Savannah Trip, Day 2

We started out this morning after breakfast on the Old Savannah Tour trolley. We rode it for the complete tour and then rode until we got to the stop that would be the closest to where we wanted to have lunch. We ate at a place called Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House. It was wonderful! We sat at a table with four strangers and ate "family style". There was so much food but it was all so good. They had the typical southern food: fried chicken, barbecue pork, mashed potatoes, squash, mac and cheese, and other stuff too numerous to list, with banana puddin' for dessert! It was all so yummy and once again we were waddling for a while afterwards. We then rode the trolley back to our hotel and had potty breaks. Matt stayed at the hotel while Brad, Savanna and I went back out to ride the trolley some more. There was only one more stop that we got off for and that was the cathedral of Saint John. It was beautiful, I wish I could take pictures well enough to do it justice. We then rode the trolley back to the hotel and we rested for a while before dinner. It is so hot and humid that it absolutely wears us out. We left to go down to River Street for dinner. We stopped at the cotton exchange so I could take a couple of pictures and then walked down the steep stairs. We hadn't been there too long and the electricity went out in all the stores and restaurants. We walked down to the waving girl and the electricity was still not on by the time we finished. We realized that it was only one block that was out so we walked down to the other block and ate at a Tony Romas. Our hotel was out of electricity when we got back so we climbed up 7 flights of stairs. Savanna wasn't even breathing hard - she makes me sick! :-) We then left about 8:45 to go on the Murder Afloat cruise. That was a lot of fun, Matt had it figured out but he didn't fill out a card because he didn't think he was right. I wasn't feeling well so I really didn't participate too much but it was fun watching my family enjoy themselves trying to figure out the mystery. Tomorrow we head to Orlando and Ryan will be joining us tomorrow night. Savanna doesn't have any dance stuff tomorrow so we are hoping to get there early enough to spend some time at one of the parks - Universal parks. We bought our tickets at MWR and they are good for a week - unlimited visits to two of the parks. We have about a 5 hour drive tomorrow. Until tomorrow night...

Savannah, GA Day 1 - Factor's Walk

The picture of Savanna waving has a story behind it. We had walked all the way down the street and then back again and we turned around to where we started from. We discovered that if we had walked one more block we would have seen the famous statue of the little girl waving. No one wanted to walk all the way back so Savanna said "here, here's a little girl waving". So I made her recreate it for me to take the picture. They aren't out of the woods, I will get the picture of the REAL little girl waving!

Savannah, GA Day 1 - Lady and Sons

Savannah, GA Day 1 - Swimming

Savannah, GA Day 1

We arrived last night about 10:30 pm. We hated leaving our babies at the kennel but we didn't have any choice. It took us 9 1/2 hours to get here which is longer than we thought.

This morning after breakfast at the motel, Brad and I walked down to the Lady and Sons to try to get a time for lunch. The Lady and Sons is the restaurant that Paula Deen owns here and her sons Jamie and Bobby run it. The lady in front of us in line said that she had been trying for 4 days to get a time and that made us wonder if we were going to be able to get in at all. But, we lucked out and got a time of 2:15. So, we headed back to the hotel where the kids were in the pool. We decided to swim until time to leave for lunch. We walked down for lunch and we loved the food. We ate on the third floor, Brad asked our waiter if Jamie or Bobby were there and he said that Jamie was on the first floor but we never saw him. We thought about complaining about our food so that we could ask to speak to the manager but we didn't :-) We then came upstairs and crashed for an hour because we were all so full we could barely move. When we got up we walked across the street down to Factor's Walk and went into some of the little shops and I took a few pictures. We got signed up to take a Ghostly Trolley tour this evening. That was at 10:00 so we just hung out at the room until then because none of us were hungry yet. The tour was pretty good - not very "ghostly" but interesting stories were told so we were entertained.

Tomorrow we are going on the "ON/OFF" tour where you ride the trolley all day and see the sights. We are signed up for a "Murder Afloat" cruise tomorrow night which is one of those murder mystery things. It is pretty hot and humid here but not nearly as bad as it could be at this time of year. Until tomorrow night...

Pool time with Claire

We didn't have much luck at the YMCA pool (they closed the kiddie pool shortly after we got there) so we bought a little pool for Claire to play in in the backyard. They had a good time. Roxie wasn't too thrilled with it though.

Savanna with Claire and Jennifer

Savanna with Brooke

Brooke has been her cherished friend since kindergarten. They share a love for dance. Brooke's recital was the same day as Savanna's so they attended each other's rehearsals.

Jazz

Tap

This was the last number of the recital and it was
awesome! It was two classes combined and they did an incredible job!

It was a song from the movie "Happy Feet" but I can't remember the name of it.

Lyrical

"Think"

This is one of their competition dances that they are taking to Nationals next week.

Marissa, Savanna, Linda, Sarah, and Amy

Ballet

Stars and Stripes Forever

Savanna is 5th from the right.

Pointe

Savanna is on the far left. Linda Hummel next then Sarah Setzer, Marissa Dunks and Amy Parrish.

Savanna's Recital, June 23, 2007

Savanna's recital was Saturday the 23rd. As usual, it was a great show and Savanna did a great job. We are proud of the hard work she puts into her dancing and all that hard work really paid off, she danced beautifully. Jennifer and Claire came to Virginia from Tennessee to attend and Savanna's youth leader and small group leader - Emily and Cherral - attended also. It was great that she had a big "cheering section" this year. Here's a few pics.

This one is from the opening number from the Dreamgirls soundtrack "Move"

Savanna is in the middle with her back to us.

