Savannah Outen does a cover of the Christmas classic “O Holy Night,” which will be available on iTunes next week. Make sure to get your very own copy.

Savannah, Georgia. ©Calvin Palmer 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Zeiss Planar T* 1,4/50, ISO 100, 1/100 sec, f/4, Canon 40D. B&W conversion in CS3.

by now, most of you know how crazily passionate i am with the sky: day, night, sunny, cloudy, all of the above. it is matter of appreciating the little temporary details in life that will fade and never be the same again. the beautiful aspect of this is that everytime it’s a whole new experience, and in every different experience you just keep looking for more little details and momentary forms that just take your breath away.

happy birthday kathy, thank you for your support and for helping me keep this site running.

A while ago, I entered a writing contest to win a trip to Costa Rica. No, I didn’t win, but I’d like to re-post my slightly edited entry. It’s about my family vacation in Uganda, where I contracted malaria. See some of the pics below.

Side note: The malaria that I got is contagious in no way, shape or form. It does not recur. Once treated properly, it’s out of your system. I got it from an infected female Anopheles mosquito. And yes, you can still get malaria if you are taking the preventative  pills.

Malaria Takes the Bite Out of Ethnocentricity

What thoughts come to mind when you think of the word “vacation”? When you think of a family vacation, does being catapulted out of a river raft down class five rapids on the Nile, drinking unpasteurized and warm goat’s milk, getting stuck in the mud in the middle of the rainforest and contracting the deadliest form of malaria come to mind? Most people would undoubtedly say no, but in December of 2006, this is what happened with my family in Uganda. As an adventure-loving family, we got everything we could have asked for and more.

Uganda is a country so beautiful that it is deemed “the pearl of Africa” in several prominent guidebooks and online sites. The irony: not one native Ugandan, including our guide, knew what a pearl was. From the savannah plains filled with elephants, giraffes, and zebras, to the Nile River filled with crocodiles and hippos, to the capital, filled with the hustle and bustle of city life, this was an unforgettable experience.

Making the trip even more unforgettable, I became extremely sick to my stomach at two o’clock in the morning on the last day of our excursion. The bathroom floor quickly became my bed, as I could barely move due to a high fever, weakness, and continued nausea. Thinking this was just a bad case of traveler’s sickness, I took the prescribed medicine that my doctor had given me in case something like this happened. Fifteen minutes later, that medicine was back in the toilet, and I continued to lie on the floor in agony, waiting for daylight to break.

The buzz from the staff at the hotel was that I had malaria. What a preposterous idea we thought. What did they know? I had been taking malaria pills. Of course I didn’t have malaria. There was only one way to find out: take me to a nearby health clinic.

So, off to the health clinic they took me. This was no first-world health clinic; this was a primitive place, fully equipped with antiquated equipment, dirty concrete floors, open windows with no screens, no air conditioning, and mosquitoes itching for a victim. What was I getting myself into? I was repelled. Maybe I should have just stayed back at the hotel. Scratch that idea. I felt too sick.

Upon waiting 20 minutes, I went in to see the doctor. She immediately told me I had malaria. How did she know? How could she just wing it and tell me I had malaria without a blood test? Then it came … the blood test.

My blood was examined under an old microscope. The doctor, without hesitation, with little to no affect, and with a serious lack of comforting bedside manner, bluntly asserted that I had contracted the deadliest and most common form of malaria, from the plasmodium falciparum protozoan parasite, only spread by the female anopheles mosquito in certain regions of the world. After significant panic set in, I was told that I would be fine with the right medicine and that it is actually fairly common for people to still contract malaria when taking malaria pills.

Luckily, the shot and the strong antibiotics they administered had me feeling great in record time. By the last leg of our long flight home from Amsterdam to Los Angeles, I had almost forgotten that I had contracted one of the deadliest diseases in the world.

