At Christmas seems like an unusual time to go on a vacation trip. People are wanting to spend as much time as possible with their family and friends and less time on the job. Most restaurants are closed and hotels are understaffed especially on Christmas eve.
My wife and I decided to spend a few days, including Christmas Eve, in Savannah. We expected to have some difficulty obtaining a room and finding a restaurant that would be open. Being of Irish descent, guess what…..Luck was with us.
Finding a hotel room proved rather easy. None of the hotels were closed. What we did find was that on Christmas Eve a lot of hotel rooms were empty. Not a lot of folks spend Christmas Eve in a hotel room.
The hotels had available rooms but not operating restaurant. Seems that hotel restaurants are not overly profitable even in the best of times, therefore they closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The search for an open restaurant was on.
Our room was one block from the river front. As you know, the river front is where the action is. My wife and I strolled the river front area. There were a few other folks wandering about. Many of those were in search of food.
Most, of the shops were closed…..Actually almost all. It seemed that all restaurants were closed, but we eventually found a couple that were open.
We were able to squeeze into one. Got two seats at the bar which even with the light crowd on the street, the bar was crowded. The young lady taking care of the bar was very busy, but at the same time she seemed under control and very friendly to all of the customers . We later found out that most of the employees did not show up for work and that the whole staff consisted of the bar lady and a cook in the kitchen.
All of the patrons were in a good mood and were very patient with the service. I guess that everyone was hungry and realized that food was scarce on Christmas Eve.
Did I say…..It was cold outside…..especially cold for Savannah. Every time that the door was opened a rush of cold air came into the restaurant to the point that everyone kept their coats on while eating….Yes….Drinking too.
Near the end of our meal an older lady entered the restaurant and walked up to the bar. I noticed that she acted a little awkward, sort of like she was not supposed to be there…..or a little embarrassed. Maybe I shouldn’t have done so, but my first thought was that she was homeless. She was dressed well and appeared to have some class.
After a few minutes the bar lady asked if she wanted to order something. The lady started to turn and leave, then turned back to the bar lady and asked if she could get a cup or chowder and some bread to go. The bar lady punched the order into her computer all was set. After a few minutes the older lady told the bar lady to cancel the order……that she was staying up the street at the Marriot and that she had left her credit card in her room. Our bar lady thought for a minute and then told the older lady that it was too late to cancel, that the order was almost completed.
The cup of chowder and the bread were now out for pickup. The bar lady handed her the food. The little old lady said that she would walk to the Marriot and get her credit card. At this time my wife and I really figured that the little old lady was homeless, cold and hungry. A couple seated near us spoke up at the same time as my wife and I did…….offering to pay for the food…..
The bar lady smiled …… a genuine smile …. and wished the little old lady a Merry Christmas and the food was on the house.
Spending Christmas in Savannah put a smile on our faces and a toasty feeling in our hearts.
I know that this has nothing to do with collecting or selling vintage dinnerware … but it is a true story that I thought was worth telling.
