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Category: parking
Atlanta–Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Christopher Titus
6/6/2013 – 6/9/2013 Miles MPG Average Speed 1100 46 54 Driving listening:
6/6/2013 – 6/9/2013
Priceline Retail $ Savings % Savings Marriott Atlanta Airport (4-star) $58.61
($48 bid)$94.08
($84 pretax)$35.47 38% The bidding for this trip put me in the Marriott across the street from the Westin I’d stayed at last time. They’re both nice hotels at the right price, but I haven’t been thrilled with the area – it’s pretty empty of anything but a few hotels and warehouses. So next trip I’ll likely spend a bit more for downtown or the areas north of Atlanta.
The point of staying so far out is to avoid the parking charges, but both of these hotels have the same parking rates as downtown hotels. Downtown, if I’m willing to walk a couple blocks, I can put my car at the Emory hospital parking lot across from Shakespeare Tavern for a third of the hotels’ parking rate.
This trip was a little different, because I was in town mostly to see three shows, so I did little during the days – other than one visit to the High Museum, I just relaxed at the hotel, reading and using the gym.
Dining
On the way to Atlanta (and again on the way home), I stopped for lunch at Smok’n Pig BBQ in Valdosta, GA. I’ve seen their billboards on previous trips, but never stopped before – now it’ll probably become my lunch on every trip in or out of Florida on I-75. I was a little worried when I first stopped, because the décor is reminiscent of the Sonny’s BBQ chain, with a large, shiny dining room in a huge building with a salad bar. They do have two locations, Valdosta and Macon, but there’s nothing “chain” about the food.
On both stops I got the sliced pork sandwich combo ($8). The pork was tender and lean, generously piled on a soft bun. I tried three different sauces: sweet, sweet & spicy, and original. Of the three, I thought the original was best, with even the sweet & spicy being a bit too sweet for me.
For sides, I got baked beans, Brunswick stew, and, on the return trip, sweet potato casserole. The beans were pretty basic, but the sweet potato casserole was very good and the stew was excellent. The Brunsick stew itself is enough to get a return visit from me.
On Friday and Saturday, I ate at a pair of restaurants because I’d read somewhere that the owners had originally been partners in one place, then each opened their own. BBQ being a competitive sport, I decided to try both and compare them.
Both places are storefronts in stripmalls – about the same size, with reviews, plaques, and porcine-topped trophies proudly displayed. It’s clear that both owners take their BBQ seriously
At Dave Poe’s, I got brisket ($9), with baked beans, mac & cheese, and Texas toast. At Sam’s, I got brisket, with baked beans, sweet tater tots, and Texas toast, but I also added a corn muffin. Dave Poe’s brisket was perfectly cooked. It was sliced unevenly, some thicker than others, but that was almost irrelevant, as the slices were fork-tender and shredded easily. The sauce was thin, sweet and spicy, with a strong black-pepper flavor. Sam’s served two distinct briskets on my plate. On the right was a lean flat – the left was more marbled. Unfortunately, both were served barely warm, so the marbled slices were quite chewy. The sauce was Advantage: Dave Poe’s The Texas toast lacked any butter, so it was pretty dry and only lightly browned. Sam’s Texas toast was well-buttered and nicely browned. Advantage: Sam’s Poe’s baked beans were thick and sweet, with a slight kick of heat at the finish. Sam’s beans were very thick and sweet, redolent with molasses. Good, but by the end of the meal I was putting only two or three beans on my fork, because it was just too much sweet and molasses. Advantage: Dave Poe’s The mac & cheese. Oh, Our Dear Lord of Dairy, the Dave Poe’s mac & cheese … Not elbow noodles, but huge tubes of pasta that oozed sauce. A sauce that had both a creamy texture that clung to the pasta, and a bit of stringy, chewy cheese that had incredible flavor. The pieces of dark brown mac & cheese crust were perfect.
Sam’s sweet tater tots were interesting, different, and tasty. Made out of sweet potatoes with a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar. It was some time into the meal, though, before I could appreciate their full flavor, because they were the hottest thing on the plate when it arrived. Clearly they’d plated the brisket, then the beans, and last the fried tots, which is the opposite of what they should have done to ensure everything arrived hot.
