Monday, October 1, 2012

Hitting the half-century mark.

Getting out of town for my birthday seemed like the thing to do, so I got in the car before dawn on Friday and headed for the Georgia coast. My first stop was the beach on Tybee Island, for one last view of the ocean in my forties.
After I got to my sister and brother-in-law's place in Savannah, we went out for lunch - I got the salmon on greens with green beans, fritters and pickled onions.
Then we walked around a bizarre antique store housed in a three-story mansion. You can see in the mirror that some furniture is just stacked on top of other pieces.
Dinner that night on the porch overlooking the park - a Mediterranean shrimp dish, salads and wine. My niece joined us for both lunch and dinner that day, and showed me how to set up an emoticon app on my iPhone.
The Savannah jazz festival was going on so we walked over to the park after dinner to listen for a bit.
My sister and I went the next morning to see an exhibit at the art gallery - "Dan Winters' America: Icons and Ingenuity." His photos range from interesting takes on celebrities to grittier scenes, as well as photos of aircraft and some mixed media work.
Afterwards, we walked downtown and ate crispy trout salad with mango at a Thai restaurant. I was caught off-guard by the presence of cilantro and spent some time pulling every bit I could find out of my salad. Who invented that noxious stuff, anyway?
The good food was unending. My birthday dinner that night was at a cool restaurant that uses all local and organic ingredients. I had seared Carolina scallops with ravioli stuffed with ricotta, truffles and porcini mushrooms in a masala sauce.
We sat up late drinking champagne and talking. And laughing a lot. My older son called to wish me a happy birthday and said, "So how much champagne have you had?"
Breakfast on the porch again and another morning walk around the park under Spanish moss-draped live oaks. Late September may be the perfect time to visit that city - it's still warm enough for summer clothes, but not sweltering.
And too soon it was time to cross back over the Savannah River and head home to the mountains. It was a lovely weekend all the way around. And now that I have the actual day of turning 50 behind me, I'm feeling okay about it.

35 comments:

  1. wow fun stuff...sounds like you let the forties go with a bang...some great food...and some fun...that art exhibit seems pretty cool, i love stuff like that...

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    1. I didn't want to let it go un-celebrated - and liked that it was with people I love.

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  2. Sounds like a really excellent birthday. A great mixture of good food, outings, looking at the ocean, and seeing family.

    But what's wrong with coriander? I love it myself.

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    1. In the U.S., at least, coriander and cilantro aren't the same. Coriander is the dried seeds of the plant and cilantro the green leaves. It's the green herb I object to, because I have that genetic thing that makes the leaves taste revolting to me.

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  3. I can't even think what cilantro tastes like, but I find tarragon to be vile. Glad you had a fun birthday trip!

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  4. What a great way to spend your birthday! 50 is the new 30 so don't worry ;)

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  5. Welcome to the club. All in all, it's not a bad club to belong to.

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    1. Better than not getting to join it. By a long shot.

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  6. Fifty was a hard one for me, but as I inch closer to the next "big" one, I am thinking 50 sounds grand. Glad you celebrated just the way you wanted. I have Savannah on my list of places to visit. Everyone has such wonderful things to say about it.

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    1. I had a lovely weekend, but not my favorite birthday. And Savannah is a really great town to visit.

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  7. I'm not looking forward to that birthday (although I don't like any of them), however you spent it with people you love and with great food and laughter, so I'm glad!

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  8. FIFTY?????
    I got SOCKS older than you!!

    (I've seen that first pic before, I remember those things.)

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    1. I am frightened by that idea.

      (And nope - every photo in this post was taken this past weekend.)

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  9. well happy half century. it does sound like it was a lovely day for you.

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  10. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
    I think you celebrated in the very best way you could. Looks like you had a wonderful time. Enjoy your 50's. ((HUGS))

    (you know I can't comment back to you because your emails goes to undeliverable but I do appreciate your visits and comments)

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    1. Thank you.

      And I don't know what to tell you about the blogger comments. I have no idea why since my email address is correct.

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  11. Happy Birthday
    It's not the number of years but the changes that take place over the years. Going through 50 was pretty good. 60 is not looking so great at the moment. One of the toughest was 30 - huge life changes back then. Not years are the same as you know.

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  12. i wish i could sing right now:

    i wish you an auspicous year ahead, you never know.... :^)

    xoxo

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  13. What a delicious and interesting birthday celebration. I would have especially loved the antique store in a mansion! A belated happy birthday to you....and many more!

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    1. Thanks. I really like looking around in antique stores.

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  14. Happy Birthday!! Looks like some really good food and fun. I love cilantro and usually feel the more the better in a dish. I hope 50 looks as good on me as it does you!

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    1. Yikes - that makes a dish inedible for me!

      And thanks so much!

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  15. Congratulations on a life well lived (and eaten...and drunk). Like Kim, I'm crazy for cilantro. It definitely is a polarizing ingredient, moreso than almost any other I've heard of.

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  16. Interesting how some people are genetically predisposed to hate cilantro. Happy belated birthday to you and wishing you good things in the year ahead.

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  17. That business of stacking furniture on top of each other in a sales room reminds me of the antique shops in Charleston. Seems like they all did it.

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