Just like Florida, but closer

Since I'm too pregnant to fly anywhere warm this winter, we took a little weekend getaway to an indoor water park about an hour from here so we could at least experience some manufactured warmth. It was a huge hit with the whole clan and a lovely distraction from all of the health issues and accompanying chaos that's been going on at home.

Charlotte was a total water bug and loved every minute, and I learned that floating in a lazy river removes every single pregnancy symptom I've been dealing with. No heartbeat issues, no blood pressure issues, no cramping, no dizziness, etc. B said he'd swing by the farm store this week to get me a big tub to put in the living room so I could float for the next four weeks. He thinks he was kidding, but I would rock the shit out of that farm tub...

 Sundaes in the room

 Whispering secrets to the bear before sliding

 Strawberry smoothie

Lazy River.

Now if only I had a picture of her laying on her arms in the inner tube, B holding her up, floating along like an Egyptian princess. She got so used to her station in life that towards the end of our float she turned to me and said "Daddy go?" and I had to reply something along the lines of "Oh my god, you DIVA!! He's BEHIND YOU, and has been holding you up this entire time. Turn around!" Oh to be an adored two year old...

The swing was a HUGE hit. Apparently you don't have to actually be IN the water to enjoy the water park.

  

O Canada!

I grew up in a small town in northern New York that my husband not-so-lovingly refers to as the Arctic Circle. He likes to correct me when I say "I'm from the Adirondacks" by chiming in something along the lines of "No, you're not!! You're from a place SO COLD that it's actually ABOVE the Adirondacks. When you drive SOUTH on the highway, you eventually hit the Adirondacks."

OK, technically true. I MAY know exactly what 40 degrees below zero feels like and that when it gets that cold the radio will be filled with warnings about how your eyeballs will literally freeze in under five minutes and you need to stay the hell inside. But I also know that a Geo Prism with 100,000 miles on it, sitting outside a bar, will start in a surprisingly quick fashion despite those temperatures!

I can't tell you what the state of the American and Canadian dollars were in the late 80s / early 90s, nor do I really care, but I CAN tell you this - listening to all of our parents and older cousins complain about the "damn Canadians" who would flood our town every weekend to shop and shop and shop was a major part of growing up.

They didn't turn right on red yet drove aggressively, often didn't speak English, and most egregiously, felt that denim cut-offs falling approximately half an inch below your ass cheek was perfectly acceptable attire for a man.

It was such an understood part of the culture of upstate New York that it kind of didn't occur to me that the rest of Canada existed.  It wasn't until Beverly Hills 90210 hit the scene and I kept hearing about how Jason Priestly was Canadian that my confusion set in. How could he possibly be Canadian?? I mean, he played hockey, but he didn't speak french and seemed to wear normal length shorts of the non-denim variety.

I think I went so far as to actually ask my dad about it, who probably had the grace not to look horrified that his old-enough-to-know-better daughter had forgotten that the REST of Canada wasn't French-Canadian. OOOOOOOOO! Right! Because Quebec is just ONE of ten provinces. Got it. Obviously.

So that was my first relationship with Canada. My second one consisted of the 18 year old drinking age and some seriously eye-opening behavior at the strip clubs. I think it's safe to say it was time to meet Canada as a grown up.

Sometime in the last few years they changed the entry rules and required you to have a passport to go there. Upon hearing the news, and still thinking of them as my strange neighbor a block over, I had a conversation with B that went something like this:

Me: Did you hear that you need a passport to go to Canada now?!!!
B: Yeah
Me: A PASSPORT! To go to CANADA!
B: Well, it IS another country.
Me: No it's not! It's CAAANNNAADDAA!

But B and I needed new passports anyway and we wanted to have one for Charlotte, so we got the family internationally-ready last summer and finally put them to use last weekend on our trip to Montreal.

We stayed with an old friend of mine and her family who were the most lovely hosts you could ask for. They didn't even look offended when we said "We couldn't afford to go to Paris, so we came to you! Show us some people speaking other languages on a narrow cobblestone street!"

We got a full driving tour, a walking tour of the Old Port, a lesson on the politics of the language debate, and got to escape to a different culture for a while. One where women can't change their name after marriage, where milk comes in bags, and where you have the option to spread congealed pork fat on your bagel in the mornings.

