Wilderness Adventure

This is unfortunately the only picture I was able to take before my camera battery died because I stupidly left the thing on for the whole car ride down. But yes, this is the view from the Lake House that D, myself, and 14 of my co-workers stayed at for a week at Lake Oconee in Greensboro, GA (aka the Wilderness).

We had a heck of a time relaxing, cooking-out, and playing poker....which I won by pulling out a Full House in the last round of our game....Sweeet! For a work trip, I must say that I rather enjoyed having a domestic, low-key vacation. (For those of you who remember last year's Cancun fiasco and my 2 week near death experience afterward which I termed the "Mexican Flu," you will recall that I never want to see a Mexican Airport ever again.) The house was amazing and we ate the most marvelous food. Between the waffles, filets, and Mitchell's killer Cast-Iron Pot Jambalaya, I'm not sure what was my favorite. Remembering the food makes me almost forget that I missed almost a day and a half of our trip after a horrific spider bite that landed me in the ER in Deliverance Country. Good thing it was a run-of-the-mill spider and not a scary-fancy-spider, otherwise the syringe of Benedryl they gave me might not have been enough. I guess it wouldn't be a trip to the wilderness without someone getting bitten by something....

(One thing I did learn from this experience, however, is that I will never use sleeping pills again! One Benedryl and I'm out like a light for at least 9 hours.)

Rothenbergs on Vacation

“The Gastonian” circa 1868
Darren and I arrived in Savannah yesterday for a 3-day babymoon/anniversary/last vacation we’ll ever take by ourselves trip. We’re trying to soak it all in and unfortunately it’s soaking outside as well. But what we’re lacking in activities our B&B is making up for in charm. The Gastonian was built in 1868 and we’re directly across from the beautiful Forsyth Park in Historic Downtown Savannah. Our room is quaint with a real working fireplace (that may come in handy since it’s only about 55 degrees outside at the moment.) Our room is the “Mary Hillyer” room, named after the wife of the president of the Savannah Gas Company in the 1940’s. From what I can tell she was very involved in the historical preservation movement in downtown Savannah after the war. The once-family-residence has a beautifully restored parlor and kitchen where they serve high tea in the afternoons, cordials in the evening, and family-style breakfast with the other vacationers in the morning.

There are actually two residences that are a part of this bed & breakfast, connected by a wrought iron passageway over a perfectly maintained courtyard. We’ve peeked into all of the opened rooms in each building already, all but one. The Caracalla Suite. Listed as one of the “1000 Places to See Before you Die,” we’re strategizing as to how we will sneak a look inside the first-floor suite before we leave. Any ideas, please let us know.

(We made it! Here's a picture of the bathroom in the suite...a-MA-zing!)

Last night Darren surprised me with a lovely dinner at the famous “Olde Pink House” restaurant. It was superb for both of us, although D agreed that the braised pork shank I ordered was to-die-for. Yum.

Well, we’re about to head out to explore. Toodle-ooo!

The Olde Pink House...too bad the girl who took our picture couldn't work the flash!