On the way

We had a good night in the Courtyard by Marriott in Savannah (415 W Liberty Rd). Since we had neither a train or plane to catch we just got up and ready to go after waking up. James filled our travel cups with coffee down in the lobby and brought also to muffins back (which I found really very nice when I ate mine at the first car stop).

When we had arrived we had the option of either valet parking (for an conciderate amount) or putting the car ourselves into the public car park a few feet down the road. Of course we did the latter. It was no problem. But ... the sign with the fees was quite inconclusive. Big surprise when we retrieved it this morning and found that we only had to pay $6. Wow. Good start of the day, ha-ha.

We were on the road at 9 pm. Driving time was supposed to be about 6+ hours.

James enjoyed his muffin while I was driving. It was very crumbly though and he had some trouble with that in "my" car. I had mine at the first rest stop when we needed to stretch our legs. We noticed that rest stops here in the south are truly different, much more innovative. 

The weather was so nice. Yes, nice and warm. When I had my muffin the birds came. When crumbs fell down accidentally they were all over it, flying about 3 feet up from the floor. James took these photos. I really got most of the muffin.

Driving along we suddenly remembered that friends from church had told us that we upsolutely needed to stop at Buc-ee's, a gas sttion next to I-95. It was worth seeing if nothing else. Funny part was that we really needed gas. We almost started getting desperate. Buc-ee's was in the perfect place. 

We were told that there were oodles and oodles of gas pumps in a row. No kidding.

We could not remember what our friends' favorite food was but it was something to see. Fun.

Well, James had a BBQ pork sandwich and I had the BBQ turkey sandwich ... to go. We enjoyed them at a rest stop. It was a very nice place and we could do a little walk too. 

OMG, our clever iphone maps was NOT right about when we would arrive at the hotel. It kept changing the arrival time. The traffic closer and closer to Miami was getting more difficult. Almost the whole way it had just flowed along. Not now. But it didn't really matter. We arrived safely at the Sonesta ES Suites Fort Lauderdale Plantation (410 N Pine Island Rd). We got settled and then looked for a restaurant.

The hotel was in a very nice area with sidewalks etc. We decided that we didn't really need anything very fancy since we are going to have fancy for 10 days on the ship and opted for the close TG Friday. 

We decided to have a starter which was a spinach + artichoke dip. It was warm and very nice. The first time ever a waiter asked after a while whether it was ok to bring the entrees. Wow. That is how it should be.

Nice BBQ ribs. BBQ twice in one day, ha-ha.

I am so boring. Salmon again, but really very nice.

Hurray for gadgets! We found a Target close by where we got what we wanted and then we were on our way back to the hotel. It was such a nice walk in the warm night air. I tried to take a photo but nothing does it justice to explain the lovely feeling. Just like in Savannah the walks just made us happy.

And our modern gadgets makes everything so easy. My phone even knows where I parked the car.

Back in the hotel I fought with the internet. The Cloak (St Martin's monthly newsletter) for March is now up on the website and vacation can truly begin. The wine which we had brought with us is gone too. 

Night, night.