Earlier this month, I headed to Savannah for the first time. I went as a representative for the advertising agency I work for at the Caterpillar North American Marketing Conference.
The hotel we stayed at was beautiful and located right on the water. It also has a luxurious spa and I was thrilled when my company treated me to an hour long massage.
On top of the spa, there were lots of other amenities that made the stay enjoyable. There were warm chocolate chip cookies in the lobby and a Bloody Mary bar in the afternoons. In the evenings, the patio area would have fire pits lit and made for a great place to relax with a couple of drinks after a long day of client meetings.
I took advantage of the running maps they provided on two occasions during my trip. It was beautiful to run along the river front and watch the large cargo boats coming into harbor.
Our first night, we headed to the River Front to find some food. We lucked out when we went to a little hole in the wall bar and were amazed at the high quality of the menu. (sorry for the dark picture) Jumbo crab legs dipped in butter? Yes, please!
After filling our bellies, we went to the Dueling Piano Bar - Savannah Smiles to check out the location and musicians. We would be hosting a party here in a couple of days and wanted to make sure everything was set for our big night.
Required, over processed party picture.
Following our fun night out, it was time to get to work. We worked at our booth in the vendor expo all day for the next two days and enjoyed getting to visit with clients that we usually only get to talk to over the phone.
On the first day, they unveiled the new Caterpillar Nascar vehicle. I had to take a picture for Ethan.
We existed the boat the historic Fort Jackson, which was built in 1776. Can you see the white tent in the background? That is where they had an oyster bar set up. Inside the fort, they had banquet tables set up and we enjoyed a dinner buffet of traditional Southern foods.
They had re-enactment soldiers for entertainment that played fiddles, banjos and also fired the cannons. I'm sure Jim would have loved to see the cannons in action. I was amazed at how long it took them to prep the cannons before firing and how much black smoke was produced.
These would be my co-workers/bosses posing with some of the soldiers. Needless to say, we were having a great time!
I found a few hours during the last day to sneak away to explore the Savannah River Walk district. This would be Paula Dean's restaurant, The Lady and Sons. (I was disappointed that I had just eaten and didn't know that I was going to be able to head over, otherwise I would have skipped the provided meal for something that I'm sure was much better in town.)
Walking the streets was very difficult. You definitely need flat shoes in Savannah. The cobblestone is very rough and several people reported tripping and really scraping themselves up during the evening outings.
The stair cases between the different street levels are also very steep and rickety. (You can kind of see one in the shadows of this picture.)
For our last night, we hosted the evening's activities with an open bar, buffet dinner and entertainment from the Dueling Piano bar that we had gone to earlier. The food was amazing (we had it catered in, not provided by the bar) and far surpassed our expectations.
Here I am with a couple of my coworkers on the water taxi on the way over to our party. Following this, pictures are not being posted to protect the innocent. ;)
After a very late night, we headed to the airport in the a.m. and I was very ready to be back home. I arrived just in time to tuck my birthday boy, who turned 5 that day, into bed.
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