Advantage: Dave Poe’s So, on points, it’s Dave Poe’s, but the real test is what’s left on the plate at the end of the meal.
At Sam’s, I left most of the fattier slices of brisket and about half the beans and tater tots – not because I was full (there’s always room for BBQ), but because I just didn’t want any more of the items. I liked Sam’s, I’d return there, but it wasn’t enough to make me keep taking just one more bite.
At Dave Poe’s, I left a corner of the dry Texas toast and a plate wiped clean. If there’d been a scrap more brisket, a drop of sauce, a single bean, or the slightest schmear of mac & cheese sauce … I’d have happily sopped it up with that dry toast.
Entertainment
Thursday and Friday nights I was at Shakespeare Tavern for performances of Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
For those unfamiliar with R&G, it follows Rosencrantz and Guildenstern through their roles in Hamlet, but since they’re rather minor characters they spend much of their time “off-stage” (though they don’t know it’s a play) wondering about what it all means and why they seem to be always waiting for something to happen.
Described as an absurdist, existentialist tragicomedy … it’s just weird.
But seeing the two in repertory, with the same cast playing the same characters in both Hamlet and R&G was fun. The actors had the opportunity to perform their characters seriously in Hamlet and then with some comedy in R&G – seeing these on consecutive nights really heightened that effect.
The entire cast was wonderful, as always, but there were some standouts:
Nicholas Faircloth and Paul Hester as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (whichever is which) were great in both productions, but especially in R&GaD. These are marathon-roles, since the play, at almost three hours, follows their two characters almost exclusively.
Jonathan Horne as Hamlet. A great performance, subtly different in both productions. I can’t wait to see him next month in Fortinbras, when he gets to play Hamlet as a ghost.
Kelly Criss as Ophelia. Her part in R&G is small, but worth mentioning because it’s not every day an actress gets to walk up stairs and across the stage in a diving mask, snorkel, and swim fins (at Ophelia’s drowning). In Hamlet, she shined, drawing the audience in when Ophelia is crazy.
Next month they’re doing Fortinbras, the “sequel” to Hamlet, when all the dead characters get to come back as ghosts and pester the Norwegian Prince who came to rule Denmark by showing up.
Saturday was Christopher Titus at the Punchline. The show was hilarious and all new material. If you’re not familiar with his shows, check YouTube for excerpts – he’s a brilliant comedian.
“In the cherry blossom’s shade there’s no such thing as a stranger.” — Kobayashi Issa
4/10/2013 – 4/14/2013 Miles MPG Average Speed 1810 48 60 A Note About Mileage: I ran a little experiment on this trip. Usually I drive a bit over the speed limit – so around 74 MPH on the 70 MPH stretches of the interstate where traffic is light.
This time I set the cruise control at 65 MPH from Orlando to Savannah – and averaged 53.8 MPG for that stretch.
Driving listening:
4/10/2013 – 4/14/2013 Priceline Retail $ Savings % Savings Inn At Mulberry Grove (2.5-star Savannah) $46.11
$34 bid* * * Sheraton Reston (3.5-star) $43.88
$36 bid + $10 bonus cash$138.88
$124 base rate$95 68% * I’m not counting any savings for the Inn at Mulberry Grove. As I describe below, the hotel was so bad that I can’t view it as a bargain.
Dining
Panera J. Christopher’s Luke’s Lobster
Wednesday
Wednesday was a travel day – I left town after work to drive part of the way to DC, planning to stop in Savannah for the night and have a shorter drive on Thursday.
So normally I wouldn’t even right anything about Wednesday, but I had dining and hotel experiences so bizarre and unacceptable, that I decided to relate them. If you don’t want to read my complaints, just skip to Thursday.
After a while, I looked at the time and saw that it was 7:27, so I pulled out my receipt and checked it. When I saw the time on the receipt was 7:01, I actually assumed their register was wrong. A few minutes later, I walked up to the pass where they were delivering the food and saw that they had an expediting screen that listed ticket numbers and how long they’d been waiting. My ticket was #13 and I’d been waiting thirty-seven minutes.
