Florida vacation

Have I mentioned we haven't had a vacation in 2 years? We haven't, unless you count my pregnancy, Claire's birth, and the subsequent sleepless 11 months as a vacation, which I do not.

So we must have been delirious with a vacation withdrawal when we booked a Florida vacation with my parents, my grandparents, and my in-laws. (This was May ... so 2 months ago ... behind in posting!)

How does a vacation like this go? Hmmm ...

...Take eleven people, throw in sun and sand, swim diapers and sunscreen, confusing car shuffling and daunting dinner decision-making, stir in some pool-side vodka drinks and fried calamari, sprinkle in 1 toddler, 1 baby, seven sleepless nights squeezed in one bed, and one nasty blowout in the car at Sanibel, finally toss in some good seafood, tasty donuts, and delicious biscuits ... 

And you have what we call a "vacation."

Mothers Day Dinner:

Nashville ... our first 2-kid voyage

The end of April, we took the kids to visit their grandparents in Nashville.

This was our first flight with two kids. If you recall, our first flight with Wesley was eventful, to say the least. Luckily, we don't have "bathroom catastrophe 2013" to reminisce about. As a matter of fact, we either we have the best kids or we just got lucky because they were travel naturals: sleeping and/or coloring. Wesley was so excited as the plane took off but once it was airborne he kept asking, "are we there now?" He's right, it is pretty boring chilling out on a plane.

The way we navigated the airport with 2 kids (and parking the car, shuttle to the airport, etc) was...
Me: Carrying Claire in the Ergo baby carrier with the diaper bag on my backpack, and Wesley in the umbrella stroller
Matt: Hauling 2 rolling suitcases and the infant carseat.

The weather in Nashville was chilly and rainy, but still the kids had fun. We went to the Edwin Warner nature park (I.e. the dirt park) where we met an old family friend of Matt's and her kids. This was the highlight of the trip and the most anticipated thing a 2-1/2 year old could ever hope for. The entire week he kept saying, "I'm going to Nashville to the dirt park." And to my grandpa he explained with his trademark hand gestures: "There's dirt and mud."

We saw the Nashville Public Library puppet troup perform a puppet show at Cheekwood botanical garden. The story was Many Moons and the puppets were marionettes -  Wesley &Claire were entranced.

Matt took Wesley to his first baseball game - The Nashville Sounds - and Claire & I took advantage of the only sunny day to walk through Cheekwood's lovely gardens.

We had a few food places we wanted to hit up on this trip but we weren't the only ones ... lines were out the door and with 2 babies, thats not the way to start a meal. In the end, we did enjoy some really good BBQ at Edley's in 12 South neighborhood, sandwiches at Noshville, and a nice lunch at blvd Nashville on Belmont Ave.

Lurie Garden

Friday, my mom and I took Wesley downtown to visit Millennium Park and the Lurie Garden. It was an absolutely beautiful October day and we had a delicious lunch at Terzo Piano inside the Art Institute that overlooked Millennium Park. The only downside to the day was that Matt couldn't meet up with us -- his new job is keeping him very busy.

By the Face Fountains

Lurie Garden: An Urban Oasis

I loved the granite walkways

Amazing view

My lunch - Farro Salad

On the rooftop of the restaurant/Art Institute

End to a lovely afternoon

Madison Weekend

 After some busy weekends, 2 power outages, and a trip to the ER, we all needed some R&R and so our planned trip to Madison this weekend couldn't have come at a better time. We visited our dear friends, drank some honey liqueur at the Sugar Factory Distillery, played around at the Children's museum, bought veggies at the famed Farmer's Market, walked through the trees at the UW Arboretum, and ate some good food ... wait, did I say we needed some R&R?

On the rooftop garden of the Children's Museum

It was a fun weekend even though it was non-stop, and there's so much to do in Madison we always leave saying, "Wait, we didn't ..."

