So you’ve met the players. If not, click here and read about them. I rolled into town around 9:45 on Friday night, driving through beautiful overhung roadways heading through town Tess’. She had already given me a call to say that we were going to drop my stuff and head out. So, since then weekend was packed and I want to get you through it all, we’ll try something a little different. The times are mere estimates, but work with me.

9:45 Friday. Met Tess, Tora, Roman, Eugene, Skye, Gargoyle, Micheal, Milo and Opium, checked out my bed, then headed out to paint the town!

10:05: Made it to Felisha’s and met Shane, the other surfer, who I thought was high on something because he was slurring his words and slumped down in the couch. Turns out he was just rightfully exhausted from his 160 mile cycling ride from Jacksonville, Florida to Savannah, Georgia which he started at 5:30 that morning

10:30: We put on our hiking shoes and started what may have been a mile walk to the first stop. We walked through Forsyth Park, which is exactly what a city park should be. It was shrouded in beautiful trees with large sidewalks and open fields. It was also quite large, encompassing what would be two city blocks by six city blocks wide. In case you don’t know, Savannah was wonderfully envisioned on an expanding grid based on “Squares” or “Wards” surrounding a park; originally 24 existed. So, every couple blocks we walked through a different square with a fountain or monument to different historical event or figure. Read about it in depth because it’s pretty cool. It was great to be in a city built on a grid that makes sense! (Charlotte would be it’s alter ego.)

11:00: So after a couple bank stops, Tess pleaded with the group that we stop for some food, since I think I was wobbly, grumpy, and seeing stars from having not eaten for about 9 hours. We stopped at “Sweet Melissa’s” pizza shop for a slice of pizza the size of my forearm. We were also treated to the beautiful music of a violinist playing just outside the door on the sidewalk. I hear Sweet Melissa’s is second only to VinnieVanGoGo’s as the best pizza in Savannah, but I’ll have to find out next time since I didn’t make it there. I will give them a nod for the name and theme though!

11:30: Jen’s and Friends is a little Martini bar that seems to be the go to place for the crew I was with. We stopped for a couple martini’s and a mystery shot that we still don’t know the name of. Some older gentlemen got into a scuffle (which was kinda funny) whilst we enjoyed our conversation and libations. The odd point came as Shane sipped his PBR, pinky out, and we sipped our martini’s to the eloquent sounds of Tenacious D rocking some “Pluck Her Gently” in the background. (Song names changed to protect you innocents out there.)

12:30: Stopped at Murphy’s Law to pick up Ryan, another friend of the crew. This is where I first exploited the “have a beer in the streets but only in a cup” law. Why is it so liberating to have a beer while you head from bar to bar? I don’t know, but it just was. (And it was a tasty Liberty Ale. Mmmm.)

12:45: We walked around the corner to a beautiful area of Congress Street. The girls wanted to go in Bar Bar, which from the guys I learned was just a meat market. We chose to hang outside and have a beer until they wised up.

1:15: OK. So they weren’t wising up, so Ryan, Fletch and I walked over to B&B Billiards. This place was pretty sweet since you had to walk down into the basement of a building until it opened up into a brightly lit dungeon of a pool hall. We grabbed a couple Stellas and Fletcher talked about how his mother doesn’t approve yet of hitchhiking or CouchSurfing because she’s afraid someone will murder him. Did I mention Fletcher has been teaching Jujitsu (I think it’s Jujitsu) for like nine years?! She worries too much.

These two lovebirds were holding down the patio at B&Bs.

1:45: OK. So all things said, we were all pretty chill to this point and mentioning that the night seemed low key. We were wondering if we were ever gonna get in gear and really cut loose. Enter “Venus de Milo“, or “V” for short. This swanky little wine bar, decked out in Victorian velvet draperies with matching antique furniture, would prove to be our turning point. A true melting pot for both the straight and gay scene, it seemed that the only requirement for entry was that you leave inhibitions at the door.

The bar contained many little niches for small groups to mingle (one below with a sweet poster on the wall), it also opened up into an alley in the back that was fully enclosed by the four buildings on it’s side. So they built their own courtyard and bathed red lights down upon it (left). Red was the predominant color throughout. Upstairs the 11+ft ceilings, dark hardwoods and antique furniture set the stage to step back in time when extravagance was common. I could have spent days here. Don’t miss it if you head to Savannah.

3:00: Yeah, we shut down Venus. We started to make our way back, weaving into many back alleys (which were most likely “closed” for the evening) to check out the spots that the night shadows reserve as their own. We headed for Forsyth in our blurry merriment where the evening got even more interesting, and a bit chilly.

