OMG...the southern adventures are coming fast and furious today! From coffee with our new buddy Bob (Robert Redford) this morning at the Westin to another overwhelming day of study and to top it all off.....Linda was offered a job and all four of us took a big bite out of low country culture and lived to tell the tale.
Once again, our wake up call didn't arrive as scheduled (the system is still broken at the hotel) so thank heavens for Linda's inner alarm! We were up and on the shuttle again just after 7:00 a.m. The trip across the bridge to the Convention Centre was gorgeous again today but the misty morning dew was even more obvious than it's been on other days so the resulting scene was like something out of a movie or your best imaginings. There was a virtual white frost covering the vegetation which was like an oxymoron for the eyes as it was obvious that the sun was shining but there was this frosty illusion everywhere. Before long the mist was gone though and the day was back to it's normal sunny 75+ degrees.
Our first session started at 8:00 till 9:00 and then we had an hour for study before the next one started up again. We decided to take our study next door to the Convention Centre where there is a Starbucks as both of us were in need of a little 'pick me up'. I say that we had our coffee with Bob as he is staying at that hotel and even though he didn't actually sit with us over coffee.....I'm pretty sure that he would have had he known we were just downstairs.
Before we knew it - the hour was up and it was time to head back for the rest of the day's sessions. By the end of the day our heads were filled to capacity but.....we weren't done yet. There was a shuttle waiting for us at the door and once back into the historic district we were dropped at the Inn on Ellis Square where we located the Magnolia room for another formal study session with about 30 others and the lead CPP trainer. It was like trying to stuff an elephant into a volkswagon! Our heads were already filled to capacity but the information and the review was so important that we just had to keep going. The session went longer than planned (didn't finish till 6:30) so it was another loooonnnnngggg day. By the time we were walking back to the Mulberry (about a 20 minute walk) we were both making noises about skipping dinner and heading straight for bed but about a block before we arrived at the Mulberry, a little red car honked at us and the night's adventures were about to begin.
The little red car was Doug and Jill (our friends from Kelowna) and they were off for dinner just out of town. Linda and I hopped into the back seat of their little sports car....well.....I guess I didn't really hop into the back seat of their 2 door car.....it was more like I put in one foot and my head and shoulders and then if Jill pushed from behind I kind of popped into the car. I seriously didn't know if I'd ever get out but once we arrived at our destination I was able to reverse the process exactly and popped right back out. (It really is a science though and I'm thinking there might be a course in there somewhere)
Our dinner was about 15 minutes outside of town at a place called the Crab Shack. It's very popular with locals and written up as the best seafood in all of America. From our perspective...it was a taste of local culture that we hadn't even dreamed would materialize for us. The "shack" was situated on the bayou with gater ponds surrounding it. It had all the tacky tourist stuff you could hope for in the form of a giant crab over the doorway, upside down buckets for lamp shades, and an air conditioning unit that must be at least 100 years old. Our table had a hole in the middle of it with a garbage bucket placed strategically directly beneath the hole. There was a raised platform above the hole where you could put your platter of seafood and that is just what we did. Our platter arrived and the only words I can think to use to describe it are: massive, amazing, delicious, messy, overwhelming, and too much food! We did our best but when we were all finished there were still mussels, shrimp, potatoes, sausage, and crawfish on the plate. We had managed to eat a small mountain of food though and the crab had completely disappeared and there were really only a few of the other bits left. We cried to have to leave it but there was naught we could do. And....we had to leave room for a taste of the key lime pie that was made just down the road from the C.S. The pie was beyond amazing - like nothing I've ever had before and our visit to the Crab Shack left me thinking that it on it's own might be enough of a reason to return here!
After dinner we stopped at the sink in the middle of the restaurant so we could try to clean up a bit. Oh ya....did I mention that there was no silverware at this restaurant?! We visited the gift shop where Jill managed to secure a package of the secret spice they had used on everything that was part of our meal and finally toured the gater pits (didn't get a chance to feed them though as it was much too late for that) before eventually making our way back to the car where my attempts to get into the back seat once more were somewhat hampered by the fact that I'd just consumed about a ton of food!
Jill and Doug needed to stop at a grocery store so we located a Kroger's and I was able to "pop" out of the car again.
We'd had much fun and laughter throughout our dinner and it didn't stop there. By the time we were inside the store....we were in fine form. We've all "caught" a little of the southern accent which only enhanced our silliness.
Linda and I located the items we wanted to purchase in record time and made our way to the check out where we discovered we were in the line for self check. The first thing we noticed was that the 'slot machine' we were checking out through had paid off and we hadn't even put any money in yet. We decided we were going to like this casino/grocery store!! It didn't take long for the staff to figure out that we needed a little help but once we were underway with checking the groceries through it was clearly apparant that Linda was a natural and so of course she was offered a job with the store. Fortunately, she decided to opt for keeping her current position so Kroger's will have to keep looking for their next employee of the week.
While Linda and I were waiting for Jill and Doug to finish in the store....we reminisced about old Bill Cosby performances and since Linda didn't know the one about 'To Russell My Brother Whom I Slept With and the Jello Monster'.....I decided to re-enact it for her with all of the sound effects included. The poor man who was working as the bag boy at the checkout we were standing behind didn't know what to do with us. He was one of those fellows who is about 70'ish and has likely worked in that position for most of his life. His belted pants were up to his armpits and he was obviously very contientious about his work. As the sound of the beating heart of the Jello Monster got louder and louder in my story.....it was all he could do to keep on track. I'll bet he was glad to see Jill and Doug come through the till and take the laughing pair of Linda and I out of the store where we were popped back into the car for the return trip to the Mulberry.
By the time we arrived back at the hotel it was well after 10:00 pm so it had been a long day and the laughter of tonight had been a great stress relief. We were ready for bed though and looking forward to calling it a day as tomorrow will be another full one with the exam set for 1:00 p.m. We arrived at our hotel door only to discover that neither of our room keys worked....their programming had expired so it was back to the lobby for help. Fortunately for us the desk clerk was able to help us and before too much longer we were into the room with a little time left for this blog and a last minute study session before turning out the lights on another day in Savannah.
Till tomorrow,
L & L
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