Spring Break 2016/ African American Guide to Savannah

March 20, 2016March 20, 2016Leave a comment

African American Guide to Savannah

My daughter and I are very passionate about our African American History. Savannah is the perfect city to explore our Southern African American Roots because Savannah is home to several Monuments and Tours dedicated to African American History.

One of my favorite Tours was the First African Baptist Church (Stop # 2 on the Old Town Savannah Trolley Tours). Where we paid a small Tour Fee of $7.00 for adults ($6.00 for Students) . If you watch The Real House Wives of Atlanta this is the church on a past Season that the ladies visited and Portia Stewart questioned was a real live train ran under the church LOL and SMH! This church was the very first church built by and established by Slaves in the United States of America. This church played a very important part in the ” Underground Railroad, as they would provide a safe haven for slaves looking to get to the river to head north and obtain there freedom! Our Guides walk you through the church showing you the original pews built by the slaves, allowing you to see the floors that the slaves hid under and used to crawled their way to freedom, and giving you the history of the churches founders and Pastors. This church was also home to the very first Credit Union for African American Parishioners and became the home to many Civil Rights Meetings. The Church still holds regular Sunday Services at 9am and 10am. The churches current Pastor is Thurmond Neil Tillman. I highly recommend this tour. It left my daughter in I in tears. BTW: They no longer allow pictures in the inside of the Church due to past Visitors taking pictures and selling them on post cards

firstAfrican

My daughter Diamond at the First African Baptist Church in Savannah

SavannahFirstAfricanChurch

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Spring Break / The Best of the New Old South!

March 18, 2016March 19, 2016Leave a comment

City Market (Trolley Stop #2)

I’m originally from Florida, so we have traveled to Florida on Vacation a million times! Therefore, needless to say my Daughter is burned out on Disney and Universal Studios! So last year, for my Daughter’s Senior Year in High School she asked to go somewhere different, other than the usual Spring Break Spot of Panama City Beach (PCB).

So in true Go 2 Rose fashion, I began to look for somewhere different to Vacation. I came across the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans, which turned out to be an awesome experience!! This year is my daughter’s first year in College (Spelman) and for her Winter Break we traveled down to Miami, FL. For Spring Break we wanted to do something different, so we headed down to Savannah GA for a truly different and unique experience!

March is a great time to visit Savannah because Savannah holds one of the largest St.Patrick’s Day Celebrations in the Country and they start celebrating about 2 weeks in advance! They even turn all of there fountains in the city green!! How cool is that?

The fountains are Green for St Patricks Day!

💚💚The fountains were turned Green to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day💚💚

Green Kilts in celebration of St Patricks Day!

St Patricks Day Celebrations

So the first stop on our Trolley Route that we decided to get off on was City Market. This is a very diverse and unique little area of Savannah that is home to a mixture of historical monuments, family owned restaurants, shopping boutiques, and modern and hip bars.

My daughter and I spent a lot of time in City Market. We stopped for some sweet treats and ice cream at the Savannah Candy Kitchen; where they make The Best Ever!!! Pralines and Taffy and hand out FREE samples! This little Candy Shop also has a quaint little ice cream parlor where we enjoyed classic flavors of ice cream (Savannah Food Review Coming Soon)

We walked through the City Market square taking in the historical monument sites such as the Haitian Monument for Haitian Slaves who fought in the American Revolution. We made our way across the street to the First African Baptist Church. (as seen on RHOA) Where we paid a small Tour Fee of $7.00 for adults ($6.00 for Students) The Tour Guides walk you through the church while giving you the historical facts of how this church was the very first African American Church in the United States. How this church was built by slaves, was apart of the underground railroad system to help assist slaves to there freedom, and how the church later became an important meeting place for Civil Rights activist.(African American Guide to Savannah Coming Soon). We made our way around several little shops and stopped by Byrd’s Famous Cookies (Where they also give away FREE samples) on our way back to our Trolley Stop.