I thought Wesley was really good on this trip, on Saturday we were out and about from 8am - 7pm and despite leaving our dinner table at Brasserie V looking like a bomb went off, he was pretty good the whole time with only minor meltdowns when he was hungry. Now that he can eat table food, it makes it really easy to go to breakfast and order him, say, an egg and some yogurt. Or this afternoon he had cheesy grits at Lazy Jane's.

More Florida Photos

Click on them to enlarge.

10 months old & Florida

I can't believe he's in the double digits! He might as well be graduating from high school, I feel that he's all grown up now. Silly, I know.

We just got back from Florida where Wesley got to hit the beach for the first time. He was apprehensive about putting his toes into the sand, but had no problem putting the sand in his mouth. (The other day we caught him lying on  the ground sucking on the wheel of his stroller.)

We went with my parents and brother and grandparents, so it was a 4-generational vacation. We stayed at the Pink Shell and had a 2-bedroom 2-bath suite for the 6 of us (grandparents got their own suite) with beautiful views of the beach. The hotel was lovely - beautiful pool, good food, and the room was nice. It was great for families with young kids and there were plenty of them.

Wesley is a great vacation-er. He slept through both flights, and would have slept the entire way home had we not got diverted to Indianapolis (we ended up renting a car and driving home from there - anything better than sitting on a plane with a squirmy 10 month old).

He loved the pool however, and those swimming lessons helped because he wasn't scared and loved to kick his feet and move his arms when Matt helped him "swim." When we would sit him on the edge of the pool, he kept trying to "jump" in. But the pool was also 0-depth and Wesley loved sitting in the water splashing (just like the tub). He didn't ever try to pull off his hat, but the sunglasses were not a hit with him.

One day we went to Naples and took a walk on their pier where we saw dolphins and jellyfish, and fisherman gutting caught fishes. Then we walked along some of Naples pretty downtown streets where Wesley's stroller almost ran over a large black snake hanging out on the sidewalk.

We had some Good Eats too -- most notably a heavenly biscuit sandwich for breakfast at the Heavenly Biscuit one morning (when my mom watched the baby) -- a tiny shack of a place that had the best biscuits and cinnamon rolls right on the main strip, but don't blink or you'll miss it. For dinner one night, we went "upscale" and had dinner at the Sandy Butler. Wesley was really well-behaved and made another girlfriend with the waitress. They had the best key lime pie on the trip. And one morning we drove into Fort Myers for famous donuts from Bennetts - really good coffee too.

We were sad that we only stayed 5-days (we thought we'd be ready to go after 5 and this way Matt only took 3 vacation days). Everyone else is leaving Friday and after our ordeal on the flight home, we should have just stayed. Oh well... we're back in the cold weather now (this May has been terrible here).

Traveling with Cloth Diapers

We've taken our first real trip with a baby in cloth diapers.  I was worried about this trip and thought for a second, I might be putting the baby in disposables. But I knew there was a way and what we did worked really well for us. How did we do it and what did we bring?

1. Pocket diapers: We use these at night and pre-folds during the day. But for the trip, I only used pockets. I bought 2 more so that meant our stash of 8 pockets was coming along for the ride. This was by far easier than pre-folds for on-the-go travel.

2. Extra inserts: For the day, we put the baby in a pocket with a large & small insert; so we brought extra large inserts for night time.

3. Wet/Dry bag: At home we have a diaper pail liner.  For traveling, we bought a wet-dry bag like this one from PlanetWise.  It's also great for all sorts of travel and we even use it when he goes by my mom's (so she has a place to put the stinkies). It's a must for traveling.

4. Liners: At home, when the baby poos we use a diaper sprayer (attached to the toilet); but that's not possible on this trip. So I bought some GroVia flushable diaper liners that are super thin and lay on the diaper (between diaper and baby). If he poos, you can take the liner and flush it away. If he pees, it goes through the liner. Takes away all the mess and a must for travel in my opinion.

5. Washer/Dryer: We stayed at my in-laws who were okay with us washing the diapers in their machine. For any future trips, access to a washer/dryer is a must.

