I stumbled onto someone's blog today who just happened to be from Savannah, GA.  Reading a few posts about the city and seeing a few pictures made the memories of that stunning city come back to me.  I imagine I blocked them out before because if I'm thinking of Savannah, I'm sad.  I'm sad because I'm not there.

For all my newer readers, I'll tell the story again.

I have a list of things I want to do before I die.  On that list was always "take a long roadtrip by myself", so last May I decided to do just that.  I rented a Chrysler 300, packed a couple of bags, warned my credit card companies, and headed out the door to discover people, places, foods and, ultimately, myself.  I had an atlas and a general direction, but not many other plans.  I knew I wanted to see New Orleans and Savannah - everywhere else was 'if I end up there, cool'.  I was a lone wolf on the prowl for life.

I ended up hitting New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Pensacola, Orlando, Savannah and Memphis (among other small towns).  I met a couple of people I knew from the internet, ate food I NEVER thought I'd eat (including three pounds of crawfish!), won $400 in New Orleans after putting 15 cents into a slot machine, fell asleep on a random beach in Florida, went on a ghost tour by myself at midnight...I did a million things I never would have done without that roadtrip.

Through the 2000+ miles I ended up driving, by far the best place for me was Savannah.  As soon as I got off the highway, I was IN LOVE.  The moss in the trees, the sound of horse-drawn carriages on the cobblestone, the smell of home-cooked meals and sweet flowers, the stately manors, the perfect breeze - it called to my every sense and nudged my soul, saying, 'you're home.'

I got a hotel room right outside the main squares, so I was able to walk the whole 5 days I was there.  And I did - I walked all over the place, stopping in every shop I could handle and eating all the food I could stuff into my mouth.  Ok, so I didn't eat at Paula Deen's place because the line was INSANELY long, but I walked by it and stared in the windows quite often.

I drove to Tybee Island and hung out on the beach.  I went up in the lighthouse, took pictures and got dizzy from the unsecured lookout SO far up.

I asked everyone I talked to about living there, moving there, working there, anything I could to get a better idea of how it would be when I moved there.  I was determined.  Even a guy who worked at the hotel I stayed in was from Tulsa and he said moving to Savannah was the best decision he'd ever made.

I had to make myself finally leave Savannah.  It was the hardest thing to do.  I nearly cried on my way out.  I had one more stop to make, visiting another internet friend in SC, but Savannah was the only thing on my mind.

For months after I made it home, all I could do was think of the little place I called home for less than a week.  I thought about how I could get back there.

Shellie said she wanted to finish school first (still another 2 years away!), but that she would go there with me.  I've even cried because I wasn't there, where I felt I belonged.  It has a pull for me that I just can't explain.  Maybe it's just that it was a neat place on my trip.  Maybe it's because I was discovering myself while there.  Maybe I just liked horses on the streets.  I don't know about all that though - I kinda doubt it.

I'll be back one day.  One day very soon, I hope. 

John Mayer - Why Georgia?

I am driving up 85
In the kind of morning
That lasts all afternoon
I'm just stuck inside the gloom

Four more exits to my apartment
But I am tempted to keep the car in drive
And leave my fears behind

Because I wonder sometimes
About the outcome
Of a still verdictless life

Am i living it right? Why, Georgia, why?

I rent a room and I fill the spaces
With wood in places to make it feel like home
But all I feel's alone

It might be a quarter-life crisis
Just stirring in my soul

Either way
I wonder sometimes about the outcome
Of a still verdictless life

Am i living it right? Why why, Georgia, why?

So what? So I've got a smile on
But its hiding the quiet superstitions in my head
Dont believe me
When I say I've got it down

Everybody's just a stranger
But that's the danger in going my own way
I guess it's a price I have to pay
Still, 'everything happens for a reason'
Is no reason not to ask myself
If I'm living it right

Technorati tags : Georgia, Savannah, travel, roadtrip, ghost tours, vacation