Van Hooses in town

We had a nice weekend with our friends and old neighbors, Brian and Jenna, last weekend. They stopped in Savannah on their way up to the D.C. area for Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday morning.

Because Jenna and I are big foodnetwork fans, we had to go eat at Paula Dean's restaurant. I'd heard a lot of trash talk from the locals about Paula's, so wasn't sure what to expect. Mostly, locals say it is way overcrowded and full of tourist tasting "southern" food that isn't that good. Back in the day when Paula ran the show, it was great - but now it seems more like a marketing tool for her books. - Don't get mad at me, that's straigt from the locals.

So knowing we had to fight crowds to eat there on a friday night, I sent Scott down at 3:30 p.m. to get our names on the reservation list. Apparently, people had been lined up since noon - so our reservation was at 9 p.m.! They told him to be at the check-in counter a quarter 'til.

Brian and Jenna drove into town around 6p.m. We visited, the boys took the dogs to the dog park, the girls walked through Forsyth Park and saw part of the Ziggy Marley concert. Then we left for our date at Paula Dean's!

I was surprised to see more fish dishes than fried dishes on the menu. I orderd a Mahi Mahi and Shrimp Pasta with spinach. It was DELICIOUS! Jenna ordered the Tilapia - I'm not sure how much she liked it. And Paula completely failed Brian and Scott with her "worse than Denny's steak." (Once again, their words and not mine). We had a nice night and I left completely satisfied.


It poured all day Saturday, putting a damper on the boys plan to kiteboard. I still made Jenna go shopping with me on Broughton Street - we didn't last long. There was monsoon-like rain that soaked us through in 2 minutes, even with the protection of an umbrella. Two highlights of the shopping trip - having our umbrella collapse over both our heads in front of some random guy! Ha! And eating scrumptious cupcakes at Back in the Day Bakery (a favorite of mine).

Since we were stuck inside, we decided to go see Pirates of the Carribean that night. Then we came back to a bunch of crazy dogs who were sick of being inside all day. No one had a good nights sleep that night - way too much doggy energy. I was so tired the next day! It was sad to see them go, but Scott and I had to finish his packing for Italy. Then he left the next day. So sad! And now it's just me, Leo and Willy.