On the plane, I put the baby in a disposable for travel to the airport because I didn't want to bring a dirty dipe on the plane. Then before we boarded, we put him in a pocket cloth diaper.

That's about it. This was our first time and we thought it went really well.

Happy traveling!

Nashville April 2011

Last weekend, we headed downt o Nashville to visit my husband's family and introduce the baby to his "southern roots." We were there last when I was 27 weeks pregnant.

For the most part, it was a relaxing weekend but when we arrived home we wanted to crash in bed for 48 hours. Traveling with the baby let us see everything as if for the first time, but at the same time our minds were constantly occupied. Even sitting outside on the deck enjoying a drink meant watching the baby as he tried to swipe at it.

One of the main reasons for the trip was that Matt wanted to run the Music City 1/2 Marathon. We were there cheering the runners along in 2010 and that's when Matt decided he would run this race in 2011. So he trained starting in January and here he was in April running his first major race. We couldn't have been prouder. Unfortunately, Friday night was a bad one for the baby (who was a restless sleeper on this entire trip) and we slept in, the baby & I, Saturday morning. This meant we missed Matt running at the 4 & 8 mile markers. I was so sad because I promised him I'd be there and he said that at 8 miles he was feeling some pain and could have used my winning smile (I made that last part up).

We tried some new places on this trip ... we had an early Mother's Day breakfast for my mother-in-law at Marche Artisan foods and breakfast sans baby at Frothy Monkey. And we enjoyed ... seeing our nephew run the Kids Marathon at LP Field, walking around Centennial Park, watching our nephew's baseball game, and eating BBQ. My in-laws were thrilled having Wesley for 5 days (and nights), he was a really good little boy on this trip, smiling and playing and not displaying any sort of separation anxiety as I passed him off.

At Marche for Breakfast

At Centennial Park

Getting BBQ

At LP Field for Kids Marathon

After the race with his celebratory coffee

At the baseball game - go Indians!

Cousins!

How we traveled with the baby?

The flight was short and we stayed with my husband's parents so this was a good first trip for the baby. My in-laws bought a car seat (it paid for itself on this visit alone), and we brought an umbrella stroller. We packed 1 small canister of formula and bought the rest there (including baby food). We also brought 8 pocket diapers and extra inserts for night time and that was perfect since we used my MIL's washing machine (a lot). I bought a tie-back travel high chair and it worked, but the baby was happier being fed as he sat on the floor or in someone's lap.

First plane ride

Last week we went to Nashville to visit my husband's family. This was the baby's first plane trip and as much as I was looking forward to it, I was dreading it all the same.  No longer am I packing for one person, throwing stuff in a suitcase and grabbing gobs of magazines for the plane.  Now it has to be a choreographed, well-oiled machine packing bottles and diapers and figuring out what to take on the plane and hoping the one toy he needs won't accidentally be in the checked luggage.

I started packing for this trip 1 week in advance. But even with all the planning, it was still a head-spinning day.

The day we left, we scheduled his 9 month doctor's appointment in the morning and I took the day off of work. Before we left to go, I put the baby on the bed to run into the bathroom and I hear this boom followed by a horrible scream ... I run into the bedroom and there's the baby lying on the hardwood floors face-down.  I thought I was going to die and rushed to him. Luckily all he had was a bump on the forehead but it took a lot to calm his screams.  He's never been so mobile before and this was a wake-up call that he can't be left alone on the bed anymore.  We got to the doctor's early to show them the bump and were reassured that he was fine and that even though the image will haunt me, I should erase the guilt. Not so easy.

All packed and ready to go!

Since we cloth diaper, I tried to think of the best way to handle the situation. I didn't want to bring a dirty diaper on the plane, so I put the baby in a disposable for the trip to the airport and once we were about to board I'd switch him into a cloth. Sounded like a good plan until we were in line for security and I felt something warm and realized that the baby had leaked out of the disposable; his pants were soaked and there I was stuck in line with a very wet baby. Through security we rushed through stroller, bags, jackets, it felt like we had a ton of stuff. Then ... Matt gets "randomly selected."  And there I was, wet baby in my arms taking everything off the conveyer 1-handed.

