this weekend - daxon's weekend

daxon met a ton of new people this weekend and was very busy with lots of travels and visits.  wednesday night, daxon slept from 10-3:20, then again from 3:45-7:15.  at 7:15, i got him up and dressed, and finished packing the car.  we hit the road at 7:50.  daxon was awake when we left, but fell asleep about 15 minutes into the trip once we got past the traffic on the turnpike.  he slept almost the entire trip (about an hour), but woke up right before the hershey exit (about 15 minutes from my parents').  as soon as he woke up he wasn't happy, so i was "swerving" the car to get him to calm down.  it kind of worked, but he still was fussy, so i plugged my phone in and turned on the white noise app.  it worked for a bit, but by the time we got to my parents' house he'd had enough.  as soon as i got him out of the car, though, he calmed back down.  i nursed him and then handed him over to jeff (who goes by fritz to the grandkids) so that my mom and i could head to the spa.  i called to check in on them before i left the spa for my haircut, and fritz said they were doing great.  daxon is his 8th grandkid, so i knew he was in good hands.  jeff and my mom went out to the theater thursday night, so daxon and i stayed in.  he fell asleep on me downstairs, so i carefully carried him up to my sister's old room, where i'd set up his pack and play, and he sletp that night from 8p-5a, then again from 5:45-7:30.

on friday, he and i took a little trip over to a local bakery where my friend mel works.  we picked up some breakfast and some dessert for our dinner at aunt callie and uncle anthony's, then headed back home to get organized for getting things ready for the shower.  he took one nap from 9-10, but then was up for most of the rest of the day.  my friend nicole came to visit with her son anthony, and he kind of napped for a little while they were there.

this picture melts my heart.

after they left, i kicked it into high gear with cooking and baking for the shower.  he was kind of fussy, so i plopped him in my sling - he stayed calm and i was able to keep getting stuff done.  i worked until my mom and jeff got home, and then jeff took him for a bit so my mom and i could keep working.

matt got home around 6:30, gave him a bottle, and then the 3 of us headed up to aunt callie and uncle anthony's for dinner.
 

daxon didn't nap there at all, and then started getting really fussy.  i tried to nurse him but i think he was just way too overstimulated, so we finally packed him up and headed home around 10:30.  he fell asleep in the car, but then kind of woke up when we got home and took him out of his car seat.  i knew he wasn't hungry, and didn't want to just comfort nurse him, so i rocked him for a bit in the rocking chair in callie's room.  he still seemed pretty awake, so i thought i'd swaddle him to try to get him to calm down.  i swaddled him in the pack and play and he closed his eyes.  i left him and watched him there for a couple minutes, and he didn't stir, so i just walked out and shut the door.  he slept till 7am (11:30p-7a).

on saturday, we got up in the morning and gave him a bath in the kitchen sink (matt was supposed to bring the tub but forgot it).

around 11 matt took daxon over to his parents' for a visit while we finished getting ready for the shower and hosted.  daxon got to visit with his pop and nunu, and uncle dan came over, too.  matt's aunt tana and uncle jim came to meet him, too.  he apparently napped most of the time, though.

they came back to my parents' house around 5 after the shower ended.  he got to meet his aunt melissa, aunt heather, aunt ashley, and uncle john, as well as all of his cousins.  so fun!

they took off after a bit, and he spent some quality time snuggling with aunt callie before we all decided to move the party to callie and anthony's.  matt convinced me to let daxon stay with my parents, so we put him to bed around 7:30 and headed over.  i had a bottle pumped already in case he woke up, but he stayed asleep the entire time we were gone.  he woke up right when we got home around midnight, so i gave him the bottle (since i'd had a couple glasses of wine), then i pump-and-dumped (if i hadn't been engorged, i would have just waited till his next feeding).  he woke up again at 5, and by then i was safe to nurse him, so he nursed and went back to sleep from 5:30-7:30.

