Iowa Hall of Pride netINS, Inc. Butler House on Grand B&B Sam's Barber Shop Douglas T. Bates III, Attorney KMA Radio's ''Chuck & Don Show'' Barack Obama story & coloring book The Monks of New Melleray Abbey RELATED LINKS About Offenburger.com Biographies Want to Reprint? Want Updates? ARCHIVES Chuck Offenburger's columns Christie Vilsack's columns Carla Offenburger's columns Carla's book reviews Jared Strong's columns Guest Columns The Simple Serenity Farm columns Farm Photos, 2006 - 2008 Our Iowa News Digest Along Our Way  What’s the deal with the black & white saddle shoes?  Click here for the story of our farm in Greene County, Iowa. Here's looking at life at Simple Serenity Farm  We Offenburgers spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and a weather-enforced extra night at the home of Carla's sister Chris Woods and her family in Des Moines. It was a fun gathering that featured nine-month-old Arianna, the Woods' granddaughter, in the starring role! Click here for larger format Earlier photos in this series 
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 It’s a thrill to see our family’s next generation thriving, while we taste sweet Savannah too! By CARLA OFFENBURGER October 29, 2009 SAVANNAH, GEORGIA Family is important to all of us. And it seems to get more so, as we get older. My husband Chuck’s family is large. When we are with the Offenburger family, there are dozens of siblings, nieces, nephews and cousins running around. I can’t begin to count them all or create the family tree. But I come from a small extended family.  First of all, it was a real treat to see both Carrie and Johne living adult lives. And doing it so well. It was fun to spend some quality time in their homes and watch them interact with their spouses Scott Shippy and Jenny Golden Amsbaugh, and in Carrie’s case her young son, Tyler who turns two in November. Carrie married Scott Shippy in 2005. Scott’s family lives in Savannah and that’s obviously what led to Carrie and Scott moving there. Carrie is a stay-at-home mom and Scott works for a medical supply company and also is a real estate agent. Johne and his wife Jenny moved to Savannah so Johne could attend Savannah State University for graduate-level studies in his special interest area of marine biology. Meanwhile, Jenny is a professional photographer and works at a retail camera/photography store.  I couldn’t be more thrilled for all of them. They are all really cool young adults! They are sure and steady in their career choices and not afraid to work hard to reach their goals. All seem very practical and well grounded. Both couples are young homeowners, and they’ve done that right, too, buying reasonably sized and priced homes that could be called “fixer uppers,” and now fixing them up. In fact, I was extremely impressed with their “fixing-up” capabilities, and give Scott most of the credit in that department. Scott and Carrie have an added bonus in that their house sits on Georgia’s intercoastal waterway. You can throw shrimp nets or crab traps off one side of their dock and throw a line out for trout on the other side. What a way to live! Mostly what I liked about spending time with Carrie, Scott, Tyler, Johne and Jenny is that they are just plain fun! Carrie is very organized – so much so that she prepared our “Savannah Itinerary” before we arrived. Everyone seems to do what Carrie says when it comes to hosting or visiting – as it should be, I think. Carrie had us start our visit with a bus tour of historic downtown Savannah, so we could get our bearings. It’s a beautiful old city – oldest in Georgia – with a very diverse population of about 130,000 in a metro area with twice that many people. It’s an important center for tourism, shipping, higher education and retail. Because of its port city status in one of the original colonies, Savannah has drawn nearly every important figure in early American history.  Our itinerary took us to some established Savannah restaurants, based on a list we had of our own. Carrie also took us to Tybee Island Beach for a late morning wade in the Atlantic Ocean surf, then lunch at the island’s popular Crab Shack. She and I also made it to the grand opening of a new public library just up the street from her home. We all experienced Oatland Island Wildlife Center with great walking paths and natural habitats for bald eagles, alligators, cougars, deer, foxes, wolves, bison and other creatures. It also includes a “Georgia farm” with your typical farm animals – a real hit with little Tyler. We all enjoyed the visit. Scott took us on a boat ride and showed us the three rivers that converge near the Shippy home – the Little Ogeechee, the Forest and the Grove Rivers – and then there’s the Atlantic Ocean a short boat ride away. We had three full days of perfect touring weather. And if we could have eliminated the sand gnats that enjoyed a visit at the same time we did, we could have spent all of our nights on the Shippy dock. We ate well in Savannah. I offered to cook two dinners and I did chicken with creamed cheese sauce and pasta for one dinner, and then homemade tacos for the second. I also made us a sour cream apple pie with the fresh apples I brought from Iowa – specifically from Deal’s Orchard in Jefferson. We had the seafood lunch at the Crab Shack on Tybee Island, and fantastic fried chicken served family style with a dozen different side dishes at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House in downtown Savannah (both featured in the “Roadfood” book by noted food writers Jane and Michael Stern that Chuck and I take with us when we travel). At Scott’s recommendation, we had great pizza at Vinnie Van Go-Go’s, the favorite Savannah pizzeria. We also did breakfast at a Waffle House – which you can’t resist when you see one every three blocks and hear their radio commercials continually.  And I can’t forget to mention the two excellent candy stories we visited – Savannah Candy Kitchen and Savannah Sweets – both making the famous Savannah pralines, candied apples and fudge that’d make anyone happy. I sure was! We had plenty of time for visiting and napping (thanks to all of us bending to young Tyler’s regular sleeping schedule). I loved hearing what Johne and Jenny were doing with their home improvements, jobs and school work. I loved watching Carrie and Scott with Tyler. I loved playing with him myself. I was just one happy and proud aunt all week long. I didn’t miss the opportunity to tell both Carrie and Johne how much I enjoyed seeing how well they’ve grown up. And how much it means to me that, not only are they one cool niece and nephew, but they are also great grandkids to my mom Sue Burt. I adore the fact that they are so close to her – even in their distance. They call her several times a week, share their lives with her on Facebook, and generally make sure she is involved in all they do. How cool is that? I left Savannah knowing that our family is growing up and growing up well. Then I made a note to call my sister and brother-in-law, Tammie and John Amsbaugh, and tell them how cool their kids are. But I think they already know it. Now you all do, too.     You can write the columnist at carla@Offenburger.com.
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