After that, Matt pointed us towards the nearest bathroom and I ran, bag falling off one arm, wet pee pee baby in the other. As I started to undress him, I hear, "I was always worried I'd go into the women's bathroom by mistake." I look around to see I'm surrounded by men. Yep, I ran into the men's bathroom. In hindsight, I should have just said OH WELL and kept on changing him but no, I grabbed everything and sped out the door to the women's room next door.

Whew ... But no. Everything was not finished yet. Just as I was about to put on a clean diaper, the baby peed all over the changing table. There he laid in a pool of pee as I grabbed handfuls of paper towels and wipes, not before letting out one big sigh.

All cleaned up, we met Matt who looked at me, "What's wrong?" All I wanted to say was, "I'm going home." To put it in perspective, from the moment I discovered Wes peed to this was only about a 1/2 hour. I was wiped out.

On the plane!

But we lucked out the rest of the time, Wes was really good on the plane. He didn't cry and while he was awake, he was content to play with toys and look out the window. He was a natural traveler. On the way home, he slept the entire time. And so did I!

Madison weekend

Ed. note:  I added some photos from our trip and the video of the sparring giraffes.

For the first time since the baby's been born, I thought it might be good for me to get away for a weekend. My plan was to come to Madison, visit my good friend M, stay at a B&B, and sleep without interruption. (and if I happened to stumble into a spa that would be ok too).

But I thought it would be more fun to drag along my mom (she doesn't always get away), so here we are. We made these plans before the state legislation debacle so we got a room at the Hilton, but our plans for hanging out and eating around Capitol square were squashed.

No worries. After gobbling scones this morning at Lazy Jane's, we headed to M's then lunch and the Zoo. It's close to her house, free, and was pretty cool -- orangutans, Siberian tiger, sparring giraffes (video to come).

Then we headed to the Capitol to join the protests and dance to "power to the people!" I loved the energy of the protest, the parents who brought their kids, and the creative signs ("walker eats kittens"). Now, back in the hotel to get warm and rest our feet -- dinner tonight with M at a place NOT on the square. (Update: Actually - we did eat on the square at Graze. It was a great restaurant starting out with cockatils and truffle popcorn at the bar, then cheese platter, and I had a delicious burger for dinner. The next morning, we went to Bradbury's for coffee and crepes and I had a really good Nutella muffin, too.)

Nashville weekend

Last weekend we went to Nashville to see Matt's family, and show them that I am really pregnant - ha ha! I'm not intending to do any travel in the 3rd trimester (except maybe for some Lake Geneva weekends) so we wanted to make sure to go before I got too big and cumbersome for this long car ride.

On the way down we divided the trip-- 4 hours on Thursday night, and 4 hours on Friday morning -- and stayed over at a Hampton Inn 30 miles south of Indy. It was the perfect break; we got a good night's sleep and complimentary breakfast, so we were ready to hit the road the next day. On the way back, we made sure to leave by 9AM, and then we stopped every 100 miles for a potty break/leg stretch, and we actually stopped for lunch and some shopping at one of the Outlet malls -- which we never do, preferring to nosh on Pringles in the car. I even bought a new purse and my brother some much needed 3XL clothing, so stopping was good all the way around.

I want to say it was a relaxing trip, but on Saturday we were up at 6:30AM and not back to the hotel (I won a night at the Embassy Suites) until after 10PM. I was so over tired and Matt vowed that Sunday would be about taking it easy for me. We were up so early on Saturday because it was the Nashville Marathon and Matt's parents house wasn't too far from the 4th and 8th mile markers. Neither one of us had seen a real marathon so we got up early, were the first in line at our favorite Nashville coffeehouse, and got to the marathon in time to see some of the best runners (not the very best unfortunately) go past. Although we felt lame cheering them on as we drank our coffee and ate muffins... We were lucky though because the rest of the day it rained heavily so we were glad that we got out that morning to see the marathon, walk around Vandy, and have breakfast at the Pancake Pantry.