So I went back to my table and stood there for a bit, watching the pass. Food was coming out and no one else had been waiting as long as I had. I was more curious as to how this had happened and what would happen next at this point. When servers picked up food, they checked the screen – I assume to find which table a guest was sitting at – so I was really curious as to how no one had figured out that someone had waited thirty-seven minutes.
After a bit, I went back to the pass and took a picture of the screen, because I figured no one would ever believe that I’d waited forty-five minutes for food at a freakin’ Panera Bread, and went back to my table which was quite near the pass.
At this point, one of the servers saw me take the picture and I heard him point this out to the manager and tell him that I’d taken a picture of the screen.
Now, put yourself in this manager’s position. You’ve just been told that a customer in your store has been waiting for forty-five minutes and took a picture of the screen that proves that. What do you do?
A) Immediately go to the customer’s table and apologize for the wait, assuring them that they’ll receive their food shortly.
B) Send the guy who pointed it out to you, whose job is to drop off full plates and pick up empty plates, to apologize to the, probably irritated, customer.
If you chose B, then you’ve been to the same customer service school as this guy.
I thanked the server for telling me, assured him that I didn’t think it was his fault, and told him that I would like to speak to the manager. I watched as he returned to the pass and told the manager this.
Now, put yourself in this manager’s position. The customer who’s been waiting forty-five minutes for food as specifically asked to speak to you. What do you do?
A) Immediately go to the customer’s table and apologize.
B) Wait until the customer’s food is ready, deliver it yourself, and apologize.
C) Stay behind the pass and send the server to tell the customer you’ll refund his money, visit him soon, and his food will be out shortly.
Do I have to tell you? Yeah, C.
So a few minutes later (at the fifty-eight minute mark), the server brought my food. I thanked him for it and he told me the manager would be coming. So I ate my food.
When I had finished, I had still not spoken to the manager. I stood up – he was still working at the pass. I looked around and decided that $12.50 was not worth the time it would take me to walk over there, get his attention, and get the refund – especially when he had made it rather clear that what he was up to was far more important than dealing with me. So I left.
Once on the road, I called the store and asked to speak to a manager. The woman who had answered told me she was the manager and I became confused – I’d thought the guy at the pass was the manager. Maybe I had misjudged things.
I explained to her what had happened and found out that they had two managers working. I was … shocked. Two managers on duty and neither had bothered to come to my table? Wow.
She explained that she hadn’t known about the situation and the other manager was very busy, but she was sorry and would be happy to refund my money. I explained that after waiting an hour and facing a long drive, I had left because I didn’t want to spend more time on the issue.
So, next management training quiz. A customer has just called you, told you they waited an hour for food, had taken a picture of the expediting screen at forty-five minutes, asked to speak to the manager and then waited twenty minutes without getting to speak to one, and left rather than waiting for a refund because he had a long drive. Do you?
A) Apologize again and ask for his address so you can refund him via a gift card.
B) Say you can understand him not waiting and reiterate that you didn’t know about the situation and the other manager was very busy.
Just … wow.
So let me make it clear: I was more amused than angry at waiting an hour for my food. If the manager had showed up when it was pointed out to him and apologized, I’d have had a good laugh with him about it. I waited fifty-eight minutes for food at Panera Bread … come on, that’s funny!
But he didn’t know that. Most people would have been irate. A lot of people would have been spitting-pissed at that long a wait. And he sent some poor kid out to deal with that possibility.
Dealing with your store’s mistake is the job of the manager, not the kid picking up dishes. And with two managers on duty, there is no excuse whatsoever for one of them not to be dealing with the issue. Unacceptable.
Anyway, I got back on the road and headed for Savannah. I’d booked the hotel in Savannah only that morning – up until then I’d been trying to get a room somewhere in South Carolina for the night, but couldn’t find anything at my price point. I switched to Savannah, figuring I could get a pretty good deal near the airport again and wound up with something off I95 at Savannah North.
I arrived at the Inn at Mulberry Grove a bit before 11:00 PM and checked in. After 10:00 PM the front desk is behind protective glass, which did not give me a warm-fuzzy about the neighborhood – but they did have a young girl working the desk, apparently alone, so I can understand wanting to be safe.
Along with the keycard came the TV remote … I’ve never seen that before, but apparently it’s how they keep track of how many rooms they have left. Okay.
