Sonya's Blog - Day 184 - The Wilkes House and Grandpa's Birthday

Sonya’s Blog - Day 184 - December 23rd - The Wilkes House and Grandpa’s Birthday

We decided to try out The Wilkes House today. We were told to line up about 1/2 hour before they opened to make sure that we got a table. Well one thing lead to another and we ended up taking Kizmet on a really long walk and didn’t get out until 10:30. We arrived at the restaurant about 10:50 and there was already a long line-up. Blake and Isaac got in line and Natasha and I went to check out the cute little shop that was right next door. They had lots of different stuff, from clothing to furniture and household goods to jewellery. It was a fun little shop to look through. When we were done in the shop we went to check on the line situation. The boys had moved up quite a bit, but we were still going to be awhile. Natasha and I decided to head across the street and check out the clothing store across the road. It wasn’t really our style, so we didn’t stay long. We went and got into line, but it was still a wait.

After an hour and a bit we got a table in the restaurant with the group ahead of us. There are two rooms in the restaurant, it is established in an old boardinghouse. There are large dining room tables that seat 10 people each. There were 9 at our table. Before we sat down, they had already placed all the serving dishes on the table, except for the fried chicken. There are a number of traditional southern dishes: cornbread and biscuits, okra, collard greens, corn, sweet potatoes, squash, lima beans, green beans, etc. etc. etc. So many dishes, I think I only tried half of them, if that. There were several protein dishes as well: pork, beef stew, probably a couple of others with the coup de grace being fried chicken. They brought this out hot on a platter after we had all been seated. Now I don’t really like fried chicken, but this was really good. There was also this pickled cucumber dish, which was really good. It was cucumbers in a pickling juice (loads of pepper), but the cucumbers hadn’t pickled yet. I really liked them. It was crazy how much food there was and I didn’t snap a picture when we first arrived, but I did grab this one from their website. Our table looked just like in the following picture, but the bowls were not stacked.

We sat with a large family group. They were a lot of fun and were interesting to talk to. They had lots of family all over Canada, so knew more about Canada than some. We talked about lots of different things and had lots of food to eat. It was a set price for everyone, $20 for adults and $10 for kids (only Isaac qualified as a kid). When we were done eating and each had a dessert, we rolled out of there feeling very full. Luckily we only had a very small breakfast.

We decided to walk around Savannah and see more of the squares and sites. We wandered around quite a few and then we found ourself at City Market again. Blake decided this would be a good time to call his Dad and wish him a Happy Birthday. Oh, oh, oh he is getting so old - 69 this year!!! We sat in the middle of Ellis Square and we all sang Happy Birthday to him. Then Blake had a nice old chat with him. Natasha and I got bored of sitting there so we went and checked out some of the shops we had not checked out yet. We were just poking around, but didn’t find anything too interesting. Blake was still chatting when we got back, so I looked at other things to do in the Historic District. I decided on seeing St. John the Baptist Cathedral, as it is supposed to be stunning. Off we wandered, but we went the wrong way - oops. We finally found it and it was certainly stunning. The front entranceway is amazing and the stained glass is very nice. The Stations of the Cross have amazing detail, but my favourite was The Creche. I have never seen one that was so elaborate and exquisitely detailed. Very nice. They also had this lovely fountain at the front which had a beautiful Celtic Knot in it. The lady was impressed that we knew what it was, but I explained that we had just been to the East Coast of Canada. There is a strong Irish community in Savannah, hence the Celtic Knot.

It was time to head back to the truck. On the way back we passed the house that was the first headquarters for Girl Guides in the US:

We had to get back to camp and walk Kizmet. She couldn’t come with us today because it was far too hot to leave her in the car. We had to leave her in the trailer with the air conditioning running. She was very happy to see us and we took her for a nice long walk.

Blake had to try and get on skype with his sister Val, as she was having all the family over to her house for his Dad’s birthday (well all the family that is left in Calgary). They managed to get it all set up and Blake and the kids had a very noisy conversation with everyone.

When they were done, Blake put on Christmas Vacation. I was reading my book, but I finished it and joined them for the last part of the movie. So silly, and I hate to admit, some funny parts. Blake likes to watch it because it reminds him of home. Is it because they watched it every year, or being with his family at Christmas is a lot like in that movie? I have my opinions on the matter.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!

Sonya