BIRTHDAY BOY

 

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This week we went 'splorin' back to Ed's birthplace: Savannah, Georgia. Founded in 1733 as the first city in the English Colony of Georgia, Savannah today is home to one of the largest seaports in the country as well as one of the largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world. Due to conscientious historic preservation, Savannah attracts both a busy tourist economy as well as a thriving film industry. [Click here for Savannah's filmology. The 25 projects from 2022 included Hulu's The Girl from Plainville, Marvel's Wakanda Forever, and Devotion -- which Ed worked on.]

For our three-day visit, we were focused on revisiting a couple of favorite places and celebrating Ed's birthday with family and friends. We started with dinner at a favorite seafood restaurant, OD Seafood, thanks to a gift card from his brother and sister-in-law, who couldn't be with us in person. Stuffed full of crab legs and low country boil (shrimp, corn on the cob, sausage, and potatoes), we headed to downtown Savannah to splore around the Plant Riverside District. Plant Riverside is a shopping and entertainment area centered around a revitalized power plant. The district extends westward from Savannah's famous and historic River Street. This means that this popular area now stretches across the entire width of downtown Savannah. If you can't find something to enjoy here, you can't find any fun anywhere!

Inside the old power plant, shops, and restaurants are neighbors with an extensive collection of fossils, geodes, and art, all free for public viewing. Outside is a large bust and tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., which fits nicely with the city's annual celebration of the Civil Rights leader's birthday every January. The shops in Plant Riverside include art galleries, clothiers, souvenirs, jewelry, and more. You can find some traditionally Savannah stores like J. Parkers Ltd. and Byrd's Cookie Company. Other shops include world famous names like Swarovski.

The complex includes a beautiful J.W. Marriott hotel with a gorgeous ballroom, where Cheryl has attended several events, including one just a week earlier. The first floor also has a music performance hall with a foyer dedicated to "That Great Gretsch Sound" and featuring an amazing Chihuly chandelier. Gretsch is famous for providing drums, guitars, and other instruments to school bands as well as some of the world's top musicians from Bo Diddley to John Lennon to Dave Grohl. This little museum and concert hall are part of a partnership between Gretsch, Plant Riverside, and Georgia Southern University, home of the Gretsch School of Music.

Tucked in among all of this is a wide variety of pubs, lounges, skytop bars, and other restaurants. We've previously enjoyed amazing tacos and gelato. We were too full to sample any of the southern barbecue, steaks, burgers, or seafood, but we couldn't pass up some yummy treats at District Gelato. Outside of the shop is a row of funhouse mirrors where you can entertain yourself while eating your gelato.

The district also has several gathering spots for outdoor concerts and play areas for children, including a sandbox and a couple of fountains to walk through -- really refreshing on hot Georgia days and nights. It was an unusually chilly April evening, so we try to stay dry. (We even managed to leave just before it started raining.)

All of this is lined up along the Savannah River at a point between that big seaport and the open ocean. Water taxis further up River Street can take you to hotels and conference center across the river. The Georgia Queen, a paddle wheel floating restaurant and dance club, also docks further down the street. Tug boats and pilot boats dart up and down the channel. From Plant Riverside, you can say the bridge to South Carolina that had to be rebuilt to be much higher so that larger and larger cargo ships can continue reach the port with its dozens and dozens of giant cranes. It is not unusual to stand here and watch a ship with its hundreds of containers fill the entire skyline as it floats unbelievably close to you.

After our big night out, we slept in on Saturday but awoke in time to join a party of family and friend's at Miyabi, a Japanese steakhouse. A small chain in the south, Miyabi has become a birthday tradition in Ed's family. Since Ed enjoys being the center of attention, he likes the fact that the chef cooks in front of you and entertains you. He's also a fan of the super large portions that leave you leftovers for several more meals. Of course, the best part of celebrating Ed's birthday is when they bring out the drums and make him dance. You can only understand what a joy this is to behold if you know what a terrible, but joyful dancer he is! This year, he broke out his rendition of the robot!!

Cheryl's mom brought along a huge coconut cake to celebrate. The restaurant, however, doesn't allow cakes on the weekend due to the sheet number of birthdays being celebrated. (The birthday song-and-dance routine was taking place at some table somewhere in the dining rooms almost the entire duration of our meal!) So, with a bit of creative ingenuity, we had a birthday tailgate! Cheryl's sister's SUV provided the party table, while Ed's sister furnished one plastic knife and a stack of red cups she happened to have in her car. This brought a whole new meaning to the idea of a cupcake! Afterward, most of the celebrants joined us for a screening of the fabulously fun flick, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. All in all, Ed had a truly joy-filled birthday weekend. 

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THANKS FOR SPLORIN' WITH US!

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