Ghosts, Games and a Girl's Weekend

I left you with the news that I was headed out of town for a girl's weekend. My first one in.....well, ever. I went to a couple of women's conferences when Sarah was a toddler, but going out of town just for the fun of it? This was a first. My friend Karen and I started discussing it months ago. We decided that turning 30 was worthy of more than just a dinner. We needed a weekend. Soon, Karen included Lori and I was thrilled. You see, Lori was a childhood friend of Karen's and from the time I met Karen I've been hearing about Lori and her family and friends. I heard childhood stories and Karen kept me updated about Lori's beautiful Christmas wedding and then shared with me about the birth of her precious little boy, Jack. I even got to meet Lori's Mom when I graduated college because Lori graduated that very same day, though we still managed to never meet in person.

Well, Lori just happened to find my blog and I am not kidding, she was the only reader I had for quite a while. I was still blogging on MySpace, but as far as this one, you can go back and look at my first several blogs and see that Lori was the only one who commented. I probably would have given up on this one altogether if not for her. The more we blogged together the more I realized we had in common. I am still just amazed at the relationships God has provided me through this crazy online world. Anyway, I had just been out of my mind excited not only about the trip, but the opportunity to FINALLY meet her in real life.

Then, I got kind of nervous. The plan was to meet at Lori's house to spend the night before we headed out for our final destination. I found myself asking if I would get to meet her cousin's baby and then realized how absurd that I would want to meet someone I had only heard mentioned in blogs!! What if we met in real life and couldn't even carry on a conversation? What if her little boy was terrified of me and I traumatized him or something?

Well, Thursday afternoon I packed up and headed her way.

You will see me holding in my hand a map. A map that was WORTHLESS!! I didn't recognize a single road it mentioned the whole way. Thankfully, I've made that trip many times and the only problem I have is when I actually get into the town. This time was no different. Lori had told me to look for a Piggly Wiggly and that is the kind of directions I can follow. However, since I didn't go by the map, I came into town from the opposite direction and ended up driving around for about an hour in the town in the wrong direction. I am pretty sure the whole town heard me singing the Hallelujah chorus when my eyes spotted the Pig.

I was greeted at the door by a little blonde haired fella named Jack. He yelled to the rest of the occupants in the house, "It's Mrs. Emily!" Two seconds in and he had already melted my heart. :) I got to see Lori's beautiful house, visit with her Mom, meet her cousin, Carrie and her husband, AND hold that sweet baby, Ella, I had read so much about on the blog. I didn't get a picture though, can you believe that? I have to admit I was a sorry photographer on this trip. I was enjoying the moment too much to take too many pictures. Never fear, I've stolen Karen and Lori's. :) Back to that night, after all the company left we stayed up way too late talking about everything under the sun. A good conversation is one of those things that fills my heart  and it was overflowing that night. Obviously Lori and I hit it off and I really knew we were kindred spirits when she decided to eat a piece of pizza and have a Diet Coke about 2:00 that morning. It is rare I meet people who keep my kind of schedule. :)

After a few hours sleep we got up and headed out for Savannah, Ga. Karen had chosen the location and planned most of the trip. It was nice to just be along for the ride! After a 7 hour trip (that was filled with adult conversation and a stop at Zaxby's) we finally turned onto Tattnall Street where our cozy cottage resided.

It was absolutely charming and smack dab in the middle of where the events of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil took place. Lori got this great picture of Karen in our upstairs loft.

This is the living room where we spent our time conversing, reading, planning our days activities, looking out the window to see what was going on (I'll tell you more about that later) and watching some of the Bama game and the Auburn game (more about that later, also.)

After excitedly touring our home for the weekend and browsing the visitor's pamphlets we headed out for some supper. We went to a little pub style restaraunt just a couple of blocks over and had some delicious sandwiches, burgers and fries. When Lori posted this picture and I noticed our to go cups I realized that our  next girl's weekend may include Karen taking us to Diet Coke Anonymous. Lori said she was fine with that as long as we got another girl's weekend!

That night back at our house we kept hearing noises. Like gunshots. Now, I hear things all the time and Josh thinks I'm crazy. I was both relieved and scared that Lori and Karen were hearing the same noises. We also had a van with blue lights stop in front of our house and then just disappear. For those of you who do not know, Savannah is known as one of the most haunted cities in America. I don't personally believe in ghosts. At least not in the way that people die and come back and haunt you. But.....I later found out that Savannah has one of the highest murder rates in the country. Glad I found that out AFTER our girl's only trip!!!!!

We again stayed up late talking and by the time we headed to bed, I was scared. Our house was old and made all kinds of noises and I kept telling myself it was the dryer I was hearing, except oh yeah, we weren't running the dryer!!!!! Lori and Karen said they slept great both nights and I assured them it was because I was up praying the evil spirits out of our house. :)

The plan for the next morning was to head first, to a coffee shop and then to the famous Forsythe Park. Luckily, we had found a coffee shop in the park on the map. Of course, finding it in real life proved to be more difficult. We left no doubt we were tourist as we walked countless miles following Lori and her GPS, who I named Tomeka. Yes, we walked with the GPS. We were desperate, y'all. It was a beautiful morning and I loved that we were able to walk through the city. We saw some beautiful sights.