The first thing I noticed about the room was that it had an odor. Nothing really identifiable, but vaguely unpleasant. I was disappointed, but knew I’d get used to it in a few minutes, so not that big a deal – then I drew back the bedcovers and noticed some dark stains through the sheet, so I pulled that back too.
I can understand not being able to get juice stains out – but maybe put them at the foot of the bed? (I didn’t check that – afraid.) And, yeah, the yellow stains maybe mean it should be replaced. I checked the other bed, which half of it was okay, but the pillows …
Between two beds and six pillows, I did manage to find two pillows and half a bed that I wasn’t entirely uncomfortable spending the night with. Yes, I could have gone back to the front desk and complained. That would have taken time – at least half an hour. Go to office, explain, get new key, move bags, return old key and TV remote, etc. If I’d been staying multiple days, then I would have asked to be moved, but could live with it for one night, in favor of getting some sleep before my 6:00 AM wakeup. So I went to take a shower …
My first thought was that a previous guest, so despondent at the thought of sleeping in that bed, had slit his wrists in the tub and grasped the curtain with one bloody, claw-like hand in his final moments.
Then I stepped into the tub and realized that a far more plausible explanation was that a previous guest had simply slipped in the damn thing, split his head open on the side, and left that mark with his final, dying efforts to reach help.
Please note: I have no personal knowledge of death, by suicide or misadventure, at the Inn at Mulberry Place. I merely speculate with the available evidence.
Much as I speculate that the mirror frame in that room has not been cleaned since those damn Yankees sank the CSS Georgia near Old Fort Jackson.
There were a lot of other maintenance issues with the room – chipped paint, wall stains, etc – but these were the worst. I called the hotel Monday when I was home and also emailed them the photos. During the call the manager seemed to be more interested in making this about me not having asked for a change of room that night than addressing what is clearly a fundamental problem with maintenance at her property.
Even after I stated clearly that I wasn’t looking for a refund, she seemed intent on justifying not giving me one. I don’t care about a refund for one night in that hotel – I care that it’s represented as a 2.5-star on Priceline and clearly isn’t deserving of that rating. I care about the possibility of winding up in this hotel next time I go to Savannah. And I care about trying to bring these type of things to a hotel’s attention and being asked if, maybe, the pillow was yellow from bleach stains …
Now, I’m not a chemist, Miss Hotel Manager, but … oh, hell, never mind.
Thursday
By coincidence, my mother and step-father were in Savannah for the week, so I met them for breakfast early the next morning.
healthier; the tomato added the acidic bite that compliments the richness of the Hollandaise; and the bacon … well … it’s bacon. Bacon doesn’t need a reason. This was a really good dish, well-prepared with just the right amount of Hollandaise.
I also tried some of the blueberry-granola pancakes my mom ordered and they were good as well.
Back on the road, I made it to the DC area around 5:00. I was staying in Reston, VA and planning to take the train in to the city. Given the time, I went straight to the station at Dunn-Loring, one stop from the West end of the Orange line.
DC has a wonderful subway system. The trains are clean and comfortable, with padded seats; they run frequently and on-time; and you can virtually anywhere you want to go and be within a couple blocks of your destination when you leave the train.
Thirty-some minutes after getting on the train in Dunn-Loring, after changing to the Red line at Metro Center, I exited at Gallery Place – about 100’ from the entrance to the Verizon Center where the Capitals were about to play the Carolina Hurricanes.
Up I went. Past the 100-level, lower-bowl seats. Past the Club seats, where’d been in Raleigh for the Hurricanes home games there. Past the Skybox level. Past, in fact, everything – to the highest, cheapest seats available, above, even, the freakin’ Jumbotron itself.
The Jumbotron which, ten minutes into the game, displayed the bewildering statistic that the Capitals had managed to play ten minutes, at home, without a single shot on goal!
Not being a particular fan of either team, though, I was able to just enjoy the game and not worry about who won, although I do tend to root for the home team, just because.
After the game it was back to the subway and out to Virginia to get my car and head to the hotel – which the Sheraton was much, much nicer than the Inn at Mulberry Place and only $2 a night more.
Friday
I actually had a purpose other than vacation for this trip, so Friday morning was spent taking care of that, and I wound up getting into the city-proper around noon. I exited the subway at the Farragut West station near Farragut Square.