on sunday, matt got up with him at 7:30 so i could sleep a bit longer.  i woke up right before 9, and daxon was napping with gigi.

around, 10:15, after matt and i got both cars packed up, we all went to church.  he was quite hungry by the time we got to church, but i had a bottle with me, so i gave him that and he slept through the entire service once he finished eating.  after church, we went to visit grampa (my dad).

he zonked out while we were there, so we loaded him up into the car and hit the road.  he slept the entire way home. sunday night he slept 9:15-6:15!  but then last night he was up once at 4, slept 4:30-5:30, then again 6-7.  hopefully he falls back into his routine again, though we are approaching a big growth spurt, so we may have some rough nights ahead of us.

so we learned that daxon seems to be a pretty easy traveler, which is awesome.  out next hurdle will be having someone other than me put him to bed.

this weekend - mommy's weekend

we had a nice long weekend in hershey this past weekend.  daxon and i went home thursday morning and matt joined us friday night.  we all came home on sunday.  we had a lot going on, with lots of visits and events happening.  it was a busy weekend for everyone, so i thought i'd break this into 2 posts - the events in one, and daxon's visits and how he handled it in another.  so here's my perspective of our weekend.

we hit the road around 7:50 thursday morning.  my goal had been to leave by 8, with a time of 8:30 as our absolute last acceptable time to leave.  when we were pulling out of the driveway at 7:50 i was thrilled!  we got to my parents' house around 9:30.  i had time to set up his pack and play in my sister's old room and quickly nurse him before mom and i left to go to meet my sister at the spa.

we do a day at the spa at the hotel hershey every year, just the 3 of us.  we usually have one treatment plus lunch.  this year, we all got massages.  initially i had a hard time relaxing (it was my first time leaving daxon for more than 20-30 minutes), but i just kept reminding myself that he was with fritz (my stepdad goes by fritz rather than pop, grampa, etc) and he was fine.  eventually i gave in to the massage and it felt wonderful.  afterwards, we relaxed in the "quiet" room with muffins and hot cocoa for about an hour before our lunch.  i quickly pumped, too.  lunch was good, and dessert was even better (i mean, it's hershey...).  after we finished lunch, we changed back into our clothes.  i had a haircut scheduled for 3:15.  yes, i still get my haircut in hershey.  i have tried 4 different salons in philly but can't find one that i love as much as steele.  it is absolutely because of the staff (i graduated with one of the owners, my stylist is one of my close friends from high school, and another stylist is like a pseudo-little-sister to me), so i always love going back and catching up with everyone.  i had rachel chop 2 inches off my hair because it had grown out of control (thanks, hormones!).  afterwards, i rushed home to snuggle my baby.  it was nice to be away and have some me time, but i did miss him!  that night my mom and jeff went out to see a play, and daxon and i stayed home and hung out.

on friday, mom and i spent the day getting stuff ready for callie's shower.  my friend nicole came over with her son, anthony, and they brought me lunch (yay for cheeseburger subs from jo-jos!!).  we visited for a couple hours before they left and i kept working on shower stuff.  matt got home around 6:30 and the 3 of us went over to my sister's house for dinner and to see their new house.

saturday mom and jeff and i were busy busy getting everything finished for the shower.  we still had a lot of cooking to do, and had to finish the decorating.  we got it all done by the skin of our teeth, but it was done and it looked great (if i do say so myself)!  we had a lovely shower.  callie got lots of great stuff, and it was fun to catch up with family and some of her friends, who i haven't seen in over 2 years.

bubble bath baby shower punch

popcorn bar - honey peanut butter, chili lime, ranch, and cinnamon sugar

diaper cake by callie's mother-in-law

i didn't take a picutre with all the food out, but we had brie and apple cresent bites, mini fruit pizzas, balsamic pork tenderloin, and guacamole bruschetta

diaper centerpiece

callie's college roommates

anthony's family

we had people bring books to help build baby's library

our stepsisters, melissa and ashley

beautiful mama-to-be!

