Savannah Day 2

The first thing I need to say about Day 2 is Paula Deen, baby!!! We arrived at The Lady and Sons Restaurant at approximately 9:30 AM and were able to put our reservations in for 11:00 AM. There's a tip for you if you go, get there early and put in your name. The young ladies working taking reservations told us to make sure that we were back by 10:45. At 10:45, the head cook comes out and rings the dinner bell and yells, "Are Ya'll Hungry?". Of course the crowd has to yell back that they are. Keep in mind that people are lined up on both sides of the street and she's in the middle, so all traffic stops on this street for about 5-10 minutes. After this, they begin calling names and directing people to which floor you're going to eat on. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for our name to be called and be heading up to our table. When you go, you can order from a menu or you can eat from a buffet. Figuring that we'd get to sample more from the buffet, we chose that route. Also, if you go during lunch, it costs less than if you go at night; again, another helpful tip. The waiters were all very friendly and helpful, so they definitely get a big thumbs up for service. As we were waiting for our waiter to return and bring our drinks and take our order, there were other waiters who came around offering fresh hoecakes and cheese garlic biscuits. I'm still dreaming about those biscuits! The hoecakes weren't bad either. As soon as our waiter took our order, he invited us to head toward the buffet. When we got up there, we couldn't believe the amount of food! Just for lunch, there was fried chicken, Jerk pork chops, collard greens, grits, mashed potatoes, lima beans, baked beans, green beans, squash, and macaroni and cheese. There was also a salad bar, but I decided to live dangerously and forgo the salad. I was saving room for important stuff, like dessert! Trying not to be a complete pig, I made my way down the buffet until I reached my prime destination, the mac and cheese. I had heard while walking around downtown before the restaurant opened that the locals thought Paula Deen makes the best mac and cheese in Savannah. Just as I was about to reach for the spoon, this lady whips around from the other side and grabs it, taking most of the little-remaining mac and cheese. Following her is this older lady who also takes the spoon. While I love my mac and cheese, my momma taught me better than to take out a senior citizen for the last spoonful of mac and cheese. Kenny, who had returned to the table by this time and had a full view of the goings on with the mac and cheese said I looked like someone had killed my cat. Even I have to admit I was pretty distraught about missing out on Paula Deen's mac and cheese. Irrationally, I thought what if they don't put any more out, what if they serve dishes on a rotating basis during lunch on the buffet. While standing there about to leave, I see a young waiter heading my way with a covered dish. He walks up to the buffet and places a gleaming, steaming, fresh batch of mac and cheese on the buffet. As he places the spoon in the dish, Kenny compared me to Mr. Burns on The Simpsons. He said he could just see me almost tapping my fingers together, mentally of course, and saying "Excellent". The lady behind me said to me, "You got rewarded for being so nice and letting those other people have what was left, but you got fresh!" All I can say is that I ate the BEST mac and cheese and fried chicken that I have ever had in my life at The Lady and Sons. I want to go back just for the mac and cheese alone. If you ever get the chance to go, I definitely recommend going to eat there, whether or not you love Paula. After sufficiently stuffing ourselves, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to eat dessert, but then our waiter brought around the dessert tray. Kenny and I selected banana pudding and gooey butter cake, thinking that we could each take bites of the other's dessert and get to enjoy two desserts instead of one. The bananna pudding was good, but once I took a bite of the gooey butter cake, I realized that just by watching her shows I had no idea how much Paula Deen loves butter. After eating that gooey butter cake, I can assure you that she doesn't just love butter, I'm pretty sure she has a shrine to butter somewhere in the restaurant kitchens! This was by far one of the best meals I have ever had in my life. Unfortunately, she was doing a book tour and neither Jamie or Bobby were there either. Kenny said he's glad Jamie wasn't there, since he's pretty sure I'd run off with him, or Duff from Ace of Cakes, and leave Kenny high and dry. If he'd guarantee me a steady supply of Paula Deen mac and cheese or bake me outrageous cakes that explode, I might reconsider leaving him for one of these guys! Seriously, I left with a full stomach and a new funny t-shirt from the Paula Deen store that says "Our Hoes are Complimentary!" While I can't wear it out in public, I can wear it to sleep in while dreaming of fried chicken, mac and cheese, and garlic cheese biscuits!

The rest of the day was spent walking around Savannah and kind of picking out which sites we definitely wanted to tour on Day Three. There are so many places to see that you have to be kind of selective on what you want to pay to tour. Savannah is a great city to visit and the historic district is relatively compact so walking around is no problem. However, it was REALLY hot and HUMID. If that kind of bothers you, I would suggest going in the fall or winter seasons. But it is a great place to visit.