Day Seven of the Great Ten Day Train Trip

Photos: The strawberry shortcake, the filet, the first course at our cooking class, Chef Joe Randall at work, me standing under a mister because of the heat, mounted police near a park, Chef Joe Randall at our cooking class.

Oh, my. I am so stuffed as I write this . . . because tonight Ginger and I went to cooking school.

But let me back up. We got up this morning at the unearthly hour of 3:30 a.m. and caught a train at five. The train left Charleston and we sort of dozed until Savannah (I have a vague memory of someone tossing me a pillow, collecting it again, and me realizing that THIS train had an honest-to-goodness dining car--which we were too sleepy to notice). Upon hitting Savannah, we met cab driver Angela, who took us to our hotel.

Of course the hotel wasn't ready to check us in at seven a.m., so we stashed our luggage, ate breakfast, and tried to plan our day. Using www.tripadvisor.com, we saw that Chef Joe Randall's cooking school was one of the top activities in Savannah, so we called and made a reservation for that night.

And then we took a cab downtown. The day was warm already, so Ginger and I decided to buy a ticket for one of those trolleys you can hop on and off as you please. We saw most of the city by trolley, and after one exit at the River Walk, we were so hot (heat index 105 degrees) that I bought yet another hat and we stopped for lunch. After lunch, we got back on the trolley and got off at Something-Sorrell House--a house that has been featured on HGTV's "If These Walls Could Talk" and Ghost Hunters.

We didn't see any ghosts, but we did walk through this amazing house and saw where it had been used, abused, and how it's being restored by the current owner. Fascinating! And apparently the mistress of the house threw herself off a second story balcony when she caught her husband with one of the slave women, and later the slave woman "hung herself" . . . when there were no furnishings for her to step on and off. Hmmm. Anyway, the house was fascinating all by itself, and Savannah is laden with history.

I had to be impressed with how Oglethorpe, the founder of Savannah and the state of Georgia, laid out the city plan--filled with 24 lovely "squares," or parks, of which 22 still exist today. And Oglethorpe was a godly man--he did not allow slavery or strong drink, in fact, and only after he went back to England did those two things become legal in the colony.

Ginger and I finally made it back to our hotel, where we tried to freshen up a bit and head out to cooking school under Chef Joe Randall. Fortunately, we didn't actually have to cook--Chef Joe did all the cooking, and we watched and ate. And ate. And ate. And I think I may have to fast for about a week. We had duck, and steak soup, and filet mignon that melted in our mouths, and sauces, and mashed potatoes, and strawberry shortcake made completely from scratch. You can check him out at chefjoerandall.com. I had fun snapping pictures until my batteries died. :-( But at least I got some pictures of the food!

So though we didn't make it to Miz Wilkes or Paula Deen's, we made it to Chef Joe's, and I simply don't have room for another bite. :-) And, after a day like this, I am more than ready to call it a day. See you tomorrow!

~~Angie