after the shower, callie's friends stuck around for a little birthday party, as callie not only is having a baby, but she also turns 30 this year!  it's a big year for my baby sister - new house, move to hershey (from baltimore), new baby, turning 30, and she plans to go back to school in the fall to pursue her masters in disease epidemiology (yeah, she clearly got the brains in the family).  i am so proud of her and so excited for this next new chapter in her life!  i can't wait for our babies to grow up and be best friends!  after a bit at my parents', the party moved over to callie and anthony's so that her friends could see the new house.  matt convinced me to leave daxon with my parents and we joined everyone there for a few hours.  i had some wine, which meant i had to pump and dump when we got home (that was a bitter pill to swallow).

sunday morning, we went to church.  matt and i keep talking about trying to find a church near us, but we still plan to have daxon baptized at my church at home, so i wanted to bring him there to meet pastor cindy.  after church we went to visit my dad for a few hours, and finally around 3, we hit the road and came home. 

it was a long weekend, and we were busy, but we had so much fun.  in our next installment, i'll tell you all about daxon's visits and how he did with sleeping and stuff.  for the most part, he handled the whole weekend really well! 

planning for a trip home

next week, daxon and i are packing up and heading home for a long weekend.  it is my annual spa day with my mom and sister (which i am not-so-secretly really excited for - a one hour, baby-free, chocolate massage and lunch with excellent company), plus we are throwing callie's baby shower and a "surprise" 30th birthday party!  "surprise" because she actually knows about it, but the guests don't know she knows about it.  we couldn't decide if surprising her was a good idea, so my brother-in-law told her about it. 

anyway, daxon and i will be going home either wednesday night or thursday morning.  our spa day is thursday, starting at 11 (we'll have to be there around 10:30).  matt will come home friday night.  the baby shower and birthday party are on saturday.  so that's 4 days to pack for.  here is all the stuff that we "need" for daxon:

• swaddle blanket (probably take 2, sometimes he spits up in the middle of the night)
• white noise machine (luckily this runs on batteries)
• pump and supplies
• frozen milk (more to follow)
• bottles
• pack and play
• stroller
• wipes
• 4 days of outfits (plus another couple for potential diaper blowouts)
• 4 days of diapers (i'll probably just take a whole pack)
• boppy
• diaper bag

do i take his tub?  probably not - we'll just bathe him in the sink or something.  we'll figure it out.  do i take the rock and play, so he has somewhere to hang out while we're all downstairs?  or do we just take the pack and play up and down the stairs?  that seems like a huge pain in the ass, and the rock and play is so small and easily transportable.

as for nursing/pumping/feeding.  like i said, our spa day is thursday.  we will probably leave the house at 10, and i probably won't get home till 3 or 4 (i have a haircut scheduled for after the spa).  i will nurse him before we leave (around 9).  in that time frame, he'll need at least 2 bottles, but i want to have 3 ready for him.  he eats about 3oz at each feeding, so that's 9oz right there.  then on saturday, matt is going to take him over to his parents' house during the shower, so he'll need at least 1 bottle, but again, i'd like to have 2 ready, just in case, so that's another 6oz.  i can escape and nurse him during the birthday party, cuz we'll be back together for that.  oh, and then friday night, we might go out for drinks with some friends, so i'll need a bottle for a night feeding.  so i need 21oz, which i have in my freezer already, but it's more than half my current supply.  i mean, i'll pump after the spa and before my haircut (i can't go that long without pumping or nursing - holy painful boobies!), and each morning/night like i already am.  so do i take the 21oz frozen, or do i take like 14oz frozen and then supplement with the fresh stuff?  i think i might just take the whole 21oz frozen and then freeze whatever i pump while i'm there, because who knows how much i'll get pumping while away - my supply may take a hit from the stress or whatever