Malaria can incubate for months. I was glad to have contracted it in the host country. If the disease had surfaced in the United States, the doctors may have just dismissed it as a bad case of the stomach flu. How fortunate I was to be able to get the treatment I needed. My naivety about the sickness and my poor judgment of the doctor’s skills initially blurred my view about how to handle the situation. However, I can now happily say that I made the right decision by putting my trust in the Ugandan doctor. She saved my life.

The missing link here was indeed trust. Malaria is one of the biggest killers in Africa. This doctor sees cases of it every day. I learned to trust the locals because they know much more about my surroundings than I do. This experience taught me to be aware of my ethnocentric mindset and not let differences “bug me” or inappropriately color my perceptions.

My ability to keep an open mind and put my confidence in the natives has greatly contributed to my appreciation for adventuresome travel experiences. In fact, I would be happy to do this trip all over again, mosquitoes, malaria and all.

Incredible Scenery

Don't Mess With That Croc!

Don't Mess With the Hippo Either!

Just Us and Nature

Giraffe - So Elegant

Elephants

A Very Muddy Buffalo

Zebra

Baboon

Chimp

Lion

Gorgeous Lake

River Rafting

Curious Kids Looking At Their Photo On The Digital Camera

Here at SavannahBest.com, we tend to feel obligated to try most newly opened eateries. After all, our regular readers expect us to keep you up on the latest nibbling news, even if it’s just another ho-hum tex-mex spot. This one, at 217 W  Broughton St., is at least a great downtown location. Well. It was love at first bite! Only a distant cousin to tex mex, and definitely not Mexican, it’s, well, T-Rex, I guess. The pork taco—soft tortilla style—proved to be a large quantity of delicious pulled pork with shredded romaine, fresh-made salsa and jack cheese. The brisket burrito was moist and tender brisket of beef rolled in a honey wheat tortilla with diced roasted poatoes, both black and pinto beans, jack cheese and fresh salsa. And there’s lots more to the menu, which we’ll dive into soon again. Most intriguing: a jerk chicken burrito, a tilapia burrito, plenty of salads and tofu dishes…and more. Try it, you’ll like it!

Well, it just wouldn’t be right for anyone to miss this little bit of sweetness. After a busy morning outside playing, she fell asleep on the couch waiting for lunch to be fixed.  Pretty sweet stuff.

Savannah Marie-  November 21, 2009

Last year was our first Thanksgiving as a (more or less) vegetarian family.  I made spaghetti squash and cheese ravioli.  It sucked!  Besides waking up to the parade on TV and being off from school/work, it felt like just another day.  Holidays are tricky every year because we live so far away from our families.  In the past, the girls have not made for good traveling companions so we would avoid it (traveling) at all costs.  Now we have added an extra obstacle to the holiday season…not eating meat.  This year, after the option of my mother-in-law visiting was taken off the table, we decided to take a Thanksgiving vacation.  Tomorrow we leave for Savannah where we intend to make Thanksgiving less about turkey and more about experience, culture, history, and ghosts!

The last time I was in Savannah was in April of 2009, with my three best friends…Amy, Kristin, and Heather.  I am so thankful to be returning to a place where I now have great memories of mi amigas!  Here we are seven months ago:

Above: Heather, Amy and me at The Chart House restaurant.

Above: Kristin and me (getting the first glass of wine).

Left: Me, Kristin and Heather in the garden of The Davenport House … Amy was in the room busy napping and growing babies!

Right: Me, Amy and Kristin getting our belly dancing lesson at The Kasbah Morroccan restaurant.

Above: Amy tipping the belly dancer at Kasbah.

Try this one on for size.

Got a press release today announcing that Black Tusk signed to Relapse (previous post).

Went to Publix and saw the SPIN article on Black Tusk, Kylesa, Baroness and the Savannah metal scene.

Interviewed John Dyer Baizley of Baroness.

Decibel released it’s Top 40 Albums of 2009. Baroness is #1.

Weird.

