Savannah's Squares

Savannah was laid out in 1733 around 4 squares. Today, there are 22 squares filled with monuments and benches to enjoy the greenery. The squares are in a grid.

Wright Square was the 2nd square established in Savannah. A monument to William Washington Gordon, founder and president of the Central of Georgia Railroad, is located in Wright Square. This was built over Tomo-Chi-Chi’s gravesite. Gordon's widow felt so bad that she had a granite boulder installed in the square to commemorate Tomo Chi Chi, Chief of the Yamacraw Indians and friend and ally to Jame Oglethorpe and the first Georgia colonists.

Chippewa Square, one of the larger squares, was laid out in 1815. The bench where Forest Gump enjoyed his box of chocolates was placed here for the filming of the movie. His bench can now be found in the Savannah Visitors Center.

Oglethorpe's monument is located in Chippewa Square and not in Oglethorpe Square. Oglethorpe was the founder of Savannah and the colony of Georgia.

Madison Square is named for James Madison but in the center of the square is a monument of Sgt. William Jasper, a soldier in the Siege of Savannah who, though mortally wounded, heroically recovered his company's banner.

Monterey Square is said to be the most picturesque. 

In Monterey Square, there is a monument honoring General Pulaski, a general in the Continental Army, who died at the Battle of Savannah.

2016 11 14

Old Savannah Tours

Back to Savannah...

We decided to take a hop-on, hop-off tour in Savannah. There were many options and it was hard to choose. In the end, I chose Old Savannah Tours after reading yelp reviews. What I liked about it were the characters who hopped on to tell their story. Purchase tickets on the website to get a discount--$48 for 2 (fall/winter special).

The Old Savannah Tours ticket office is at 250 MLK Jr Blvd. They'll pick you up at your hotel if you arrange it in advance. After picking up our tickets, we walked across the street to the Savannah Visitors Information Center where the trolley picked us up.

Forrest Gump hopped on at Stop #2--Savannah Theater, near Chippewa Square. 

Rosie the Riveter hopped on at the Mansion on Forsyth Park, Stop #4.

A slave girl hopped on at Stop #12--River Street.

We stayed on the trolley for the entire tour on our first go-around--around 1 1/2 hours. The drivers have no scripts but do have a set route. There are over 20 characters and not everyone comes on every trolley. The next time we passed Stop #12, a male slave hopped on. I really wanted to see the pirate but he never got on even though we must have made the entire route 3 times. The trolleys run from 9 am to 4:30 pm every 15-20 minutes. Be ready to drop a tip in the tip jar.

2016 11 14

Kaede Japanese Restaurant

Found a sushi place on the way home from the Airport Cinemas. Kaede Japanese Restaurant is located at 462 Larkfield Street, in the Molsberry Market strip mall.

Wakame Salad--$3. I love seaweed salad.

Miso soup--$2. This was nice. Not too salty. Pieces of soft tofu and small amount of seaweed in the soup. I ask for mine without green onions.

Tekka Maki--$4. Tuna roll. Pretty good for the price.

Rainbow Roll--$12. California roll on the inside with salmon, hamachi, tuna and I'm not sure what the last fish was.

Spider roll--$12. Soft shell crab roll with a nice sauce on top. 

This was a good sushi restaurant and reasonably priced. This was enough food for 2 people. I'll be back to try different rolls.



2017 02 03

Shan Indian & Pakistani Cuisine

My husband was in the south bay and I asked him to bring home Indian food. He was in Cupertino and I found Shan, located at 20007 Stevens Creek Blvd.

Chicken Leg Tandoori--$3.99, Beef Seekh Kabob--$2.99 and Fish Tandoori--$9.99. The chicken was flavorful and juicy but the beef was too heavy on the onion flavor. The fish was 5 small pieces and way overpriced.

Chicken Tikka Masala--$8.49. Nice flavor but not a big portion.

Palak Gosht--$8.49. Lamb with spinach and cream. This was good but again a small portion.

Chicken Biryani--$8.99. Nice flavor and big pieces of chicken with bone.

Naan--$1.50 each. This was not good. Too hard.

2017 06 27

Kevin's Noodle House

I had a meeting at the Walnut Creek Marriot and looked on Yelp for a place to grab a quick lunch. I found Kevin's Noodle House, located just down the street.

It's a chain with multiple locations. The one in Walnut Creek had a small parking lot in back.

Small Pho #6--$7. This had medium rare steak, well done brisket, tendon and tripe. The noodles were just the right toothless but it was the broth that stole the show. It was rich and so flavorful. I wished I had ordered the medium. The small was too small for me.

2017 01 25

El Coqui

I had a craving for El Coqui's sangria and piquidillo and talked my sister and friend into going with me. El Coqui is located at 400 Mendocino Avenue.

Their sangria is so good. We ordered a pitcher and we couldn't finish it. We each had 2 glasses and there was still another glass or two left.

Tostones Vegetariano--$9.99. Fried green plantains with avocado and onions. So good with their pique sauce.

I always order Picadillo with Scrambled Eggs--$14.25 + $1.75 for the egg. It's seasoned ground beef marinated with sofrito, served with rice and beans and sweet plantains or fried plantains, along with an avocado salad.

Mantecado de Coco con Guineos Frido--$7. Coconut ice cream with fried bananas. I wish there were more bananas.

2017 01 13

Queen House

I haven't been to Queen House for years. It's located at 273 Castro Street in downtown Mountain View. We ordered the Chef's Special--choose 3 dishes for $28.99. This came with steamed rice.

Salt & Pepper Fish Filet. Tender, juicy fish, battered and deep fried without any greasiness.

Beef with String Beans. Tender beef with crisply sautéed green beans.

Eggplant Tofu Clay Pot. This was my favorite. The eggplant was cooked through but not mushy and the tofu was perfect.

We also ordered Szechwan Beef Noodle Soup--$9.59. This was disappointing. Although the noodles were good, the broth didn't have much flavor nor richness.

2017 01 07