We came upon The Book store. If you are not familiar with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, it is a true crime drama that happened in Savannah and tells the story of many colorful characters from the city. Some of them are very colorful, if you know what I mean. Well, Karen and Lori had both read the book, but I was a slacker and hadn't. So, I was on a mission to get that book and finish it. Like, that day.

I was especially upset with myself that I hadn't already read the book when there was a whole room I couldn't go in because they had the book on tape playing and I instantly knew when I walked in that it was about to give something big away. Karen immediately shooed me out of the room. I also found a Murder, She Wrote book there based in Savannah, and being the total dork that I am was thrilled. I am pretty sure I am the only Murder, She Wrote fan under the age of 73, but whatever. The lady at the cash register proudly told me she was mentioned in the acknowledgements because she had shared the stores very own ghost story with the author. It had to do with hearing water running in the walls and later having a plumber discover there was an old shower in one of the walls. They concluded they either had a ghost or some big rats. I didn't share my mouse stories with her or my knowledge that they are capable of things we don't even want to think about. I just smiled and nodded.

After some more sightseeing that included the infamous Mercer House where the main story of the book takes place, we made the journey to take a trolley ride. We stopped on our way and got some pizza for lunch. Then, while waiting for the trolley I started the book. Our trolley ride was fun and informative. Our driver scared the mess out of me, but even more than I was scared of his driving I was scared to be one of the people who walked in front of him that caused him to ring his bell unmercifully. We got off the trolley and headed for the River Walk. We checked out several little shops, but I think we were all pretty worn out by that point. I had chosen cuteness over comfort in my shoes that morning and I was paying the price. Just for the record, all those heels I packed? Didn't wear one pair. :)

Not only were we tired, but the Bama game had started. Lori had told us many times how blessed we should feel that she was leaving her house the day of a Bama game. Apparently it didn't bode well for the team. She was getting FB updates and they were stressing her out. I was trying to finish that stinkin' book and there was nowhere to sit down while we waited for our shuttle. Karen was burning up and somebody had a crying baby waiting there with us. Despite my two phone calls, we all waited for over 30 minutes, even though they promised someone would come by every 15 minutes. When we arrived at our house I have never been so happy to take off a pair of shoes in my life. I was upstairs refreshing my make-up when I heard a scream. I deducted that either Lori had fallen down the stairs or a serial killer had entered the premises. No. She was watching the Bama game. :) She had come home and changed into her Bama clothes and that seemed to help them some. We had decided to leave for Tybee Island at 6:00. Lori was glued to the TV and I had my head in the book. Poor Karen was probably wondering why she hadn't invited normal people for this weekend. :)

We loaded up and headed to visit the lighthouse despite the fact that the game was still on.

It was during this time that we got the devastating news that Bama had lost. I know there are many fans blaming Karen and I for dragging Lori away, but I would like it noted that she did have on her jeans with the holes in the knees and apparently this is very imporant.

After they lost she actually changed in the car which meant I got to drive her Land Rover. Speaking of which, I would really like one so feel free to donate to the "Emily Land Rover" fund. :)  Tomeka led us through the island and to the Mexican restaurant we had chosen.  Karen and I must have a meal at a Mexican restaurant, it is just our thing. It was worth it, too.

Back at the house I made it my mission to finish the book so we could watch the movie. Karen and Lori found books from the house's bookcase and I thought what wild people we were, on vacation on Saturday night, reading. :)  I really wanted to watch the movie with them so around 1:00 am when I still hadn't finished the book I told them we could just watch it anyway. The movie turned out to be so not good, but that is usually the case with movies based on books. That put us going to bed about 3:30 and me laying in bed once again praying. After I got home I noticed that the house attached to ours had a skylight and I was SO relieved ours didn't or I would have spent the whole night staring at it. I promise I am not normally such a scaredy cat, but really, if you've read that book, watched that movie and you just happen to be blocks from where it all took place, it is a little spooky!!!!

Before I became too scared to go outside we got some pics in our enclosed garden.

During these pics Lori taught me how to use the timer on my camera and that was very exciting. I know Josh will be thrilled. :)

The next morning I was relieved that we were all still alive and we loaded up to head home. We set out on a search for a new coffee shop, but it proved elusive. We eventually ended up at a Cracker Barrell where Lori was offered many condolences, as she was wearing her Bama shirt. We said our goodbyes to Savannah and talked pretty much non-stop for the 7 hour trip.  It was sad to say good-bye and I was even sadder when  I tried to take some backroads Lori had just showed us and I ended up so totally lost. I was wishing I had Tomeka with me. Instead I had to call Josh who had just finished church service and before I knew it the whole church was looking at maps trying to figure out where I was. Once I finally made a complete circle I ended up where I was supposed to be and the rest of the trip was easy. 13 hours later I was home and even though I predicted I would be glad to see my laundry room, I wasn't so much. But my hubby and those sweet babies??? I missed them much.

Our weekend was the perfect combination of eating, conversing, laughing, sightseeing, getting lost and making memories. I feel blessed beyond measure to have experienced it and thank God for my sweet hubby holding down the fort so I could be free for fun. I am also thankful for a best friend who made sure I took this trip no matter how many times I tried to convince myself there were other things I needed to do with my time and money. And I'm thankful for my new "in real life" friend who might possibly be my twin who I was separated from at birth.  We are tyring to figure out where we should go next!!!!!! :)