Page 6 of 6
Savannah, Georgia
Uptown, downtown, a thousand miles between us
We’re starting this page of the slideshow in Savannah with my mom, catching up on her Christmas present, one in which I promised to take her to a restaurant here that is owned and operated by Paula Deen, her favorite Food Network TV chef. The restaurant (called The Lady and Sons) is a behemoth, three stories of full tables with a two story Paula Deen store packed with people. Inside the food was actually quite good, especially the pretty cheesy cheese biscuits, the very gooey gooey butter cake and the insanely sweet sweet tea. Plus my mom really enjoyed it, which (of course) is the reason I'm here in Georgia in the first place.
On this actual weekend trip, I took my mom to Tybee Island (not pictured), had Lunch at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, a restaurant owned by Paula Deen's brother (not pictured), walked around downtown (not pictured) and took a took a boat tour on the creatively named Savannah River (actually pictured below).
After all those cheesy cheese biscuits, very gooey gooey butter cake and insanely sweet sweet tea, we’re done with Savannah and will be finishing off the last page of the first half of this slideshow in San Francisco or, in this case, Oakland. There is probably more than one reason to go to Oakland, although honestly I haven’t one better yet than visiting The Cathedral of Christ the Light, the SOM designed cathedral that’s all about wood and, yes, light.
Since we’re in the East Bay already, let’s head out to Berkeley, walk through their beautiful campus, and pay the nominal fee to ascend its Campanile. Once up there, you can see a pretty good view, although honestly the view of the Campanile itself can sometimes be worth the ascent alone.
It’s actually January (this slideshow is semi-intentionally presented out of chronological order) and it has been a brutal cold winter back east, but out in San Francisco it’s a perfect day and it feels great to be outside. We’ll start our San Francisco all outside day by visiting the de Young Museum, designed by Herzog & de Meuron and located in the heart of Golden Gate Park. And even in an all outside day, it’s still worth the time to sneak inside and take the free elevator to the observation deck, one of my favorite places in all of San Francisco.
From the de Young, it’s just about all downhill to the sea, which in this case is the Pacific Ocean. Of all the times I have been to the city, this was my first real glimpse of the open Pacific from within the city limits, not counting the killer view from (or near) the bridge.
I walked a lot on my all outside day, more than I probably should have. Starting at the Civic Center BART Station, I walked past Alamo Square, all the way through Golden Gate Park, past the Cliff House, past Land's End, through the Presidio, halfway and back over the bridge, across Crissy Field, past the Marina, past the Wharf and back to my hotel, the Hilton in the Financial District. I was doing pretty good and just enjoying being outside until I got to the hill going up Fort mason, which reminded me that I probably hadn’t thought through exactly how far I was actually walking. Tracing it later on Google Maps to the best of my recollection put my route at just under twenty miles, which honestly is just too long for a one day walk. Although I did spend all that time outside, something to remember a few days later when I was stuck inside because of the cold, and stuck with sore legs from walking twenty miles outside like an idiot.
You’re halfway there
The 2011 Weekend Trips Slideshow continues with stops at the Mattress Factory, the City Museum, the Hollywood Bowl and we visit with the Iowa Pork Queen despite never stepping foot in Iowa.
