Day 3 - Savannah Tequila Company And Riverboat Ride

Doug and I didn't have reservations anywhere for Tuesday evening. We had spent the day sightseeing and weren't sure how tired we would be for dinner, but after resting for a while, we did decide we wanted to go out to eat.

I read about the "Savannah Tequila Company" online (it was in our hotel) and thought some margaritas would hit the spot!

The restaurant had a cool, modern Mexican vibe and the food was SO good...

 

 I had soft taco platter (beef, pork and chicken) - the chicken ended up being my favorite. The guac and margarita were delish. The churros were a-maz-ing. The caramel sauce was just ridiculous.

When we finished dinner, we walked to the river and I looked toward the riverboats. We knew that Briana was going on a riverboat ride with her SCAD group that evening. I wondered which boat was going to be hers...

 

 A snapped a pic of this girl looking at the fountain...

Doug and I decided to go back to our room and sit on our balcony so we could see Briana's boat pass our hotel.

The day had been a mix of clouds and sun, but that evening was totally overcast.

 

We sat for a while and finally saw the boat pull out into the river. Bri texted that they were starting to move...

 

 The boat floated right past us...

Doug and I waved at the boat and all the kids were waving back (Bri did not share with them that we were her parents - heh) - it was really fun.

 

Here are some shots Bri captured from the boat...

 

 They sailed way down the river and then turned around...

And yes, we spotted Briana on the boat and she saw us (she's on the very left)...

It was fun watching her sail by and texting with her. I wish I could have given her a big hug (I was already missing her), but I was just happy to see her even if it was from a distance.

It was a fun, relaxing evening.

The next day - shopping!

Day 3 - Flock To The Wok, Owens-Thomas House and Telfair Academy

We had a much harder time finding parking when it came to going to the restaurant for lunch. It was all curbside parking and there were parking meters all over the place. Most of the meters accepted credit cards, but the one spot we found near the restaurant required change for the meter. Luckily, we had change on us. The only problem - the meter only allowed enough money for 30 minutes. We tried to feed it a bit extra, but the meter just took it - not adding extra time. And then we were out of change. We had money on us, and we figured when we got into the restaurant, we could ask for change and just feed the meter in 30 minutes.

The restaurant was recommended to us by a friend - it is called "Flock to the Wok."

When we got into the restaurant, it was quite small. I can see why dinner reservations there are necessary. It was still pretty empty when we arrived, so I don't think we needed a reservation for lunch, but better safe than sorry. We asked for change when we arrived, and we found out the restaurant does not carry cash. At all. It is strictly a credit card place. Sigh. They said we could try the coffee shop around the corner. We felt we would probably be fine - even if we went over 30 minutes by a couple of minutes. We just hoped we wouldn't get a ticket. (Service was fast and we were fine - we didn't get one.)

We ordered dumplings (both fried and steamed) for appetizers which were SO delicious. I got chicken with veggies for my meal - very good. Doug got sesame chicken - which was slightly overcooked and a little on the sweet side for him. But overall, the food was good. The dumplings were amazing...

I had done a little online research before heading out that day on where I wanted Doug and I to visit next and discovered the "Telfair Museums."

I really wanted to visit the "Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters." So off we went (there was parking right across the street from the house luckily)...

 

I enjoy learning about history and visiting old buildings, but I have to admit, the history of this property (most Savannah properties) can make visitors feel a bit uncomfortable. As much as I wanted to enjoy everything I was seeing at this property, there is no way to feel completely at ease knowing what a huge part slavery played in the history of Savannah.

 On a side note - when I hear about politicians trying to squash or limit uncomfortable content/education for students, it infuriates me. Learning should be uncomfortable at times. If children don't learn what happened in our country's past (both bad and good), then history can repeat itself.

We purchased our tickets and the rain was starting to fall. It is the first time we experienced rain on our trip. It wasn't very hard, but there was enough to get you a bit wet.

The tour started with the slave quarters...

The house was so small for so many people to live in. It made me sad to think how hard the slaves worked just to survive.

Then we headed over to the main house...

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette stayed on this property as a guest. When he visited the states, he realized that slavery had become a huge part of the society. He was very upset by this...

The interior of the home...

We finished up with the Owens-Thomas House and headed over to the "Telfair Academy."

The Telfair property started as a home/mansion in the early 1800's and was turned into an academy of arts and sciences - a gift to Savannah by Mary Telfair...

 

The art collection is truly amazing...

The Telfair Academy is now home to the infamous "Bird Girl" statue...

The large galleries at the academy were additions to the original mansion when the house became at museum.

Here are some of the rooms of the original mansion...

 

We really enjoyed visiting the museum.

 

We were pretty tired though after visiting a church and two museums, so we headed back to our room to rest for a while. We didn't have dinner reservations for that evening, but we did find a very yummy place to eat. 

More on that next...

Day 3 - The Cathedral Basilica Of St. John the Baptist And Lafayette Square

Since Doug and I had done plenty of relaxing the day before, Day 3 felt like a good time to do some exploring in Savannah's historic district. Briana was still doing great at SCAD, so my worry about her was definitely subsiding. As I mentioned in a previous post, Doug and I had some personal "stuff" going on in our lives at the time and I thought St. John's Cathedral would be a perfect place for him and me to visit. It allowed us to spend some time thinking, praying and healing. 

 

We chose to drive to the church. Parking is very tricky in Savannah (it can be really hard to find), but luckily, we found a nice parking spot and walked to the church.

 

 Downtown Savannah is just beautiful...

There are a number of ways to take in the sights...

We arrived at St. John's a little before 10am in the morning...

 We hadn't even gone inside yet and it was already taking my breath away.

We entered the building and it was stunningly ornate and beautiful...

 

Wood, stained glass, marble, paintings, statues, candles - it was exquisite.

There was a gentleman (he said he was 80 years old) standing in front of the alter explaining the history of the cathedral to visitors, so Doug and I sat down and listened to him for a while. He was a wonderful storyteller and it was quite interesting learning about the history of the church...

Once he finished, it was then time for us to walk around and look closer at all the beauty of the church...

We spent quite a lot of time there - walking around, sitting/praying/thinking for a while, lighting candles, purchasing an ornament for our Christmas tree. 

Then it was time for us to leave...

We walked across the street to Lafayette Square...

 

 From there, we had a great view of the church. We took a few pictures...

Some video of the church bell ringing.

We had a reservation for 11:30am at a nearby restaurant that had been highly recommended to us. We didn't eat big breakfasts while we were in Savannah (just grabbed easy, light stuff in our room) - we focused on nice lunches and dinners. 

Part 2 of our Day 3 next...