It was a great escape and did nothing but reinforce our plan to take the kids and live in another country for a year at some point in our lives. I want them to know, with a full understanding, that there is more than one way, more than two ways, to approach things - some people live in a world where health care is free, school is longer and harder, the convenience of box stores don't exist, and toilets flush differently.

Because if you can understand that the most basic parts of life, the parts of life that you take for granted and never think about, can be done in a completely different manner, than you can start to realize that everthing can be done in a different manner. You can think more broadly and go beyond what you see and what people expect of you.

On that note, here are some of the shots from the weekend..

Did you know there's a mountain right in the middle of the city? Well there is and it's awesome. So are the castles, with actual lion statues out front, that sit atop of it. 

(You may also notice that Fat Face has started to set in. My stomach seems to be a normal size for 23 weeks, but thankfully my face and my ass are picking up the slack. Those features are going to look downright GORGEOUS by the end of this pregnancy)

Old Montreal. 

Cobblestone, restaurants, hundreds of art galleries, and the most perfect spot for a couples weekend someday.

Notre-Dame Basilica

   

Day Trippin: Saugerties, NY

We took the family day trippin on Saturday. There are tons of small towns between here and NYC that are great for walking around, grabbing lunch, and seeing some new things. This time we went to Saugerties, but Hudson and Woodstock are on the list for the near future. We found a great children's consignment shop where we got a few summer items for Lady C, an unbelievable antiques store that was what I always think antique stores are going to be but never are, a beautiful boutique where I couldn't afford a single thing, and finally a hike out to the lighthouse.

The walk to the lighthouse was Charlotte's first hike, which is pretty much the most adorable milestone ever. We had no idea that it was going to be such rough, muddy terrain and had her in the exact opposite shoes that she should have been in, but she had a blast anyway.

The town has a farmer's market in the summer with live music and kid's activities, so I think we're going to go back down some Saturday morning to hit up the farmer's market and go on another hike.

Day trips are our new favorite thing to do but I feel like I rarely hear about people doing them. What are your thoughts... do you day trip with the family? Or is it one of those things that just never occurs to you? I'm starting to think it's the perfect travel solution for people with young families. You get to see and experience new things without getting on an airplane. Also let me know if you know of any good little towns in western Massachusetts, southern Vermont, or western Connecticut that aren't too far from Albany, NY

Williamsburg, Brooklyn: A Love Affair

March was a really rough month in the Scarlet Lily household. B had an extra graduate class on top of the two he's already taking, he went through a major job transition whereby he was doing the work of the new job AND the old job (all that just ended Thursday), and it was the last month of an exceptionally long winter.

To help with the difficulties, B went behind my back and planned a weekend in NYC with two of our favorite people. And in the perfect Rom-Com moment, he even surprised me with the pre-planned trip after I had had a particularly rough day. It was the most unexpected and wonderful surprise a girl could ask for.

So we spent this weekend in Williamsburg, Brooklyn which is my new favorite spot. It's artsy, hip, walkable, fun, has amazing food, and is smaller and less frenetic than Manhattan. As always, there is nothing I love more than feeling like my world view has been expanded a little... new fashions, new ideas, new conversations, etc. and this weekend was perfect for that. Here are a few of the places we visited:

• Dinner at Fiore
• Drinks at BarBerry
• Sampled (and purchased) gourmet chocolate at Mast Brothers Chocolate
• Brunch at Sweetwater
• Saw Neil Patrick Harris run by us and hop into his Maserati on Metropolitan St. (can't give you a link for that one!)

We also ended the weekend with our first IKEA experience to get Charlotte a table and chairs for eating and playing. It's already making our day much easier!

One of the awesome girls we visited is a trapeze artist (no, really) and was just featured in this unbelievable commercial for her employer, Trapeze School New York. If this doesn't inspire you to step outside your comfort zone, nothing will.

Tips for flying with a toddler

This is the backpack packed for the flight out. The black bag with white designs in the back was filled with snacks. The Magnadoodle was a new toy, and every other book and toy was in the checked bag on the flight back because she couldn't have cared less about my desperate attempts at entertaining her.

The Basics:

We flew from Albany, NY to Portland, OR on Southwest Airlines. We had a 40 min layover at Chicago, Midway, and Charlotte had her own seat. Flying time = approx. 7 hours.