The rest of the weekend we enjoyed ... seeing the Kid's Marathon at LP Field on Friday, swimming at the Pool at the Embassy Suites (plus their good breakfast and comfy beds), hanging out with the outlaws on the deck, enjoying lunch in the Village and in Franklin, and dinner with everyone Sunday night... Baby Screeman ate too much this weekend.

Door County weekend

Door County was so great and relaxing this weekend. (Click on the photo for pictures)

Door County March

This time we stayed in a different room at our usual Inn. I was totally apprehensive about this, because we've gotten accustomed to "our room" (where Matt proposed to me in 2002). But we loved this new room -- it's the only "suite-like" room at the Inn, so there's a sitting room in addition to the bed & bath. It was very cozy and felt like home. The view out of the bedroom was of the lake & pier (as opposed to the woods). Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day (ask Matt how many times we go out for breakfast!) and the Inn makes a nice one. The first morning, they made banana crumb muffins (in addition to their homemade granola, fruit, coffee, etc), and the second day they had cherry sour cream muffins. We "swoon" over homemade baked goods! Not to mention, they have an endless cookie jar filled with cherry oatmeal cookies, and in the afternoons a bowl of popcorn.

And speaking of food, we can't say we have our favorite restaurants yet -- since every time we go up is low season and not that much is open. But on this trip we did eat at all new places. Our first night we had dinner at Alexander's -- a white tablecloth place with a nice lounge and good food. We had a great waiter and Matt had 2 killer Rum Runners (not that I tasted them, but "killer" as in I drove back). The next day we had lunch at the Village Cafe -- a quirky colorful cafe known for breakfast all day, so I got their cherry pancakes (pancakes as good as the Pancake Pantry in Nashville) -- and a low-key/late dinner of thin crust pizza & tasty gelato at Joe Jo's Pizza & Gelato. The best thing about low-season is that there are no waits, and everything is casual (even the white tablecloth places).

Our main reason to go up to DC this time was for some R&R, so we took it easy this time. We hung out at the Inn a lot and soaked in the whirlpool ( I really needed this, my back has never felt so good). As we approached the peninsula, Matt realized he had forgot his jacket, so we found this outdoor shop in Sturgeon Bay where the guy helping us told us about Door County Land Trusts -- great places to go hiking if you know where to find them. So that's what we did Saturday morning - hiking near Egg Harbor. Afterward, we drove up to Sister Bay to go bowling and Matt played the best game of his life: 163! He got 5 strikes; he was HOT! My best of the 2 games was 142, which was typical for me when I concentrate, but I could not get a strike to save to my life.

It was a little too cold to go strolling through the quaint, picturesque towns, so we'll do that next time -- but driving on the curvy country roads was a lot of fun with the stick shift (I couldn't pull Matt out of the driver's seat).

We're not glad to be back - I could have used 1 more night and 1 more tub soak.

Door County Wisconsin this weekend!

This Friday we're leaving for Door County. We really needed to get away and Matt doesn't want me traveling too much (especially once I hit the 3rd trimester at the beginning of May).

So we decided to go back to our favorite place in Door County, the BlackSmith Inn. Not only do we have our best memories there, but they don't allow kids so we wanted to take advantage of it once more (before we have to ask someone to babysit!). The Inn has a special in March if you stay 2 nights, and even though it's cold in March, it's cozy (and we've gone up in October & November, so we're used to it).

The next time we go up to Door County, it will be a whole different experience -- no more fireplace, whirlpool tub, and couples massages, but instead camping at Penninsula state park, making s'mores, and waiting in line for custard. Wait - that sounds like even more fun!