did you follow any of that?  my next dilemma - when we do take the trip?  the trip home i'm not worried about - we'll head home during his afternoon nap (not that we have a real afternoon naptime, but he'll sleep when we put him in the car, and that'll be his naptime).  but for the trip to hershey.  if we leave wednesday night, i can put him in the car for his evening "nap," then put him to bed when we get there - get him in the house, let him say hi to fritz and gigi while i set up the pack and play, then nurse him and put him down.  my concern with this is that he's so fussy in the evenings and cluster feeds, i don't know if the car ride will be enough to keep him calm.  if we leave thursday morning, we could leave when he first wakes up, i can nurse him when we get home, and then head out to the spa.  again, though, he sometimes cluster feeds in the mornings, so would the car ride be enough to keep him calm?  ugh...decisions, decisions. 

any thoughts or tips?  good lord, i'm going to need a separate suitcase just for daxon's stuff!  ha ha.  man, traveling with a baby.  totally different experience!!

nyc babymoon - part 2

ok, so i got us covered up through saturday night., right?

sunday morning, we woke up and ordered room service.  it was outrageously expensive (we paid more for our breakfast in bed than we do for most of our dinners out), but it was so lovely to relax in our bed and just have breakfast brought to us.  not to mention, it was delicious.  i had cinnamon raisin challah french toast with a mixed berry mascarpone.  it was heavenly.  after we finished our breakfast, matt got in the shower and i lounged around a bit more.  finally, i got in the (rain) shower and then we headed out to catch the subway up to 72nd street.  the subway was right outside our hotel, so it was really easy.  we took the c train north and got off at 72nd street.

i have been in new york city what feels like a gazillion times and have never once seen the dakota building or the john lennon memorial in central park.  so we decided we'd stop there on our way up to the american museum of natural history.  standing in the place where john lennon once lived and where he was shot and killed was an odd feeling.  i have been a beatles fan for as long as i can remember, and john was by far my favorite.  after the beatles split, he became such an outspoken advocate for peace and understanding, and everything he wrote, spoke, and sang about has always deeply resonated with me.  after standing there and admiring the dakota for a few minutes, we crossed the street and walked into central park to strawberry fields, the section of the park dedicated to the memory of john lennon.  we stopped very briefly at the memorial and took a few pictures and then walked through the park up to 77th street to the museum.

guard tower outside the dakota

the gate and driveway where john lennon was shot

the  memorial

in central park

i have been at the american museum of natural history once, and thought it was really incredible.  i wanted to take matt there and he'd never seen actual dinosaur fossils, so he was looking forward to going.  the first thing i did, though, was take a picture of the building. 

almost 16 years ago, 3 of my very best friends and i sat, huddled with about 700 other cheerleaders, on those front steps, waiting for the 1996 macy's thanksgiving day parade to begin.  it was 18-degrees out, freezing drizzle, and we could not have been more cold.  but it was one of the most exciting days of my life, and i wouldn't trade it for the world.  we marched in that parade, cheering our hearts out, and then performed out dance at herald's square like it was the last dance we'd ever do.  i will never ever forget that day.  it has such a special place in my heart.

anyway, after i got my fill of nostalgia, we headed into the museum.  we only really had about an hour, so we headed straight up to the 4th floor to check out the dinosaurs.  you guys, dinosaurs are so cool.  once we finally finished gawking at the fossils and bones and marveling at their size, we went down to the african mammals exhibit.  if you ever get a chance to see the museum of natural history, please take more time to wander through all the animal exhibits.  they are just amazng, and i really wish we'd had more time. 

t-rex!

huge prehistoric turtle

matt calls me cheetah and padfoot is little cheetah.  i know, he's weird

 

unfortunately, we had a bus to catch, so we caught the subway back to the hotel, hopped in a cab, and got back on the bus to head home. 

it was a short weekend, but i'm so glad we got the chance to get a way for a bit. 

nyc babymoon

this past saturday, matt and i spent the night in new york city as a combination anniversary trip and babymoon.  one of the many things i love about living in philadelphia is that we are a mere 90 minutes from new york city.  it is a relatively easy drive, but it's even easier to hop an amtrak or a megabus to get us there.  it makes it a great one-night getaway, and that is just what we needed.

