"Teach By the Beach?"

Where should I teach?  By the beach? Like Savannah? Ocean City? Baltimore (bay)?  I don't know...do the poll on the left, please!

I am pretty sure that the state of South Carolina does not own a snow plow.  I also understand that snow, that actually accumulates, does not happen very often in SC.  There have only been 14.5 snowfall events in Columbia since 1973.  They obviously do not know what to do in the case of the white stuff.  There was an impending snowfall coming January 10.  We were sitting in the apartment on the 9^th, waiting patiently, but not so patiently, to see if we had work the next day.  School district after school district were closing for the next day.  We got the word that Richland One School District was closed for the snow that was going to happen.  City Year sends out the message a half hour later: Day Off!  It was exciting because we had a short weekend anyway, so a Monday off would be great.  I would get some teaching applications done and finish cleaning the house…perfect. 

            Then we had off on January 11.  Then schools had off on January 12.  City Year had a delayed start.  Now the roads seemed perfectly safe to me.  The 2 inches of snow and an inch of ice disappeared relatively quickly.  Parents still didn’t send their children to school on the 13^th and we ended up having a very strange week.  I had a little cabin fever by Wednesday and I was oddly still ready for the weekend on Saturday.

             After my weekend, the kids still didn’t have school because of Martin Luther King’s birthday.  MLK Day was a BIG day for City Year.  We hosted a free carnival with the help of the middle school Heroes.  The games and activities were centered around Dr. King’s dream.  We had over 600 people come through during the day.  I had the biggest headache (partially because I did not have coffee…uh oh) but, it was a successful day for community outreach.  In the news.

Independent Presbyterian Church (it's in Forrest Gump)

            We finally made it to Savannah, GA!  My friends and I have been talking about going to Savannah for a while now, and we finally made the 3-hour trip.  I made our trip a little longer by stopping at Dataw Island, near Beaufort, SC.  We went to visit my Aunt Mern and Uncle Jan at their beautiful house on the golf course.  They gave us some ideas of where to go in downtown Savannah and it was really nice to catch up.  I am not used to seeing them off of the Ocean City beach!

My pirate friends

            We had a little delay when we were looking for the Days Inn, when we booked a Savannah Suites.  But, we got checked in and went downtown to the gorgeous historic district.  A few of us had some places that we really wanted to see.  I had to go to the spot where Forrest Gump sat on his bench, and to the Pirate House, a landmark and restaurant.   

Where Tom Hanks once sat on bench with a box of chocolates

Amanda needed to see Flannery O’Connor’s childhood home, being the literature fan that she is.  It took us three tries to get in, but Amanda got her tour. Bridget wanted to tour the Juliette Gordon Low house, being the “woman scout” that she is.  Juliette Low is the woman who started Girl Scouts.  Ashley had been to the city before, actually lived nearby, but she loves it!  Kelsey came too and I think she became a quick fan of the city as we walked around.  Savannah has over 20 famous squares, filled with trees and fountains or statues, sitting in the middle of old houses and churches.  We saw almost all of them during our two-day walk around the city.  We went to the famous River Street, where we strolled along the cobblestone street, dodging the rocking tour buses and picture-taking tourists.  I was one of those people with the camera who get in your way.  I decided on the trip down to try and take “artistic” pictures.  I’m no Joanna Stanek, but I tried my best.

  

Praline samples on River Street

            We walked for a while, when it was dark, down Broughton Street.  This is the Times Square of Savannah; a few extra flashing lights, restaurants and stores.  We stumbled upon this honey store and we could not resist the free honey tasting.  I…love…honey!  I am now obsessed with the healthy effects of honey in your diet and I want my own bee hive.  I know that is a little far-fetched for living in an apartment and not having a future residential plan, but it’s on the bucket list. 

            My favorite place in the historic district would have to be Forsyth Park.  There was a nice café in the middle, big fields (people were playing ultimate!), a lot of dogs and bikers, and trees!  The streets and parks are lined with palmettos and are topped with a canopy of Spanish moss.  There are really beautiful churches as well.  SCAD, the Savannah College of Art and Design takes over the city.  We saw the letters SCAD all over the city and I was asked a couple times if I was a SCAD student.   

The homeless men in Chippewa Square not only thought we were SCAD students, but they were also artists.  One man talked our ears off about how he did the special effects in a couple of huge movies, like Glory, while the other made roses for us out of palms.  I ended up giving them the rest of my snacks, since I did not have any other type of donation. 

 

            We had PERFECT weather on Sunday; over 60 degrees and sunny.  We ate lunch in a park next to City Market, where a live band was playing cover songs.  It was a great spot for people-watching.  The only thing I missed was the Paula Deen tour.  I think it would have been cool to see where she lived and maybe get a taste of her buttery yum-yums.  Oh well.  You can only do so much in 2 days!   

Song of the day: The Gabe Dixon Band “Find My Way”