HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Best wishes for a wonderful 2007 to you all!

We whiled away our new year's eve down here in good old Savannah with biking, shopping, shopping, eating, shopping, and celebrating.

We awoke to temperatures near eighty degrees which made all the cordouroys and turtle necks I packed a little obsolete. This meant (boo, hoo, hoo) a trip to the mall to get me something summery and then a little biking.

Our biking was short lived, however, since it misted rain for much of the day. So...more shopping! Mostly window, actually. But I found these mighty tempting:

Tempting, but alas, a little pricey.

We nipped in to a Scottish bar for lunch where Satan enjoyed this rather exotic traditional European fare and we both enjoyed a couple of beers:

You'll note a hard boiled THEN breaded and deep fried egg in the background, onion rings, and in the foreground, a meat pie. Which, you'll be happy to learn, all tasted way better than it sounds. Or maybe it was just the beer. Who knows.

Then it was off for more (primarily) window shopping. I totally need this chandelier:

We celebrated Satan's birthday with a FANTASTIC dinner at Fernando's, an Italian restaurant in downtown Savannah recommended by a waitress we had yesterday. Luckily, the place was everything she said it was. The entrees were to die for, and so plentiful that we left with not one, not two, but THREE to-go boxes (a personal record).

After that, we strolled to the riverfront where we enjoyed a fantastic midnight fireworks display.

I'm always amazed at the lengths to which the world goes to celebrate Satan's birth.

Tomorrow we're thinking of picnicking with our leftovers on Tybee Island.

We'll see.

Ghost Ride

After a somewhat late start this morning (or, I should say, afternoon) we finally loaded up the bicycles and set off for the historic district. Today's photo is of the entrance of Colonial Cemetary. If there's anyplace I love to ride, it's in a good cemetary. And Savannah's is particularly spooky this time of year, with the moss looking like wispy gray ghosts caught in the trees.

The weather is perfect for riding, in the low seventies. It is so damp around these parts that my hair, normally the straightest hair in the universe, is actually beginning to show faint signs of an actual curl here and there. Although...it could have become bewitched in the grave yard I suppose.


We rode all afternoon, until nearly dark, and then headed to the riverfront for some dinner and shopping. Satan bought a pashmina (sp?) for me from a pretty indian girl in the market. I'm not sure about that spelling, but what it amounts to is an incredibly soft scarf so large that it can be worn as a shawl. Mine is a shade of burgundy that is nearly purple and made (supposedly) in Nepal from baby lamb's wool. Which, of course, technically means that there is at least one if not more naked baby lambs out there potentially shivering in the cold who have sacrificed their incredibly soft coat so that I might have a soft scarf to snuggle in. It's enough to make one feel a little guilty.

But not THAT guilty.

Anyway, then it was on to more shops where Satan browsed for a birthday gift for himself (the big day is January 1st). Not too surprisingly, we ended up in a hat shop where, among other lids, he even tried a pork pie:

Which, damn if he doesn't almost pull the thing off, eh?

Well, yah, almost.

After that I tried to coax him into a few other far out styles and poses, whereupon he had the NERVE to accuse me (loudly to all in the vicinity) of planning to post said potential pictures IN MY BLOG on the INTERNET.

I mean...As IF. Sheesh! I gathered my baby lamb Nepalese pashmina around myself and huffed right on out of the store on THAT one, let me tell you.

Then, it was on to a Greek (don't ask) restaurant for dinner which turned out to be a TAD overpriced. After that, we made a final stop in order to make our traditional annual selection of a nice bottle of champagne which we will enjoy tomorrow.

Ah...tomorrow. Can 2006 really be over?

And, finally, I just wish to God they'd finally bury poor Gerald Ford and James Brown, already. It's time.

Savannah at Last

Oy vey, have we had a day.

It started out well enough in Louisville, we got away from the hotel there at about 9 a.m. We had only traveled for about an hour, however, before we became ensnared to bumper-to-bumper start-and-stop traffic with rabid flag flying UK fans on their way to the bowl game w/Clemson (?) in Nashville. This traffic crawl went on for better than TWO HOURS.

After that, we enjoyed a very short few hours of smooth sailing before we hit Atlanta at RUSH HOUR. Good lord.

It took us thirteen hours to get here and it should have taken only ten.

The good news is that we made it, and boy is it balmy around these parts. We brought the bikes and our hotel is wonderful. I'm looking forward to morning.

I was going to try to post at least a photo each day, but the one I post in this entry is another from yesterday taken at an amazing salvage yard we toured in L'ville. I didn't think you'd want any shots of miles and miles of brake lights which is what we spent today looking at.

Hopefully, more interesting posts to come soon. Right now I'm so tired I'm cross-eyed.

Tripping

It's been a long time, I know.

Suffice it to say I survived Christmas and Satan and I are now on a bit of a vacation. Day one was spent here in Louisville with Matt. I'm posting my favorite photo of the day of the three of us on a video display at an art exhibit in downtown Louisville. Up until I saw this photo, I didn't realize that, among the three of us, I am the shortest.

So, I know this is not much of an entry, but I'm trying to ease my way back into it.

Baby steps.