stepping off the edge

A quick stop in St. Augustine to partake in the famous Fountain of Youth. Not saying this is a secret of looking good but what the hell, couldn’t hurt! Picked up two bottles of this, one for a friend back home, the lovely Esther who needs no help looking good and one to share with relatives in Knoxville later on the trip. Not unlike taking a handful of supplements daily (Mrs. T organizes this little festival of capsules), I say, why not!

Savannah is charming and, not unlike New Orleans, filled with welcome smiles and southern hospitality. Unlike NOLA, which is very organic and down home with its welcoming, Savannah is a bit more formal, no doubt from the legacy of the old south. Cotillions, plantations, countless statues of Confederate generals (although there is an impressive statue dedicated to the Haitian solders who came over to help win the war), and other dubious hallmarks of the old south are all around.

We stayed next to Forsyth Park, a landmark in this city…

A scene outside of our front door which typifies this place…

We had the pleasure of eating at Husk, a famous restaurant by chef Sean Brock. I feel this was better when he was at the helm but now it is owned by a corporate restaurant group and although the food was excellent, it was a bit staged and had a vibe that I can only describe as odd. That did not distract from the way they remodeled an old Savannah grand home into a three story fine dining establishment. Great hush puppies, but had better in a neighborhood hole in the wall in NOLA!

And then this happens while we were here…

What can I say? About time? Well, as an old Italian I was fine with the usual guy from the hood but whatever. As the guys from Chicago might say when questioned about the choice, “You gotta problem wit dat?” Rather timely, since the movie Conclave just came out. It seems everything is a spectacle these days, including choosing the head of a religious group. Too diminutive of a term for the great and powerful Catholic Church? Perhaps, especially from an alumni of such treats as baptism, first holy communion, and confirmation, not to mention a brush with a career as a cleric. Never could get past that pesky celibacy.

We encounter all sorts of wildlife at charging stations…

The last day in Savannah we also encountered this little item. It quickly inserted itself into one of the Tesla’s ridiculously expensive tires. Inconvenient? Yes. On interstate 75? Dangerous.

Instant blowout with alarms sounding on every screen in the car. Ninety minutes on the side of the road… can you tell how happy I am?

At least Mrs. T was feeling good…

[Editor’s note: not really]

Quick tow to the Tesla dealer who graciously agreed to stay open late to change our tire. Naturally when we got there even more alarms were going off on their monitoring screens for our car. Seems the air suspension was alarming as well. Friday night, no tech available, only a lonely tire changing droid… we are stuck in Savannah for three more days until they opened on Monday. Tesla road service did provide free towing and a free loaner car. Not fun! But there are always remedies…

We made the best of it by spending some time at the Savannah School of Art and Design, who have covered the city with their campus.

Eclectic to say the least.

But there was a down side. The place we had from Airbnb had virtually no windows! A bit cell like. But no worries, it rained the whole time! The host, in grand southern hospitality fashion, gave us the extra nights at half price. They didn’t even want to take money for the toaster I confessed to melting on the stove during one of my cooking frenzies!

Next stops will be a string of visitations. No, not the religious varieties but rather friends and relatives along the way. We seem to have the most fun when it is just the two of us. Now I believe this bodes well for our continued marital bliss but it has a tendency to isolate us by choice. It is not that we do not love spending time with our respective families but it does not compare to our alone time. When I say alone time I am talking about being within arms reach of each other for days on end. It is actually jarring to be separated even for a few hours! I could go on about how this has never been my MO in years past. Is it age? Is it the perfect pairing? The word love is just too pale of a description.

[Editor’s note: heart]

The next entry will entail Knoxville, Tennessee, Marietta, Georgia, and an obscure corner of Georgia called Senoia, which has a strange claim to fame… yes, that is my hook!