Day 2 - Pool Time and Rhett Restaurant

Day 2 was a Monday and Briana was going to be attending her two art classes that day. She texted first thing in the morning and said she slept pretty well and was about to go to breakfast. She was excited about the day ahead - especially because she was going to a movie night that evening with all the SCAD camp students (which ended up being "Spiderman: No Way Home" - but she loves Marvel as you know and was so happy to watch it - again). Knowing she was doing just fine, I was able to enjoy the rest of the day.

It really was a picture perfect day...

 

I just wanted to chill that day. I didn't want to do any big time sightseeing or shopping - I was in need of a day of some rest and relaxation.
 

We went to the pool (which I mentioned before was located right outside our room).

Unfortunately, the pool water looked a bit murky and not as vibrant blue as it should. The pool staff was examining the situation and we were told they had to clean the pool - which could take a couple of hours (they actually drained it about halfway). According to the staff, the pool on the weekend had been super busy and it just wasn't ready for guests yet. We had the option to visit another pool on the property, but we were ok just lounging and relaxing on our pool chairs under some umbrellas...

We ordered some lunch...

The strawberry daiquiris (with edible straws) were very yummy. I had a delicious shrimp salad with thousand island dressing and Doug went for a hamburger and fries.

We spent a number of hours relaxing by the pool but unfortunately, it never ended up being ready for swimming. I don't think the pool was available the entire day. It was a bummer, but luckily, we managed to have a relaxing morning/early afternoon despite that.

We went back to our room, showered and changed, rested a bit and then explored a little more of the hotel grounds.

Doug had made a reservation at a restaurant named "Rhett"  for that evening which was located in the Alida Hotel which is situated right next to the Marriott. We were able to walk to dinner...

Loved the artwork drawn on the ground in front of the restaurant...

Inside, the restaurant was very welcoming...

We had the sweetest waitress - super friendly and knowledgeable. And the food was SO good...

She-crab soup, crispy chicken and rice, bourbon pecan bar - all so amazingly good.

After dinner, we went to look at the river...

A shop on the river featuring the artwork of SCAD Alumna...

 

 And then it was back to our room...

The days we were in Savannah were a bit warm, but the temps were much lower than they had been earlier in the month in Georgia. We had had an unusually hot and muggy early to mid June and we were super grateful it was a bit cooler that week we visited Savannah.

So, our Day 2 was very laid back. Day 3 was a lot busier. We did a lot more sightseeing on Day 3. 

More on that next...

Day 1 - Graffito Pizza

We arrived at the hotel, looked around a bit and got settled in our room. It did feel a bit weird with Briana not being there. Doug and I were married for 10 years before she came along, so we definitely know how to function without her, but she has been with us for 15 years now and it does feel like a piece of us is missing when she is gone.

I was already worrying about her as soon as we dropped her off, but not long after we left her at SCAD, she was texting us pictures of herself checking out the SCAD campus with her new roommate.

She looked like she was doing just fine (and she was)...

So I took a few deeps breaths and (tried) to let go of my worry.

Before we went to Savannah, Doug and I made some reservations in advance at restaurants that could get possibly too busy for us to visit without one. There was a restaurant in our hotel called "Graffito Pizza" that looked really good and I had a reservation for us to go there our first evening.

The place had a really funky and cool vibe...

The food was delicious. All the pizza selections were gourmet and a bit "out of the box" but really good. And very filling!

Caesar salad...

My pizza (an assorted mushroom pizza with alfredo sauce)...

Doug's pizza (assorted meats with a red sauce)...

And we did have slices of each other's pizzas (I think Doug won the pizza selection of the night. Mine was good but his was SO good)!

We headed back to our room after a very filling dinner and spent time sitting on the balcony watching the sun go down. Doug and I had a very low key day scheduled for the next day. 

Day 2 - next...

Savannah Plant Riverside District

Before I get into Doug's and my day to day activities in Savannah, I want to first talk about where we stayed while Briana was at SCAD for the week.

We stayed at the JW Marriott in the Plant Riverside District.

Doug and I hadn't been to Savannah since 2015, and when we visited back then, the Plant Riverside District didn't exist. It was just an old abandoned power plant which sat on this part of Savannah's River Street. The plant was the Riverside Power Plant, which was abandoned by Georgia Power back in 2010. 

You can read about it here.

Richard Kessler decided to revitalize this section of River Street and it is truly amazing. The Plant Riverside District opened in 2020.

The JW Marriott Plant Riverside Hotel sits on the property now and consists of three sections - Three Muses, Power Plant and Atlantic. Doug and I stayed in the Atlantic section of the hotel. There are so many restaurants, shops, statues and fountains - it really is a beautiful property.

Doug and I dropped off Briana Sunday afternoon, and we headed directly to the Marriott. Check-in was in the "Power Plant" section of the hotel (front entrance on W River Street)...

This is the back on the Power Plant building facing the river...

This is what we saw when we entered the lobby (the vibe was very modern with lots of gems and minerals)...

A free glass of Prosecco when we checked in!

 The Power Plant has this really cool restaurant called the Turbine Market + Cafe (we didn't get a chance to eat there), but the atmosphere was so neat - I had to take some pictures. It really showed off the history of the building... 

We left the lobby of the Power Plant and headed to our building - the "Atlantic"...

This is the backside of the Atlantic building on the riverfront...

View of the River Street shops from our building...

 

This is the lobby area of the Atlantic...

Our room was on the 6th floor and it was located right outside the rooftop pool...

The pool at night...

The room was huge (and it was soundproof - you couldn't hear pool noise)...

The view from our balcony was so beautiful (so many cargo ships passed by)...

The evening view of the Talmadge Memorial Bridge from our room (we spent a lot of time sitting on the balcony)...

The Atlantic building has a maritime theme - this was the area that led to the conference/ballrooms...

The Atlantic also houses a cool museum of Gretsch instruments (and tells the history)...

The third building of the hotel was the "Three Muses"...

We only walked through the lobby of this building one time, but the theme seemed really luxurious.

I honestly cannot believe how they completely restored this area of River Street. It was a wonderful place to stay. We will definitely stay here again when we come to visit Savannah.

Next up, our first evening in Savannah...

Happy 16th Birthday Briana!!

My beautiful girl is 16 years old today!! Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday to my amazing, lovely, smart, sweet, sassy, talented Briana!!!

 

Happy SWEET Sixteen to my best gal!!!!