Savannah: Day 1

Today was our first day in Savannah. When we woke up it was raining :(. Not how I wanted to spend out day. So we ate breakfast and then headed out. By the time we got up and out the door, it had stopped.

We got a map from the front desk and started out on our own tour. We walked, and walked, and walked, and walked some more!! Then we found out that we were following the Trolly route. lol! So we eventually bought a pass and hopped on, but before that we took a ton of cool pictures.

Check them out. I'll try not to post all 169 pictures. :) But I will post the high light of our trip.

 Here is the Forsyth Park. It's the one you always see with the water fountain in it, when they show Savannah. This is the entry into it. There is Spanish Moss every where.

Here is Dave reading the map. He's figuring out where we were going to start our day at. He didn't want to be in the picture, but I told him I had to document that he actually came with me.

Here is more pictures of the Forsyth Park. It reminds of Central Park.

Here is the fountain. They changed the water green for Saint Patricks day.

Do you see that fog? That's not fog. It's actually rain. That's a good pour down. We left the umbrella in the car and thought maybe we could miss the rain. Turns out it rained pretty good on and off this morning while we walked around. It rained so well, that I looked like a wet puppy dog. My hair was frizzy and flying every where.

Here is the only cemetery that they have in Savannah.  It was interesting to see them. They are as far back as the 1700's, if not farther. There is over 10,000 people buried there. Some famous Generals from the war and even one of the guys from Georgia who signed the Declaration of Independence.

As we walked around town, we came upon the police department. They had these three cars out front. The last on on the left is so funny. There are close up pictures below.

I thought this was hilarious.

 Check out this car. The back half is what it cost to take a cab and the front half is what it cost to take a ride in the police car.

Here is the Davenport House. It's now a museum and you can tour the inside and see what it was like in those homes. This guy was a carpenter and had a very successful business. He also had 10 children. He died of yellow fever and his wife, who had no formal education, had to run the business after he passed away.

I took this picture because it's the second time I have seen this car. I saw this a year ago in Pasadena at the HEB. As we drove by on one of the tour busses, they were sitting in the parking lot. I thought it was hilarious that I saw it for a second time.

Later last night we went on a Ghost Tour. It was pretty interesting. The girl below was our tour guide. Her name was Evelyn but she said it like Evil-lynn. She did a good job telling stories of murder, ghosts, and hauntings.

On the tour they took us to a warehouse where she had this stage set up. She explained about a woman who was murdered and the last words she said was her husband's name.

After she finished her story she let us walk around the warehouse to see if we could see or encounter any ghosts or spirits. She said that there have been sightings in there.

They also have a 2 hour tour where you can go with a real ghost hunter and you get one of those EVP machines that picks up on the spirits.

Hope you are enjoying following us. We are having a blast.

Headed to Georgia: via New Orleans

Yesterday we left Houston and drove to New Orleans. We wanted to go to Georgia, but decided to make a pit stop. There is also a restaurant that we wanted to try. It's called Cafe Du Monde. They had some really good beignets.

The trip didn't take as long as I had expected. It was only 6 hours. We left on Sunday after the morning church service. A long the way we found this place in that sold boudin balls and links. So we stopped to get some. They were actually delicious. I've decided that I like almost anything with rice in it.

We finally made it to New Orleans around dinner time and pulled into our hotel (the Blake Hotel). It was nice and served its function.

We decided that since we got there late, we would walk around the city to see if there was anything interesting.

As we wandered the streets, we stumbled upon Emeril's restaurant. I wanted to try it out. I had seen him on the Food Network and heard he had some great desserts..... as well as food. But we weren't too hungry so we kept on walking.

We finally got found Cafe Du Monde and the line was SUPER long.  In fact they had two lines. One was to be seated in the restaurant and the other was for the to-go window. You could order your beignets and coffee without having to be seated.

So we stood in line for about 15 minutes to get ours and boy was it worth the wait. They were delicious!!!