DON'T:

• Expect the airlines to carry milk as one of the beverage options and then not buy any extra before boarding a flight for 7 hours, especially when your toddler is firmly in the stage where milk is a comfort food.
• Expect that "Family Boarding" is even remotely helpful because the moment your tickets get scanned, so do everyone else's and then it's still an awkward scramble to get to your seat, get the carseat in, and get everyone settled
• Expect to do ANYthing other than hold their legs and feet down for the ENTIRE flight. Once in the car seat, their poor feet are touching the seat in front of them, so even the slightest twitch means they're kicking the person in that seat. And if you've flown enough you know how MADDENING that is when it happens to you. (see pic below)
• Spend the world's shortest layover circling Chicago because the cloud cover is too thick to land, then deal with a cranky gate agent who won't look up your gate, then run to your gate, then have everyone on the plane move so you can put the car seat in the required spot (window seat), then fly for an additional 4 1/2 hours to your destination with the seat belt sign on, meaning your toddler has now been forced to sit for 7 hours without moving.
• Let your laptop break a week before your trip and then have no media or cartoons to rely on.
• Spend even two seconds feeling bad if you want to give your kid Benedryl. I didn't, but only because I learned on the flight out that I should have, and on the flight back she was sleep deprived and actually feel asleep once or twice.

DO:

• Pack tons and tons of food - both for you and for them. Assume that you'll need all meals for both of you for the entire day - don't count on layovers or airline food.
• Have a HUGE glass of wine when you land, or while you're still in the air if you want to!
• Attempt to have a layover longer than 30 min if you have your choice of flights
• Totally revamp your mindset on how early you should get to the airport. In order to get to the airport, return the rental car, get through security, and have enough time to buy food and let her run around, we left our hotel THREE hours before our flight departure time.
• Spend the money and get them their own seat (it's not required until they're 2). It's safer, and unless they're a newborn, I don't see how you can hold them for that long and keep your sanity.
• Relax and know that everything will go slow and awkward (security, seating, etc.), but it can still work out fine.

 

Visit to OR and WA

Blog Post - Take 2. I started this yesterday and was literally too tired to finish. But thanks to some slightly inappropriate Benedryl usage, the child fell asleep before 2am last night so I'm at least functioning at 75% today. Stupid time zones.

We had a wonderful trip to see the family despite all the rain. We divided our time between Charlotte's Grandpa and Didi up in Washington, and her Uncle Mark and his girlfriend down in Portland. We spent most of our Oregon time out on the coast, so I don't have many sightseeing pics for you, just a few family ones.

 Dancing cheek to cheek with Grandpa

 Loving every minute of her garden time

We weren't smart enough to introduce her to the piano until our last day with Grandpa and Didi, but she sat there forever, so we'll know better next time.

 Low tide out on the Oregon coast

(Nothing in my New England brain makes it normal to see a coast bordered by coniferous trees!)

Playing in the tide pools

 Only moments before the violent rain storm hit and we trudged the half mile through the sand back to the car - soaked and numb

 Riding the Portland tram on our last day

Rainier, WA

Charlotte and I are having a wonderful time with Grandpa (pronounced "Baaap-pa") and Didi and all of the lovely sunshine. As you can see from the gravel driveway, there are enough rocks to keep the budding geologist happy for days.

We're headed back down to Portland today and then out to the Oregon coast for a few days. Hope you have an equally lovely weekend planned.

Vacation by the numbers

In our household, I'm the one that's in charge of the finances. Living on one salary means we have to be extra vigilant about what's coming in and exactly what's going out. My system is embarrassingly simple, but given the modest amount that comes in and out, it works surprisingly well. Essentially, it's a word document.

We don't write checks for anything except rent and a few random things here and there, so a checkbook ledger is useless, and due to the unpredictable nature of when debit charges will actually hit the account, I don't like to totally rely on our online balances either.

So I have a Google Doc (so I can access it from anywhere) that looks like this:


Finances Until 3.2.11
$xxxx
-xxx(cable)
-xxx(electric)
-xxx(Lowes)
-xxx(gas)
----------
$xxxxx


I'm not obsessive about it, but I do update it about once a week so I can know how much money we'll have until the next paycheck, how much I can eek over into the savings account, etc. And yes, I realize that there is wonderful software for all of this, and I've been meaning to get it, but given how simple our finances currently are, it hasn't been a huge priority.

