Mother/Daughter Birthday Weekend

You know you are getting old when your daughter plans and pays for the Mother/Daughter weekends. There have been many weekends over the years that started simply as a trip to NYC. Occasional low airfare deals sent us as far as San Antonio, TX and Edinburgh, Scotland.

This trip was special, Stacey's treat for my 60th birthday.

Keeping in tradition, Stacey scoured the Internet for a low fare deal and we flew off to Charlotte, NC (Jet Blue). Rented a car and drove to Savannah.

While New England was bracing for it's first blast of cold air we arrived in Savannah Georgia and 72 degrees. The next few days were in the 50's but far better than back home.

Spent 2 nice days exploring Savannah and near by Tybee Island.

Low tide at the Tybee Pier and a walk on the beach.

Bonaventure Cemetery was developed on the historically-significant site of Bonaventure
Plantation. The peaceful setting rests on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington
River, east of Savannah. The old tree-lined roadway and the unique cemetery
sculpture and architecture supplied plenty of photo opportunities.

Stacey and Diane enjoy walking down many of the streets in Savannah and through various Squares. Savannah's downtown area, which includes the Savannah Historic District, the Savannah Victorian Historic District and 22 parklike squares, is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States. "The Salt Table" was a great little shop with more different flavors of salts and teas than I could ever imagaine and samples of everything were available. We relaxed along the Savannah River drinking Savannah Tea and people watching. At the end of the day, our hotel had warm chocolate chip cookies waiting for us.

After two days we headed north to Charleston, South Carolina with a stop at www.magnoliaplantation.com . Magnolia Plantation was founded in 1676 by the Drayton Family and is home to the oldest public gardens in America.

January is probably not the best time for the gardens but it was a nice day to explore the property, walking the long boardwalk through the swamp and visiting the ponies and donkeys.

Our Mother/Daughter team spent our last day and a half on the streets of Charleston, SC. Imagine, a parking garage , $2.00 for the day!

The architecture in Charleston is a little different from neighboring Savannah. We enjoyed the large plantation homes and court yards, the many different colors used on the buildings and the Old Market Place. We even took a horse and buggy tour of one of the many historic areas and learned a lot of the history of Charleston. There were many places that marked the high water mark of Hurricane Hugo, amazing!

Charleston is very dog friendly an allows dogs off leash at the large Battery Park along the water. Stacey and I agreed that both Savannah and Charleston need further exploring. Four days just wasn't enough to see all there is but anything more just wouldn't have been a weekend, and a great Mother/Daughter weekend it was.

Thanks Stacey :)