What we like about the USA, part 2

Preparing to say goodbye to the USA and leave for our snowy homeland, we're reminded of some other things we'll miss about living south of the border, besides the warmer weather.  (There are things we won't, but that's another story.)

"To go" beverages

The "to go" drink is a Joey favourite.  His non-alcoholic beverage of choice is ice tea, a staple in the South (he takes it unsweetened).  At the end of a restaurant meal, a polite "can I have a to go?" results in a (usually large-size) styrofoam cup filled with ice tea being produced along with the bill.  For no extra charge of course.

Joey's collection of "to go" cups -- ??

"To go" drinks are not to be confused with "travellers," which we also like.  In many Southern states, travellers are large (duh) plastic cups containing the alcoholic beverage of your choice, which -- gasp! -- you can legally take out (of your house, a party or a bar) and drink walking down the street.  We haven't taken nearly enough advantage of this.  Our best travellers tale involved a long meander with cups of vodka and ice through the squares of Savannah to the waterfront on New Year's Eve 2010 to watch fireworks (which we couldn't see because of dense fog, but somehow it didn't matter!).


Green fountains

Still on the theme of liquids and what holds them: as March 17 approaches I can't resist this silly one.  First understand that St. Patrick's Day is to Savannah as Mardi Gras is to New Orleans, a huge celebration that goes back over a century.  We have never been in town for the big day itself, which draws enormous crowds (and obscene rents).  But we have experienced some of the foreplay, so to speak, and the best is "the Greening of the Fountain."  This involves the ceremonial adding of dye to the famous fountain in Forsyth Park.  But other fountains get greened up too.

Greening of the Fountain in Forsyth Park, Savannah 

The small fountain in Columbia Square has not been left out

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


Southern hospitality

It's hard to overstate this.  From Tony, the owner of Tony's ("all you can eat catfish") in Bay St. Louis, who came out to chat with us over lunch; to Charles Gray, backbone of the Hancock County (Mississippi) Historical Society, who could tell you everything about local history (while slipping in that his ancestor was kin to a 15th century English king); to Susan at the local tourist office, foisting on us Mardi Gras beads (in January!) and advice about where to get the best king cakes; to Dixie, who accosted us in the middle of the street in Natchez and ushered us into her (colonnaded Episcopal) church to see its Tiffany windows (while complaining that her Sunday shoes pinched); to Peter in Bay St. Louis, who saw us looking in the window of his newly rehabilitated house, invited us in and gave us a half hour tour; and to the many others whose warmth and kindness touched us.

And those are the strangers!  Then there are those Southerners who we are fortunate to have come to know and to call friends.  Here a few of them...

Sherene and me at the Historic Savannah Foundation

Joey and me with Gladys, our landlady (first in Savannah and then on Tybee)

Jonathan, his partner Eric and their new dog Io
(Jonathan gives the best architectural tours in Savannah)