This is a congregating spot for food trucks and I was hungry for lunch.
Two sides of the Square were bumper-to-bumper with trucks serving food of all kinds. I went with a Korean truck and bulgogi two-ways, regular and spicy.
I chose double-salad instead of salad and kimchi. I’m willing to get a bit more adventurous with my food choices as I age, but I draw the line at recipes that involve burying your jar of cabbage in the ground. Maybe in my fifties.
The food was good. The spicy had both heat and flavor, but the heat wasn’t overwhelming. But after a few bites I was interrupted.
An older woman sat down next to me, mentioned that the food looked good, and asked me which truck I’d gotten it from. I told her and confirmed that it was good, but I could tell from her appearance that she was probably homeless.
We talked for a few minutes about Orlando – her asking if Disney had much different rides than when she’d been there years ago, me mentioning that Orlando had grown a lot and how ridiculous the ticket prices were now. I said that the food was pretty good, but a bit spicy for me, closed the container and put it on the bench beside me.
A few minutes more conversation and I checked the time, made my excuses, and left, leaving the food on the bench. When I looked back from the edge of the park she was eating it, which is pretty sad to think of in our nation’s capital.
I walked toward the Mall, detouring along the front of the White House to see who might be protesting.
There was only the guy who’s been there forever and one other group – so, politics aside, what’s really changed so much from the days when there were crowds of protesters in the park all the time and why aren’t they still there?
Once on the Mall, I walked through the World War II Memorial, headed along the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial. Most people don’t know that everything West of the Washington Monument was originally part of river and swamp – there was a wharf along Constitution Avenue.
They’re doing work on the Monument’s facings with some serious scaffolding.
Say what you will, you will never convince me that these are not the greatest speech ever given by a President.
From the Lincoln Memorial I went through the Vietnam Memorial and then over to the National Academy of Sciences.
The Einstein Memorial outside the NAS is so different from the others in DC, and, having just read a couple biographies of him, I think it would make him smile. The floor in front of him is set with metal buttons in a star map centered on Polaris.
The NAS doesn’t have a lot of exhibits and is as frequented as other places, but they do have some interesting things. Like a map of the technologies necessary to get to the VCR and an example of pre-RADAR aircraft detection.
I crossed the Mall to the Tidal Basin and headed along it toward the Jefferson Memorial. It was a nice walk underneath the cherry trees, which were still mostly in bloom.
I’m probably on a list somewhere for taking a picture of the helicopter …
Back to the Mall, where headed toward the Capital and stopped at the Hirshborn Museum – most of the Hirshborn is modern, but they do have Rodin’s Burgher’s of Callais properly displayed.
Some museums display each of the figures separately, but they’re meant to be together as a single piece.
From the Hirshborn, I went to
my Meccathe Air and Space Museum.That’s not a model … that thing went to the freakin’ Moon. Air and Space is one of the most awesome places in the world.
That’s the beginning of commercial space flight right there, which means it’s the beginning of real, serious travel into space and beyond.
From Air and Space I walked to L’Enfant Plaza and caught the Green line to the Navy Yard-Ballpark station for a Nationals game. I have never before been to a baseball game. I know … but I wasn’t a sports fan growing up and Orlando didn’t have a baseball team anyway.
I had a hot dog and Cracker Jacks because I was at a ballgame. No peanuts except the ones in the Cracker Jacks, though … which the prize in Cracker Jacks kind of sucks these days.
I learned that baseball is the exact opposite of hockey, but it’s interesting enough in a strategic-way for me to want to go to another game. Sitting somewhere other than the outfield, I think.
It definitely is more conducive to socializing than hockey, with the breaks spread out instead of long breaks between periods. And, from what I observed, there’s far more beer consumed … at least in the outfield.
I still think it would be more fun if the players were allowed to check.
Saturday
Back to the Mall early to go to the other Smithsonian buildings. There was a large crowd from the Cherry Blossom Festival going on.
I started in the Natural History Museum for the dinosaurs and the Hope Diamond.
From there I wandered around the Mall for a bit.
And then made a brief stop at the American History Museum to see the Philadelphia gunboat and the Star Spangled Banner. No photos of either due to exhibit restrictions, but worth the visit.