We can vouch for the excellence of EOS’ Thanksgiving dinners!  Went there last year for Turkey Day dinner, and were amazed to find it the all-time best turkey dinner ever!  I had only been to restaurants a very few times in decades of gobbling gobblers, all upscale fine dining establishments which left us disappointed at best.  Personally, I’d always thought my own, Gran Marnier-herb-butter-basted bird the world’s best (no modesty from me regarding turkey!), and had had many fine dinners at others’ homes, but EOS won the Grand Prize!  Here’s their line up for Thanksgiving Dinner:

Butternut squash for the first course, followed by your choice of roasted turkey with cornbread stuffing and a cranberry cream sauce, or prime rib with a horseradish jus.  All courses will be accompanied by your choice of side, and don’t forget dessert, baked apples in a puff pastry with Chantilly sauce.  Yum!

EOS will be open for only one seating at 1pm.  The cost is $30 per person with an optional wine pairing for $15 dollars extra.  To make your reservation, call 912-238-2400.

The group will meet Wednesday, December 2nd at Saya Lounge.  Great drink specials, munchies on the house, and lots of creative folks to mix and mingle with.  You’re encouraged to dress festively, your goofy holiday sweaters are encouraged!  5:30-7:30pm, 109 W. Broughton St.

Black Tusk

I haven’t had the opportunity to see Black Tusk live yet but they did play last year’s Bury Your Bike II as their Minor Threat cover band Bottled Violence. Rad times! Good things happen to good people. Good luck boys!

This was not BYB2 BTW. We wyled out way harder!

Poor Paula. First I bad mouth her restaurant, then she gets hit in the head with a ham!

My favorite part is that her hubby Michael looks completely glazed over and just takes a ham rather than comfort her.

I love you Paula, you don’t deserve such a bad week! To make up for it, here is my all time favorite Paula recipe, fried macaroni and cheese wrapped in bacon (find the recipe here or watch her prepare it here)

Which celebrity chef would you rather be hit with a ham? Leave your hamfaced chefs in the comments

Guide de Voyage Atlanta

Atlanta, « la grosse pêche » est construite autour d’un axe majeur nommé Peachtree street, prolongé au nord, dans Buckhead, par Peachtree road. Cette large route traverse les 3 principaux quartiers de la ville : Downtown, Midtown et Buckhead. Le principal souci dans le centre ville est donc de s’y retrouver avec ces Peachtree partout, car outre la voie principale, plus de cinquante autres rues s’appellent Peachtree a Atlanta ! Et, le pire de tout dans cette histoire, est que, malgré les forets entourant le centre-ville, il est impossible de trouver un seul vrai pêcher (l‘arbre a pêches) dans tout Atlanta !

LIRE LA SUITE : GUIDE DE VOYAGE ATLANTA COMPLET ET GRATUIT

Savannah, Georgia. ©Calvin Palmer 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Zeiss Planar T* 1,4/50, ISO 200, 1/400 sec, f/5.6, Canon 40D.  B&W conversion in CS3.

So these past couple of weeks have been intense with many activities going on around the campus. I have taken so many pictures just in the last two weeks that I am sure my fingers wish my heart didn’t love doing it! haha! I am going to try to photo-document some highlights.

Volleyball wins three big games in the Buc Dome, had a tough Senior Weekend and went to semi-finals in the BSC Championship!

Women’s Basketball kicks off in the BUC dome…

Football comes to an end…

Spending some time with friends who I won’t be hanging out with much in the next 6 months or so…

Miss CSU 2010, Amy Stender…was fun!

I have been feeling very anti-social lately. And I’ve been forced into a lot of social situations.

Ok, so not forced. Yesterday was Martha’s baby shower and it was exactly what I expected from my birthday twin. No lame games. A lovely collection of friends. MFEO. Savannah. Delicious treats. Perfect. If I ever get knocked up, repeat plz.

Tonight I went to the CEAs with Savannah. Google it. Ya’ll should be smart enough to know where I am by now. I drop enough hints. Those who aren’t lazy and have stalkerish tendencies can google any show I mention and figure it out fairly quickly.

Anyway…what an experience. I drank a lot of Maker’s tonight so I don’t really want to stick around that long, but ya’ll deserve a quick rundown of what I saw.

