The Jones Family Adventures: We Heart Savannah

Savannah, Georgia, that is....
Fortunately for our budget, we got a chance to have a little vacation on the cheap. We used our United miles (we got check cards in Colorado that earned rewards- Denver being a United hub--- but you can't get flights out of ATL with United rewards on account of there only being a total of two united gates- because of Delta...bummer) to purchase two nights free in a hotel in downtown Savannah and then used Hotwire to book another two nights for half price! I recommend it because you can get a really nice hotel at half the price (you just don't know the name of the hotel until you purchase, but you know where in town the hotel is located). I had intended this little trip to be for David's b-day since he was off school (and Strayer...his online teaching job) for the week and he wouldn't get another break until Thanksgiving. Also, on his actual birthday he is going to the Ultimate Frisbee championship in Sarasota, FL with his brother Daniel.

Let me just take a moment to tell you how much David LOVES Ultimate. He started an ultimate team at Harding, and now He is trying to start an ultimate league/team/ even a pick up game at school so he carries his frisbee in his backpack, sometimes just stands outside on the quad with it, waiting for someone to come along and just throw the thing. Can you tell he misses it? He has had a long drought from Ultimate and going to Sarasota with Daniel is going to be a real big pick-me-up!

So back to Savannah.....
We stayed for two nights at Thunderbird Inn (super cute remodeled historical motel, which was pretty nice with 50's theme music and served Krispy Kreme Doghnuts every morning for breakfast...another reason why I chose it for David :). The second two nights we stayed at the Hilton.
I didn't get a picture of The Thunderbird, but here was our room at the Hilton....

This was our view from the Hilton room....

Savannah has a very New Orelansy/ European feel. It's also very ecclectic. There are these squares (several in the downtown area every couple blocks or so). Most have some sort of statue in them, like this one....

But surrounding the little park-like squares is a borage of architecture/ period type structures.... homes, churches, really historic big money type mansions...all around the same square! Here is an example of all the builings around one particular square we went by.

Church.....

....Notting Hill (there was one with a red door although it's not pictured :)/ the Huxstable looking row of town homes.......

....then this really cool building with the pretty blue tiles (see below)....

.....and this New Orleans looking old mansion (this place was HUGE)...

....yes, eclectic! Also, notice the palm trees mixed in with the old south big tree feel...it didn't feel like the ocean was just a couple miles away.

Savannah also has a rich history side. This was The Pirate House...literally where pirates used to come in and eat after a their long months of looting and carousing on ships :) David and I ate in the original room- so technically we ate in the oldest room of the oldest building in Georgia! The food wasn't super awesome though...but if you like fried stuff I bet you would like the food there :)

Also, the place was supposedly "haunted", so here is a waiter showing the kids at his table how to "catch" a ghost on camera (which is pointed at a glass window)....very clever waiter, very clever.

Also, this city was the site of the boating and rowing events of the 1996 Summer Olympics...this statue stands by the river

There are tons of cool churches to visit
This was our favorite church we saw. It's kind of breathtaking!

David below to show you how big this place was

Here is the inside...

I must admit that I was a little uncomfortable inside the church.... not trying to judge- but it felt SUPER weird being in a place that cost a cogillion dollars to make this ornate. I'm just saying- maybe we could have done without one golden column- maybe made it silver and then feed all the homeless in Savannah? Perhaps...but it was quite beautiful. Maybe they felt this was honoring in some way? Again, not judging...just felt weird for me.

TYBEE ISLAND

This island, for those of you who don't know, is a vacation home for Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey, and the shooting site for The Last Song (with Miley Cirus :).

We found the island quite calm and not too inhabited. We rented bikes and covered the ENTIRE island in one day (actually a couple hours)! Here we are riding our bikes through the streets...