Katie's 30th: Savannah Style

Katie decided she wanted to go big for her 30th birthday and so the Savannah trip was born. She invited a bunch of her friends but after all was said and done, it ended up being just Katie, Cristina, and me.

I got to Katie's house at 7AM on Saturday morning. We were all going in and out of the house to load up the car with all the necessities when the girls noticed a cat walking down their street that looked like Maris. The cat quickly went into the woods which scared the girls. We all thought it might be their cat since the door had been wide open. We all looked throughout the house multiple times and couldn't find Maris anywhere. The girls were very upset but we had to leave. So we put food outside,  Katie alerted Tommy of the situation, and we crossed our fingers.

We stopped in Palm Coast for a Starbucks pick-me-up and to drop the girls off at their grandma's house. We didn't stop again until we were 20 minutes outside of Savannah. It was either that or let our bladders burst. We ran into a bit of standstill traffic on 16 which we figured was the perfect time to put on our temporary tattoos. Once we finally made it into Savannah, our first stop was Forsyth Park. Katie really wanted to see "the fountain" and so we did. I have been to Savannah twice before but this was the first time I had been to the park. (Side note: I did one hell of a parallel parking job too! What. What.) We all immediately fell in love with it. I mean, it's huge! And there's something for everyone. I loved how half of the park is covered in a canopy of trees and the other half is all open fields for playing sports. There are playgrounds, benches, and even a cafe! The fountain was of course beautiful. A wedding ceremony had actually just finished in front of it as we arrived. We all tried to really take it in because parks like this do not exist in Florida. Sure, we've got some nice ones but nothing at this level.

 

From there we went to the hotel to check-in, drop our bags off, and park. We were all anxious to eat lunch so we walked straight to Pie Society, but not without taking a million photos in between. Once there, Katie and I decided to share a steak and mushroom pot pie. It was delicious. Ok, actually I called it hearty which Katie totally made fun of me for. But it was so very hearty. Mmm!

We walked over to River Street. The girls got some drinks and we played around with Katie's new Instax camera. We all just stood there staring at the photo waiting for it to develop.  I forgot how much fun polaroids are! As promised, Katie and Cristina accompanied me to The Peanut Shop (The Nut Shop for short). Dustin and I discovered it last time we were there and now I have to stop every time I go. Dustin loves the peanut brittle so Katie got him some which was the sweetest! And I bought myself some caramel apple peanuts. I got them at the perfect PMSing time. Score!

 We stopped in a Subway so the girls could use their restroom. I didn't have to go for once in my life (WHO AM I?) so I decided to FaceTime with Dustin while I waited for them. I love spending time with my friends and going to new places but damn did I miss Dustin. It was nice to see his face in real time for a few minutes. 

We went in shop after beautiful shop. The Paris Market was by far my favorite. I loved the antique/cozy/hipster/eclectic vibe it had going on. Thankfully I have a lot of willpower when it comes to shopping because I could've filled a damn U-Haul with stuff. I scored a $10 (on sale thankyouverymuch) shamrock scarf. It is the cutest and I may just have to wear it all year long. I also saw the cutest outfit of all time in Anthropologie but it was way too much to buy so I took a photo of it which is kind of the next best thing. Not really but I'm going to pretend it is. Ha!

After we literally shopped until we just about dropped, we headed back to the hotel to relax for a bit. Our feet were hurting but Katie's especially. She wore those damn sandals like a champ though. I couldn't have done it without whining the whole day. I'm a baby like that. 

After relaxing for a bit, we all got dressed up. I was done within 5 minutes so I went through my photos from the day while I waited for Katie and Cristina to finish up. I loved everyone's look. Katie had the Carrie from SITC thing going on, Cristina was channeling J-Lo, and they both agreed that my look was very Taylor Swift inspired. Girl power! Ha!

We had the hardest time picking a place to eat for dinner. I wanted Katie to decide since we were all here for her. We went in a circle of I don't know what do you want. Finally we decided we'd give Paula Deen's a shot but when Katie called she was told there wasn't an opening until 9:30 (which was 2.5 hours away). Yeah, no. We were hungry now. So we decided to go to the first place Katie had spotted earlier in the day - Moon River Brewing Company. (Side note: After some research I found out Moon River is located in one of the oldest & most haunted buildings in Savannah and also was featured on the Travel Channel). We were all way over dressed for this kind of place but they seated us immediately so we didn't really care. The food was pretty good but the atmosphere was better (minus the drunk lady two tables over).

After dinner, we went straight to Leopold's for ice cream. All the travel sites rave about it so it was a must. There was a long line in front of Leopold's when we got there but we thought it was for the theater next door. Wrong! That place is just that good. We decided to wait which I'm so glad we did. Usually I hate waiting for things like that but this time around it was worth it, plus the line moved pretty fast. I ended up getting caramel ice-cream in a cup and it was a fucking dream. Oh man, so good!

We finished the night taking a few more pictures around town. Katie wanted to go to Zunzi's because it's so close to her real last name. We also stopped by Chippewa Square where the bench scenes from Forest Gump were filmed. Then we had a mini photo shoot in the hotel lobby, as you do. 

While we were winding down before bed, Katie got a text from Tommy. He had sent her a photo of him and Maris. The cat was fine! The cat was actually trapped in the laundry room all day. Ha! So glad that story had a happy ending especially for the girls sake. Damn cats are just so sneaky. Oh and some other animal ate all the food we left outside. 

It was such a great trip. It was nice to see Katie's face light up everywhere we went and I'm so glad I got to know her friend Cristina because she's such a lovely person. It was just so fun walking, talking, shopping, and laughing our heads off the whole damn time. 

Happy 30th Katie. Hope it was everything you dreamed.