the great american road trip take 3 - vero beach to st. augustine to savannah
I think I'm in love.
Vero Beach was gorgeous, St. Augustine was quaint, but Savannah, Georgia is everything I imagined it would be. I could stay here for weeks and never run out of places to wander and things to wonder.
Saying goodbye to Rico's friends in Vero was bitersweet. It was wonderful to meet them, to hear Rico laugh and reminisce. But the kids were sun-soaked, Yoda was clingy, and it was time to move on.
We made a short stop in St. Augustine, at the Castillo de San Marcos fortress. Punk loved it, because the entire place was like an incredibly authentic set from Pirates of the Carribean. We watched the cannons fire, and even saw a pirate ship sailing into the bay. But the heat was unbearable, and it was not long before we headed to St. George Street for ice creams.
It's a bucket list thing for me - to see the deep south, and Savannah is exceeding my expectations in every way imaginable. The streets are lined with great oaks, dripping with spanish moss. Homes pre-dating the civil war surround our hotel. Rico's brother Paul lives here, and after treating us to heaping plates of soul food (fried chicken, spicy collard greens, mashed potatoes, candied yams, yellow rice, smothered shrimp and cornbread) at Sisters of the New South restaurant, he took us on a mini-tour of his hometown.
We saw the Mercer house (the lights were on inside which sort of creeped me out). He pointed out the candy shop, where we plan to stop tomorrow. Punk and Kooka had a blast navigating the rainbow fountains in Ellis Square (both kids say it was one of the most memorable moments of the entire trip - completely unplanned, and completely wonderful - they were soaked head to toe and happily walked back to the hotel that way.) We watched the horse drawn carriages, listened to live music, and soaked up as much Southern life as we could in one night. Tomorrow we are off to Charleston, but I really wish we weren't.
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