Milwaukee & Meatloaf

We were supposed to be in Newport, Rhode Island this weekend for a wedding (Matt's fraternity brother), but circumstances (to be discussed later) led to us having to cancel. I am so bummed because we found this cute B&B in Newport and the wedding looked like it was taking place in a beautiful church and botanical garden. Matt and I were really looking forward to this little jaunt (and I had my new Coach shoes to wear and everything). Oh well. Our plane tickets are good for a yea, and we only lost 1 night's worth of money at the B&B.

So we kept our vacation days and went to Milwaukee yesterday instead; we spent the day at the Milwaukee Art Museum (and had I known you could take no-flash photography, I would have snapped a lot more photos) and saw the Andy Warhol Exhibit. Then we had lunch at the Comet Cafe (we saw it on Diner's Drive-Ins, and Dives on FoodNetwork and thought it looked cool). I had the mile high meatloaf sandwich, and Matt had the compact Turkey dinner. It was all very good (read: fattening). Plus we got 2 cupcakes for dessert (to be eaten much later of course).

Last day on St. Simon's Island

The last day of any vacation is always the most laid back. By this time you're tired, maybe sun-burnt, and you just don't feel like doing much.

Our plan for today was to rent bicycles, but -- as I mentioned before -- who wants to do stuff on your last day. That's why I always make sure to see most everything on the To Do list right away, then the rest of the time we can relax and that last day can be spent at the pool.

Our last day started with coffee at our coffeehouse and then over to the Glynn Art Association -- a non for profit art gallery for locals. One of our habits has been to purchase local art when we're on vacation; last October in Door County we bought pottery and good places to go are these non for profit galleries. We found 2 paintings we really liked (one of the artists was actually from our neck of the woods) but we needed to swim on it. So we had our daily hike on the beach, and daily swim in the pool, before heading back. Once there we found another painting that was just dropped off and we fell in love. Problem is that we can't take it back on the plane, so Matt's parents will take it to Nashville, and somehow it'll find it's way to our house!

Today at the pool, we met a woman we've seen all week and we finally talked. She's been coming to this condo for 20 years and loves it. In fact a whole group of people (that we saw and thought were family) come to this condo every year on the same week, so they've sort of "friended" each other. I agree that this week (the 2nd week in September) is one of the best -- the weather is perfect and there's not a lot of people. She gave us some tips on restaurants and places not to stay. Then we talked about our cats ;)

This evening, Matt and I had dinner at CrabDaddy's (me the crab cake, Matt the blackened shrimp) while his parents had a romantic dinner alone at Blackwater Grill.

Now we're all packed and sitting our last time on the balcony, waves crashing louder than ever before, a beautiful breeze keeping us cool.

Savannah morning

Waking up this morning, looking out of the windows at the Savannah rooftops, was surreal. It was 7 a.m. and the sky was still pink.

After coffee in their kitchen, with the dog at our feet and the cat in the sink, and a look at their adopted turtle who ambled into Preston's art studio, we went for a guided tour of the city. It was nice walking the streets with someone who knew where they were going, being tugged by a dog, maybe that lessened the touristy look we all had as we followed like dutiful soldiers.

We saw some of the prominant homes, and the famous cemetary, which I learned that when a cemetary's closed, it means no one can be buried there. This one's been closed since 1850; funny, because it didn't look crowded. The sign at entry said pets on leash; Gaston the dog went running ahead. I guess that meant as long as a leash was trailing behind, it was alright. And when he decided to take his morning constitution on someone's 150 year old grave, I just pretended I didn't see it. No one else seemed to mind!

Also on the tour was the Green-Meldrim House. It was closed. That didn't seem to matter, Preston knew where the back door was and asked the girl there to show us the parlor; which she did and then continued to show us the whole house which was kind on both their parts, and much appreciated.

Our final stop was one of the galleries where his art is displayed. The gallery owner was nice to show us around and he has the most beautiful courtyard in the back, in addition to some really beautiful and expensive art for sale. I saw an oil of an Alsace town in the snow somewhere in the several thousand dollar range. But all the same, it was impressive.