matt had to work saturday morning, so i met him at the train station around 1:30 to catch our megabus to the city.  we opted for megabus over amtrak because it saved us $130.  amtrak is lovely, but megabus is actually rather comfortable and only 30 minutes slower.  we got a great deal at the intercontinental times square on hotwire.  it ended up being the perfect location, at just 2 blocks from times square, and there was a subway station right outside the front doors.  not to mention, it was beautiful.

our bus was actually a little late getting into the city (we've taken megabus 6 times and this is the first time this ever happened - usually they are right on time, if not early).  we were a little time crunched, so we decided to take a cab to the hotel.  cabs in new york city are an adventure in and of themselves, and as long as you don't get carsick, it's definitely something you should experience at least once in your life.  we got to the hotel around 4:45, checked in, dropped off our luggage, and headed right back out to walk over to the tkts booth in times square.

this was my first time actually using the tkts booth, and i had absolutely no idea what to expect.  i had prepared myself for an hour-long wait, and was very pleasantly surprised when our wait was no more than about 15 minutes, if that.  if you are relatively flexible in what you want to see, i definitely recommend going this route.  on our walk over, we talked about what we'd like to see.  our first choice was once and our 2nd choice was rock of ages.  i also suggested chaplin because i'd read some good reviews, but mostly because a girl i grew up with is in it and i thought it would be so cool to see her perform on broadway!  unfortunately by the time we got there, they did not have any tickets for once available.  for rock of ages, all they had left for that were partial-view seats.  we were actually ok with that, but then they also only had single seats.  we were not ok with that.  and even though we had already talked about what our third choice would be, suddenly, standing there having to make a decision, i panicked.  i looked at matt and just blurted out, "ok, um, phantom of the opera?"  matt said ok, and we had ourselves 2 tickets to phantom of the opera at 50% off.  as we walked away, i thought, "i'm such an idiot...why didn't i ask for chaplin?"  i mentioned this to matt and he said, "yeah, i said that to you, but i guess you didn't hear me."  darn it.

anyway, we rushed back to the hotel and got ready for our night out.  i had rented a dress from mine for nine, and would absolutely do it again.  for $40, i got a dress (actually, 2, since you get to get two sizes of each item so that you can be sure to get a good fit) for 2 weeks.  they send it to you with all the stuff you need to mail it back (return postage included). so i got into my fancy dress and matt put on his shirt and tie and we headed out for dinner.  we had made reservations at a restaurant called strand bistro.  our reservations were for 6:30, but i wasn't worried because it rarely takes us more than hour to eat a meal.  strand bistro was this cool little place, set up a bit like a library lounge.  it had old books lining the walls, and the seating was soft cushy chairs.  matt gave me the "sofa" side of the table so that i could use the pillows they had to prop myself up.  he's so thoughtful.  the food was delicious, but the service was slllooooww.  by the end, we had to ask for our dessert and for our check to be brought with our dessert.  we left there at 7:45, walked as quickly as my 5.5-months-pregnant-ass-in-heels could carry me until we were able to flag down a cab.  we only had to go about 7 blocks, but we were in a hurry and i couldn't walk very quickly.

we got to the theater at about 5 of 8, and walked in.  as we showed our tickets to the usher, she looked at the tickets and then looked at me and said "you're all the way at the top of the stairs.  like, you're literally in the last row of the theater.  are you ok to use the stairs?"  i thought it was very sweet, but i decided to tackle it.  we went slowly and i did fine, but i did not leave our seats until the end of the show.

