Friends and Savannah!

We met Matt & Jennifer Williamson while they stilled lived in Indy.
Matt was a professor at UIndy where Jen was a student (in his class, as it happens!).
Matt taught Bob to play golf and we were privileged to be their marriage prep couple before they married 12 1/2 years ago. Matt is now a prof at Georgia Southern University. We had a wonderful evening capped by Matt's delicious Chicken Picatta. Their three children (Andrew, Nathan, and Abagail) were a joy - Abagail, normally shy, was especially friendly and open with us!


Jen, a Physician's Assistant at a local obstetrics office loves being a mom.
Together, Matt & Jen made us feel very much at home! The quintessential hosts!
(BTW: The stuffed animal is a caterpillar!)


Abagail kissed everyone goodnight - especially daddy!


On Thursday, we drove to Savannah for a long weekend. Jen loaned us a walking tour guide which we put to good use. Bob shot about a zillion photos, but we'll only post a few to try to give the flavor of this wonderful city. (Everyone is so friendly here! The hotel staff - Fairfield Inn - was extraordinary! While walking around, several people asked if they could help!)

The City is laid out around periodic squares - every couple of blocks - that create oases along any path you choose to walk.
This is Troup Square with an Armillary - a spherical structure that depicts the orbit of the planets.


On Troup Square is "The Jingle Bells" church - the composer was the organist here!


A short walk to Whitefield Square brings us to the "I do" gazebo - a popular place to pop the question!


A house on Calhoun Square has this garden whose walk perimeter is marked with old ale bottles! My kind of folks!


Savannah has Forsyth Park, a large city park. This cast iron fountain is built to resemble one in Paris.



The centerpiece of Forsyth Park is this monument to the Confederate Soldiers who died in the civil war.


Spanish moss is everywhere!


The Cathedral of St John the baptist is gorgeous outside and in!
(Plus we arrived in time for the noon daily mass!)

The view of the main altar of the Cathedral from the door is breathtaking!


The rose window above the organ loft is incredible in its detail.


After mass, we visited Madison Square where this statue honors Revolutionary War hero Sgt Jasper who retries the fallen colors, rallying the troops.


While looking for a place to eat, we found this little family run bakery where we had delicious onion soup accompanied by fresh flax seed bread, all washed down with hot coffee!


Savannah is filled with houses like these!
As a friend said you can almost hear those petticoats swishing!


The city provides a free ferry between three docks on the Savannah River - one across the river at the convention center! We road a complete lap before we got off downtown.


Many people visit Savannah, some by car and some by more elegant means!
I'm sure they saved a ton on hotel bills!


River Street is near river level. As we travel upstream, we near City Hall landing.


This free streetcar runs up and down River Street!


If all that is too fast for you, you can see the historic district in a more leisurely style!


Next - we'll visit Ft Pulaski and Tybee Island!
Then on Sunday, the Williamson family will meet us for Mass at the Cathedral followed by a nice brunch nearby.

Georgia - Part I

We dropped Anne & Margaret at the Birmingham airport and headed east. In just a little while, we were across the Georgia line (and got back the hour we lost a few days ago!) and stopped for lunch. Soon, we were back on the road for the short drive to Historic Banning Mills.

Earlier this decade, some folks bought this and turned it into a resort. After a short time, a fire destroyed the building. The local community helped in many ways to rebuild the main building. The surrounding buildings were added to increase lodging capacity.


They did a superb job of rebuilding and have retained the rustic feel. To the left side of the mantle you can see a blob of silver colored metal - that is the coinage that was in the safe during the fire! It melted inside the safe! Lots of stuffed critters in the main lodge!


I asked for a ground floor room so we were in a lodge just up the hill. The room was a little snug but had King bed and good heating system.


The breakfast was typical southern breakfast with three meats, eggs fried in bacon grease, biscuits and grits. I could feel my cholesterol rise as we ate! (But it was pretty good!)


The Zip Line Canopy Tour is a big thing here and one of the towers was just outside our room. It rained Tuesday so we did not do the zip line!


We parked the bikes before we left to meet our friends in Griffin GA. The reduced drag gave us another 3-5 mpg!


