Wednesday, February 16, 2011

My Sweetie and Some Savannah Sites...

This past Saturday was my Handsome Hubby and my 29th Anniversary...

So...my Sweetie "surprised" me with several sweet surprises...

 I found this set up the night before, after I got home late from work.

In the morning I woke up and took another picture of it, before he woke up and I made breakfast...
Beautiful bouquet of roses, a perfect card, and yummy Lindor truffles chocolate.

After breakfast, we drove to downtown Savannah...and parked and walked past some gorgeous homes like this one...
This was the Armstrong family home...
& later the home of Armstrong Junior College, it was also known as being the antiques showcase for Jim Williams, of which the book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" tells the non-fiction story of how Jim Williams was aquitted for the murder of Jonny Hansford.

The walkway towards the Forsythe Fountain...
I love how the tree limbs with Spanish moss arch overhead.

 (Close up view of the fountain)


 Next, we walked around Monterey Square...

The city of Savannah, Georgia, United States, was laid out in 1733 around four open squares. The plan anticipated growth of the city and thus expansion of the grid; additional squares were added during the 18th and 19th centuries, and by 1851 there were twenty-four squares in the city. In the 20th century three of the squares were demolished or altered beyond recognition, leaving twenty-one. In 2010, one of the three "lost" squares, Ellis, was reclaimed. (info source: Wikipedia)


Most of Savannah's squares are named in honor or in memory of a person, persons or historical event, and many contain monuments, markers, memorials, statues, plaques, and other tributes. The first squares were originally intended to provide colonists space for military exercises.

Monterey Square is the site of Mercer House. The house, and the square itself, were featured prominently in John Berendt's 1994 true crime novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The square has been used as a setting for several motion pictures, including the 1997 film version of Berendt's novel.


Monterey Square (laid out in 1847) is widely considered to be the most picturesque of Savannah's squares. All of the surrounding buildings but one (the United Way Building) are original to the square.



The square also is home to Congregation Mickve Israel, which boasts the only Gothic-style synagogue in America, dating from 1878. 
(I would love to take some other weekend walks around the other squares and take photos of the many beautiful church buildings.

Since my husband is of Portuguese/Spanish/Irish/French descent, I found it interesting that those who were original members were of Spanish-Portuguese descent.

Here are some of the beautiful row houses around Monterey Square.

Next, we went to see more sites down by River Street...
The Riverboat ready to roll...& see the original cobblestone road?
My hubby and I were guests for our son's (Heartbreaker) Riverboat dinner cruise when he was recognized for Academic Honors in High School several years ago. It was so much fun.


Oh! This operating trolley rides the rails...


 ...in front of the many gift boutiques and eateries.


This statue is a tribute to Florence Martus (1869-1943), a Savannah resident who used to live along the river and waved at the ships as they sailed by.




 On to Broughton Street, a few streets from River Street...


with more super skies and beautiful old architecture...


This is the old KRESS department store (now the home of several shops).
Dave's mom worked in the Hilo, Hawaii location Kress store when she was young.


 This is the Marshall House on the day that we walked along Broughton Street.
(In 1999, $12 million dollar restoration returned the building to its original purpose. The inside is gorgeous and my photo doesn't do it justice. If you would like, you can see the Marshal House photo gallery.)

The Marshall House was the first Savannah Hotel built in 1851.
Go to this link: Marshall House - for more on its history.

This is a photo of it back after the iron veranda was added in 1857.
(photo credit: Marshall House.com)

 My Sweetie and I stop at the Melting Pot on Broughton Street. He had a "surprise 3:30 dessert reservation"...
When we lived near Nashville, I had always wanted to go to the Melting Pot, but we never did make it.
He had 3 roses(to represent each of our children) on the table waiting. And the owners (3 brothers-we met the oldest brother who was very nice and the middle brother-a talented artist whose art graces their establishment) and the very friendly staff had an anniversary card for us.
It was yummy! We look forward to coming back.


 Later that evening, we went to one of the malls...and decided on dinner at Macaroni Grill.

Oh! In the mail, yesterday, was an anniversary card from our younger daughter Girly~Whirly...and in it was a gift card to the Melting Pot! Hm...can't wait to go back...

