Kitch-Iti-Kipi Springs

We rode across this small pool of crystal clear green spring water. You can straight down to the bottom, clear as day, even though it is 45 feet deep.

A Blustery Day

We climbed down.... probably 3.6 trillion steps from the top of a bluff to makr out onto a pretty stretch of Lake Michigan beach after a storm. It was very windy!

Hogwarts

Harry Potter hallway.

Giant's Bike

Josh could not figure out how to crawl aboard :-P

100 Miles

Exactly 100 miles into our trip. Josh chose to make a scared face for some reason. It is VERY foggy. A dude just ran across the freeway in front of us. Crazy.

Josh's Ring

Last night and today it was pretty stormy, rainy, and gloomy in Savannah.  This morning we got up and drove over the border to Bluffton, South Carolina.  We didn't have a well-defined plan, but we somehow ended up at a dead end street that had a big long pier down to the ocean.  We walked down there and saw some dolphins, but I was not able to get a picture.  After that, we went to lunch at a place called The Cottage.  I will have to throw up a picture of our lunch later, but to put it simply, it was delicious!  Josh had a French Dip  and I had a Monte Cristo; both were huge and made perfectly.  They also served juicy, fresh pineapple and some homemade veggie chips.  It's too bad the sandwiches were so filling; they also had a wide array of insanely tempting fresh bakery goods, including a chocolate bundt cake with cream cheese and coconut filling.  All through lunch, Josh was pretty giggly.  He was very pleased with himself for snagging one of my rings and wearing it around.  A trio of old ladies at the table next to of us did a few double takes, much to his amusement :)  After lunch, we went out to Hilton Head Island.  We didn't do anything in particular there, just explored the area.  It looked very nice.  This evening we enjoyed some nacho bar at hotel snack time and then got a caramel apple after many failed attempts to find ice cream :)  We'll be packing up and heading out tomorrow, most likely to Tennessee!

Not the Target Demographic

We quickly learned upon arrival that we are the youngest folk in Savannah by about 4 decades at a minimum.  In the mornings for breakfast they're all down there, amped up for the day, lining up for their tour buses, and arguing about saved seats for their pals (no lie).  In the evenings from 5:30-7:30PM there are drinks and appetizers served in the lobby.  Since this is pretty late for the elderlies, it's more like a post-dinner, bedtime snack for them.  They get all queued up at about 5:15 like a bunch of starved vultures and the moment the food is out, they are ON TOP OF IT.  Yesterday was boiled hot dog night.  Josh enjoyed that; I did not partake.  Tuesday night was egg rolls.  We can't wait to battle the blue hairs to see what delectable treats there will be tonight :P

Mabel Francis Potter's Cupcake Emporium

We ate a late lunch at Mellow Mushroom, which was very tasty.  The service was also very... mellow.  Then, in an effort to give the ol' ice cream a break, we sought out some cupcakes a couple of blocks away.   

Considering I usually don't like cupcakes that much, this one was amaaaaaaaaaaazing.  Soft, barely sweet buttercream frosting floating on an extremely moist little cake.  Yummy, yummy, yummy and extra awesome because it wasn't absurdly huge like they often are.  We sat in the park to eat it, which was nice but not as cool as DC since apparently Savannah has not discovered how to employ fountains in their squares.  Water always makes everything cooler.

Canon Ball!

We visited Fort Pulaski.  It is a very cool, well-preserved Civil War fort complete with tons of canons, underground passageways, and a MOAT.  In the moat, we saw a bunch of jumping fish.  Unfortunately, the fish were not willing to pose for photos.

There were also tons of warnings for alligators, but we did not see any.  Josh's contingency plan for a potential alligator attack was to knock me out, shove me down, and run away as fast as he could while the alligator investigated my body.

Tybee Island Lighthouse

That little speck down there is me.  The big, tall thing is the Tybee Island Lighthouse.  We didn't go inside because it didn't seem that cool and you had to pay for entrance.  Pictures outside were free :P  As you can tell, it's rather dark and cloudy with some spotty rain today.  However, this did not stop Josh from developing some more new and interesting sunburns :)

Ice Cream Queen

Down on River Street, there is lots of ice cream... which is lots of good for me :)  This particular cone was a mixture of mint chocolate chip and vanilla cookie.  Photo enhanced with plenty of Emily character with the helpful addition of a monster ice cream cone hanging, an ice cream poster and several articles of tie dye.  Perfect!

Rollin'

It's 88 and sunny and we're well on our way to the Georgia coast :)  Josh is already sunburned :P

Shoesies

Somehow I didn't take any pictures today... so tonight I snapped a photo of our matching tennis shoes because what's a blog post without a photo, right?  

This morning we got some sandwiches for lunch and then went out to Arlington National Cemetery (we rode the subway again... under the Potomac River this time!).  Arlington is very beautiful and is actually located in Virginia, which brings our total count to 8 states so far this trip.  We saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown, which was very interesting.  It was so perfectly and precisely choreographed and quite poignant.  After Arlington, we went back to Washington, DC and walked to the White House.  The whole thing was sort of lackluster... a small group of people protesting out front and the back was all closed down in preparation for some sort of event so we really could not see much.

