The Old and the Restless

I forgot to bring my camera to the Christmas dinner. Below are Joshua and Ella on December 27th showing me their new toys. Here's the book, Grandma Cooperative play? Afterwards Margot and I went outside for as long as we could stand the cold while Mark made marzipan bars for dessert.

For my birthday, Megan invited us for dinner. The highlight was seeing Thomas again. Thomas has become quite responsive... ... especially when he hears his father's voice. The mushroom lasagne that Megan made was delicious. It's hard to get a photo of Megan with her eyes open. Of course, since she is still feeding Thomas every two hours, she could be tired.

When we arrived at our bed and breakfast in Savannah we had to immediately photograph our rooms... while they were in a pristine state. In our room there was a sitting/TV area. I had to show off the fireplace next to our high king sized bed. We were not used to climbing onto a bed that was "hip high". Glen and Norma showing off their room. Relaxing in the parlor with afternoon coffee. To come was wine with hors d'oeuvres before we went out for dinner. In the pouring rain that night we went to the Pirate's House for dinner... ... complete with pirate! Does Johnny Depp moonlight? Why does Glen look worried? Does he think he will be "Shanghaied"? [Tradition had it that drunks were bundled off through this underground passageway to waiting ships off to "who knows where" ("to Shanghai" signified as far away as possible)]. Our second evening's meal was elegant dining at The Olde Pink House (dress advertised as...

As you walk around Savannah, you begin to notice the large amount of beautiful wrought iron and other iron work in house after house and street after street. Above is the entrance door to the Armstrong house. Looking into a passageway through the wrought iron gate. Wrought iron fences surround many gardens. Wrought iron grills cover windows. This grill is on a window at the Mercer Williams house. Even the balconies have wrought iron grills. Elaborate grills surround medium sized gardens. Through this grill you can see the famous fountain in Forsyth Park (across the street from our B&B). A smaller grilled garden in Forsyth Park. Grills around the front lawn. Wrought iron grills up the main entrance staircase. Wrought iron grills around the second floor balcony. (By the way, there are no doors to this balcony. All entrances to the balcony are through windows! Guess what the basis of taxation was - the number of doors, of course.) Gr...

In order to "absorb the atmosphere of Savannah" before our mini-vacation there, we reread Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and viewed the movie. The first historic house we were interested in touring was the Mercer Williams House in which Jim Williams shot Danny Hansford . Construction was begun in 1860 for the great-grandfather of songwriter Johnny Mercer. Jim Williams, an antiques dealer who restored many Savannah homes, bought and restored the house as his residence in 1969 after it had been vacant for 10 years. In 1981, Williams was arrested for the shooting of his assistant, Danny Hansford. He was acquitted 4 trials later in 1989 but, after spending years in prison, he died the year after his release. The tour of the house permitted us only to see the ground floor. We were told that fire insurance regulations would not let us see the upstairs because there is only one staircase. [The Andrew Low house which Norma and I toured the next day has only one stairc...