**********

Joining Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday meme
for this week's "S" post!

Also... I found and am excited to join with Sew It's Finished, a blog of quilters with UFOs (unfinished  object) committed to getting them completed.  I know that I will be inspired, motivated and learn from these talented quilters. I have said before: I am a novice quilter (but also realized, that with all my UFOs),  oh dear! I should be considered a "professional UFOer"! (I really, really want to get some of these done, for our future grandbabies :o)

I hope to get that tutorial of the cathedral quilt up in a couple of weeks.  Please excuse me if my terminology may not be quite right, but I will have some photos to help show what I hope will be an easy explanation. My dear friend showed me how and if I can do it, any one can :o)
**********

Here are a couple of past orders:

Michelle ordered this one for her little one's 1st bday...Happy Birthday!
"...can you do characters like Mickey? Baby Geo's room is all Mickey Mouse sports, I was thinking of taking a pic of the baseball one..."


This one was an order from Lauri for her brother who has collected Donald Duck memorabilia for years.
"...I'm a good friend of Kristen's.... she gave me some work of yours for our first daughter "Addison"...its just gorgeous! Thank you so much for your hard work.
I have a twin brother that LOVES! Donald Duck..."

This is the Donald Duck in Black and White, before I added the color that she requested.


 I had to take a photo of it after the color was added, since our scanner does not scan in color. And my camera photo kept reflecting the light off of the color, so the colors here are not as vibrant as they are in actuality.


Please check out my facebook art page and become a "fan".
Thank you always for your visit and comments! I will be sure to return your visits. 


Signature for blog

37 comments:

Yvette said...

hi there, visiting you from alphabe-thursday. What a sweet post! Your city looks so romantic and fun to explore. And I found the part about Kress Store especially interesting, I believe we also used to have a Kress Store on the island of Kauai at Kress Street. Small world. And plenty of S-words to go around.

Nina in Portugal said...

Happy 29th Anniversary sweet Maria! You have a lovely marriage (with a very thoughtful man)and 3 beautiful children.

You are blessed!

Isn't Savannah Gorgeous?! I love all the pictures you posted.....

Hope you are well.....

Prayers from Portugal,
Nina

Donnie said...

Happy Anniversary and it looks like you two had a wonderful day together. So Sweet.

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

Congrats on the anniversary.....hope you have many more.....

Mary said...

Happy Anniversary! I love Savannah! We were there this summer & SWELTERED in the heat & humidity, but I love walking the squares & looking at the wrought iron & architecture. Glad you made it to the Melting Pot :-)

Cheryl said...

Great S post fill with such gorgeous sights.(I'm loving that statue and its inscription.) Your V-Day sounds like the perfect day.

Happy Anniversary and happy quilt finishing. If you find a site for unfinished photo projects, give me a shout.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Happy anniversary, Maria! I enjoyed the tour of Savannah ..it is such a beautiful city!

PS I also love Lindor truffles
:)

Anonymous said...

Happy Belated Anniversary!!!! what a great time :-)

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

What a great anniversary! Your sweetie is certainly sweet on you to treat you so well....

Here's to 50 more years together...

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

BTW, Savannah is absolutely gorgeous..I'll have to visit sometime..

Unknown said...

Your stroll through Savannah was wonderful. I loved hearing about everything you saw.

Judie said...

I always loved to wander through Savannah! What a great atmosphere! Is the Pirate's House still around? I always loved to eat there years ago.

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary to both of you. It looks like you had a nice one. I really enjoyed your photos of Savannah.
I can remember still shopping on Broughton Street many, many years ago--before the Oglethorpe mall was built!

Maria said...

Happy Anniversary.

Thank you for the lovely walk through Savannah. What a beautiful place.

You hae a very thoughtful husband. looks like you had a great time together.

myletterstoemily said...

happy anniversary to a beautiful couple!
may you have many more!!

Anonymous said...

You certainly make Savannah look beautiful!

Teresa

Vicki/Jake said...

Glad I stopped by so I can say Happy Anniversary to the cutest couple I've ever seen! And thanks for the tour. That's what I want to do when I grow up...travel:)
Keep having fun and share it with us.

Su-sieee! Mac said...