Back when I worked at Naval Avionics, one of my coworkers was a young engineer named Dave Gillmore. He married Sandra and moved to Georgia when NAC privatized. They live over two hours from Carrollton (where Hist Banning Mills is) so I suggested we meet half way at Griffin.
I picked Angelo's Mediterranean Restaurant from TripAdvisor.com and we were not disappointed! The food was excellent as was the company.


After lunch we sat for over two hours chatting with Dave and Sandy.
Angelo came out of the kitchen and told us to stay all afternoon if we wanted!


We drove back to Historic Banning Mills. I napped for a while and then we walked down to the lodge to meet the Nesbitt family. My sister Phyllis married Scott and had two boys, Brandt and Kurt. Brandt is now the Chef at Historic Banning Mills and he prepared a fantastic meal centered on beef Wellington! But when we got there, he was occupied with more mundane chores!


After dinner, we took this group photo of Vicki (Scott's wife), Theresa, Scott, Kurt, and Brandt , and yours truly. I think this is the first time we have been together with the entire family! Certainly we have not been with Scott, Brandt, and Kurt since Phyllis' funeral.
It was a fabulous meal and a good time was had by all!


Tomorrow we will explore the area on some of the many trails along the creek that runs below the lodge.

Then, it is on to Statesboro, GA to visit friends, followed by a long weekend in Savannah!

Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Thursday evening, after watching the taping of Life on the Rock, we drove the 50 miles to Hanceville, Alabama and checked into our hotel.
Friday we drove the 8 miles to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
It is situated on a very large, beautiful, rolling estate and as you pass through the front gate, this is what greets you!


Mass began at 7AM (it was still pretty dark), so we took this photo of our little pilgrimage group after mass in the courtyard outside the church.


The interior of the church is breathtakingly beautiful!


Just above the main altar back piece is this fabulous monstrance containing the consecrated host - the body of Christ for prayer and adoration.


The tabernacle, at altar level, also in the altar back piece is a miniature replica of the altar back piece!


The right side aisle leads to a wonderful shrine to the Blessed Mother.


The stained glass tells the story of the Rosary - here is the Annunciation.


The Stations of the Cross are painted reliefs and are very beautiful.


The front of the altar has a mosaic pelican. The pelican, if it cannot find food for her young will pluck its breast with its beak until she bleeds. She will then feed her young with her own blood. It has long been a symbol of sacrifice and of the Eucharist.
(The tabernacle in Garabandal, Spain - where the Blessed Mother appeared to four young girls in the 1960's - also has a pelican on its door.)


In a side hallway was this highly unusual statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Note His Sacred Heart is bleeding into the cup and he is holding a host - very symbolic of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.


In the stairway descending to the lower chapel, this relief depicts the scene at Calvary with Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of Jesus, and the Apostle John. The skull indicates Calvary or Golgotha - place of the skull.


Outside the lower chapel is an exhibit of the Shroud of Turin.


When the Shroud was first photographed, the negative revealed much more detail than had been previously seen. The figure depicted was clearly crucified and the stains on the cloth depict Jesus' wounds. Later mystics and visionaries gave detailed accounted of Jesus' crucifixion and are validated by the wounds depicted on the Shroud.


This statue "Ecce Homo" behold the man! reveals the trauma that doctors and scientist believe Jesus suffered based on a detailed study of the stains on the Shroud. This is extremely graphic and rightly should disturb anyone who sees it. (I recall when we unveiled the Crucifix at Saints Francis and Clare, people were concerned about the scuffed knees and seeping nail wounds being too graphic!)


The lower chapel contained the burial place for the deceased Poor Clares of this monastery.


On either side of the main altar back piece are statues of St Clare and St Francis.
(St Clare is depicted holding a monstrance with which she "defended" the convent at San Damiano.)


Ouside and across the courtyard is this small building containing a (1/4 size?) creche.


The figures are wonderfully lifelike and were a joy to behold.


Near the parking area was this statue of the Blessed Mother depicting Simeon's warning: "and a sword shall pierce your soul"


Nearby is a new shrine that honors Our Lady of Lourdes.
It is well done and is indeed reminiscent of the Grotto at Lourdes.


Pizza tonight and 7 AM mass again tomorrow!