Orientation In Savannah
On Thursday, July 14th, our daughter Hannah Kirke (also known as HK or just Hannah), attended orientation in Savannah for the Savannah College of Art and Design ‘Summer Swarm’ for incoming freshmen. SCAD is a world-renowned school and over 99% of their graduates are placed in jobs within 10 months of graduation.
We drove down on Wednesday in order to be there and not have to worry about any issues trying to travel on the same day. For those of you that have traveled I-95 in South Carolina, you know how it can quickly get backed up, even on a good day.
We stayed at our favorite place in Savannah, the Hamilton Turner Inn. Tim, Stephen, Melissa and the rest of the staff are just awesome and we always enjoy staying there. I will talk more about HTI in a bit.
To back up a bit, Hannah Kirke has always had SCAD as her dream school. She just didn’t think she would be able to get in. So much so that we had taken a trip in April of 2021 to visit Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. There, they were given a tour by the best tour guides around, my mother and father!
A weekend of high end treatment and she was ready to attend FSU. We even took her to an FSU football game in the fall of 2021 so she could experience the atmosphere that I grew up in as a kid. I was very careful not to try to influence her decision. It had to be hers.
She even asked me once, “What about the University of Florida?” After a large ‘gulp,’ I said , “If that is where YOU want to go, then I’m okay with it.”
Understand, having gone to school at the University of Oklahoma (arch rival is the Texas Longhorns) and having grown up as a Seminole fan (arch rival is the Florida Gators), no orange is allowed in my house. No clothing, no flowers, nothing orange…ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
She was shocked at my response. At that point, I think she realized that my focus was her and not her going to a particular school.
Back to the story, HK applied at FSU and could have gone. However, without telling us, she also applied to SCAD. One day she came downstairs while we were watching TV. She had tears in her eyes and I was worried I was going to have to get my gun and find the young man who was the reason for it!
She said, “I got in!” Kirke looked at her and said, “To what?”
“SCAD!” she said.
I had known for a while how bad she wanted to go there. Covid and online classes had created some challenges for Hannah Kirke and her grades were not where she wanted them. By the way, never have a student take an art class on Zoom. It just doesn’t work.
We were thrilled! A celebratory dinner at our Over The Falls restaurant was the reward!
We dropped Hannah Kirke off at Bumble at the Hive (the freshman dorm area at SCAD), and got on a bus to head to the orientation for parents and students.
The administrators were incredible and Kirke and I were both impressed at the presentation. Then they separated the parents and the kids. Kids went with their groups to tour the campus and parents stayed behind.
This is where parents were told, “Your child is now 18 years old and you can’t control everything they do!” Not in those terms, but it was definitely a message to the helicopter parents in the room.
We then met back up with the kids at a luncheon and Kirke and I decided to bug out and go explore for the rest of the day on our own while the kids continued their orientation. We would see her again on Friday when we pick her up from the dorm.
While we were exploring, we found an active movie set and decided to check it out. They had old period costumes like Little House On The Prairie and we were told that it was an Apple TV production that had yet to be titled. We observed for a while and then decided to head to lunch.
Unfortunately, as I tried to pull out of my parallel parking space, my view was blocked by a white Toyota Prius. As I started out of my parking spot, I heard a car horn and slammed on my brakes of my Honda Pilot. Apparently, I slammed on the brakes at the same time the BMW hit me in the driver side back door. I pulled away knowing that we would block traffic on Oglethorpe Avenue, the main drag in Savannah. We turned at the next intersection and pulled over.
Suffice it to say, I was pissed; mainly because I couldn’t see the car coming thanks to the Prius, who by the way, disappeared quickly.
We did the police officer thing with the exchange of information and I looked at Kirke and said, “I’m ready to eat something.” We had lunch at The Public Kitchen and Bar (highly recommend).
Afterward, we went exploring and found St. John’s Church and decided to go look. We both love to look at old churches and I love to see the organs and the detail work in the wood carvings and stained glass.
On Friday, we picked up Hannah Kirke at the dorm and went straight to the SCAD student bookstore across from the SCAD Museum of Art. There we purchased all kinds of SCAD branded items that college students do and don’t need.
Dinner this night was at Café Collins Quarter. I was sold when we walked in and I saw a bottle of Whistle Pig Boss Hogg on the shelf! At least I knew I could get a good rye before dinner.
The highlight of the meal was an apple and cinnamon bread pudding that I highly recommend. I only got a couple of bites of it because Hannah Kirke at the rest!
We went back to the room to drop of HK because Kirke surprised me with tickets to the 50th anniversary showing of the Godfather at the Lucas Theater. You can read about that in a separate blog because it is too long for here.
Saturday was another fun day as we met Cari Phelps, the owner of Salacia Salts, and her husband Patrick for lunch. Kirke and Hannah Kirke had met Cari a couple of years ago at the store. They became friends and Cari has become somewhat of a mentor to HK. Hannah Kirke does these stickers that she creates. She sells them through her own web site and at some stores, of which Salacia Salts is one.
We spent lunch with them and the mother of another SCAD incoming freshman, Eileen and her daughter Rylee, who are from Sarasota, Florida. We had a great time telling stories about days gone by and getting to know each other.
Lunch was at Starland Yard, a place where food trucks pull into place throughout the day and sell their wares. They had a permanent pizza place and a bar also. It was pretty cool as you check in, get a wristband and give them a credit card. Then you charge whatever you want from each of the vendors and it is totaled up when you leave. We need a place like this in Wake Forest!
Patrick and I hit it off discussing real estate for about an hour. He is definitely a knowledgeable guy that I look forward to getting to know better. He graduated from SCAD with degrees in Architecture and Preservation, so needless to say, we had lengthy discussion on historic homes.
After some shopping in the area, we headed back for some rest before heading to see the Savannah Bananas. If you haven’t been to a Bananas game, it should be on your list. Tickets these days are hard to get as they have received tons of exposure from social media and other news outlets over the last year especially.
We topped the night off with a fireworks display after a Bananas win and then headed back to HTI.
We both needed a shower after being out in the heat and humidity all day long so we cleaned up and crashed as we were headed out early on Sunday to come home.
We will be back in September for move in day at SCAD!