I don’t care much for the tune, but the Star Spangled Banner itself is moving. To fully understand the meaning of what Francis Scott Key wrote about it, you have to understand the context of the time – when lowering the colors (flag) meant surrender of either the ship or fort. For the flag to remain flying while the British ships withdrew meant something for a young country.
From there I had time to go through part of the National Gallery, certainly not all of it, before that night’s hockey game.
Sometimes at work I know just how this guy must feel …
The nice thing about art museums is that they typically have a lot of comfy seating, which makes for nice break. Even gangnam-style.
I got the “Taste of Maine”, which is a sampler consisting of half each lobster, shrimp, and crab rolls.
These are served “Maine-style”, with the bun toasted, just a bit of mayo on the bun, cold seafood, and a lemon butter drizzled over it. Simple and delicious. The crab was the best of the three, with the lobster a close second.
For dessert I had their Cherry Blossom Ice Cream Sandwich – cherry ice cream between chocolate chip cookies.
For entertainment while waiting for the Verizon Center to open for the game, there was these guys outside the Gallery Place subway.
And then another band showed up around the corner.
The Capitals have some odd fans, but I had a better seat for this game.
That’s “Crosby Sucks”, which is taking a rivalry with the Penguins a bit far, in my opinion.
A long way to drive to see Stamkos and the Lightning play, but that’s how it worked out.
After the game, it was back to the hotel for a few hours sleep and then the drive back to Orlando.
A Weekend in the Garden of Good and Evil
3/28/2013 – 3/31/2013 Miles MPG Average Speed 665 43.5 52 
Driving listening:
3/28/2013 – 3/31/2013 Priceline Retail $ Savings % Savings Wingate By Wyndham Savannah Airport (2.5 stars) $50.27
$40 bid + $10 bonus cash$97.66 ($87.20) $47.39 54% Between the data on biddingfortravel.com and the Priceline Express deals for these dates, I determined there was little chance for a nice hotel on the river for what I’d be willing to pay. The Savannah Music Festival was running on weekends this month and the weather was beautiful, so a lot of people would be headed there.
So I started bidding for the airport at $36 ($46 with the $10 bonus cash). That bid was rejected, but I added zones and $2 twice, to be accepted at $40 ($50 with the bonus cash). There aren’t any free rebid zones for 2.5 star hotels in Savannah, so I could have wound up with a hotel in one of the new zones – and paying too much for it.
But the zones I was adding were on the river and in the city – so I’d still be pretty happy to get something for that price, even for a few dollars too much.
Dining
read my review 
read my review 
read my review 
read my review 
Thursday
Thursday was a travel day – I left work a little early for the 4.5-hour drive to Savannah. After checking into the hotel, I checked Urbanspoon and Google Maps for BBQ places and wound up at Shane’s Rib Shack.
This is clearly a new location in a brand new shopping center and employees were still being instructed on how to use the register and take orders when I arrived for dinner.
I got the combo platter with ribs and chopped chicken (apparently they’ve had some confusion about the chicken, because they were adamant I understand the chicken was chopped and “was I okay with that”). I picked baked beans and macaroni and cheese as my two sides, and the platter, somewhat inexplicably, also comes with two chicken fingers.
My receipt indicated a $0.25 upcharge for the mac-n-cheese, something I didn’t see on the menu board.
So my first impression of the food was that everything except the chicken fingers was cold – not just lukewarm, but cold. The chicken fingers were hot, though, which leads me to believe that the kitchen dropped them in the fryer, then dished everything else up and let it sit until they were ready. This is something they should address, because there’s really no reason for BBQ to be served cold.
The chicken fingers, aside from being hot, were also pretty good. Still not entirely sure why they were compulsory on my combo platter, though, and not something I’m particularly interested in at a BBQ restaurant. If I’d been after chicken fingers, I’d have just gone to the Zaxby’s next door and gotten better for less money.
The macaroni and cheese, looking past the temperature, was pretty good, with a strong cheese flavor. The beans, on the other hand, were nothing I couldn’t get out of a can … and an unheated can, at that, so … ew.
The ribs were good, even at room temperature. They were tender and meaty, with a sweet, sticky glaze that I wish had been represented in the selection of sauces on the table.