Anyway, whether you're in a situation where you have to watch every dollar, or whether you're fortunate enough to have more wiggle room, I think it's essential that at least one person in the household have a true understanding of your finances.

They say that people consistently overestimate how much they donate and underestimate how much they're spending. And I don't think it's from any kind of malicious intent, I think it's just ignorance. But I'm pretty Type A about money, so I don't roll like that.

Before we took our vacation to Georgia, I wrote out every expense we would have for the trip - luggage, gas, parking, aquarium tickets, meals, etc, etc. I tried to think of every possible expense because I wanted to have a real idea of what our trip would cost. But even more important, when we got back, I compared that to our actual costs. As it turns out, I did surprisingly well - I was only off by $91.

Our vacation was done with a mindset of budget travel and saving money at every turn, while still splurging on things that were important to us. But even so, I think it'll surprise you to see what it added up to.

And I only share this with you because I think money is one of those things that we are weirdly secretive about. And I think it's our secrecy that is part of the basis for the overspending and credit card debt that most of our nation is prone to. I realize that no one wants to share what their salary is, but I firmly believe that when it comes to ourselves and our children and maybe some close friends, we all need to be more clear about what things cost.

And if you can spend your brains out and still afford it, good for you! I'm not in any way begrudging spending, I'm just saying that we need to know what we're spending, that's all!

The two huge aspects of our trip that saved us a ton of money were plane tickets and lodging. We received one of our plane tickets for free through a promotion run by Kodak Gallery, and we received the other one as a Christmas present from my mom. (That's pretty typical for our Christmases with her - rather than several small presents, we usually opt for one large one)

Lodging was another huge savings because although we were gone for six nights, we only paid for two. Our B&B was running an off-season special where your third night was free, and because we had family friends in Atlanta, the other three nights were expense-free because we were able to stay at their house.


Georgia Vacation Expenses

$554 - 2 nights + taxes at B&B
$90 - luggage costs on airlines
$228 - 7 lunches (average = $32)
$370 - 3 dinners ($60, $162, $138)
$46 - 2 Trolley Tour tickets
$189 - Couple's massage
$29 - Souvenir for my mom for watching Charlotte
$20 - 2 tickets for Savannah mansion tour
$69 - 2 tickets to Aquarium + parking
$143 - gas
$190 - car rental
$36 - misc.
$184 - airport parking for 1 week
-------------------------
$2148 (+ 2 free plane tickets and 4 nights free lodging)


The only unexpected expense was the airport parking. In order to get our free plane ticket, we had to drive two hours down to White Plains, NY. However, apparently the White Plains airport doesn't have any long term parking so you have to pay the full, exorbitant, daily rate no matter how long you stay.  So that was a HUGE bummer, but still much less than a plane ticket, so it's ok.

So what about you? Do you have a pre-set annual vacation budget that you try to stick to or are you more go-with-the-flow than that? Who's in charge of finances in your house and what's your favorite system? Did it surprise you to see what a week away added up to or is it pretty much what you could have guessed?

Vacation is serious business

Life is too damn short to take most of it so seriously. Especially on vacation.

Not being intentionally funny, just being natural idiots here. We got a block from our destination in Atlanta and both of our phones died - with the address in them. Luckily B knew that lamp posts have electrical outlets in their bases, so we stopped at the park to do a little phone charging.

"OH GOD! WHAT A MISTAKE TO DRINK THE FREE SHERRY AT THE B&B!!"

"NO SERIOUSLY! GAAAAHHHHH!"

Flavor Profile: As though you emptied all of the contents out of a cigarette and then blended it with unholy amounts of sugar.

I have a yellow umbrella!! It makes my soaking wet socks much more bearable!!

(No, it actually doesn't. But the pictures are way more festive)

We're FANCY!!

Look, even the Savannah Police have a sense of humor. According to our trolley tour guide, the half cab / half police car comes out every New Year's Eve. And in case you can't read the writing on the side, the back half says "This ride about $20" and the front half says "This ride about $1800"

Georgia Aquarium

When we decided to take our trip, I knew we would have one day in Atlanta to see something great, so I Googled something along the lines of "best attractions in Atlanta" and immediately hit upon the Georgia Aquarium. Built in 2005 by Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus (price tag = $250M), the aquarium is the largest in the world and the only place in the country where you can see whale sharks and manta rays. (If you've never seen the scale and beauty of a manta ray, they alone are worth the trip)

When you hear "world's largest" before anything, you tend to really gear yourself up for a long day. B put on his knee brace, I took preemptive Advil for my back, we ate before we arrived, etc. But we actually had it all wrong. Zoos require a lot of walking, but aquariums really don't. It was the calmest, most peaceful, coolest attraction we've ever visited.