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After we grabbed our food we took it with us and walked around the city some more, but headed back towards the hotel. We just kind of kept on wandering until we made it back to our room.

We decided that we aren't big fans of New Orleans. It's just not our city. So we grab two more orders of beignets and went to the room. When we got up the next morning we already had our breakfast and got a jump start on the road. We left the hotel at 8:00 a.m. and didn't get into Savannah until 9:00 p.m. last night.

That was a super long trip. The longest part was driving through Florida on I-10. That seemed endless. I'm hoping we can find another route home.


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Here is the time line to show how far we went and the pit stops we made.... at least the ones I have pictures of.


We left New Orleans at 8:00 am and hit the Mississippi border at 9:53 am.

By 10:46 we had taken a slight detour to get some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I haven't had them in a while. They left our are in Texas years ago and to be honest.......... they weren't as good as I remembered. I think Shipley's is the best.

By 11:15 we had crossed the border and were entering Alabama.

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Then before I knew it we were out of Alabama and into Florida. It's only 66 miles wide, according to Google, on I-10 from the  Mississippi border to the Florida border. So it only took us 57 minutes to drive the whole thing.

So around 12:15 we entered Florida. It took us 342 miles to get from the Alabama/ Florida state line to the 301 turn off that we took up to Georgia.

Then we took the 301 loop before Jackson, Florida and it took us 151 miles or 2 hours and 20 minutes to get to Savannah.

You can see from the picture below how far we are from Houston. It was kind of mind boggling how far we drove in a day. You can see the blue triangle in Georgia where we were.

Here is the Georgia state line.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!! I hope everyone has a wonderful time with family and friends, making memories. I know Dave and I will.

We are spending Christmas Eve dinner with my parents and grandparents. Then for Christmas we are spending Christmas Day with Dave's family.

When we get Dave's side, they like to do a Chinese christmas. That's where you bring a nice gift of a certain amount that's been preset. Then everyone draws a number and then picks a gift. If someone steals your gift, then you can either steal someone else's or pick another one. This our gift limit was $25 a person. So I went to Marshalls (which is one of my favorite stores) and put together two food gift baskets, one from my husband and one from me. Why is it that I always like the gifts I bring?

Here are the two gifts we are taking to my In-Laws for christmas.

This basket has hot chocolate, mixed nuts, and shortbread cookies. There is also a dish towel rolled up in the front for an added touch. I love the shape of this bowl. 

This basket is a nice deep bowl with mixed nuts, lemon scone mix, chocolate covered cherries and a dish towel. 

Merry Christmas!!

Making Orange Marmalade

Friday was my last day of work for two whole weeks. I work in the IT department for a school district, so we get two weeks of vacation at Christmas time. It's wonderful. I get to rest, spend time with family and bake/cook.

Speaking of which, yesterday while I was at work my husband texted me and said he was at his mothers making orange marmalade and when I get off to come over. So I drove to my mother-in-laws house and there on the counter was these beauties. 

And this is how my husband and his mother made orange marmalade. Then I came in and finished it off!! :)

First you buy mason jars (I think we used 10 or 12 ounces. They were given to us.), lids, and the camps or rings. Then you need to sterilize them. Basically you put them in a big pot of water and boil them. 

The hubby and Mom-in-law had already made the orange marmalade before I got there. I got to scoop it into the mason jars. :) 

This is the pot that we put the jars in after we put the lids on to seal them. You boil them for 15 minutes. Make sure you have them covered by by two inches.

Here are the first two jars that came out of the cooker.

The hubby-miester cooking away.

A watched pot never boils, but in this case it did. 

Here they are cooking in the pot.

Taking more jars out of the cooker.

The finished product. Now to let them rest for a week or so. That way they can become thicker.

This will be delicious over a nice smoked ham. Next we are going to make grapefruit jam.

Laundry Room Makeover

I found this picture on Pinterest the other night and thought it was cool. I loved the color. So I decided to paint my laundry room. I'm not going to do the chandelier since I don't have a window to help supplement the light. I do have to say though, I like the curtains and the shelf over the washer and dryer.

