minutes before the tour was to begin. We were in luck for we parked near this very entrance. However, we were unaware at the time that this was the rendezvous point. After walking past numerous Jewish headstones with piles of rocks placed on top, we began to realize we must be close. We had five minutes to find the entrance. We eventually began to see the tips of green umbrellas near where we parked and made our way to a few picnic tables where we found fellow tourists.

Susan, a southern lady with a bit of sass, was our tour guide. She wore a normal amount of make up for a southern lady and had bright blonde hair. The tour was two hours long and was the most historically accurate account of Savannah's past ever told to us. There are too many amazing stories told on the tour for us to recall, so we will start with the pictures and give short summaries of what we learned.

 The picture to the left is of the groundskeepers house. As you can see, we are visiting this cemetery at the most opportune time. The flowers are in full bloom, and the moss and resurrection ferns are beautifully dangling from the trees.

To the right, is a stunning walkway through the cemetery. Our tour guide showed us a postcard from the Victorian era of this very pathway. It looked identical to our picture, just with added men and women in long, ornate garments and parasols. 

The picture to the left, tells an interesting story. In the Victorian era families chose either to pay perpetuity or care for the grounds themselves. The picture here shows the resting place of someone who wished for only their loved ones to care for their land. Sadly, no one is alive now to care for it, which is why their plot is overgrown and unkempt. The tour guide stated that after a certain number of years they can legally declare it abandoned and others can begin adopting it, usually the groundskeepers. 

Just a beautiful picture that Jason took.

To the left, shows a headstone with two wreathes punctuating a family name. Apparently, in the Victorian era, wreathes were never used as we use them today. We use them as a celebration and in times of holidays. In an older time period, however, wreathes were used to show mourning only. This is why people place a wreathe of flowers around someone's grave or, in this case, why wreathes were etched on the tombstones themselves.  

Baby Edward is to the right. This was a relatively large plot of land with a small grave near the bottom of the tree. Our guide informed us that this grave was once alone for a very long time. The child's parents were never buried beside him, nor any other closely related family member. However, recently some distant relatives discovered his existence and were able to be buried near him; they are to his right. As you can see there are toys among the rocks on his grave. These are from people who have supposedly adopted him, leaving gifts to mourn him since his family did not.

This headstone is made of marble. Some people were uncertain what was near the child's head at the top, but it clearly is depicting wings and clouds. This is a sign that shows this child was taken to Heaven. The marble is crumbling due to age and lack of care. Our tour guide explained that the deterioration of the marble does not necessarily indicate the age, rather the quality of the marble.

The picture to the right has two headstones with flowers on them. The headstone in the middle carries oak leaves and the one to the right bears lilies. Oak leaves are usually for men, and are to represent the strong character of these men, along with the great reputation they had in the community. Lilies were to show that the women were pure, lovely, and innocent.

The lady to our left is draped in layers of cloth. This draping is a sign of mourning. Apparently, this family was mourning very deeply because this statue holds more layers than most. The lady is also carrying wilted flowers, indicating the woman died before her time.

To the left is a female angle clutching flowers in her arms. Possibly more visible in person, the statue is literally pressing the flowers into her, as a sign of deep mourning and loss. This was a particularly unusual statue of this time period. Most angels were men and for a female angle to be displayed was rare. Male angels were used because men were powerful and for a female to be displayed in this position was something they did not desire.

To the left is a grave with clay bricks outlining the plot. These bricks also have a stamp on them which resemble a tic-tac-toe board. These, however, were not for playing games. The stamp on them is a sign of the plantation on which this land was a part of at one time. The clay bricks were made by the slaves on the plantation and were used to mark the family's graves. Today most people use a similar design to mark their flower beds.

The picture to the right is of a mausoleum. This one in particular was interesting because it had ventilation. Of course, this is a good idea and no explanation is needed.

The statue to the left is famous for it's technical proficiency. The artist made her to resume a real life female, with visible and "full on headlights," to use our tour guide's phrasing. She also is barefoot, which shows she is walking with Jesus. Apparently, however, she is walking with a hammer toe as well.

The statue to the right is of a woman running. The lady who is buried here was a marathon runner. Each year there is a marathon in Savannah and they stop at Bonaventure to visit this running woman and light candles in her honor.

 This picture to the left displays a better view of what the clay bricks looked like when fully surrounding a grave. Sadly many people steal these bricks, but this resting place seems to have them all there. Also, the giant tree to the right is overtaking the fence surrounding the family plot, which we thought was interesting.

To the right there is a larger grave with a headstone listing three people on it. A man, his first wife, and his second. Supposedly he is buried in the middle. They call him the Hugh Hefner of Bonaventure.  His mother was buried behind him. Our tour guide stated she assumed the man didn't want his mother to see him with two women.

This statue on the left is of the tree of life. As you can see, it has been cut down. This is to show that the man's life was cut short. There are three stumps on the tree where the branches were, indicating that he had three children. The oak leaves and layered cloth are also visible around the tree, showing he was a respected man who will be missed. There is also an hourglass with wings near the bottom of the tree. This represents how time is fleeting and short.