To add to the experience, we were there before tourist season, and also mid-week, which meant that we could luxuriate at the exhibits, sometimes sitting there with our coffees for 20 minutes at a time, just observing and taking pictures. It was almost like an art museum. I can't say enough good things about it, put it on your Must Do list if you're anywhere near Atlanta.

 The jellyfish (AKA: Sea Nettles) were a personal favorite of mine. I was in total awe of their colors and movement.

 Sea Dragon

(We took tons of pictures, but shooting through glass meant that several of them are a little blurry, but this little guy came out great)

 Penguin crawl space

At the penguin exhibit you have the option to crawl on your hands and knees through a tunnel to get to this little viewing area. There are also little pop up tubes where you can stick your head into a viewing area right in the middle of the penguins.

Hey little buddy. No idea what he is, but he swam slowly enough to get a clear picture.

 In the viewing bubble at the river fish exhibit.

This was one of the window seats at the main tank. Again, it was heaven. We sat in the window with our coffees and watched and watched. After a while one of the volunteers came around and answered all of our questions. This obviously couldn't happen on a Saturday in June, so keep that in mind when planning a visit.

 Tunnel through the main tank. 

Can you believe this!?! HOW is this real?

This is the skinny end of the main tank and the silhouettes of the people will give you an idea of how large it is. We sat in the viewing area and watched them feed the fish and the whale sharks (the large creature on the right half of the picture)

Sitting on the floor at the main tank.

Savannah in February

Oh, vacation, where do I start? I mentioned last week that our trip to Georgia probably seemed super random as far as vacations go. I can't really speak for the rest of the country, but when people in the northeast go on vacation it's usually to a beach somewhere tropical and lovely and WARM. And I totally get that, but although our life is busy, it's not chaotic. And sitting on a beach for six days just didn't really appeal to either one of us this year.

We did want to get out of New England and get someplace warmer and without three feet of snow, but we also just wanted to feel like we were experiencing something new and cultural. Europe isn't in the budget right now, so we picked Savannah & Atlanta based mostly on the fact that I hadn't been there yet.

Then we realized that we had some great family friends in Atlanta which would make the trip more fun and also more reasonably priced (no hotels for that part of the trip). Other than one lunch upon arrival at the Flying Biscuit Cafe where we ate cheese grits so good we were near tears (and also saw Queen Latifah) and a visit to the Georgia Aquarium, we didn't spend any time exploring Atlanta. It seems as though they have several great museums though, so I'm excited to go back one day.

We spent four days and three nights in Savannah and since tourist season doesn't start until March, we really felt like we had the city all to ourselves. It's true that we still had to wear coats the whole time, but when we took the tour of one of the mansions, we got to take it alone as opposed to taking it with the 30-40 people they said was typical for a peak-season tour. I'll take a slight hit on weather any day if it means I get to soak in the beauty of a place and not feel like I'm fighting to enjoy it.

The whole city is so quiet and lovely and just hauntingly, achingly beautiful that it really lends itself to an off-peak visit. And if budget travel is your preference, we were told that not only are the accommodations cheaper this time of year, but the tours, the pedi cabs, and everything else is cheaper as well.

I think the thing that makes the city so beautiful and so interesting to tour is the fact that the past and the present are so seamlessly intertwined. I've never visited another American city where that's been the case. I lived in Boston, which obviously has gobs of history, but I never really felt that walking around the historic district. And there are places like Colonial Williamsburg and St. Augustine, FL where it's only the past on display and that doesn't seem any better.

The Savannah historic district, which comprises all of the downtown and is a very large area, is the perfect walking town, complete with 22 town squares. The river front is built right into the bricked ports and ramps where the country's main cotton and slave trades used to occur.  The fact that we came back from our trip with 454 pictures on the camera ought to give you an idea of how much we loved the town and our trip in general.

Below is a city guide of the places we ate and what we did if you have a trip in your future. And of course some photos. Because the pictures tell a far better story than I could.



