Trip to Savannah

Hadley and I went to Savannah with James when he went down there for a work weekend. I learned several things and I'll list those for you...

1. We are not city people- ESPECIALLY with a child

2. If a key is not turning in the lock, DON'T KEEP TRYING

3. Having one car is inconvenient

4. We change our minds like crazy

So let's elaborate for you but overall, we rated this trip not so good. We did have fun times don't get me wrong but there were definite moments where it wasn't enjoyable. Some highlights we loved were walking down Riverstreet with Hadley and reminiscing on old times. You can get togo cups and just walk around, it's great. They have great children's activities such as the OUTDOOR children's museum (attached to a train museum with actual train cars). My favorite meal came from The Lady's and Sons restaurant (Paula Deen's) buffet! I seriously ate like a pig! It was delicious. I had been wanting to try it for a while now and am so glad we did. It also was great for Hadley because we didn't have to wait for the food to arrive (since it was self serve) plus she was free!

So back to the realizations
1. We got a good deal on a last minute VBRO (vacation rental site) to stay in a 1 bedroom apartment downtown WITH a parking spot. The parking spot is a huge deal because everywhere else is street parking with meters, although there are usually spots. It was nice not having to worry about it. Savannah isn't even a huge city but man any city is LOUD. From street sweepers at 3am, to garbage trucks slamming dumpsters are 7 am, neighbors moving furniture LOUDLY during nap times, NO THANKS :)

2. So yeah remember that nicely placed parking spot... it was located in the back of the property. You had to walk around the block to get to the front door from that spot... We had two keys, one to open the parking gate to get to the backyard/door that also opens the FRONT door to the house (which was upstairs... ps. stairs and toddler that you have to carry down it WITH stuff=hassle) AND 1 to open the back door and INSIDE front door (which is inside the foyer). The gate was super tricky it seemed to finagle the key but I was doing well with it. So the first morning alone, we drop James at work and I go to the grocery store with Hadley. We come back, I leave her in the car while I go unlock the gate.... well my key is really stuck and I kept turning it because I know it works! well it definitely broke off in my hand and in the lock..... that was a first for me. It was really cold that morning but come onnnnnnnnn.
I decided since I had the key to the front door that I would just walk around the front and get in that way then deal with it... I didn't realize which keys opened what until I actually tried them all... I took Hadley plus my two PAPER grocery bags around the block to the front (up the stairs) to go in.... problem 1 my bags were breaking.... problem 2 the one remaining key I had does NOT open the darn front door....... UGH so back down the stairs with my stuff... hadley wouldn't come down so I had to go back up for her then basically drag her with my broken bags back around the block to the car. We ended up calling the owner and just going to play at a chickfila while we waited. He WD40ed it and gave us a new key and it wasn't a problem from that time on but what a HASSLE!

3. We had to drop James at work every day and pick him up. Leaving at 7 am (luckily hadley was up each time) isn't fun. It was about a 12 minute drive one way, just not fun to do.
We also really did have a great time hanging with our friends from MS that just moved down there too to do the same thing James is but they LIVE there (for now).

4. James concluded and I agreed at lunch one day down there that we needed to live down in Savannah so James could be available for any trip that comes up.... Which made sense to me so I agreed. I also know/knew that if he is working that means he's away (since he flies a cargo plane). He has also expressed serious interest in deploying for 2 months (which again means he's gone) so those were just the facts. I would probably end up back up in the northern ATL area visiting my fam when he's gone anyway and so then on the drive back to my sisters..... we decided we would plant our roots.... wait for it..... drum roll please.........



in the northern ATL area with my fam! Since James is still pursuing an airline job (to hopefully be based out of ATL) and since I have family here and living where his family is isn't feasible given it's not where either of his jobs could be..... we figured this would work out nicely. He would just have to commute down there a couple times a month to Savannah to use his days and hopes to plan them in conjunction with any trips! SOOO as of this moment, that's our decision :) by the time this posts.... it could be different.

Many of you have been keeping up with our plans so I thought I'd keep you informed. We will be heading to Little Rock next month until May to get James all re-trained up for his SAV job. James has major issues with renting houses because he thinks "it's a waste of money" blah blah so we've decided  that we are going to pursue buying a house. Although it's really too early to be buying now, it hasn't stopped us me from looking. I figure if a short sale comes up then we would need the extra time or if we maybe decided to build (like we almost just decided that haha). Also since we won't be in the area right when we need to finish buying, I want to see some houses in the areas we like now so that I can get a good feel.

Hadley reuniting with her cousins