Welcome to Savannah. Oh my land, where are my manners?

Luke and I did a wedding shoot yesterday (Valentine's Day) in Fragrant Gardens of Forsyth Park in Savannah.

This area was used in the film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, for all you movie buffs.

Luke and I met Chad, the wedding planner, before noon to view the area and choose our best photo opportunities. It is a beautiful area for weddings and celebrations, although the recent cold weather had done a toll on the plants and flowers nearby.

It was a cloudy day, but that didn't stop the tourist and locals from coming out to enjoy the warmer weather and the sites of Savannah.

After we walked the area and Luke chose the best photo sites, we were off to meet a business acquaintance for lunch. While we waited for a "meet up" phone call, we rode the streets of downtown Savannah and of course down River Street. After an hour or so, we were unable to make contact with Luke's business acquaintance, so we decided to find a parking place and eat lunch anyway.

River Street in Savannah is like nothing you've ever seen before! The old cobblestone streets with rails for the trolley, the magnificent hotels, restaurants, and specialty gift shops near by are all sights to behold in buildings hundreds of years old. There are musicians and dancers all around showing their talent and vowing for your attention as well as basket weavers and other crafty people.

We ate at an upstairs restaurant called Bayou Cafe'. Luke is such a gentleman when he takes me out, if I wasn't a happily married woman and 20 years older than him, I'd have to keep him! LOL! He ordered a Margarita on the rocks with salt for me because he knew I would like that A LOT . . . and I did! We both had hot wings for an appetizer and a Cajun fish sandwich with fries. His was HOT, of course and mine was mild. The cafe' was crowded, so we ate at the bar until a window seat opened up.

From the window of the upstairs restaurant, we could see all the tourist walking below on River Street and the ships passing through as well. A flagship called The Peacemaker was docked and open for tourist to view, so after we finished lunch, we walked the ship and it's magnificence.

You can read about it here www.peacemakermarine.com. It is a beautiful ship with an interesting history.

So many things to see and never enough time to see them all. We decided it was time to get back to Forsyth Park for the wedding festivities to begin. We introduced ourselves and spoke briefly with the groom and then with the bride to make sure we were aware of any specific shots they wanted.

This was an elopement wedding with only 10 guests. The bride and groom wore a full length wedding gown and tuxedo and were beautiful together. I know they will be happy with the wedding pictures when they are processed and ready for viewing. Luke is so talented in photography and has an excellent eye and ability for capturing people at their best. I am lucky to be learning from him.

On a side note, one of the relatives of the bride that was attending the wedding, recently found out she has MS (Multiple Sclerosis). She is in her 30's, although looks much older as she needed assistance to walk or even stand. She and her husband have a beautiful 5 year old daughter. Luke told her that I was doing a 50 Mile Challenge walk for MS in September in Wisconsin. She smiled and the color seemed to come back to her face, as she looked so pale and tired. She thanked me and it was heartfelt. Please remember to donate to MS. It is so important to find the cure. We have to do this thing. Donate on line to http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/carla.pryor.

We finished the wedding shoot and drove back to Luke's house, totally zapped from the day. Luke had a party to attend in Savannah and I had a Valentine dinner with Minor, John, Heather, and Ryan in St. Simons. An absolutely wonderful, but tiring Valentine's Day.

Also, on a funny note, I was telling Minor about meeting this girl with MS and how sad it is. I said, “She was only in her 30's and she looked MY age.” With that he answered, “GOOD GRIEF! That's terrible!”, as though someone looking as old as me was the worst possible thing that could ever happen to anybody. That Minor. I'll get him back!