• A dude dressed like a pimp in a floor length coat that looked like it was made from Toy’s R Us’ entire stock of Tickle Me Elmos.
• A dude dressed like…a barbarian? I’m not even sure what he was supposed to be.
• A dude in a GIANT paper mache head made to look like some sort of demon. For my True Blood friends…THE GOD WHO COMES. (I just giggled at that…hi, I’m 12)
• The guy in the spandex stripper outfit. Holy hell dude. PUT THAT THING AWAY.
• The guy wearing the “Zebras in public” track jacket. I wanted to mug you and steal that shit. Your Paul Frank hat was cute too. So were you kind of.
• The guy in the leather/alligator patent leather beige sport coat. Holy fuck.
• The multiple dudes in fur (not muppet) coats. The fuck?
• The multiple ladies (and dudes) with face paint/glitter.
• THE HAIR. OMG, THE HAIR.
• The dude who thought he was Russell Brand.
• The girls presenting the awards in head to toe sequins and white feathered wigs.
• Sequins. So. Many. Sequins.
• The hooker in the bathroom with the pancake boobs who was actually wearing fishnets, booty shorts and knee-high black boots.
• The video of the sock puppets dressed as French people.

Those were the highlights. I tried to block a lot of it out. My friend Sarah (from Stick Figure Drawings) performed with her other band, Small Time Crooks and they were awesome. You, You’re Awesome (sock puppet video band) were pretty great and I also enjoyed Magnolia Mountain. The Tillers and The Seedy Seeds won awards, which pleased me. I left early because I’m old and it’s a long drive.

We drove past the Taco Bell that Woodership Down and I walked through the drive thru drunk. I sent him a picture. I miss that dude. I thought I lost one of my favorite shoes, but turns out it was under the seat in Savannah’s car. Day = saved.

So now, I am going to attempt to start the second Sookie Stackhouse book. I read the first one this morning. Yes. You read that right. I don’t read, so much, as devour books. I give myself 10 pages before the Maker’s takes over and I am out like a light.

Savannah, Georgia. ©Calvin Palmer 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Zeiss Planar T* 1,4/50, ISO 200, 1/40 sec, f/4, Canon 40D. B&W conversion in CS3.

Probably the most recognized image of Savannah, the Forsyth Park Fountain.  For those of you unfamiliar with Savannah, Forsyth Park is the place to be on bright sunny days…Vayda and I go there to people (and dog) watch from time to time.  It seems as though there is always something fun going on at the park, a festival, a concert, etc…if you ever make it here, be sure to take a walk through the moss draped live oaks, and flourishing azaleas…it’s a real jewel of Savannah…

©2009 Heather L. Young

For a peek at the old b&w version…CLICK!

Savannah River, Savannah, Georgia. ©Calvin Palmer 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Zeiss Planar T* 1,4/50, ISO 640, 1/80 sec, f/7.1, Canon 40D.

Two weeks ago I visited Savannah, GA with my boyfriend and we had an awesome time. The weather was gorgeous – about 75 degrees without a cloud in the sky – and the people could not have been friendlier.  Below are some of the highlights of our vacation:

Bed and Breakfast: The Dresser Palmer House

The Dresser Palmer House is located near the edge of the historic district, right near Forsyth Park.  It is less than a one mile walk to the river and was quietly tucked away on Gaston street, a beautiful tree-lined block.

Dresser Palmer Gallery (a porch in Savannah-speak)

Rocking Chairs on the Gallery

Dresser Palmer Parlor and Dining Room

Dresser Palmer Garden

Cooking Class: Mansion on Forsyth Cooking School where we got a lesson in Low Country Cooking from Chef Darin Sehnert

Chef Darin Sehnert of 700 Kitchen Cooking School

Our menu consisted of cheddar and chive biscuits, black eyed peas salad, fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits with red eye gravy and a pecan praline angel food cake for dessert. It was DELICIOUS!

