Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Florida Trip 2015

A few months back Rachel and I decided to drive down to Tampa FL to visit my Grandmother for our spring trip.  It only made sense to invite her parents to join us and another fun trip was started.  First we needed to decide the pace of the trip.  Three days to drive to Tampa enjoying some of FL east coast seemed appropriate and woudl allow us to do a few things along the way.  Over the next few months we watched programs and did research about destinations and came up with a loose itinerary.

The day before was a mad dash to prep everything.  From last minute packing to Rachel and I riding the metro up to pick up our rental car it was a long day.  We had originally planned to take our truck but after I had more chance to think about it, I really did not want to put that many miles on our tow vehicale.  between the gas savings, about $225 or more than half the cost to rent a car, and saving the miles on my truck, it was the right call.

Day 1 was a long day.  Cathy made everyone egg sandwiches that we ate in the car after we pulled out of their driveway a little later than we meant to, at about 6 AM.  Kim and Cathy were excited to get underway but, again, it was a really long day.  We had about 8 hours of drive time and 9 hours of travel time but the Shape's Fury book on tape Cathy and I listened to made the trip better.  Kim drove for a few hours as well but I have tried to take most of the driving becuase Kim and Rachel have been using travel time to study and do work.

At lunchtime we stopped at Sweetman's BBQ which is a place that was featured on the Travel Channel some time ago.  We pulled up to this old house/trailer looking place that was only open on the weekends and were anticipating good food.  We walked in and were surprised that the BBQ was served on a buffet bar but after we had a chance to think about it, BBQ is not made to order so we shrugged and dove in.  They had a really interesting sauce that was mustard based and like nothing I have had before.  I enjoyed the smoked chicken that was generiously sauced with the stuff the most while while everyone else enjoyed a different aspect of the meal.  

Later, after we checked into the hotel, we headed into downtown Savanah to spend some time on the river walk.  It is a pretty cool place with lots of activity.  River boat tours, live music, street vendors as well as shops line the 3/4ish mile of riverfront.  We were surprised that it was OK to walk around with open drinks but we were there early enough that things were not too wild.  Cathy got to stop in the Savanah Bee Company shop to try some honey but we more or less went straight to Tubby's, the second floor reastruant with a nice balcony that Rachel and I enjoyed a few years ago.  They have the best shrimp and grits you have ever had and you can take that as a high endorsment because I do not enjoy grits.  The shrimp was a bit overcooked but the rich, creamy and buttery grits made up for that and Kim and Cathy agreed, both of whome do enjoy grits, agreed they are the best grits they have ever had. 

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