A Little Break

So I ended up taking an unexpected break from blogging during the month of May. At first it was because we went on vacation, then it was my birthday, then I had to grocery shop and feed my family (they're needy like that) and by the time I knew it, it was June and Hayes came home with the stomach bug that wiped out the entire Barnett family and one innocent bystander. 

Awesome.

So let's start with the highs. James and I had an awesome vacation. We threw caution to the wind, dumped the baby with the grandparents, and flew out of town like two teenagers running away from home. To say that we needed this vacation was an understatement. We stayed two nights at The Ford Plantation, which was built in the 1930's by Henry and Clara Ford to be their winter estate.

Our stay at the Ford Plantation far exceeded our expectations. 

View from the front:

 View from the back:

The pool has a black bottom to reflect the moonlight.

The first "activity" I did on vacation was get a massage at the spa, which was located in the former carriage house.

The first activity James did was take our golf cart around the property, which consisted of 1,800 acres along the Ogeechee River. (I think I got the better end of this deal.)

(I have to admit that this is not really our golf cart, but it was ours for the weekend. We don't typically travel with a golf cart in tow.)

We stayed at the main house and were the only people in residence, and since we were the only people there, we treated it like it was our own home. (Well our home if we lived in a multi-million dollar estate...which we don't. So we used coasters.) 

After dinner each night we would retire to the library for a glass of wine and some reading. (Plus it was the only room in the house with a TV.) 

We stayed in Henry Ford's room, which was really cool (or really creepy, depending on how you think about it).

The first morning at the estate we were up early to take a guided kayak tour of the Ogeechee River. (That's how James does vacations...up early and exercise. I'm more of a crack of 9:30, pedicure kind of girl.)  When James signed us up for a guided kayak tour, I assumed that the guide would be paddling the kayak, pointing out interesting wildlife while I sat in the back of the boat. Very similar to Driving Miss Daisy. Yeah...was I really wrong. I had to paddle my own boat and the funny thing is that James was shocked that I didn't understand what "guided tour" meant. (Hi. Have we met? In what universe did you think I wanted to paddle myself around a river for two hours?) 

I do have to admit that I really did end up having a good time.

We saw a family of bald eagles. They were awesome!

We also saw a ton of alligators, which were fine from a distance but when they were 5 feet between me and a boat made of plastic it was a bit concerning.

Later that afternoon we took a "private river boat cruise", which I can only describe as a deep sea fishing boat with a captain who simply wanted to make a trip to the marina to fill up the boat and get a few beers. James enjoyed talking to him though and we got some good pictures. 

We ended the last night of our stay at The Ford Plantation with an amazingt dinner at the golf club.

The next morning we headed to historic Savannah for the tail end of our vacation. We enjoyed our visit to Savannah, but honestly it paled in comparison to our stay at Henry's house. (Yes...after three days, we were on a first name basis.)

In Savannah we ate some amazing food and took in some great tours, including a $50 hop on/ hop off historical bus tour. (Yes...the history was interesting, but the bus ride through Savannah versus walking was pure gold.) Anyway, on our final "hop on" bus ride, we had a driver who deviated from the historical script and told the exact opposite of everything the other drivers had told us. Since we were pretty much Savannah history buffs (after all, we did purchase a two day bus pass), we knew she was just making stuff up. James finally asked her how long she'd been a tour guide. Her answer was, "Well I've lived in Savannah for 20 years, but I've been working as a tour guide for two weeks." Right! No wonder we were the only two people on the bus!

This is the only picture I have of Savannah. Apparently our camera excitement had waned. I'm pretty sure you're probably grateful at this point, I know I am.

We ended our vacation eating at a great little pizza joint and renting Identity Thief. We had a great time and honestly getting to end a vacation laughing with James over good food was perfection.

While I need to update on Master Hayes, that will have to wait. My family is still recovering from the stomach bug that took down Hayes' entire class plus all the parents. RIP room 104.