Claire's recital - June 16, 2007

I had the privilege of flying down to TN (from CT) to see my great-niece Claire's first recital. She did a great job and I loved being able to be there! She performed a ballet titled "Gumbie Cats" and then a tap number of "Boogie Shoes". Too cute!

Laconia Trip, Thursday, June 14, Day 7

Well, we finally made it to Maine. We left the condo and it was sunny and fairly warm - for here anyway :-). We ate breakfast and then headed down the "Kanc" for Maine. We took a different route this time and made it in 3 hours. As we headed more south the clouds thickened up and it got cold. We thought it was going to rain again but thankfully we did stay dry, although it was very cold.

We rode to Maine to a place called Perkins Cove. It had some beautiful scenery. It was a small fishing village that had some quaint little shops. We ate at a restaurant there for lunch and then went for a walk on the Marginal Way. The Marginal Way is a little walkway that runs along the top cliffs of the shore. It was a gorgeous walk and the scenery was exactly what you see in books of Maine. Well worth the effort we put into getting there! The sun broke out towards the end of our walk but quickly went back in before we left. We had the best ice cream of the week at a little shop in the village. We also saw a real Maine lobsterman working. He looked like the Gorton's fisherman! See for yourself!

We left under cloudy conditions once again and as we drove more north and west the sun broke through and it was beautiful again. We ate dinner in C0nway and by the time we left there it was dark and cold once again so we bundled up in our suits and headed back down the Kanc to our condo. We were all pretty cold by the time we got back.

I'm headed to TN tomorrow morning!

Total miles covered today: 255

Laconia Trip, Wednesday June 13 Day 6

Well, today was not a fun day! We had high hopes of driving out of the rain by the time we got to Maine. After driving about 2 hours in cold, cold, rain I saw a sign for Ossippi and realized that we were only 1 hour away from our condo! WHAT?? Who planned this trip?? The guys thought we could avoid the rain by not driving through the mountains so they decided to drive around the lake. It took longer than they thought :-) We had driven in a big cold, rainy circle! So, at the point that I realized that we were only an hour from the condo and the rain looked set in, Lee and I revolted and we all decided to have lunch in Ossippi and then head back to the condo. Everyone's feet were wet, none of our boots were waterproof and we were miserable. So we stopped and had lunch at the barbecue place that Dad and I had eaten at on Sunday. Then we took the Kancamagus back towards the condo. As we were on the Kanc the clouds gave way and the sun came out! Turned out to be a gorgeous afternoon. We came back to the condo, Lee and I each took naps and then we went to dinner at a local Mexican place. The guys wanted to take another ride so we humored them and we took a little drive through town but none of us wanted to get cold again so it wasn't very long. No ice cream today :-( Too cold!!

Do I looked like a big tick in my rain suit? I had on 2 shirts, a sweatshirt and my rain coat! You can barely see Brad. That is Lee in the blue coat.

Plans for tomorrow are to attempt the Maine trip again!

Total miles covered today: 130 - 110 of those in the cold rain!

Laconia Trip, Tuesday, June 12, Day 5

Today was our first full day with Dave and Lee and we had a great time. We headed out this morning for breakfast about 9:00. Dave had already gone on a ride at 4:30 am and watched the sun come up. We didn't even hear him leave. We had breakfast and then drove down to Weirs Beach where all the vendors and bikers congregate. As we were parking we saw George (our tour guide from Sunday) parking his bike so he hung out with us for a while. He was waiting for a friend of his. He ate lunch with us and then his friend showed up so we parted ways. We ate lunch at a pier restaurant and it rained while we ate and as we were ready to go walk around again it cleared off. After walking our legs off we got back on the bikes and headed north for Ellis Falls. We made a stop in North Conway for our daily ice cream at a Ben and Jerry's, I had strawberry cheesecake and it was outstanding!! :-)

As we were riding up to the falls there were dark clouds all around and I just knew that when we got there it was going to pour on us but it didn't. It did just the opposite the clouds cleared out and we had sunshine. We had the whole falls to ourselves, until just as we were leaving a man with two little kids showed up. We enjoyed the falls took lots of pictures. :-) We headed back to the condo but stopped and ate dinner first. Tomorrow we head for Maine for the day. We are really looking forward to that!

Today's mileage: 165

Laconia Trip, Monday, June 11, Day 4

Happy Anniversary to us!! Twenty-four years, WOW! We actually remembered today too.
The picture above is of the train station in North Conway.

We got up early and headed out for breakfast. We stopped at a place called Jack's Flapjack house. Good stuff! We met a couple there from Michigan and talked to them a little bit before we both rode off and then saw them again at the visitor information center. We got a map to figure out what to do today. We rode down the Kanc to a little road that is only open in the summer. It was a pretty ride. I took a couple of pictures but they just don't do the actual majesty any justice. We ate lunch at a little lake store on Lake Winnesaukie (sp????). We ate at a picnic table with a view of the lake. We then headed back to the condo because Dave and Lee had arrived. We were about an hour and a half from the condo. For a brief time we got poured on. That is what it is like here, dry in some areas and then pouring in the next.

We stopped and got ice cream before we went to the condo. Dave and Lee were out riding so I took a nap.

After Dave and Lee got here they said they had seen a moose in a yard and showed us the picture. I believed them at first but later Lee told me it wasn't real. I'm posting the picture anyway because this is the only type of moose (moosen) we have seen so far :-)

For dinner we walked across the street to a seafood restaurant, now we are vegging at the condo. We plan on getting up early and heading out for more fun!

Approx miles covered: 150