2003-07-01 - 11:10 a.m.
Man! I had the best time with Mom and Aunt Mary.
Tuesday wouldn't ya know it, my phone goes dead. I ran to a pay phone to have the problem fixed, but they said it wouldn't be until 7 pm the next day. I stayed in my apartment and was very concerned. If Mom got lost driving, or if their plane was late, there would be no way to get a hold of me. But it turned out great, they showed up at 15 past 3, looking and feeling great. I hadn't dropped off the key to Woodke, who was watching my apartment for me, so we all drove on post so I could go to his barracks room. Unfortunately, he had fallen asleep and Waterman. his roommate, answered the door. I hate this guy. I tried not to think of it as an omen.
After that, we ate at the Macaroni Grill here in town, and then took off for Savannah! I got us lost even before we were out of Augusta, but we got back on track without too much difficulty. Mom and Aunt Mary told me stories on the way down, and it was a pleasant drive. They couldn't get over the churches every mile, all of the trailer parks, and the lack of casinos.
Our hotel in Savannah was across the river. I thought there would be a small bridge across, but there wasn't. Something about my family is that we have a hard time going over bridges that are over water. Some of us have it worse than others. For some reason, this bridge in Savannah is one of the worst to me. It is long and bowed so ships can get underneath it. There was no conversation as we drove over the bridge. We all sat in trepidation as we moved over the bridge for an eternity. Even my mom, who doesn't get the fear in her so much, was extremely nervous. Because of the tension she felt, as she said later. Once we were across, we looked back, and the sun was setting behind the bridge, a brilliant red. It was lovely.
The first night, we just hung out in the bar at the hotel, and had a few drinks. We talked and caught up. The bar filled up with people who were also staying at the Westin through some sort of convention. A mellow first night.
The next day, we got up and changed hotel rooms. We were up very high and we had a balcony, but Aunt Mary is afraid of heights. We went down a few floors, to a smoking room. We ate breakfast at the hotel, and I had french toast stuffed with peach cream cheese. Not as good as you might think. We spent the morning by the pool, a few hours in fact. I got sunburnt in some places where I forgot to put suntaning lotion, but of course I wasn't aware of it at the time. The pool was massive, but never was deeper than about 5 feet. It was a great pool for lounging around. We had pina coladas and swam a little, and talked and laughed. There's really no way to truly describe my Mom and Aunt Mary. They're extremely vibrant people, and laughter comes easy around them.
We took showers, and waited to be ferried across the river. The Westin has a free ferry available. The first day, we went shopping and ate at one of the many restaurants that are along the river front. I purchased a ring that says "dance freely." I don't dance much, so I'm not sure what I was thinking at the time. More of a metaphor, I guess.
That night, we relaxed in the hotel room, and watched a chick flick, How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days. It wasn't as bad as I was thinking it might have been. Maybe watching movies like that around other chicks makes a difference in how I see the movie.
The next morning, I was scheduled for a facial. After having breakfast, I went over to the spa area. Having a facial was a beautiful experience. I talked to the lady who was putting the hot towels and cream mixtures on my face. It seems like a fun job to have, making people feel wonderful all day long.
I joined Mom and Aunt Mary over by the pool again, and we drank more pina coladas. I was careful to stay mostly in the water this time, since my sunburn by this point was painfully evident. After we showered from the pool, we went over and did more shopping. They have a Loose Lucy's in Savannah, and I didn't know that. I bought some clothing there.
That night, we ate at a Moroccan restaurant. I was a little nervous about it, because they'd never had Moroccan food before, and I wasn't sure how this restauarant would be. It turned out to be an excellent decision. The food was fantastic. They had a belly dancer that was really good also. I got up and put some money in her skirt, and danced a little with her. (dance freely, right?) There was this older lady in the restaurant who got up and danced, and she was extremely good! We all clapped for her. We tried to get our waiter to belly dance, but he refused. I got a henna tattoo on my arm while I was there.
After eating, we meandered over to where there was some live music. We didn't stay long. I was hell bent on going to Savannah Smiles, the dueling pianos bar in town. I'd gone back in January, and had a terrific time. We first stopped in an Irish pub. I put some money in the juke box, and introduced Aunt Mary to Midori sours. The night was still early. After that, we wandered around a little trying to find Savannah Smiles. All I could remember is that it was difficult to get to and that it was by the Days Inn. I stopped and asked the front desk at the Days Inn where it was, and good thing I did, because it was a couple blocks down by the Quality Inn. I think my relatives were slightly annoyed that of all the bars in town, I HAD to go to this one.