We didn't want to outstay our welcome, so around 10 a.m. we were on our way having greatly enjoyed our 19 hours in Savannah.

It was a cool, cloudy afternoon when we returned to St. Simon's and we were ravenous for lunch. Southern Soul BBQ is on a roundabout in the center of the island and it hit the spot. 2 smokers sit out front between 2 wood picnic tables and logs of wood. It has a sort of "side of the road" look, without being really on the side of the road -- more like the busiest intersection on the island. The pulled pork sandwiches (big thick pieces of pork) and sauces (sweet, mustard, tangy) were delicious, and Matt and I got sides of mac & cheese and BBQ beans. After that, who could eat dinner?

A long walk on the beach (we walked all the way to the Lighthouse via the beach, and almost got caught coming back with high tide -- it's not fun to walk around barnacle-covered rocks, trying to decipher the clear areas between tides) and laying out by pool rounded out the evening.

Tomorrow's our last day ...

Savannah

Yesterday we went to Savannah.

Savannah is about 70+ miles north of St. Simon's, so it was only about 1-1/2 hour drive to get there. Matt and I were last in Savannah six years ago on our honeymoon. It was so nice to be back -- still married --and see our B&B and the places we walked as "mooney-eyed" newlyweds (and now as a true married couple). I have a feeling this will not be our last trip to this wonderful city.

Obviously the main reason we went was to visit my mother-in-law's cousin, Preston, who's an artist in Savannah, and his wife. He does oil paintings of Savannah, Charleston, and the low country, all of which I thought were genuine "slices of life" and very thoughtful. He has a beautiful house in downtown Savannah that is filled with art -- both paintings and objets from their many travels -- as well as books and collections and a 140 lb brown labrador. It was a mini-museum and very memorable.

After family talks and cocktails, we went to eat at Garibaldi's -- a well-known Savannah restaurant that he has painted. The upstairs was like a European courtyard and as the lights got dim, the candles on the table flickered. I ordered the crsipy flounder (like 6 years ago) with an apricot glaze. It is such a delicious dish that I had to order it again (it will become my Savannah dish). The coctail du jour was definitely the mojito (not that I had one; I didn't need to become "fun bobby" and fall down the stairs), but I did taste my father-in-law's and they were really excellent and fresh.

We spent the night at their house -- it's 4 floors (don't worry, there's an elevator) and we stayed on the top floor which had 3 bedrooms, a bath, and a sitting area. They said they host a lot of exchange students and this is probably where they stay. If I were an exchange student, I would request to stay with there because it was so comfortable. Matt and I shared a king-size bed, and we still found ourselves huddled close in the middle.

I'll write about today (it's not over yet) tonight.

Adieu.

Forts & Fish

Another day at the beach ... are you bored with my daily updates yet?? Matt brought his laptop and the condo place has free wi-fi so my nightly ritual has been sitting on the balcony, listening to the lapping waves, typing away. Life is sweet... at least this week is.

St. Simon's island has a lot of history dating back to the early 1700's -- pre-dating the Revolutionary War. James Oglethorpe, a british soldier who founded Georgia, built a Fort on the Island (Fort Frederica) to stave off the Spanish who were in St. Augustine, FL. Everywhere on this island is something with the name Oglethorpe. I told Matt, "This man's really milking it, isn't he?"

Fort Frederica is now a National Park and an archeological site. The Fort attracted many settlers who turned it into a town -- the remains of which are layed out and marked. You can walk the "streets" and see the remains of all the homes and learn about the people who lived there; it was one of the most interesting historical sites I've seen. The town/fort was only occupied for about 20 years so everything found at the site dates from 1730's-1740's.

Our next stop was Christ Church, one of the oldest Episcopal churches in the nation and, I believe, the birthplace of the Episcopal Church in the US. The church was closed but the massive burial grounds surrounding it were open. Tombs from as early as the early 1800's were there, and I found myself getting sad as I saw so many tombstones of little children. I can't imagine what a hard life it must have been.