Happy Anniversary to you! What a wonderful way to spend your day together. Thanks for sharing the photos. Now, you've got me wanting to to go see Savannah. :-)

Unknown said...

Happy Anniversary to you and your husband! Looks like you guys had an amazing anniversary celebration :) Your husband is so sweet to setup all those little surprises for you. Also, Savannah is such an incredible place! Very beautiful! Glad that you had a great anniversary :)

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

Wow..Savannah must be so beautiful to visit. From your photos, I love it already!

Michelle A'etonu said...

i love savannah, although it's been years since i've been there! what a nice day you guys spent together and your hubby is such a sweetheart!

i LOVE the melting pot :)

Pat said...

Wishing you a Happy Anniversary! And I so enjoyed visiting Savannah again through your photos. It looks a lot warmer there!

Have fun with the UFO group...that is often just the inspiration we need. If you find out how to have more hours in the day, let me know!

xinex said...

Happy Anniversary to you and your sweet hunk, Maria! What a wonderful and relaxing day you had! I love the Melting Pot too, the desserts are truly yummy. I have never been to Savannah but I have always wanted to visit. Thanks for sharing the photos. Now, I really want to go see it...Christine

Jenny said...

Happy Anniversary! You look so young I would be more likely to believe it is your second anniversary!

Your husband sounds wonderfully romantic.

I'm glad you had this sweet time to share and so glad you shared with us on this super little stop on our journey through Alphabe-Thursday's letter "S".

And look at you girl! Number 14 on the Linky this week!

Woo hoo!

I loved my visit today. Thanks for letting me tag along.

A+

Unknown said...

Thank You Maria for sharing your wonderful day,and for the tour of Savannah!! Here in Chicago, as luck would have it Saturday night our Cable tv had the movie "Midnight in the Garden of good and evil", lol. Talk about a coincidence! Looking forward to your blog next week, and the upcoming tutorial. You are very blessed ~ Kate

Amy said...

Happy Anniversaty to you! You and your hubby look too young to be on the 29th wedding anniversary! I'm new to your blog and amazed by your sketches! They are so detailed and beautiful! You're a true artist! Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving comments. Have a wonderful weekend and happy blogging.

Amy
http://utry.it

Veronica Lee said...

Happy Anniversary, Maria! You two make a beautiful couple.

Love the tour of Savannah. Beautiful!

Pondside said...

It looks like you had a wonderful 29th anniversary!
Thank you for the tour of Savannah - I haven't been there for many years, and it was lovely to recall a very happy holiday there.

nothing profound said...

What a lovely tour of Savannah! Enchanting squares and beautiful architecture. I've passed through several times, and even spent a few days there, but barely touched the surface of its beauty and grandeur.

Pearl said...

Happy 29th anniversary! I love the photos you posted. What a great way to celebrate an anniv.
God bless you both.

Tanya said...

What a great date! Savannah is so beautiful! Unfortunately, the only one time we got to go (while the husband was underway, no less) it ended up raining...TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR on us. We got in a couple hours of touring in. Definitely want to go back someday. I'm glad your Valentines was so great. Kudos to your hubby for making his gorgeous wife feel so special!

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

You've convinced me to finally get to planning that Savannah getaway I've been daydreaming about!

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

Forget to tell you Happy Anniversary, and many more to come!

The Cutest Blog on the Block said...

Hi Maria! Thanks so much for your nice comments on our blog!! I love your blog, you sound like an amazing person! We are your newest follower:)
Have a great day!
Becky-TCBOTB

Pearl said...

Maria thanks so much for visiting my blog again! YOU HAVE BEAUTIFUL family!:-) You are all good looking:-) You have a filipino blood right (from your mom?)? Im sure she's also beautiful!

Alely said...

happy 29th anniversary! hubby and i just celebrated our 19th last month! i have to say it again you look amazing for having 3 grown kids...any grandbabies on the way since i havent been by in a while i'm out of the loop.

Grandmabeckyl.blogspot said...

Greetings and Happy 29th Anniversary. We are only 4 years ahead of you! Sounds like you had a very nice day. Love the photos! Thanks for sharing. May God bless you both and may you have many more wonderful years together! Hugs across the miles! :0)

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