i am terrible at taking selfies

Gorgeous theater

the show was fantastic.  i've seen phantom before and it's a beautiful show and the music is great.  and i think matt enjoyed it.  but i really wish we had seen chaplin instead.  i think it would have been a more fun show and i would have really loved seeing sara up on a broadway stage.  i have known her since she was 4 or 5, so it just would have been super cool.  oh well.  next time.  baby loved the show, that's for sure.  he was kicking like crazy throughout the entire show.  we're going to have a cultured little guy!  matt finally got to feel him kick, and his reaction was just, "wow, that's so weird!"  ack, men.

after the show, we walked over to a bar where matt had a few drinks and i watched some college football.  around midnight, i finally threw in the towel and said it was time to go.  luckly, the bar was directly across the street from our hotel, so we headed over, up to our room, and fell into bed.

that was pretty long for saturday, so i'll come back with sunday's happs tomorrow.

georgia on my mind - part 4

i just realized i never finished our georgia trip recap!  oopsie!

so i left off when we had finished our shuttle and walking tour of the city.  we wanted to eat dinner at this rooftop restaurant called rocks on the roof.  it was right on the river walk and had a great view of the river.  unfortunately, when we arrived, we found that it was closed until 9pm for a private event.  booo.  so we ate downstairs in their regular restaurant, rocks on the river.  the food was ok but nothing great.  we definitely should have tried somewhere else.

after dinner, we headed up to sit in ellis square for a bit before walking over to johnson square to meet up with our haunted tour guide.  i was definitely smitten with ellis square.  it wasn't all shaded and green like the other squares, but it had this great fountain that kids played in all day long.  it was so fun to sit and watch them.  plus it was adjacent to city market and they always had live music at night, so you could sit in ellis square and listen to the music without having to sit in the noisy bar seating. 

at 7:30 we walked over to johnson square to meet our tour guide for the evening.  if you are ever in savannah and want to do a good, authentic haunted tour, definitely book with this guy.  the company is savannah ghost walks, and i'm pretty sure it is only this one guy who does the tours, chase anderson.  he was kind of creepy, but in a good way.  he obviously loves what he does, and takes it very seriously.  he has clearly spent a lot of time researching the history of savannah and delving into various ghost stories and urban legends.  the tour was fantastic.  we walked all over the city and by the end, i was definitely creeped out by a few locations.  chase encouraged us to take pictures in each location, with our flash, because sometimes that's how you catch ghosts or spirits.  unfortunately, my camera battery started to die about halfway through our tour, so i didn't get many pictures.  and most of my pictures were duds, but there are a few that definitely have matt and i thinking we caught something watching us!

after the tour was over and we were sufficiently freaked out, we walked back to rocks on the roof and had a drink up at the rooftop bar.  by the time we got there, all the tables around the perimeter of the roof were taken, so we just sat inside by the bar.  halfway through our drinks, i felt like i was crashing, so we finished up, went back to the hotel, and went to bed.

the next morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel again.  same thing as the day before.  last night, i actually had dreams about those biscuits.  they were that good.  i may have to bake some this weekend - that may be my first "craving!"  after breakfast, we packed up the car and checked out.  we drove out to bonaventure cemetery, which is about 15 minutes outside of "downtown" savannah.  it is a beautiful spot.  i know it's kind of weird or creepy to walk around a cemetery, but i'd heard so much about how picturesque it is, i had to see it for myself.  and all the hype was true.  it really is pretty.  tons of big live oaks with spanish moss.  lots of big tombstones and monuments.  it was neat to walk around and see how old some of them were - we saw a few dating back to the early 1800s!  i took tons of pictures and definitely plan to blow one of them up for our "vacation wall" at home.

after walking around for about an hour, we got back in the car and drove back into downtown savannah.  we wanted to try to find this bbq joint we'd seen on man vs food nation called angel's bbq.  the challenge was to eat a huge bbq sandwich with their super-hot voodoo juice on it.  we did not attempt the challenge because, well, we like our taste buds.  the bbq was good, but it wasn't the best i've ever had. 

finally, it was time to hit the road and head back to atlanta.  we spent tuesday night with our friends mish and ryan.  it was great to be able to visit with them for a bit, since we hadn't seen them since our wedding.  wednesday morning we flew home, picked up padfoot, and got ready to return to the real world!

