Savannah

From Paula Deen to Brunswick Stew and from Market Square to Mercer House Savannah has it all! We kicked off the weekend by going to Beer Fest. We were there on the Saturday and so all the local brewers had come out. There were some really good beers and . . . well. . . some not so good ones! It was fun to taste them all and talk to the brewers themselves. (Interesting individuals those brewers . . . . ) The festival was outdoors though and with the sun and humidity, it was hot and I was reminded I was in the South and it wasn't for wimps! By Sunday morning, Tropical Storm Lee was pushing it's way up towards us and while it was still hot, there was more cloud cover and the humidity had broken so it made the days events a little easier! Savannah was designed by James Oglethorpe in 1769 around four open squares and by 1851 there were 24 squares and we walked through everyone of them! I thought only my siblings were capable of a walking tour of that magnitude but I can see now that it clearly runs through the family! Savannah is so beautiful and with all of the history, you never know what you will see when you turn a corner. The Historical Society has done an excellent job of keeping the houses looking new and they include a plaque next to the front door with the year that the house was built and then the name of the original family around that. Some of the houses still have the original carriage houses behind it which when you can peak in and see them, is very cool! The Spanish moss that covers the hundred's of year old trees is positively magical and the Forsythe fountain makes you feel like you've time-warped back 100 years. A highlight was deffinitely hearing about the 15 years my cousin lived in Savannah. A city with so much character naturally draws people with a lot of character (my cousin included!). In the evening we finished everything off by driving out to Tybee Island and eating at The Crab Shack which, as promised, had crab and other delicious seafood. Yum! There's so much to say about Savannah but it's honestly one of those places that you have to be there, breath in the air and experience it all around you. This trip was extra special because of who I was with (thanks to both of you for such an amazing trip!). Add this to your 'Must Travel' list, you won't regret it!

Chicago

Let the road trip begin! There's nothing like a good road trip to feel like it's Summer and you are young again! Fortunately my sister and 2 of my girlfriends had the perfect roadtrip planned out for us! CHICAGO!! We left Wednesday and arrived in the early evening in Pontiac Michigan for some good old fashioned outlet shopping and then dinner at Olive Garden (oh I forgot to mention - this trip was all about where we ate!). Thursday we were up, back to the outlet mall for a bit more shopping and then we finished the drive to Chicago! We arrived early evening, checked into our hotel, freshened up and headed for our dinner reservation at Brazzaz. Mmmmm yummy Brazilian steakhouse! They come around with 16 different types of meat on swords and it is so delicious!! Friday after a gaunt down to Navy Piere we did an architectual tour which was very interesting. In 1871, 10km of Chicago was destroyed in a massive fire which then led them to completely re-plan and rebuild the city. As well, since Chicago has a river that runs through it, it's very unique to tour the city by boat. In the afternoon, we walked along the Magnificient mile and ended up in the John Hancock centre for some chocolate martini's and a beautiful view of the city! Dinner was Chicago pizza (where else?) at Giordano's. Delicious doesn't even describe how amazing the pizza is there! With no room left to eat anything we headed to Garrett's to pick up some popcorn and back to our hotel to recover from our adventures! Sunday was a very exciting day for me (so exciting that I forgot the 1 hour time change and was up at 6:30 - oops, sorry girls!) since we were going to the Shedd Aquarium. We took the CTA (subway) to the other end of the city were the aquarium is and had breakfast at 11th Street Diner were I ate some of the best french toast of my life! Once we had about all the carbs we could manage we walked across the park to the Aquarium. Somehow we bypassed the longest lineup I've probably ever seen to get into anywhere and before I knew it, I was in viewing all the fishies! Shedd Aquarium is really nice and what I actually really thought was cool is they have a Saw Fish. It was about 5 feet long and as the name describes, has a saw-like nose. It's very very cool. There was also a special exhibit on Jelly Fish. If you know my history with these guys they aren't my favorite but they put them in these lighted tanks and I have to admit they are beautiful! After being at the Aquarium for hours we headed for a well-deserved dinner at Weber Grill. Sunday we were up bright and early and after some unexpected issues with our car, we were driving away from Chicago. We stopped first at the Cloud Gate (aka "The Bean") and Milliennium park and took some pictures and then before we knew it we were saying goodbye to Illinois. We arrived home late Sunday night after a fabulous weekend in Chicago! Thanks girls - love you all!

Puerto Lopez

After the Jungle we were off to the Coast to do some diving! The name of the Jungle trip we did was "Extreme Jungle" so with that in mind, after 3 days in the Jungle we emerged and got on an overnight bus to Guayaquil! We arrived in Guayaquil at 2am and then we weren't sure what to do but we realized there were buses departing so I walked down the terminal and talked to some Companies and purchased 2 tickets to Jipijapa for 3am! When I returned to tell my brother, he thought I was joking but it was that or waiting in the terminal until 6am for a bus to Puerto Lopez. We ended up being on the milk route to Jipijapa but we just settled in and slept and at 6:30am arrived in the beautiful city of Jipijapa. haha That city is far from beautiful . . . From Jipijapa we jumped on a bus and by 8am we were in Puerto Lopez. I wouldn't say there is a bus terminal in Puerto Lopez, they basically let us out at the corner with the market but you can walk from one end of town to the other in about 15 minutes so it's not a big deal! We checked into our hostel which was a cute little cabin and immediately fell asleep for the next 4 hours! The next day and a half we just checked out the city and hit the beach! Then Saturday we went diving. The best diving in Puerto Lopez is off Isla de la Plata which is about an hour by boat. The waves were a bit rough but I managed to not get sick and we dived in the protected part of the island so the water was like glass. We did 2 great dives and despite an unfortunate jellyfish incident we came out unscathed! The next morning we we were on a bus back to Guayaquil which as most of you know, is one of only 2 McDonald's in all of Ecuador!! I was as happy as a clam! After that, off to Cuenca for some Panama Hats!!