Tybee Island

We couldn't leave the Savannah area without a quick stop in Tybee Island. Whenever I'm that close to the ocean, I have to stop by and walk on the beach for at least a little while. We got there early and practically had the whole beach to ourselves. It was beautiful! I could definitely see myself living in a beach town at some point in my life. I don't really swim in the ocean anymore; I'm not crazy about boats, and I've never cared about sunbathing. I just really like being by the water. I also like the fact that beach towns tend to be smaller (except for the summer months when there are lots of vacationers, of course).

Has anyone ever lived by the beach? What's it like? Tell me of your life. :)

Bonaventure

Some might say that no trip to the Deep South is complete without a visit to a gothic cemetery, and I'm inclined to agree. Bonaventure Cemetery is gorgeous and historic and filled with so many unique headstones and sculptures. There are lush trees everywhere dripping with Spanish moss, as one would expect in Savannah, and it's just a quiet and peaceful place. (The latter might seem obvious considering it's a final resting place and all, but I have definitely been to cemeteries in other cities that weren't particularly quiet or peaceful.) Bonaventure is serenely beautiful and well worth a visit, even if cemeteries aren't really your thing. I'd like to go back and see more of it. :)

Black and White

Here are some more photos from bea-u-ti-ful Savannah! I thought it would be fun to mix it up and edit these photos in black and white. (I think it's been a good six months since I posted any black and white photos; how can that be?) Even though I prefer color photography most of the time, I do love the contrast and strong lines of black and white photos. Sometimes, I think it eliminates "the fuss" and gets to what really matters about an image, you know?

And can I just say that I really, really wish when L'Enfant planned DC, he'd thought to include squares everywhere with big, lush, gorgeous trees? Instead of squares, we got circles. It's not the same. For one thing, the difference in temperature inside a Savannah square, underneath a canopy of Spanish moss, has to be about 20 degrees cooler than outside on the hot street. It's truly remarkable. In DC, your best reprieve from the heat of summer is to go indoors. Luckily, we do have a lot of great places you can hang out in for free, like museums, libraries, and shopping centers...can't complain about that.

Looking through all these photos has me itching to go on another road trip south before winter comes and the roads get bad. I also have parents who remind me not too subtly that they want us to visit soon...my mom has resorted to emailing really old photos of Peter from college to all my siblings in some bizarre form of blackmail lol. Oh parents, you can't live with them...and you're not safe several states away either. ;)

Savannah

Here are a few pics from our brief visit to Savannah a few months ago. Even though we were only there for less than 24 hours, I have lots of photos! I'll save the rest for another post (or two).

This trip was spontaneous and fun and nostalgic for me, as I hadn't been to Savannah since I was a kid. We were in Georgia to visit my family, and after saying our goodbyes, Peter and I decided to take a little detour on the way back and spend a night in Savannah. That's one thing I love about road trips: you can change course whenever you feel like it, provided you've got the time.

After we checked into our hotel, we just walked around and soaked up all those good, laid-back vibes that I miss most about the south. We hung out in a couple squares, ate some delicious pizza at Mellow Mushroom for dinner, and then made our way down to the river at night. It was beautiful!

We had time to check out a couple sites the next day before we had to get back on the road, but I'll save that for another time.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! xo, Mary

Bits of June

To show you how totally together I am as a person, I had this post titled "Bits of May" for a good long while before I realized that it's actually July, which would make last month June, not May. In fairness to my addled brain, I am including some photos that were taken in May in this bunch because I didn't post them to IG until June. Not that it really matters...summer memories all blend together in a haze anyway, eventually, don't they?

This set and the one below are from a brief stay in Savannah and Tybee Island on our road trip down south in May. I have lots more photos from my "real camera" that I'll share soon. How sweet is that cow's face? She's part of a mural on the wall at Mellow Mushroom. 

Lovely tree-lined squares and streets and The Paris Market, where I wanted to buy everything.

Puffy clouds and boats here in Alexandria; a house undergoing renovation in Old Town (I love to see old houses being renovated here...occasionally, part or all of a wall will be down and you can see inside, just like a dollhouse); pretty windows and balustrade; and a funny building that was, at one point, an old house and was expanded and repurposed into doctors' offices, I think.

We had brunch one day at Fontaine Caffe & Crêperie (really good if you're ever in Old Town and craving crêpes); a pretty blue house with a mansard roof; this former mansion (now split into four condos) has so many porches and balconies...I love, love, love this house. Occasionally one of the condos will come up for rent, and you can sneak a peek inside. Here's an old listing from last year, I think, if you want to see what one of the condos looks like. Gah, it's so pretty. And last, but not least, a super cute little free library in our neighborhood.

Another mansard roof on this lovely yellow building; honeysuckle growing like crazy all along our fence in the backyard; I love the ivy growing on this house on the corner; and irises growing up and along gold-painted finials....basically I guess I like plants growing on buildings and fences. :)

So far, summer has been hot and stormy and very humid. We've had so much rain, Peter joked that we're growing fungi, not plants. And we really are. So many weird types of fungi have popped up in our flower beds. Our yard looks like an alien planet.

I plan on spending most of July in my studio because I have lots of work to do, but I'd love a few nice days to get outside with my camera. It's been a while since I really spent some time in nature, so I'm putting that on my goal list for July too...mosquitoes be damned!

Hope your summer is aces. xo, Mary

Souvenirs from Staunton

We didn't have a lot of time in Staunton to shop; in fact, we really needed to get back in the car as we had miles and miles to go that day, but I couldn't just walk past all these cute boutiques and not go in, right? I love to support small businesses, especially when they have great stuff! So we bought a few little souvenirs from Made, "a modern day general store" that carries lots of American-made products, including handmade things from local artisans. We didn't have a lot of money to spend, but lucky for us, they had plenty of affordable gifts. Here's what we got:

I bought a set of illustrated short stories from Scout Books. I've been familiar with Scout Books for a while (at one point I looked into getting my illustrated notebooks printed with them rather than hand-drawing each one...they do custom printing as well as sell patterned notebooks and stories...but the way they do printing wasn't cost effective for me at the time...maybe one day). Anyway, I saw these little stories by Jack London and thought it might be cool to have something to read once we got to the hotel, not that I expected to have a lot of down time (and we didn't), but normally I never travel without a book, and I didn't have one with me on this trip. I love all the illustrations, but the ones by Michael C. Hsiung are my favorite. I might pass these on to my nephews when they're a little bit older, but then again, I might not want to part with them! :)

I also got a little coin purse by Blue Q made of 95% post-consumer material. I'm kind of a sucker for little pouches and purses, and I thought the cowgirl illustration was really cute. Peter got this kit to make a wooden "treasure box" for his nephew. It's made by Jameson Woodworks in Belton, SC. I can't wait to see the box when it's assembled. I think it's going to be adorable!

If you happen to find yourself in Staunton, VA, I highly recommend a visit to this cute shop. We actually talked a little with the woman who owns Made, Corrie Park, and she was telling us how she and her husband moved from Norfolk because they just fell in love with Staunton. I can see why! We commiserated about the horrible traffic in Northern Virginia, and she was telling us how nice it is to live in Staunton where she doesn't have to deal with that anymore. Moving to a less-hectic place is already on my list of life goals, and visits to towns like Staunton just make me want to start packing, like, tomorrow.

I have more photos to share from our trip and other things here in our area too. I hope everyone has an excellent weekend filled with all good things. xo