The food resolution continues!

After three straight days of eating at amazing Savannah restaurants, Dan and I had to roll out of the car when we returned home. It's definitely time to get back to eating healthy next week! In fact, I'm thinking of picking up Jamie Oliver's The Food Revolution so that I'll have some new healthy dinner ideas to make. Basically, this girl needs to detox her system because every Savannah dish has butter as the secret ingredient. But until then, forget The Food Revolution. Nope, instead, I give you:

The Food Resolution!

Our New Year's resolution was to try 12 new restaurants in 12 months. Here are two of our most memorable ones from Savannah:

The Olde Pink House

The atmosphere: Haute and haunted

I wanted to go to one restaurant that was classic Savannah, and this grand 18th century house (Savannah's oldest one) fit the bill. It originally was owned by a family who kept painting it with white plaster, however the red bricks would show through making the house appear pink. Later, when it was turned into a tavern and restaurant, the owners gave up and painted it the shade of "blush" errr... "bashful" err "pepto bismal" it is today. Oh, and supposedly it's haunted with the ghost of the original owner, which is very Savannah. In this city, haunted houses are like Starbucks... you can find one on every corner.

Anyway, the inside was gorgeous in a fancy way, all chandeliers and silk curtains. Where's a string of pearls when a girl needs one?

The food:

* I tried the famous BLT salad I heard about on Best Thing I Ever Ate. Two fried green tomatoes + honey smoked bacon + pickled tomatoes + ridiculously fattening dressing = one of the best salads I've ever eaten indeed :)

* The rest of the meal was equally Southern and fried and fattening and delicious. Dan devoured a plate of scallop linguine, and I had a creamy shrimp and grits meal. And you already know about the chocolate cake for dessert... Verdict: I was a little worried this place would feel like a tourist trap, resting on their pretty decor and interesting history and churning out subpar food. Luckily, the food was ah-maz-ing! It was such a special, memorable meal to have on my thirtieth. Then, the next day Dan and I drove to Tybee Island outside Savannah and ate The Crab Shack, the exact opposite of the Olde Pink House...

The Crab Shack

The atmosphere: Laid back, right down to the lazy alligators When Dan and I first walked up to The Crab Shack, we strolled over a bridge and took a campy picture with this guy:

Then, we saw this sign:

Thinking it was a hoax to be funny, we looked down from the platform into a small lagoon and saw twelve alligators all draped over one another. They were were so motionless that we still assumed they were fake rubber ones like the first guy that I had taken the picture with.

But then one of the gators moved his head ever so slightly, freaking Dan out so badly that he almost tripped over his own feet jerking backwards! I couldn't stop laughing when he dead-panned to me as I snapped a picture, "If you drop that camera in there, I am NOT helping you fish it back!"

Once Dan had recovered, we decided to eat outdoors, which had a view of the bay and a leafy canopy of leaves from the nearby cypress trees.

The whole place had a "you're in a treehouse vibe." I loved the apple baskets they used for lanterns.

The food:

Dan and I shared an enormous platter of boiled crab legs, crawfish, and shrimp to crack and peel ourselves. The below pictures show our reactions better than a blog post can:

Oh, and after we were stuffed, we decided to spend the three bucks to feed our scaly friends. We attached bits of rubbery alligator treats to the fishing poles outside the lagoon:

That finally got the alligators in motion!

I almost started a gator fight with my treat! They're actually kind of cute...

Verdict: Fresh seafood, outdoor setting, feeding alligators... what's not to love?

Sigh... the food vacation is over. But damn if it wasn't great while it lasted!

The Olde Pink House picture via here, inside from here, and the BLT salad photo is from here

Just do it #15: Turn 30 in style!

So... I turned 30 this past Friday. And you know how I was kinda worried about this birthday? It ended up being fabulous! I spent the weekend...

* seeing a new city

* hanging out with senior citizens

* eating in a haunted house

* feeding alligators

* partying at a piano bar

* and puking

Woo hoo to my thirties!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. :)

Anyway, Dan and I made the trek down to Savannah late Thursday because I had dentist and doctor appointments during the day. After an 8+ hour car ride and finally crashing in a Super 8, we were tired and cranky. I was feeling a little low about turning 30 the next day for a few reasons too long to go into now (though looking at myself in the flourescently lit mirror and feeling ugly and finding one strand of hair that had turned all wiry and gray probably didn't help.)

But then, the next day we awoke to perfect weather, drove to the beautiful B & B, and had the most fantastic day ever! We pulled up to this house:

I can't say enough about the Catherine Ward House. It had a stunning interior straight out of Southern Living magazine:

We dropped our stuff off in the top room of the guest house, which was the most chic, comfortable room we've ever stayed in. I mean, we're used to Super 8, people. A double shower? Robes? Working fireplace? Flatscreen behind two way mirror? I think we're officially spoiled for a lifetime.

