Tybee and horses

For our full day, we'd planned on spending most of the day at Fort Pulaski and Tybee Island, since we weren't sure how much history the kids would be into, in Savannah. We got to the fort, and Isabelle got a workbook about the park, where if she completed activities about the park, she'd get a junior ranger certificate, and badge. She had a lot of fun doing that, and I think it made us explore the Fort more thoroughly than we might have otherwise. It was hot, of course, and we also needed to get over to Tybee to eat some lunch before our reservations for a dolphin tour, so we finished as much as we could of the book. We ran into a ranger on the way out who signed her certificate, and took her name and address so they could send her a badge when they get more in.

We ate lunch at Cafe Loco, near the boat dock. Food was ok, but service was seriously slow...it killed time until our tour though.

We went with Captain Mike's dolphin tours and had a great time. There are lots of shrimp boats around Tybee, and dolphins (as well as seagulls and pelicans) follow them, to score an easy meal of the bycatch they dump of the side. So we saw tons of all of those (and got tons of pictures of dorsal fins, and water where a dolphin WAS...along with a few good pictures of actual dolphins!). The girls were getting tired and crabby by the end of the tour though. Our plan had been to go to the beach- but it was SO crowded, and we couldn't find parking (and all they wanted was to go back to the hotel), so after stopping for drinks and ice cream, we drove back to Savannah- the girls slept until we got back, and then were wide awake and eager to play (the big game they played at the hotel was Cheerleeder- Isabelle made up the cheers and then taught them to Rebecca- their team was "Team Dolfin" :) )

After letting them play for a while, we decided to take a walk and do some shopping. We'd talked about doing a carriage tour of Savannah after seeing them while we were walking in the downtown area. We knew they left from City Market so we headed in that direction.

If you're a fan of Paula Deen, you know her restaurant The Lady and Sons is in downtown Savannah. Andrew had already nixed it, not really being a fan of southern style cooking...and I knew it was a bad choice as busy as it is. But I wanted to stop by her store next door, so we headed there first. The line for the restaurant was insane- it was at least 3 or 4 blocks long, on both sides of the street. So I was glad we were only going to the store! After that, we stopped at a couple of other stores- nour-ish, for some neat soaps and bath fizzies, and Savannah Bee Company, where we got to taste test a bunch of yummy honey. They also had a play area shaped like a giant hive, where they kids played while we shopped.

When were were done there, we headed to City Market, where we decided on Cafe at City Market (simple enough, right? :) )for dinner. It was pretty cool- 50's themed in it's decor, and we pointed out lots of celebrity photos (they had lots of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, in particular!) to the girls, while eating pizza- Andrew had salmon with cream cheese and red onion, I had spinich/tomato and feta, and Isabelle had cheese. Rebecca was not hungry and just requested a vanilla shake (great dinner, huh? :) ). After we finished, we bought tickets for our carriage tour, and hung out until it was time. We really enjoyed the tour, and got to see lots of the downtown area (including a debutante party outdoors in one of the squares- how were they not dying in formal wear in that heat?).

After finishing the tour, we made one last stop- at the Savannah Candy Company. Wow! So much yummy stuff- we got to watch salt water taffy and pralines being made (and we got a sample- and of course, bought some- of the pralines). We got a few treats and then started back to the hotel. We had a scary moment though- cars are required to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks. A southbound car stopped for us...but the northbound car nearly plowed right over Isabelle, who had walked a couple of steps ahead!!! (and the really creepy thing- the car that almost hit her was from a ghost-tour company- it was a hearse!!) We made it back to the hotel in one piece though (and skipped the cookies, since we had so much candy!)