[savannah]

This year, Mom, Kara, and I took a little trip to Savannah. It's been several years since we took a real family vacation, the last being our trip to Germany and Austria in the summer of 2011. Even though Dad wasn't able to make it, the trip was a wonderful escape; Kara had spent close to 50 hours of every week that she'd been home waiting tables and I'd spent about the same amount of time studying for the Bar and working retail. To say we were tired would be an understatement. So when schedules magically cleared (Kara and I were both only scheduled for about 2 days of work and I only had 2 days of Bar prep), we jumped at the opportunity.

Since our plans were so last minute we didn't have a dog-sitter and ended up bringing the dogs along with us. It was our first family vacation with the dogs in tow and it was quite the experience.

Savannah is only about 4 hours away from home so we had some time after checking in to wander the river side. The whole area is lined with shops and restaurants and was constantly abuzz with activity.

The next day was spent wandering around the city all morning. When the storms rolled in (it rained non-stop all summer), we dropped off the dogs and went to see Monsters University and Despicable Me 2. After the movies, we took the dogs with us in search of dinner followed by ice cream at Leopold's.

The next day was July 4th and was spent mostly on Tybee Island. Tybee is about twenty minutes from downtown Savannah. We packed up a cooler with food from Piggly Wiggly and lounged by the sea until late afternoon when we headed back into Savannah. After the fastest showers any of us have taken, we made it onto a trolley tour before grabbing dinner down by the river. Since we had an early dinner, we were able to stake out the perfect spot to watch the fireworks over the river.

Short as the trip was, I'm so glad I finally made it to Savannah. I definitely recommend stopping in if you find yourself in Georgia.