Saving the worst for last, the chicken was cold and dry. Now, keep in mind that I like dry chicken – more than being okay with it, I actually do like it. But this was too dry even for me. Maybe if it hadn’t been cold, too.
Friday
It’s a twenty-minute drive from the airport hotels to the Savannah riverfront. I arrived early enough that there was no trouble parking in the lots on River Street and spent some time enjoying the area before the crowds arrived, then headed for Huey’s on the River for breakfast.
Huey’s has several Eggs Benedict variations, and I almost went for the crab cake one, but decided on tomato, with the parmesan garlic grits recommended by the server.
That recommendation was good, as were the grits. I would have preferred a bit more more Hollandaise, as the end result after cutting into the eggs was a little yokey, but overall they were quite good. The tomato added a nice bite of acid to each bite that cut the richness of the sauce and yolk. And the dash of cayenne on top finished each bite with a kick.
I also got an order of their beignets with praline sauce. These would make a breakfast by themselves and should really be shared … I didn’t share.
I was back at Huey’s for breakfast Saturday, described below.
Savannah is still a working port, in fact one of the busiest ports in the US.
I spent the morning browsing the shops and listening to the buskers who’d arrived early to claim a spot on the riverwalk. At the end of the riverwalk I climbed the stairs up to Bay Street.
Bay Street has a different character than River Street. The riverwalk is all restaurants, bars, and tourist shops. Bay Street has a more gentile feel, with moss-covered trees and flowers.
The two streets share a row of two-story buildings, with the second floor fronting on Bay Street running along the river bluff and connected by bridges that span the Factor’s Walk below.
Bay Street has the antique shops and galleries. After a morning of browsing things that I really, really like and really, really can’t afford, I headed for the Georgia Railroad Museum a few miles away.
It’s fascinating to see not only the trains and cars, but a working roundhouse and turntable, as well as the blacksmith and mechanics shops that went into keeping a steam railroad running. All powered from a central steam engine by either piping steam to the work area or a spinning driveshaft and belts.
After the Railroad Museum, I headed for Old Fort Jackson. I learned that the Army Corps of Engineers will be deepening and widening the Savannah River channel to accommodate supertankers, and part of that entails raising the CSS Georgia ironclad from the Civil War.
Once raised and restored, the US Navy gets to decide which museum would get the artifacts, as the Georgia is still classified as a captured enemy vessel. My opinion is that there should be no question that the Georgia should be part of the Fort Jackson exhibits, as she belongs with the other sites that defended the Savannah River.
Tried a panorama shot of the river from the fort’s rampart.
For dinner I tried for BBQ again, hoping to find something better than Shane’s. Smokin’ Pig came up, but Google Maps navigation said I’d arrived at my destination with no BBQ place in site. I pulled into the first parking lot to check the address and see what had happened.
Well … since I was already in the parking lot …
Look, my rule is that if the Universe drops a perfectly good cupcake place in front of you, it’s rude not to get cupcakes. So I did.
Raspberry-almond and lemon-crème, which I had for desert Friday and Saturday. I also got directions to the Smokin’ Pig.
I’m not sure if they actually cook in their sign, but it does get attention. And as I walked through the door to come face-to-face with a shelf full of pig-shaped trophies, I figured I’d finally get some good BBQ.
I got the combo platter with ribs, brisket, Brunswick stew, and potato salad.
Everything except the potato salad was piping hot. The stew was flavorful and the corn kernels in it were still crunchy and sweet. The potato salad had big, tender chunks of potato.
The ribs were meaty and tender, but the winner was the brisket. Full of flavor, not to much salt, and tender enough to pull apart with a plastic fork. Of the BBQ I’ve had in Georgia so far, this is the one I’d go back for.
Saturday
For breakfast I was back at Huey’s for their French Toast with praline butter. This was an awesome dish – the praline butter with little chunks of pecan made for a wonderful flavor. But I have to wonder what they’re thinking to serve it with a single-serve, plastic cup, pull-tab lidded, serving of nasty Smucker’s corn-syrup.
The bolder flavor of a Grade B maple syrup would really compliment the praline. I cannot imagine that real maple syrup would increase their food costs all that much.