Now we did take another trip back to City Market the night before we left to go back to Atlanta. The night time is just as eclectic as the day time with everyone from Families with Kids, SCAD Students, 30’s and 40’s crowds, as well as plenty of Senior Citizens. However the night Crowd was much larger and the streets were much busier!! For example the Pizza Shop had a very small steady flow of Customers during the mid-day. However, the line and wait for tables were very long on Saturday night. We had to wait a good 45 min to get our take out slices of Pizza! (Savannah Food Review Coming Soon) The streets lit up with Bars on wheels, green neon glow in the dark necklaces, and were lined with Green TuTu wearing young women and men everywhere! Very fun atmosphere I must say!!🎆🎆🎆

Trolley Stop 2 City Market

Delicious Sweet Treats at the Savannah Candy Kitchen😋

Monument of Haitian Slaves who fought in the American Revolution

Fun Activities to enjoy in Savannah!

First African American Church Established in North America

Empty Nester Organization Tips (Part 1)

September 9, 2015September 9, 2015Leave a comment

Hello Dolls and Divas!

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted. That’s because I’ve been so busy getting my Daughter off to the #1 HBCU College in America. Spelman College that is! #ProudSpelMom. Once I got my daughter off to school, I decided to start getting my life back, and the first step was getting back my organization!!!!

For the past 3 years, my life has been really hectic! I had to take care of my terminally ill father, who later died of Cancer, my job of 13 years was surplused, I ended a 5 year relationship, I started a new business, and on top of all of that, I was getting my daughter through High School and prepared for College. Needless to say organization was put on the back burner, and what was once my Dad’s room turned into my storage room AKA “Hoarder Central”. However, while getting my daughter packed for college, I decided that I would began a Purge and start my organization process.

The Purge: So I started in My Father’s old room “Hoarder Central” I separated all of the junk from things that I would keep. I actually went through each room in my home and did a mass purging. I then called a local (Metro Atlanta) Junk Removal Company called Good Riddance Junk Removal. I would absolutely recommend this Company to anyone who’s looking to haul away a large amount of stuff! They came in and took all of my unwanted items, such as clothes and furniture. I did not have to lift a finger! This company also goes through the unwanted items to determine what can be donated or what needed to be trashed! When I tell you I got rid of a whole lot of stuff! I mean it! They hauled off Couches, Beds. TV’s, tables, clothes, shoes, toys, junk, and the list goes on and on! Over 10 years worth of accumulation in a 3 bedroom / 2 bathroom home with an attack. The Owner of Good Riddance, even came back to spray and kill a huge Wasp Nest that I had in hedges as a courtesy. Very nice Young Man! Most of what was left in my Fathers old room (after the Purge) was Christmas type items, boxes of my daughters old elementary art work and Misc. household items.

Before Pics
My Dad’s old room became the storage room…
“Hoarder Central”

Before Pics
My Dad’s old room became the storage room
“Hoarder Central”

Storage Solutions (Below)

Organized Christmas Décor in Remixed and New Large Plastic Bins in Dad's old room (now storage room)

Organized Christmas Décor in Large Plastic Bins in Dad’s old room (now storage room)

Organized Dad’s old room (now storage room) with Lots of Plastic Storage Bins!

kept sentimental keepsakes such as my dad old records neatly tucked away in his old closet (now storage room)

The Recycle: I recycled my daughters old toy box and used it as a Christmas Decoration Storage Bin and I purchased a few other large plastic containers to store away other Christmas decorations and items. I also recycled several of my daughter’s Steralite Plastic Containers (previously used to store hair bows, crayons, dolls, and toys) placed them in my bedroom closets and labeled each drawer. Great for storing office supplies, craft supplies, and little odds and ends. Although I purchased a few new over the door shoe pocket “thingy-poohs” I also reused my daughter’s over the door shoe pockets “thingy-Poohs” as jewelry holders.