I do declare! Savannah is the BOMB!

So yesterday, the Augusta Tarwaters and a family-Army friend drove the 3ish hours down to Savannah, GA. I had visited Savannah once in my youth, when I was still in High School. My father was stationed there and I remember thinking it was cool. There was a beach and the downtown area was walkable. I seem to recall there being a Jazz Festival at the time and the architecture blew me away.

We drove down, leaving the house at around 0830 and making a beeline for a coffeeshop called The Sentient Bean. Lattes were ordered and snarkiness was encountered. For the FIRST TIME since moving to the South, we were presented with hipsters in all their too-cool-for-you glory.

We were home.

Augusta is nice, don't get me wrong and we found a decent coffeeshop with a hipster at the healm (sp?). But he is kind and says 'y'all.' At The Sentient Bean (located next door to some kind of small business-natural grocery store, hello!) there were skinny jean wearing people who needed sandwiches, bitching that the coffee was stale. There were (at least) two kinds of sugar at the bar. Tea was offered and they had pu-er. The guy who took our order seemed like he did not want to take it. It was like being back at Stumptown. The patrons ran the gamut from crazy old dude with puppet, gay couple out with dogs, family out for a weekend lunch, old punks huddled around pints of coffee...it was nice. We went back twice for caffeination.

Parking across the street from The Sentient Bean was perfect. Across the street is the freaking awesomely awesome Forsyth Park. I have never had amorous feelings like this for trees. Holy smokes. Oaks and Spanish Moss(?) = win. The sidewalks were clean and borderd by these majestically aged trees, the occasional palm tree thrusting into the sky from time to time. The weather by the way? My husband and daughter didn't wear jackets for a good percentage of the day. The sun was out and there were camellias in bloom at one of the many squares set up in the city to commemorate some long deceased general. We ate lunch out in a chunk of park, over a blanket of oak leaves.

The architecture was astounding. Southern charm, verandas, churches and temples as old as the city itself. We got to stare at these awesome edifices while geocaching (0/2) and saw trolleys and horse drawn carriages get pulled through the streets that also had trucks, hybrids, sedans and the occasional Hummer (boo). We walked from Forsyth Park down towards the Old Fort Jackson and the Roundhouse Museum which had old steam engines as well as an old train yard (complete with historic 'Colored's Bathroom). Now, I don't usually go insane for trains but that place was COOL. They had old engines, cars, and the building was pretty much free to roam. I can't really explain the grounds but it was cool to walk around what used to be a functioning trainyard, all the nooks and outdoor areas, including what used to be a garden for the employees to unwind (with one, solitary koi in the pond). They had old printing presses and it was just freaking cool. We paid $4 each to get in and was well worth it. We plan on going back. Sopi loved it and got a harmonica out of the deal.

After the train yard we walked back towards the park to change the goober and then walked over to our destination for dinner, Vinne Van GoGo's Pizza. It was a nice walk that took us through a rather awesome downtown. A walkable downtown. With sidewalks, more awesome architecture and stores that we had actually heard of. People were out on the street and the restaurant was located just a few blocks away from the Riverwalk. We sat outside and ate some of the BEST pizza we've ever had (I know, blasphemy. Pepperoni and black olive, great crust). Sopi got to watch the punk rock Southerner's toss the dough into the air and got to tell one of them that the pizza was 'freaking awesome,' to which he replied 'Thanks, y'all!'

My blog post is really not doing it justice. Savannah is beautiful, historical and liveable. Their craigslist has prices for homes that made my mouth fall open and the feeling when you walk around is that of...well, that you are in a place of beauty. It is probably the least sketchy city I've been to in a really good long time.

Obligatory pics. More to come; also links for the places that we went to.

Visit if you can. It's worth the trip. And if you pass through Augusta, you'll have a place to stay.

Army Strong

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" is a stupid saying.

Yesterday my husband swore into the United States Army. We stood there and watched him standd at attention, waiting for the CO to come in, watced him continue to stand there, unsmiling, as the CO addressed us, speaking highly about the four men that stood before him, saying that us being there was a testament to how much of an impact these men had. Chris had the most people there. Two of the guys had no one there. I wonder if they felt like crap.

At 3:45 this morning, I woke up. I stare at the clock and wonder why it isn't later, feeling strangely awake. Light is starting to seep through the blinds. A few minutes later the cats make some kind of horrific yowling sound and I yell at them, forgetting that its too damn early to be yelling but too scared at the moment to care. I get up to see what the hell was the problem, finding cat throw up in the sala and poop on the floor. Awesome. I clean it up and conclude that some kind of animal must have been out in the parking lot. Other cats outside the window are the only thing that evoke that kind of reaction from my usually docile cats. All of this happens before 4.

4:00 am is when Chris will get his wake up call. He'll be given a few minutes to wash up, get ready and then have to go down to eat. He has to be down in the caf to eat by a certain time or he'll get in trouble. After breakfast that will probably include coffee he won't like, he'll get on a shuttle and head to the airport with the other people heading to Jackson today. Plane leaves at 6AM. He probably set his clock early. He probably woke up at 3:45.

I lie in bed, and the cray thoughts run into my head, the ones where people break into your house in the middle of the night and kill you and I keep thinking maybe the cats will make that horrible sound again but I pass out eventually because I'm tired and I can. Sopi and I wake up, yellow sunlight gleaming. She nurses for a bit, trying to shake off the last bit of sleepiness before she sits up in bed. "Poppa?"

"Poppa's not here, baby."

"Go yes sir school." She pauses for a moment. "Take bus yes sir school?"

"Yeah." I don't tell her that he's taking a plane. I don't want her to be jealous. Jealous of waking up early and going to bootcamp. It would just seem stupid.

Probably in Chicago now, trying to grab lunch, maybe a mag and a free second. Joking with his "team leader." Looking for a bathroom. Reading. Sitting the way he does, thinking about good coffee, no beer for ten weeks, smiling, saying 'son of a fuck," thinking about us.

How much more fond can the heart grow?