When I started to drive from WPB I thought I would spend three nights in inns and hotels but actually only spent two. I was armed with 5 books on tape from the library so I was good to go. My first night I thought was going to be a hotel either in St Augustine,Jacksonville,or Amelia Island area. I wanted to get there and see where it was nicer. I had researched hotels in each of the cities and towns that I thought I would land in before leaving WPB. I left WPB around 10:00am Monday morning and landed in St Augustine for a very late lunch. I thought it was going to be this charming old Floridian town and it has become completely Disneyized. No decent place was still serving lunch and it was too touristy, so Savannah looked ideal for dinner.
I decided to stay in a Hilton hotel in the downtown area as I thought it would be too late to check into a B and B on my list. I have a Hilton card and you do get a few perks with it. Checked in, valet parked the car that I was very happy to leave and changed for dinner. I chose the The Olde Pink House @23 Abercorn Street, Savannah, GA 31401-2713-(912) 232-4286. Eating by myself is not easy but I forced myself. I walked there, about 10 blocks and sat at a table with my ipad. A very good substitute for a dinner partner as every waiter and person at the restaurant came over to see the Ipad and how it worked. The place is perfect Savannah and the food was delicious but more nouvelle than I wanted…I wanted good old fried southern food. I walked back thinking I was taking a parallel route that I came by and got so lost and found myself in an area that did not look like an area a white woman should be alone in. I spotted a police car and asked him where I was and to point me to my hotel and he said he wanted to deliver me safe to my hotel so he took me. Back of the police car for me…no air conditioning, couldn’t open my own door or window but the nicest police man as my chauffeur. Imagine that happening in NYC. I did write about how polite and nice he was to his department the next day.
Savannah is just magical, the squares, the parks and the streets with their abundant trees is so beautiful. The next day I went for breakfast to the famous Gryphon Cafe @337 Bull Street, 314 01 which is beautiful but the service was lousy and the pastries were mundane. Nice to see this beautiful cafe but have breakfast somewhere else. Across the street is the Savannah College of Art and Design which is world-famous and has a beautiful gift shop where they sell one of a kind student projects. It also has a bus tour around historic Savannah but I was on the road again.
I was aiming for Tarboro, NC where I had read about a beautiful preserved old historic town and a fabulous inn. I had read about it in the NYT article about places to stop at when coming and going to Florida from NYC. I probably could have driven further but there were severe storms on the highway that I had to pull off the highway and wait it out a few times. I called ahead to The Main Street Inn and spoke to the charming inn keeper Denise Sanderson and said I was on my way. I arrived about an hour later and there she was sitting on the front porch waiting for me. I had also read about the local gourmet restaurant and she gave me the bad news that it was open only on the weekends and there I was there on Tuesday. She ran into her kitchen and made me dinner along with a stiff vodka and wine too. My room was beautiful as the whole inn is. Even though there were other guests there I never saw or heard any one. I would never not stop at this special inn on my way to Florida. @ 912 North Main Street, Tarboro, NC 27886 T:252 823 3221 http://www.mainstreetinn.biz.
The next morning my goal was Baltimore, Maryland. I had visited many times for business previously but never spent much leisure time. I have read that it is a special city now with lots of gentrification to lots of areas, after “The Wire” they had no choice. But Baltimore is only 3-4 hours from NYC so I pushed myself and drove though. The last day was a solid 12 hour drive and my fare well to “The 95 highway”.
It is amazing to me that there are no tolls on this single highway til you get to Maryland and then NJ is non stop tolls. I have said this before… our American highways are amazing. Clean and so quick to dry after huge down pours and most of the road is 70 miles and hour. Something that still puzzles me is during these huge summer down pours lots of cars sit on the side of the road til they are over but trucks and buses never slow up or park.
Jubilada Fashionista 