Our room had a private balcony with a view of the courtyard: I just had to snap pictures of all the pretty touches, so forgive the constant flower pictures in this post.

Loved the little koi pool they had...

The B & B was located about a block and a half from Forsyth park, where I completely fell in love with Savannah:

How can you not love a city that is a postcard snapshot at every turn?

We grabbed lunch and walked through all the squares. And no, there is no end to Dan's penchant for cheesy photo ops...

The below picture is in front of the Mercer House, where the murder took place in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. We listened to the book on tape on the way down to make the time go by faster, and it wasn't until we listened to the author's interview at the end that we realized it was a true story.

Don't worry, the over-the-top southern drawl on the book on tape caused Dan to use a car-razy Savannah accent the entire time we were here, a la Michael Scott during the episode of The Office where he hosts a murder mystery party in "Savannah". The joke wore thin after his hundredth, "I do declare..."

Anyway, after walking around for a while, we went on the Savannah Home Tour, an annual spring event. When we stood in line to check out the first house, Dan nudged me and whispered, "Look around! We're the youngest ones here!" Let's just the majority of people interested in architecture and home design would have received a senior citizen discount. But I didn't care. I relax after school by checking out every design blog out there, so touring extraordinary houses is my idea of a good time.

Unfortunately, there was a strict no camera policy, even on the exteriors, but trust me, the homes were gorgeous. My favorites were the ones that were classic brick and wrought iron details on the outside, but when you enter they were Domino modern. There was one kooky mansion that had bright lime green walls and a coffee table made out of books and the craziest artichoke light fixture I've ever seen.

After the home tour, Dan and I went to Leopold's classic parlor for banana fosters ice cream as this trip was one big eat-a-thon and toured around some more.

Later that night, Dan and I ate at the Old Pink House, a Savannah restaurant known for three things: being on the Food Network show The Best Thing I Ever Ate, the pepto bismal pink exterior, and having a 212 year old ghost who, according to legend, is still seen by the occasional cook. I'll go into the meal on my next post, but let me just say it was absolutely amazing. And fattening. Pure Savannah decadence.

And we finished my birthday by going to a piano bar where we sang along as the dueling pianists banged out "Sweet Home Alabama" and Sir Mixalot's "Baby got back". Classy.

I'm usually not much of a drinker, but Dan coaxed me (peer pressured me?) to try a few of the "Savannah shooters", which got me hammered. We walked the mile back to our B & B still singing and drinking from our "travelers", with us commenting how awesome it was to be in a city where you can actually finish your drink on the walk home.

Yeah... two hours later I regretted having that traveler. It was the straw that broke the camel's back, people. I got so sick. I was curled up in the fetal position. I wanted to die.

But then I was like, "WOO HOO! I THREW UP ON MY THIRTIETH! I'M STILL YOUNG AND IMMATURE!!"

Best. birthday. ever.

Springing Forward

It finally felt like spring today! And goodness knows I needed some spring happy vibes. With having to deal with two car repairs, a broken dryer, a leaking roof, and non-stop rain during the past few weeks, Dan and I have been over it, hence the two week blogging break. I just didn't have much to write except for "F#*$! WATER IS POOLING IN OUR ATTIC!" I promise I won't be cheesy enough to write "When it rains, it really does pour."- har har! I'm not that predictable. Things are a little more low key now, and I just thought in honor of "spring forward" I'd share a few things that are currently making me happy: 1. Tea time to celebrate my friend Missy's baby who will be arriving any day now:

2. Stuff Dan and I saw on our walk today:

Okay, enough ubiquitous flower shots. I also wanted to share one of our favorite places to stroll to, a nearby seminary. We liked to go there to play frisbee, and check out the buildings, like this clock tower:

But our favorite thing about the seminary is the modern gargoyle on the side of the library. The gargoyle is actually a bust of a beloved librarian who worked at the seminary for over fifty years. Here is a faraway shot of him:

And here he is up close:

We thought it was so random and funny to have this librarian guarding all those books gargoyle-style, with pointy ears and talons. :) What a sweet way to pay tribute to this man!

Speaking of sweet tributes, that brings us to #3... 3. My Oscar

I came into my classroom several weeks ago to find an Oscar waiting for me on my desk!

And I didn't even have a speech planned...

Here's a close-up of it: Yep... that's a Mrs. Butterworth's bottle spray painted gold, my friends. How cute is this?! One of my students made it for me and gave me a movie ticket that said: "And the Oscar goes to... YOU for your fun grammar games and lessons!" It was one of the best teacher gifts I've ever received.

And the last thing that's making me smile is:

4. Lemon ricotta cookies

Or at least they will once I finally make them. Nothing put me in a more springy/summery mood than lemon ricotta cookies. They're like lemonade in cookie form.

***

Loving this season!