Azalea Inn & Gardens - Great bed and breakfast one block from Forsyth Park, the main park in Savannah. The staff were extremely helpful and the food was great. In addition to a full breakfast every morning, there were appetizers and wine at 5:00p, and a home made dessert at 7:00p. Because we were there in the off season we got to stay for three nights but only pay for two. Huge win.


Old Savannah Tours - The first thing we did was to take a 90 min trolley tour of the city. There's no better way to see the whole town, get all of the history, and figure out where you want to go back to than this. We paid $3 extra for the "On/Off" feature of the tour which lets you get on and off all day. This was especially helpful when we wanted to get back to our inn, which was two blocks from one of the stops.



Sorrel Weed House - There are several mansions in the city that you can tour, but this one was right in our walking path and also came highly recommended by our trolley guide. As I mentioned, we were the only ones on the tour, so we got to ask plenty of questions and really luxuriate in the details of each room.


Magnolia Day Spa - On the one day that it rained and walking around town had to be limited, we got a couple's massage. Again, because of the limited tourists in town we got to use the sauna and the steam room together as opposed to being separated into the men's sauna and the women's sauna.


Six Pence Pub - This was one of the places we stumbled upon for lunch on the day we arrived, then we learned the next day on our trolley tour that it was in the Julia Robert's movie Something to Talk About. We had a great lunch and drinks at the bar, but there was outdoor seating as well.


Sapphire Grill -We were in town for three dinners, but the first night was the Superbowl and we were still full from our late lunch at the pub, so we had a low key dinner at a bar downtown. But the next two nights we wanted really killer restaurants, so we took the recommendations of our B&B owners. Sapphire Grill is downtown next to Paula Dean's restaurant and was great. Great food, knowledgeable staff, and a hip atmosphere.


The Olde Pink House -This restaurant, as the name would suggest, is literally inside a pink house. We were upstairs in a side room and definitely had the best table in the place. The food was phenomenal and the history of the building was incredible. We were told this was a "must do" if you're in town and I totally agree.



Ms. Wilkes Boarding House -We hadn't heard about this place until our last night in town when someone staying at our B&B told us we had to go. It's a famous lunch joint where you eat family style and have to line up around the block to get in. At 2pm sharp the last person in line has the unfortunate job of telling anyone behind him that they aren't serving anymore.

I had a bit of a humorous moment when we sat down with the eight other people at our table, with 20 bowls of food in front of us and I couldn't identify one single thing. Traditional southern food is crazy, y'all! I fully understood the obesity problem when looking at the table. I was able to slowly parse out what about half of the food was. Is everything "creamed" below the Mason-Dixon?


Leopold's Ice Cream - Another recommendation from our trolley guide. This was the very last thing we did before leaving town. Turns out Leopold's ice cream is owned and run by Stratton Leopold, movie producer and VP of Paramount. He happened to be at the shop that day and struck up a conversation with B.

From the ice cream shop, we learned that they make all of the ice cream by hand from the original 1920s recipe (it really was different from all other ice cream in the best way possible), and from Stratton we learned that when Steven Spielberg made the fourth Indiana Jones, he shot Harrison Ford from above and never below thanks to his aging neck skin.

This is what all of the streets look like. Paved in brick, gorgeous homes on either side, and Spanish moss hanging from all the trees.

Many of the old homes have windows made to look like eyes. This is so the spirits knew that they were being watched. This house specifically made their eyes look like an owl.

Walking towards the fountain in Forsyth Park.

You can't go to Savannah without first watching (or reading) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Luckily I've seen the movie about a hundred times, so I was well prepared. This is the house, right on one of the main squares, where Jim Williams lived and committed the infamous murder.

Inside of the Savannah Bee Company.

In the cafe at the Parisian Market store downtown. I essentially hyper ventilated with joy for 45 min. One day I will live in Paris...

 

In the basement of the store they had a board set up for you to pin up your new year's resolutions.

We all know what mine is....

Down on the river there is a naturally occurring echo spot (thanks, trolley guide!) where even a whisper will echo in your ear. However, no one else can hear it, only the person standing in the spot. 

Half the county is named after Button Gwinnett and I'm one of his direct descendants. He died in a duel and has a huge monument in the cemetery.

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

The Girl Scouts, started by Juliette Gordon Low, were started in Savannah.

I don't know the type of tree this is, but it was outside the Girl Scout house. It had smooth orange bark and looked like a painting.