Day 25

Ooooooooooh-weeeee It's Hot

9:00 - up and for a run. Today, I was out for about 37 minutes and it was hot. But my knees felt good and there was finally a very tiny resemblance to some decent form. Paulo opted to sleep it out...

We showered and then drove back towards the Historic Center for some breakie / lunch and to have another sniff around. It was tough finding parking but we eventually squeezed into a space and walked down the street to B. Matthews for a bite to eat. The food was good and relatively cheap but I was disappointed with the espresso and you couldn't see the riverfront like the guide book stated that you could.

After we ate we took a walk along the river front and took in all of the sights and sounds.

We left Savannah at about 3:00 partly to get out of the stifling heat and partly because we had a date with Aido in Orlando.

We arrived at Aido's gaff around 6:30, grabbed a beer and went out on to his back deck to relax.

We had the chatsies, drank a few beers and watched the sunset over the lake behind his house.

Then we went out on the town. Going out with Aido is an experience because you don't stay in the same spot for more than about 10 minutes. So, here is a list of the places we went to:

1. Lil 500 Track - because it would be rude to not do a few laps in the go-cart when you pass one. I managed to collide head on with two different people and after Aido passed me I couldn't catch him. Paulo was miles behind both of us.

2. Chipotle - Aido's idea of healthy eating. I opted for the soft chicken tacos and a Corona to wash them down. Quality fast food.

3. Orlando Brewing Company - a really unusual place. It's an old warehouse that has been converted into a bar and they serve micro brews. We all had a stout, which I enjoyed. It wasn't as nice as a Guinness but it had a bit of a coffee flavour to it that hit the spot. Outside, a band were setting up. Paulo considered buying a T-shirt until he saw the name of the band: My Complex Island. No sale. They were giving away burnt CDs though and they begged us to take one. Back in the car on the way to the next bar we played about 35 seconds of it before switching it off. No sale.

4. Mako's - downtown Orlando. I would have preferred that we build up to this bar through the course of the night but Aido decided to go right for the jugular. Since my mother reads this site, I won't tell you exactly what was going on in the bar but I will say that I started feeling a bit edgy when some dude blew a whistle and all the girls stood up on the bar and started dancing in, shall we say, suggestive ways. We each drank our Kirin Lights and decided to move on.

5. The Lodge - Orlando's shout out to 80s Hair Metal. We all had one beer and enjoyed classics by Quiet Riot, Loverboy and Bon Jovi.

6. Lizzy McCormacks - an Irish pub. We couldn't really decide where else to go and it was the closest bar to us. The pints of Yuengling weren't bad and we met two Irish girls and an English guy who claimed to have been born in Cork. We had a laugh and then moved on.

7. I don't remember the name of the place but no night would be complete without a gyro on the way home. Paulo and Aido ordered while I just had a glass of water.

It was a long day and a hectic night so I couldn't hang with the lads when we got back to Aido's and he broke out the Wii. They played golf, tennis and baseball while I went off for a schnooze.

Day 24

I jumped out of bed at 8:30 and went for a 42 minute run to Peidmont Park. I ran east along Piedmont Avenue, did one lap around the park and then ran back heading west on Juniper Avenue. The view of the city were amazing and the sky was one of the bluest I have ever seen.

After breakie, it was back to the pool for some more swimming, chilling and sunning.

We checked out at 12:00 and got back on to 75S, heading towards Savannah.

We stopped in Macon along the way and decided to go local for lunch as opposed to another sub or fast food meal. What a good call! We drove into the town and came across a place called Roly Poly that had one of the best Pesto Chicken wraps I have ever tasted. And it even came with a free cookie - what a bargain! I then went next door to Faye's for a coffee. Unfortunately, the espresso machine was broken so I had to settle for a frozen coffee instead. The place was really interesting and the girl that worked there told me that it used to be a house. The kitchen was converted to the counter / ordering area while the sitting room and dining room where now places to chill and drink your coffee. One room had big leather chairs and couches, while the other had tables. All of the tables had an old fashioned kettle on them for decoration and the walls were covered with pictures of jazz legends.

We left Macon and drove onto 16E, arriving in Macon at about 5:30. I had found a place for only $42.99 for the night. When I looked at the map it seemed close to the center but unfortunately it was more than seven miles away.

We chilled, had some wi-fi time and then showered up to go into town. We wanted to go for a bite and a beer but since we had to drive we were going to be taking it easy tonight. I saw a place called Creole Red in a guide book that looked pretty interesting - very cheap, very authentic creole dishes.

We drove in, parked up and gandered around for a bit. We decided to stop and have a quick drink before the meal so we went in to a place called the Mercury Lounge. It had a jukebox playing country and Elvis tunes very loudly, a wall painted with the picture of the Rat Pack standing outside The Sands and leopard skin bar stools. We ordered a drink and a serving of nachos that turned out to be huuuge and some of the best nachos that either of us had ever tasted.

We then went in search of Creole Red but discovered that it had been converted to a pub called The Rail Pub. No bother - it was a great place. It had a very cool bar with all sorts of paraphernalia hanging on the wall, a jukebox and a dart board. Plus when we arrived, The Jesus & Marychain were playing followed by Pixies and AC DC. I thought that it would be impossible to shift Paulo. We each had two Coronas and then decided to move on.

Our next stop was a bar called Stogies that had a walk-in humidor with a decent size selection of cigars.

From there we strolled around for a while before stopping into Jen's And Friends so that I could have a nightcap - the very last cold Corona in the whole bar! Everyone that we met and talked to in the bars were so friendly and really, really nice. The kind of folk who would do anything for you.

We are moving on to Orlando tomorrow but Savannah is a great place and I would love to come back some day.