Since I'm off from work for two weeks, guess what I'm going to do. :) I like the white boarder trim with the hooks but since my room has two doors and not much room, I don't think the hooks will work for me. But I do like how it looks. So this will be my new project. It beats doing the kitchen wall paper.

Here are some pictures of my room.

Behind the door with the wreath, is my ironing board. I put a coat hook on it and hung it up. It made it so much better for storage.

True Love

On Friday 20 children lost their lives. It was a horrible and tragic event. Precious children who won't get to open presents this year, see family members, or play in the snow.

Then tonight, my husband and I had a discussion about christmas and that we both didn't want anything, then what should we do, should we save the money, take a weekend vacation, etc. Well, I had left the room and gone to my art room to work on a fun project. 

Well, that got me to thinking. What if I were to die tonight, or tomorrow? Would he really know how I feel about him? So I started to think about this.

Every day he gets up and goes to work in a plan as a contractor for an electric company (he's an electrician). He always kisses me goodbye and says he loves me. One night we had a fight about something (who knows now) but I remember the next morning I was still wanting to make my point. My wonderful husband looked at me in the morning glow of the rising sun and said, "Shhhh!! Let's not fight. I may not come home tonight." Astonished, I asked the ever pressing question. "Why wouldn't you come home?" He replies, "Because I work in a chemical plant and its dangerous and I don't want the last thing I remember of you to be a fight this morning."Again, I was astonished. My husband had actually put thought into this.

So tonight, as I think about last Friday and those poor children, I also think of my husband. The man I love and the man I married almost 2 years ago. 

So all that to say, here is what I would want my husband to know if I were to die tonight, or tomorrow, or the next day.

Dear Honey,

For the past year and 9 months, you have brought joy to my life. I know we have our fights and are still finding out how to make this marriage work, but know that I love you very much. It's the smile on your face when you walk in the door after you get home from work that lights up heart. It's the way you kiss me to death and stall me from making dinner some nights. 

You have a tender heart and a wonderful soul. Everyone at church services always tells me so and the truth is, you do. I see it when you talk to our friends. You try to do what's right and put God first. You are kind, caring, and loving. I couldn't have asked for a better man, a better husband, and a better partner. I look forward to what the Lord has in store for us.

Love,

Your wife.

Silver Turtles

Do you know what silver turtles are? I didn't until the hubby asked me to make them for dinner. Slightly surprised, I said yes. The hubby hardly ever asks for anything specific for dinner most nights.

I'll text him during the day and ask if he has anything specific he wants, but most of the time he'll answer me, "I don't care, whatever your little heart desires, or whatever." So most of the time I cook what I would like to eat.

But since he requested silver turtles, I was more than happy to make them. The only problem is I had no idea what they were or even where to begin to make them.

So when he got home he had to explain it.

In short, it's a hamburger patty on the bottom with sliced carrots, sliced potatoes, and onions layered on top. Then wrap it tin foil. Bake it at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. Oh the aroma is so good. Then when we ate it, it was so fresh. It was a nice twist to what I normally make. I can't wait to make it again. In fact I might make it this week one night. It's super easy. I sliced everything in the food processor, which helped speed up the slicing time.

Later the hubby told me he learned it in Cub Scouts.

Here's some pictures on how I made it.


First I sliced the carrots. I used probably 2 or 3 long carrots and sliced them in the food processor.

I cut up a bell pepper and an onion as well as potatoes.

I took about a pound to a pound and a half. I added a few spices that we like in our meat.

I put one patty on the bottom of the tin foil. Then layer the carrots, potatoes, onion, and bell pepper. Then put a pad or two butteries on top. Add some salt and pepper with some garlic powder. 

Then wrap it up. Pull the middle section together. Then pull the ends together in towards the middle.

Put the four in the pan and bake it.

When you unwrap it......

 

Here it is platted and ready to eat.

Of course you have to have dessert.