This evening, we all went out to dinner to Georgia Sea Grill in the Village (the closest area of shops and restaurants) where we had a wonderful fish dinner. I had the snapper picata, Matt & his dad had grouper with horsradish, and Matt's mom had scallops & oysters. We had fried oysters for appetizers and for dessert a coconut chocolate pie. We couldn't get over how good and fresh the food was.

Tomorrow we're off to Savannah to visit and stay with Matt's mom's cousin. I may not have internet access there.

Until tomorrow.

Jekyll Island

How does Operation skinny work on vacation?? The exercise room! I went down there last night around 9PM and actually ran 1 mile. When I was training for the 5K earlier this year, it took me forever to work up to that point, and it didn't last long. I guess all this exercise has built up my stamina without me even realizing it. It felt great!

So I was all pepped and ready this morning, Matt and I walked along the beach and then through town to the Lighthouse. But then we were so tired (and hot) that we had to call Matt's mom to come pick us up!

The sun was out all day today so we got in some pool time and then Matt and I headed to see Jekyll Island. There's not much to see but the remains of the first settler's house and an old cemetary. Then there's the old, majestic Jekyll Club started by the millionaires who bought the island from this French family in the 1800's. Some of the original homes were still there. The 2 restaurants on the wharf were closed on Monday, and the beach was at high tide. But we walked around the Club and tried to get into one of the old mansions -- which I figured would be open to visitors, but was locked and Matt said someone was looking at us from one of the windows. Oh well.

For dinner, Matt and I went to Blackwater Grill which is by far the best thing we've eaten on the island. We split 4 appetizers to taste a bit of everything: fried green tomatoes, shrimp & grits, andouille sausage corn dogs, and their own specialty -- a combo of corn bread, brunswick stew, & cole slaw that they call the Blackwater Sundae (served in a sundae glass). Excellent food, highly recommended!

We're off to open mic night at the coffee house.

What's on the agenda for tomorrow???

We've arrived in Georgia!

How do you get to St. Simon's island from Chicago?

We took Southwest Airlines to Jacksonville, FL via Birmingham, AL (but we didn't have to exit the plane). We got to Jacksonville 1 hour late (fog in Chicago delayed our flight an hour and a half), and was greeted promptly by Matt's parents. Then the drive north was only about 45 minutes.

Our condo - the Beach Club - is really nice. We have a pretty 2-bedroom condo that faces the pool and the ocean, and the dining room has a wall of mirrors - perfect for looking at myself every time I walk past ;) The resort is on a beautiful stretch of beach that at low tide is like a mile-deep; at high tide, it's an inch wide. It's also only about a 5 minute drive to the nearest hub of restaurants and shops.

So far, of what we've seen, the island is cute and quaint. The homes are small bungalows and the streets are lined with huge trees full of spanish moss. It's really lovely.

Last night we ate at Mullet Bay (?) -- we got a sweet table on the outside porch where we could enjoy the very loud cicadas. Our only complaint was the very old beer Matt's dad was served (but was quickly replaced with a draft). They had good coconut shrimp and excellent hushpuppies ($1.95 for 10).

Today we did a little shopping with Matt's mom in the morning, and then read by the pool & swam in the ocean this afternoon. Dolphins were pretty active around 4PM. Matt was trying to drag we out into the ocean to get a better look -- I'll admit I'm scared of the water-- but I was pretty brave and went out a bit (waves crashing into me), but Matt wasn't impressed! Tonight, we ate at Barbara Jean's - a southern style place. Everyone loved their grits (even me). I had a delicious crabcake, and Matt got the shrimp & grits. We left with 4 boxes of leftovers and keylime pie to go.

Before we left though we needed coffee (of course to go with the pie), and we found this cute coffee house/pub with live music. The owner was super nice and Matt got Magic Hat on draft (in addition to coffee). Tomorrow night is open mic - I will not be singing!

I wish I could post pictures as we go along, but I forgot my USB cord.