savannah, ga

went to savannah, georgia over the weekend to attend my cousin's wedding. it was a super quick trip, so we didn't get the chance to do much sightseeing (although i've been to savannah a few times). this trip was mainly a family reunion of sorts.. minus 2 families and a few cousins. still enjoyable.
it started out friday after dropping off renji at the vet/kennel and picking up mi familia on the way to the airport. i expected it to be a small plane. but once we got to the terminal.. on the ground floor it looked like we were at a bus station instead of IAH. no intercom system, barely an empty seat, each gate had listings for at least 6 flights boarding at each, not to mention the line up of buses at the glass doors of each "gate." fortunately we had the crazy announcer man at our gate so i could hear when it was time for boarding. on the bus we went that took us to our express jet, each row had 3 seats, a single then aisle, then 2 seats. it seemed to me that the heavier ppl should have the single to keep the plane balance. but whatever. about 2 hours later we arrived in savannah, headed to my aunt's house, hotel, then dinner with the family at Paula Deen's restaurant The Lady & Sons and well i do not recommend it.. even if you like southern food. a lot. afterwards we all headed off to see my cousin's house along with his 3 dogs and 5 cats. he owns a kennel.. and somehow that is his excuse. one dog is enough for me. the night practically ended here. i heard it went on for the aunts & uncles.. if you family is like mine, normal is aunt & uncles speaking in extremely loud voices like they are yelling at each other.. this goes on late into the evening and early in the morning. actually this can occur at anytime of day. we were glad to have a hotel room to save us from the early morning raucous.
Saturday, we thought we'd get to do some sightseeing prior to the wedding since it was a night wedding, but it was Veteran's day and there was a parade blocking off most of downtown.. which is where the sightseeing would have occurred. instead we ended up not doing too much, but did end up at one of the two malls in town. yeah, random. after that and eating lunch it was time for a quick nap before getting ready for the wedding. the hotel, mansion on forsyth park, was impressive to say the least. apparently this is were the elite who travel here go, stay, get married, etc. the ceremony was outside by the pool under a white canopy w/chandelier. it lasted for literally 15 minutes or less. i didn't take pictures of the event because of the more than one number of professional photographers on hand. afterwards the guests proceeded inside where you were to sign a book and get your table seating. each table had movie names. our table was 'the king and i', the main table was 'beauty and the beast' (this made me laugh). on a table nearby there were several rose arrangements, each with a name of a movie (the table name) and you were to take a rose from the corresponding arrangement to place on your table. in the pre-reception there were waiters walking around with hor'derves and wine, not to mention the fully stocked open bar. my dad especially enjoyed this portion. we grabbed some hor'derves and wine and headed toward the hotel lounge to sit on some posh chairs and i made friendly with the pianist who played 'ruby, my dear' and 'in a sentimental mood' per request.
After about an hour we were let into the ballroom for dinner of tenderloin, pasta, and seafood and dancing to a live band. overall it was a lovely wedding albeit short of a few traditions.. like speeches, and bouquet throwing, etc. my favorite part was when a relative on the bride's side came up to us was very surprised at the fact that many of us were born in the US. when i told him i was born in texas he was like. wow so you can actually call yourself an all american girl. at least he didn't tell me that i speak english really well. after the wedding, we thought we'd go out downtown, but it didn't end up quite as planned... as we ended up just walking around downtown.
sunday, woke up early so we could go see the cobblestone walkway by the river... a cold front came through overnight so it was pretty chilly out.. but it was still nice out. the day went by quickly and we headed back pretty much after lunch. i'll post more pics elsewhere later...