John Stoddard's headstone is an interesting one because it does not list his birth date. Rather he chose to list his emigration date. Our guide explained that for many people they felt their lives began once they emigrated to America. 

 To the left and right are two people belonging to the Tatnall family. These were local politicians.

The picture below is of a doctor and his family. The doctor was allegedly involved in body theft for medical purposes. Our tour guide asked the group what someone would steal a body for. Jason and I were the only two who seemed to know, thanks to the book we were reading on our way up to Savannah. The doctor and his family were buried further down than most so that no one would be able to get to them. That's why they chose a bunker for a memorial rather than a beautiful statue.

 Gracie. This statue was made by the town for a beloved little girl who died at a very young age. She passed away shortly after Easter, which is why the statue shows her wearing her Easter dress. A picture of the little girl was taken shortly before her death and used to create the memorial. Apparently, everyone in town knew the little girl and she was known for being extremely loving. To this day, people drop off toys at her grave as their ancestors did around the time of her death. It is a tradition passed down by many generations. The statue includes a tree stump, showing her life was cut far too short. By the gate entrance was a pile of gravel-like substance which our tour guide explained were actually ashes. Someone chose to leave their remains near Gracie.

To the right is something we had always heard of but never seen. In the Victorian era, there wasn't an accurate test of vitality, except for placing a mirror under their nose to see if they were breathing. They would have a wake for four days, just to make sure they did not wake up. Sometimes, however, people needed longer than four days. Because of this, many people were unfortunately buried alive. Eventually they began placing bells attached by string to the body as a way for those buried to let us know if they were not quite finished yet. The picture here shows what those bells looked like. On a windy night, it would be worrisome to say the least.

This grave to the left is of the Mercers. The man to the right of the picture was the same man who wrote the theme song for the Adams Family, along with numerous other well-loved songs. He also is the same man who had a long-term affair with Judy Garland. 

The picture to the right is a statue made of marble. It is older than most, but is well-kept and beautiful. This is simply a sign of the quality of the marble. Her hands are huge.

 This is the bench that was used in the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It is the same bench they sat on while drinking dirty martinis. 

The headstone to the left (no picture currently), was of a man who was an alcoholic schizophrenic. He ended up killing his wife and himself. His 11 year old son had to find him and usher his family to the police station. So sad.

  This is a tomb that had the lock taken off, obviously a sign that thieving. It is assumed that body snatching was the primary reason for the break in. 

This is a very interesting story, my favorite from the tour. This archway has a sculpture of Jesus and numerous family members buried close to him. The mother and father of the family in particular are buried in front. The archway is the gateway to heaven and shows they were strong Christians who believed they would be walking with Christ.

 The picture to the right shows a statue for one of their daughters. She was a "wayward woman" of the time period. Her father continued to arrange courtships for her, but each time the daughter would run away. Our tour guide stated that her mother must have been paying for her trips because women of this time could not have jobs or property. Eventually she turned 31, making her a spinster. Her father was now furious. He not only had a wayward daughter but also a spinster. He therefore told her she had to marry or would be considered dead to him. He arranged a married between her and a family friend, 30 years older than she. She went along with the arrangements until the night before their marriage. She went to her father and asked him to cancel the arrangement, but he did not relent. Due to her extreme sadness, she left her home that night and went to the nearby marsh. This marsh can be seen in the picture below. The marsh was not very deep. She walked rather far and forced herself into the water and drowned. The family was, of course, upset. As evident by her memorial, they were also livid. It appears to be a lovely statue, but the more you look the more you can see their anger. Firstly, the statue has no eyes. This was to show that they believed she was a blind woman. Secondly, she has shoes on and is facing away from the statue of Jesus. Both of these indicate she is not walking with Christ. Lastly, there is a wreath of flowers at her knees. This wreath was supposedly to be placed on her head, but had fallen off and is now slightly bent. This shows she was a fallen woman.

The picture above is of the marsh I discussed a second ago. Today this spot is known for it's suicides. Apparently, there is a rule of the cemetery that anyone who dies on the property can be buried there for free. So sad.


We ended the tour and walked back to the entrance. We had walked two and a half hours. Definitely worth it. Jason and I said goodbye and headed back to our hotel room. We then stopped by the bank, grabbed some cash for parking, and made our way to downtown Savannah. We decided to have dinner at the Cotton Exchange. Here are some pictures of us and our dinner.

 Jason the Lionhearted!!! Raaaawrrr!!!!!!!!!!

Me, the massively hungry!!!!!

Jason's salmon club with potato salad. Delicious!

My chicken and rice dinner with half and half tea! Best tea ever!

Our bread and cheese appetizer, along with Jason's corn whiskey.

And us, satisfied after eating!

After diner, we walked a little and tried to buy something for our house, but everything was either closed or cheesy gift shops. We walked along the riverside and listened to a man playing the trumpet at passersby. He was very quick and entertaining. Three women walked by and he played "Three Blind Mice." One person would walk by and he would play a sad sound (waw waw waaaaaw!!!). Then an older couple walked by and he played a love song. It was adorable!

We walked until it became dark and then made our way back to the car. We then settled in for the night at the hotel, happily discussing the amazing day we had at Bonaventure.