3:30: I’m not sure who’s idea it was, but we’re pretty sure it was Tess or Fletcher (who had opened up quite a bit from his former quiet, calculated demeanor). But, at about 3:30 or so (it was dark) I found myself weighing the options: Get arrested and have a great story to tell, don’t get arrested and have a great story to tell, be “that guy” who won’t live in the moment. After pondering the options, I figured out that I was OK with either, so me and my merry band of hoodlum elves hopped the fence at the fountain and took a refreshing dip. I won’t say it sobered us up, but it was definitely refreshing! (I think the heating element in the fountain might have been broken!) Fletch attempted to take a picture of us while we froze in the fountain, but he wasn’t so much with the technology at this point. I think we waited about two minutes for him to take a “picture” with no flash that didn’t really turn out. Guess the six of us will be the only ones with that visual! So, after that it was off to Felicia’s where we headed off to sleep while and episode of True Blood played in the background. What a day.

(Forsyth in the daytime, sans swimmers)

8:30am Saturday (which came REALLY quickly): Tess and I had to bolt since she had to be at work. Ugh.

10:00am: I headed for breakfast around the block from Tess’, on the river at an amazing little restaurant called “Turtura’s Island Grille”. I’m a breakfast snob, and love to cook, so for me to say that I had the best omelet that I can remember is quite a compliment. Tortura’s is on River street near the bridge to the islands. If you ever head to Savannah, let me know and I’ll get you there. Hottest cup of coffee I’ve had in a while too. (I hate lukewarm coffee.) Spent some time writing about the night before then headed to the Bonaveture Cemetery.

11:30: So I was told that I needed to visit this cemetery while I was in Savannah. A good call. It was beautiful and vast and peaceful. Peaceful was good after the night previous! The tombs and gravestones were amazing. The roadways throughout were built as a wonderful web that interconnects. And the view of the river from the back of the cemetery was breathtaking. I’ll be posting photos forthcoming from the cemetery, so check back in a day or so. Here’s a teaser:

1:30: I headed to Forsyth to take a picture of the fountain in the daylight, without the swimmers of course. Then, since I had taken the doors off of my Jeep and I was parked right next to Forsyth, I decided it was time for a nap. So I faded off to sleep with the busy tour buses driving by giving me little pieces of history as I dozed.

2:40: Yeah, I didn’t think I would sleep, but I definitely did! Headed up to a coffee shop where Tess, Felicia and Shane were surfing the net, then we went off in search of destinations downtown. Walking the whole time, we stopped at a couple stores, got some food, but generally just enjoyed the beautiful weather and conversation, learning about each other and what we hadn’t had the chance to on the busy night before.

Later that night…

8:00: We decided that another nap was in order, so we all lay around at Tess’ fading in and out over conversation. Cecilia had joined us by this point, so we were learning about her and the details of her travels. Before we knew it, Fletcher had showed up and we were again ready to revel in the Savannah night, only this time from the comfort of the dining room table with some wine and a deck of cards. It got kinda crazy, so at about 11:00 we decided it was time for a walk. We got Roman and a camera and headed for the river; destination unknown.

Yeah. Tess becomes quite the dictator when she’s President. Hence the reason we all needed a break!

11:00: While walking along River Street, we decided to peruse some of the docks. Pretty sure there were people sleeping in some of those nice boats, but we weren’t too loud. If the dip in the fountain didn’t accomplish our “Friends” moment for the weekend, this stop on the dock made up for it.

Fletcher and I decided that climbing one of the palm trees would be fun.

Cecilia is a teacher, so she kept telling us that 9:00pm was her normal sleepy-time and not to make fun of her as she kept sleep walking with us. We used that opportunity to make even more jokes about it than before. Below is the Cecilia before and after. (You should see some of the outtakes!)

So, after a walk in the park, a game of “circle of death” and another bottle or two of wine, Cecilia called it a night. Tess, Fletcher and I decided that it was a great night for a trip to the Huddle House (pronounced Waffle House for those of us north of Georgia and South Carolina) to check out the 3:00am bar crawlers. After another great night, we all crashed. Since we didn’t wake up until noon on Sunday, there’s not much to say about that! I dropped Cecilia off in the city so she could do some exploring then I was off to North Carolina — but not before my second stop at the Huddle house within a 12 hour period!

Well, I hope you enjoyed learning about Savannah and the great people there! If you ever go, let me know and I’ll get you to some of the places I’ve mentioned!

See you out there!