I had an interesting surprise when I parked Saturday. Apparently they don’t enforce the parking fees on weekends. Not only was it prominently posted, but when I tried to pay (because prominently posted apparently isn’t good enough for me to notice), the machine wouldn’t take my money.
Seems to me the city is missing out on some income by doing this and I’m not sure why they do. It would make sense to me for them to still charge, even if they don’t have staff to enforce it, and just not tell anyone.
After another walk along the river, I headed away from the waterfront into the city. I spent some time in the parks, watching birds and people.
I stopped by to tour the Jepson Center, part of the Telfair Museum. I was a little disappointed by this museum. They had a touring exhibit of 16th – 17th century Italian religious art, which was somewhat interesting, but not really my thing. Other than that, though, and a great silver collection, there wasn’t much in the building. Possibly they have more at their other buildings, but this was the main, largest, most modern of their locations.
The building has three floors, but there are no exhibits on the first floor. The second floor had part of a children’s exhibit and a small area of “digital art”. The third floor had the touring Italian exhibit and the silver, along with the rest of the children’s exhibit and a closed gallery.
My opinion is that this museum thinks a little too much of itself and not enough of the art. The building’s big and pretentious (and uncomfortably warm). They surely used all the wall space they could for the three story list of donors that winds up the central staircase. I paid to see art, not a list of names.
I’d made a lunch reservation for The Lady & Sons, Paula Deen’s restaurant. Well, a late lunch, as the only time I could get in was 3:00.
This isn’t the sort of food I’d normally be interested in, southern comfort, but I wanted to eat there at least once. The Lady & Sons is not fine-dining, the restaurant reflects the food, southern comfort. It has, possibly, the most friendly staff I’ve ever experienced.
I got the buffet, which consists of fried chicken, baked chicken, short ribs, and a variety of classic southern sides – most of which really aren’t my thing.
The fried chicken, even sitting in a buffet tray, had a crispy crust and was still very moist. The green beans were a bit salty for my preferences, but still good. The sweet potatoes and macaroni and cheese were very good, and those, along with a second piece of fried chicken, sent me back to the buffet.
I also tried fried green tomatoes for the first time, these ordered off the menu.
These came with a sweet onion relish and a red pepper sauce. Pretty good and something I’ll have to try again when I haven’t already tucked in to two plates of fried chicken and sides.
I got a peach cobbler to-go for later that evening, and that ended my weekend. I headed back to the hotel for an early night and earlier morning to get on the road home.
New Orleans Parking
Anyone who’s traveled to a city knows the state of hotel parking. $60/day in downtown San Francisco, $50/day in D.C., more in New York. So when I went to New Orleans recently I was unsurprised that parking was $31/day at the Marriott Convention Center.
Considering that I only paid $61/night for the hotel room, it won’t be that long, I think, before we’re spending more to park the car than for the room.
But there are ways around these fees, depending on the city.
In New Orleans, the hotel I was staying at was near Harrah’s and Harrah’s offers 24-hours of free parking with thirty minutes of gambling. Since I planned on doing some gambling anyway this was a good deal.
So if you want to take advantage of this, here’s how:
First drop your things at your hotel and drive your car to the Harrah’s parking garage – self-park, not valet.
After you park, go to the casino and, if you don’t already have one, sign up for the Total Rewards card. This is the card Harrah’s uses to track your play, so it’s fairly important.
Once you have the card, just spend more than 30-minutes gambling. There’s no rule about the game or wager, so you can pick a low-limit slot machine or a busy blackjack table.
If you choose a table game, put the card on the table when you sit down and the dealer will take care of getting you entered into the system. For slot machines, you’ll see a slot for the card on the machine. The card has to stay in the machine while you play, so don’t forget to take it when you leave.
Once you’ve played 30-minutes, you’re set on parking for 24-hours. Just return the next day and repeat each day you need parking.
When it’s time to leave New Orleans, or when you want your car to drive somewhere, just hand your parking ticket and Total Rewards card to the parking attendant.
Obviously this isn’t for everyone. If you’re not a gambler or not familiar with the games, then you could wind up spending a lot more than $30 in that thirty minutes. If you are a gambler, then you’ll spend more than thirty minutes a day gaming anyway, so it’s a great deal.