After the White House, we walked a couple of miles to a very quaint, upscale shopping area near Georgetown University.  The main purpose was to visit DC's Anthropologie since my birthday month discount is nearly expired and because Josh had given me a gift card.  The Anthropologie here is VERY cute (the exterior is a little blue house) and much larger than either of the Wisconsin ones.  Nothing there for me today, but it was awesome to see.  The whole street was lined with many neat stores and restaurants, including a little place called "Sprinkles", which was decorated in pink and sold gourmet cupcakes.  They looked delicious, but it was packed and not really cupcake weather.  Instead, we stopped and got an Orangina to drink... one of my favorites and Josh's first time trying it.  It was a good treat :)

After a little nap, we headed out for dinner.  We ordered some yummy flatbread pizza at Cosi and ate it outside on their sidewalk patio.  It was nice to enjoy dinner and do some people watching.  Our hotel is in a very charming but intriguing neighborhood.  There are certainly a lot of homosexual couples, vegan/vegetarian types of folk, and other interesting people (comparable to Madison).  We stopped at Larry's for some more ice cream.  Tonight I had Creme de Menthe and Josh had Rocky Road.  Larry was as charming as always and his ice cream was incredibly delicious again.  I wish we could take Larry with us.  We ate our ice cream in the little park again.  While we were sitting there, two guys who were most likely dating put on quite a spectacle for everyone, ultimately ending with one of them actually in the fountain and shouting that his boyfriend was a "flaming hooker" while a group of elderly men cheered them on.  Cheap entertainment :)

We have enjoyed all the nice cars here in Washington, DC.  There have been some very pretty Audis and BMWs, plenty to please both of us :)  There's some severe weather running through the area and we are packing up to head out in the morning.  The weather forecast for Savannah is promising us plenty of hot and humid.

Ice Cream in the Park!

Ice cream cone from Larry's! Mine was Ecstasy on the bottom (dark chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks and ribbons of chocolate ganache) and cinnamon oatmeal chocolate chip on the top (cinnamon ice cream with oatmeal cookie bits and chocolate chip chunks). DELICIOUS! Josh had mud pie which was coffee flavored ice cream with graham cracker pieces and fudge chunks. Larry himself helped us and he joyfully (and very loudly) referred to Josh as "you sexy beast"! 


The weather tonight was PERFECT.  About seventy degrees, light breeze, no bugs...  Perfect for a stroll around our little adopted neighborhood and some people watching in the park :D

The Afternoon Snack is Serious Business

"Me grumpy.  Me need food."  *grunt grunt*

Washington Monument

Here we are standing on the National Mall in the foreground of the Washington Monument.  We weren't able to go inside but it did look very beautiful.

First Subway Trip!

Today was the first ever subway ride for both Josh and I.  It went pretty well and I think we may even be ready soon to move up to the next level... switching trains! :O

Chickadee Tragedy

Cleverly and intelligently, I elected to let loose an entire box of cheddar chickadees into my purse.  The chickadees begged to stay in their soft new roost, but I herded them to the trash.  In their anger, they left behind some droppings in my bag.  I guess that's what no sleep and dragging all your luggage in through the rain at 12AM after a day of sleeping will do to you :P

Enthusiasm for Autos at Enthusiast Autos!

There was a slight break in the rain, so we took a southern detour to a place called Enthusiast Autos in Cincinnati. They specialize in BMWs, including some pretty rare models, and the focus of our attention...? A whole row of highly sought-after, much drooled-over E46 M3s. They had silver, red, carbon black, white, grey, and blue ones. We drove three, but in the end nothing really compares to The Sheep (lost turbo and all) :P

We stopped for dinner at the western most Culvers (homesick or something?) in America and now we're headed east again.

Music... some random and generic, mid-Ohio country station.
Latest feeding... vanilla custard with Reester bunny turd toppings for Em, fish fry for Josh.

And We're Off!

Josh forgot a spoon... he improvised with the foil lid for the consumption of some girlie applause concoction and his yogurt. Now he's reporting cut lips... maybe some bandaids over the mouth are in order? ;)

So far...

-We saw a billboard for DIPPED ICE CREAM CONES AT MCDONALD'S! Ohhh my goodness. It's all that's been on my frozen-dairy-adled brain for hours. We just stopped at a different McDs and all they had was huge lines and no sign of my dipped cone :'-( The hunt is on!

-My check engine light came on... right after Josh had finished making fun of my poor, sweet car. One Auto Zone stop later and we have an underboost code. Apparently the little turbo couldn't handle the pressure of my lead foot and go-kart like driving habits. Oh well, Josh seems to think the solution is very manageable and we can continue on our merry way... just might not have enough oomph to get up and pass a Prius (Happy Earth Day) ;)

We're going around Indianapolis at the moment... on our way to admire some cars :P

Music... Adele's new album 21.  Highly recommend!
Latest snack... String cheese (String Jesus?  Glee, anyone?) for Josh, Oh my darlin'... 2 clementines for Em.

Jem's Eastern Extravaganza

At some ungodly hour (4AM?) on Friday morning, Josh and I will be leaving the fickle and climactically-challenged confines of Southeastern Wisconsin in search of adventure, history, ghosts, warmth, THE BEACH (as in... the ocean, not Bradford Beach and stinky Lake Michigan), and maybe a new car or two.  Like in the past, follow along with us as we meander out to our nation's crime-riddled capital, down the east coast to haunted historic Savannah, and eventually through the Appalachians back to Wisconsin.  I will provide photos and commentary when possible... considering we should have infinitely much more phone signal than driving through the tumbleweeds of Wyoming, this should be no problem.  T-minus three days of work until blastoff :)