About that walking tour...

Jepson Centre

Today we slept in a little, again.  To be fair - we haven't been "sleeping in" per se: we're getting up at 7 or 8am Pacific Time - it just happens to be 10 or 11am EST.  I'm kind of okay with it since it will make the transition easier when we get home.  And I must say this has been the most restful vacation I have ever taken in the last 15 years.
Our past US travels have taken us to NYC, Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, San Francisco, Chicago and Portland.  Charleston and Savannah are the smallest cities we've ever been to.  Even Portland (which to us was "homey", is upwards of 500,000 people).  There are 140k people in Savannah.  No wonder people are smiling and saying hi to us when we pass the on the street.  For some reason I just assumed Charleston and Savannah would be much bigger, so this has been an interesting trip in that regard.
On our way to our walking tour this morning we ducked through Forsyth Park and saw a bunch of people setting up for a race.  We made a note to check in on the way back to see what kind of race it was and see if we could sign up for it.

Jepson Centre

Anyways, we made it to Reynolds Square for our 1pm tour, but no tour guide showed.  We talked to another tour guide who said it happened fairly often (getting ripped off) and it put a damper in our day as we were out a few bucks, plus we had kind of planned our schedule today around that event.  Trying to make the best of it, we ended up going to the Jepson Centre where there was an Andy Warhol exhibit, and also an exhibition of Winston Churchills' paintings, and then we went to the Telfair Academy to see some classical art housed in a"former mansion built from 1818-1819 for Alexander Telfair, son of Revolutionary War patriot and Georgia governor Edward Telfair".
On our way back home we re-crossed Forsyth Park and learned that they were setting for a 5k which was slated to go off at 9am tomorrow.  We asked if we could register for the race the day of and then said yes.  Unfortunately we were both missing some significant running gear, so we headed over to the Krogers grocery store in the hopes they might have a small selection.  On our way there we noticed a dollar store across the street where I was able to actually get running shorts, a white shirt and two sports bras for like $20.  Not even kidding.  We were super-stoked for the race as it seemed that it had been dropped in our lap with the ease of getting ready for it.
Unfortunately (fortunately?) we got a call when we were back home from the tour company saying they were sorry for the mix up this afternoon (longer story), but that we could join the tour at 10am tomorrow morning.  This means we have to miss the race in the AM since we can't manage both.  On the positive side, I wore my new, white, $5 shirt to dinner and Michael says it's quite nice.

My meal at Sweet Potatoes.

Afterwards, we headed to Sweet Potatoes Kitchen for dinner.  Michael had the blackened catfish, tomatoes and okra, and sweet potato fries.  I opted for the vegetarian plate again and chose lemon collard greens, brussel sprouts, green beans with garlic and bacon (I know, I know), and the sweet potato mash.  Both our meals came with a delectable biscuit.

Overall our meal wasn't as great as it was at Hominy.  Michael said his catfish was excellent, but the other sides were average.  I really enjoyed the green beans: the garlic and bacon gave them a nice spicy, smoky flavour.  The brussel sprouts were very tasty - I think  maybe they were boiled and then grilled with a light herb dusting.

But while the meal wasn't as great as our last Southern dinner, the service made up for it.  Where I thought our waitress at Hominy was a bit uptight?  Our server tonight was kind, funny, attentive and a consummate professional.  I had asked for a glass of Chardonnay but was brought a White Zinfandel.  I think the last time I had a glass of White Zin was when I was 20.  It's a neat drink when you have never had wine before and really have no taste whatsoever.  Somehow she knew that the hostess had got my order wrong and recognized that I was being polite, so she said "what did you order?" and I replied "Chardonnay" and she said "you know this isn't a Chardonnay, right?" and I said "yes", so I think she got that I didn't want to make a fuss so she said "finish this and I'll bring you your Chardonnay".  It was pretty funny.  

Oh, another funny bit was when Michael and I were discussing what to eat and he was debating the catfish, and this little 8 year old sitting at the table next to us with his dad chirped up "I'm having the catfish and it's really good!".  His dad looked at him, slightly incredulous and worried that we might be offended but we all had a good laugh.  Cute kid.

So, that wraps up a rather weird day.  Got some running gear for no reason, but we're on for the tour tomorrow (knock on wood).  Then on Sunday we're off to Nashville!