Chef Darin’s grits were voted best of Savannah by Savannah Magazine and if you make his recipe you will be able to taste why:

Rich & Creamy Grits

I think the secret to flavorful creamy grits is to use a combination of chicken stock and milk and cook VERY slowly over low heat for an extended period of time.  The flavorful liquids are much better than water alone and the long low heat during the cooking will allow the grits to “bloom” or absorb the liquid and swell up instead of the liquid just simply evaporating from the pot.

Yield:  6-8 servings

3 cups chicken stock

3 cups milk

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ cups quick cooking or stone-ground* grits

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

¼ cup heavy cream

Place chicken stock and milk in a large saucepan.  Season stock mixture with kosher salt and black pepper.  Add grits to liquid and let sit for about 5 minutes to begin hydration.  Turn heat to moderately high and bring to a simmer.  Once liquid simmers, reduce heat to very low and continue to cook, whisking occasionally,  for about 40-60 minutes or until liquid is mostly absorbed.  If consistency gets too thick you can always add more stock or milk.

Stir in butter, Parmesan cheese and heavy cream.  Adjust seasonings to taste.  Serve warm.

*Recipe note:  If using stone-ground grits place them in a bowl or other container and cover with cold water to float out loose bran and other small particles.  Pour excess water off

SCAD Art Galleries:In addition to Savannah’s Southern heritage, there is a fresh, vibrant and exciting arts scene thanks to the large presence of Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) all over the city. We went to several student and profession exhibitions including the Gutstein Gallery and the SCAD Museum (where there was an Andy Warhol silkscreen show) and it is a great activity to just gallery hop across town since everything is so close

More Food: Despite my love for Paula Deen (love and best dishes) we did not eat at her restaurant, Lady and Son’s because we heard that the food was not that good and more a tourist trap than great soul food. Instead we went to Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room where we waited on line for about 20 minutes outside of an old boarding house  to be seated family style for some down home cooking. Mrs. Wilkes did not disapoint! I have never seen so much food in my life, everything was brought out family style and I almost ate a whole bowl of sweet potatoes with pecans and raisins without help from my fellow diners.  Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room is only open on weekdays from 11-2 so get in line if you want the best meal in Savannah!

A sampling of the dishes at Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room. YUM!

Overall the trip was great and I highly recommend going for a long weekend!

Well, we don’t know for sure, ‘cause only one of us has tried it,  but that’s the word from one of our intrepid food scouts.  And he is for sure a devotee of good  fried chicken! Especially at affordable prices. The new Kennedy Fried Chicken, at 2201 Waters Ave.,  boasts  $3.99 for two pieces of chicken, plus can of soda and dinner roll sounds good to all of us. Plus great hours!

A few days ago I spent an hour or two exploring the Savannah Botanical Gardens.  I was quite surprised to see how much was still in bloom in the garden, ignorantly assuming that my fall and winter climates would look similar no matter where I live.  The muted gray and brown tones of fall and early winter I’ve grown up with in western NY have not overtaken the scenery here.  Pansies and roses were still in bloom along side small trees displaying glowing golden leaves, hesitantly turning to shades of amber and crimson.

In compliment with my time at the garden, I’ve recently been re-reading a childhood favorite book- The Secret Garden by Frances Hogdson Burnett.  The story revolves around Mary Maddox’s experience growing up in her Uncle’s home, Misselthwaite Manor in England, after being recently orphaned.  She spends her time at the Manor getting lost in a garden she finds and claims as her own.  Mary and her friends care for the abandoned garden, planting and pruning, bringing new life and watching the  garden grow before their eyes.

It’s been refreshing to read a story so pure, focusing on childhood and the beauty of the earth, exploring and learning, reminding me of the richness of simplicity and how awe-inspiring our environment is.

in the time of daffodils (who know

in time of daffodils(who know
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why,remember how

in time of lilacs who proclaim
the aim of waking is to dream,
remember so(forgetting seem)

in time of roses(who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if,remember yes

in time of all sweet things beyond
whatever mind may comprehend,
remember seek(forgetting find)

and in a mystery to be

(when time from time shall set us free)

forgetting me,remember me

–ee cummings