Walking down to the piano bar, Mom and Aunt Mary started singing Moon River by Johnny Mercer. Some guy ran over to us out of nowhere and started singing with them. I wished I'd known the words. I thought he was some crackpot about to ask us for money, but he was just some guy out with his family, excited that someone was singing spontaneously in the park.
When we got to Savannah Smiles, there was hardly anyone there. It was still early. This meant we were able to get a bunch of requests in. Mom requested Moon River. I requested That Was A Crazy Game of Poker. Last time I was there, the blonde haired piano guy promised me he'd learn it, but of course, he didn't. I gave him a hard time about it, and he said he felt bad so he wanted to buy me a shot. It was the start, for me anyway, of a drunken evening. We all got smashed by the time the night was over. I was called up on stage and sat on the pianos while they sang "you can leave your hat on." My mom was called up and they had her do some hand movements to that song "joy to the world." At one point you're supposed to point at the guys crotch, but they kept singing that part so she just grabbed a handful. Aunt Mary and I were on the floor! laughing. The bar filled up quickly. There was an older couple, must have been in their 70s, dancing. There was a group of people from Minnesota there, who my mom just had to go over and meet. Joe, the blonde haired piano player, came and sat with us for awhile. Some dude in a red hat whose name was Donald came and sat with us for awhile. There was some guy we called Dracula that started hitting on my mom. In fact, most of the guys in the bar were. She's a beautiful woman. Donald started hitting on me and asking if I wanted to go for a walk on the beach with him. I declined, but I felt like he really wanted to take me somewhere, and for some reason this really annoyed me. I asked Joe if he could just pretend that he was with me so I could get this other guy off my back. He pulled me in the back room, and I gave him a hard time about how many women he's pulled back there. He said, just me. (yeah right) He gave me his card, saying that if I was going to come back down to Savannah, email him so he'd learn that song. We kissed, and then went back out to the bar.
Aunt Mary had called a taxi, and not long after that we left. There was a bit of drama when we discovered that my mom had lost her purse, but it was found. We all ran out of the bar to the taxi. I looked back, and in my memory there were a bunch of sad faced guys, waving Mom goodbye. It makes me proud to have such a beautiful, fun mom. As we drove back over the bridge in the taxi I flipped out and started screaming, we're gonna die! But everyone else just laughed at me.
My mom insisted we got to the pool as soon as we got there. We were all giggling and drunk. Mom and Aunt Mary sat in the whirlpool, which was too hot for me with my sunburn, so I swam around in the pool for awhile. There was another couple down there, who chatted with us for awhile. Later Aunt Mary joked about how they never noticed she was smoking a joint and not a cigarette. We eventually piled back up to the hotel room, and went to sleep.
The next morning, our last morning in Savannah, we were all a little ill. Mom threw up, which Mary and I thought was a little strange... throwing up the morning after? We were too late for breakfast in the hotel, so we ate lunch there. I ate a lot of fries; my favorite hangover food. We said goodbye to our fun time in Savannah, and headed back up to Augusta.
We got a hotel room off Gordon Highway, and I called Jon. He was going to meet us for dinner that evening. We all took naps, and I told him I'd call him back when we woke up. I had a little bit of trouble getting a hold of him, and he took awhile to meet us at our hotel. I was annoyed about this, and kept pacing around the hotel room. Mom asked if I was nervous about him meeting us, but I wasn't, I was just hungry and irritable. He finally arrived, and we went out to the Boll Weevil, which is in downtown Augusta. I was the only one who had been there before, and they all liked the food. Jon paid for the dinner, which shocked Mom. He also did things like hold the door open for us, and other Southern hospitality things, which Mom and Aunt Mary commented on later. They were impressed with him.
We all went for a walk on the Riverwalk, and then my mom heard some live music, so we went over to the Cottonpatch Cafe and had a few drinks, and listened to the band. Jon and I had never been there before. He kind of wanted to go out, but we were all hung over from the night before, so we made it an early night in Augusta. We drove back to the hotel, said goodbye to Jon, and went to sleep almost immediately.
The next morning, we went to breakfast at Mally's. At the end of breakfast, a leak occured right over our table, and specifically over Aunt Mary. We laughed about it. Then we hung out at my apartment, and talked over the fun time we had together. They left that Saturday afternoon, and I went to work.
That's a quick overview of the excellent time I had. And we had SO much fun. I wish I had been able to write it all down every day that passed. I feel a couple of days later, something is lost in all the details I scramble to write down and remember.
I am the luckiest, for having these people as my relatives.
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