Savannah Bridge Run

We spent last weekend end Savannah and we just had the best time. We got there late Friday night, just in time for the fireworks show on the river and then went for some tapas at Jazz'd. We went there the night after our wedding, so it was fun to be back.


Saturday morning I got up early to meet Alexis for the Bridge Run. I ended up not being able to run the full 15k because I couldn't get to the start line across the river, so I only did the 10k, and 2 times across the bridge was plenty!!!


It was steep and cold, but we had fun and it will definitely be an annual event. We spent the rest of Saturday morning shopping and walking around downtown Savannah. We had lunch at this wonderful French restaurant called Papillote. We shared Le Parisien, which was so amazingly delicious and was definitely was a little tease of our upcoming trip to Paris. The sandwich was Ham, Swiss cheese, brie and paper-thin slices of apple with a touch of honey-mustard on a slice of crunchy ciabatta bread. I can't wait to make this at home, with a side of Zucchini soup, like they served there.


We finally made it to the Savannah Bee Company where I stocked up on my honey staples and sampled some honeycomb.


Saturday night we went to our dinner at the Olde Pink House with my new work crew, which of course was wonderful, and afterward we went to a chocolate bar, where we all got chocolate martinis to celebrate my birthday. It was a special night, and everyone was so generous and fun. The hours just flew by filled with great conversations and laughter, and I enjoyed so much getting to know all of the new people at my new job.

Sunday morning Drew and I spent a few hours walking around the historic downtown Savannah, which I could do for hours. Every block has so much history and beautiful buildings, parks, and scenery. I took a few pictures as we walked around, and wish I could have taken more, but the cold front was moving in and I started getting numb. We called it a day around 2 and headed back to Gainesville to celebrate my birthday with the fam.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures I snapped.


This was one of the streets where we took a bunch of wedding pictures and had some tea.



I loved the ornate ironwork gates surrounding the manicured lawns at the Green-Meldrim House Museum on the West side of Madison Square. This house was constructed as a residence for Mr. Charles Green, who came to Savannah from England and made his fortunate as a cotton merchant and ship owner in Savannah. He had his Gothic villa built in the early 1850s by a famous New York architect, and is considered one of the most elaborate homes in Savannah. It cost $93,000 to build in 1850, which is is somewhere between 20M and 1B dollars today. The house served as the headquarters for General Sherman during the Civil War in 1864. The next door church now owns the house and has kept up the house, the beautiful lawns, and numerous original adornments in the interior of the home, including American black walnut woodwork on the main floor, elaborate crown moldings, marble mantles, matching chandeliers and large mirrors in gold leaf frames brought from Austria. A tour of the house is definitely worth it if you're visiting.



We spent Saturday afternoon in city market, where there is always live music and tons of people walking around. Many of the horse drawn carriages stop there and allow you to pet the gorgeous horses. It's a fun area, full of both locals and tourists, and we enjoyed sitting outside listening to the music for a while.






All of the historic squares were so beautifully decorated for the holidays, and I could just walk for hours admiring the sleepy majestic oak trees that cover the squares with their winding branches and drooping moss.




We walked down bay street, and I always discover something new that puts me in awe of the history of Savannah. This time we found these steep steps at the end of factor's walk, which was home to the original cotton exchange in the 1790's to 1800's where merchants would conduct business from the river front. The streets are all cobblestone and there are many steep stone stairways leading up from the cobblestone streets to the city level. It fascinates me walking along those streets and up those stairs to think that they are the same streets used 200 years ago.



Everything about our weekend in Savannah was perfect, and as usual, I just look forward to our next visit in the near future.