georgia on my mind - part 3

monday was our only full day in savannah, so we tried to pack a lot into it.  first we went down to breakfast, which was the only disappointing thing in our entire stay.  we stay at a lot of holiday inn expresses and places that offer a pretty extensive continental breakfast in the mornings.  this consisted of the usual stuff: cereals, yogurt, danishes, juice, coffee, tea, etc.  oh, and instead of oatmeal they had instant grits packets.  the only hot food they had were biscuits (which were freaking amazing, especially with butter and drizzled honey on top, omg) and then sausage patties and bacon.  none of the usual breakfast stars were there, like eggs, waffles, etc.  both mornings i had a couple biscuits, yogurt, and a piece or two of bacon or sausage.  it was good, just not what we expected.  afterwards, we headed back to the room to shower and get dressed.  while there, i decided to take a few pictures of the room, cuz it was really neat.  it was 2 levels, with just the bedroom upstairs.  there were skylights in the bedroom that let a lot of pretty light in.

from the entrance

up the stairs to the bedroom

the living room

looking up to the bedroom from the living room

while matt was showering, i heard more commotion outside and went out on the balcony to see what all the noise was.  the singapore tall ship crew was out in full dress getting ready to set sail.  it was kind of a disorganized mess, unlike what you would expect to see with drills and straight lines and stuff like that.

when we were ready to go, we decided to ask about the trolley tours in the city.  there are about a million different companies that offer trolley tours, so we asked the front desk if they recommend a company.  she told us to take the oglethorpe tour, and offered to call a shuttle to come pick us up right at the hotel.  that worked for us, so we got picked up and taken over to the actual trolley.  the tour was a 1 1/2 hour long ride around the city that you don't get off of.  after the tour is over, you can utilize the shuttles and/or trolleys as you please.  there were certain stops where you could stand and if the driver saw you with your oglethorpe sticker on, they would stop and take you to wherever you wanted to go next - either one of their stops or your hotel.  it was pretty convenient!

they drove us all over the historical district of savannah.  savannah was where the state of georgia started.  for several months (years?) the state of georgia existed as a single square in savannah.  that's it.  just one square.  like, 200 square feet, or something crazy like that.  now, there are 22 squares within the historical district.  it's really a beautiful city with all those squares.  you literally can't walk more than 3 blocks in one direction without having to walk through or around a square.

right outside our hotel, waiting for the shuttle

the whistle stop cafe, at the old savannah train station

first georgia bank - pure georgian marble

right in front of the sign is where forrest gump sat waiting for the bus to jenny's house

one of the squares

homes on the square

jonny mercer's house

georgia's first hospital

old police cars.  for $1500, you can be arrested in one

as you can see, it started to rain during our trolley tour.  by the time we got to the hospital and the police station, we had the flaps down and it was absolutely pouring.  luckily, we were just about done with the tour.  the tour ended at city market, which is a strip of shops, bars, and restaurants, so we ducked into the wild wing cafe and had lunch.  it stopped raining while we were in there, but i was getting tired so we headed back to the hotel to rest.  it started pouring again while we were there, so we sat down and put on a movie and both ended up napping for about an hour.  when we woke up, the rain had stopped, so we decided to go check out one of the house-museums we'd seen on the trolley tour.  on our walk, we wandered through several parks and took our time getting there.  it was really lovely.

a backyard courtyard garden

ain't he handsome?

first synagogue

clary's diner, from midnight in the garden of good and evil

city market

we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house-museum, so that's why i don't have any.  after wards, we walked over to rocks on the river for a yummy dinner on the riverfront, then headed over to johnson square to meet our haunted tour guide.  in part 4, i'll tell you about our creepy haunted tour and our trip out to the beautiful bonaventure cemetery.  i know, it sounds totally weird to take a drive out to a cemetery, but it is such a beautiful place.  you'll see...