BY STACEY WALLACE
OPINION —
On Nov. 5, 2005, I married Michael “Mike” Ralph Wallace at Orr Street Baptist Church in my hometown of Alexander City.
At the time, I was 42 (almost 43), and Mike was 46; therefore, the church was packed. Some people had to sit in folding chairs in the back or in the balcony.
A funny thing happened during the ceremony. When Brother George, my favorite pastor of all time, asked, “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” My sweet Daddy accidentally said, “His Mother and I,” instead of “Her Mother and I.” Shocked that he messed up his only line, I looked at Amelia, my matron of honor and my friend since kindergarten — she was silently laughing.
When we were driving to Atlanta to spend our honeymoon night before we flew to the Bahamas the next day, I called Daddy and pointed out his error.
“Yes, several people pointed that out to me,” he said.
I wasn’t mad; I thought it was funny. When he told me why he made the mistake, I thought it was very sweet.
“While I was escorting you down the aisle, I was wishing that Mike’s parents could have been at the wedding,” Daddy said. (Mike’s parents were deceased.)
When Brother George said, “I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Mike Wallace,” the applause was deafening. Most of our loved ones had given up on us ever getting married. By that time, Mike and I had, too. But I digress.
We decided to celebrate our 20th anniversary in Savannah, Georgia, our favorite city in that state. Mike and I love Savannah’s 16 beautiful squares, its River Walk and history. Also, the city has a lot of wonderful restaurants.
At our hotel, we asked the concierge what were the best restaurants in Savannah; we explained that it was our anniversary, so we wanted to go somewhere special and in walking distance from our hotel.
She said, “You need to go to 17Hundred90 Inn and Restaurant. I will make the reservation for you.”
We thanked her, dressed in our church clothes and walked to 307 E. President Street. When we arrived, we saw that 17Hundred90 Inn and Restaurant’s exterior and interior were beautiful. Also, a very talented pianist played soothing music during our dinner.
Scarlett, our server, was a complete delight. She made us feel so special and treated us like royalty. Therefore, Scarlett gets an A+ from this retired English teacher.
The back of our menus had some interesting information. 17Hundred90 Inn and Restaurant allegedly has three ghosts in it.
“The Inn also has 14 comfortable rooms, each with king or queen-sized beds, private bath, a growing collection of antiques and ghosts waiting to tuck you in at night,” according to the menu.
The menu also reads that there are two friendly spirits and an unfriendly one.
“Anna is a friendly ghost who moves clothing or jewelry in the Inn. The second friendly ghost is Thaddeus, a boy who is known to leave shiny dimes lying on the tables, bar and desk;” the menu says. “However, ‘one unfriendly’ spirit sometimes roams the kitchen area of the Inn. The clinking sound of metal bracelets is often followed by pots and pans being tossed about or spice jars being thrown at unsuspecting kitchen workers.”
The menu also said that “no spot in town is more famously or infamously haunted than the 17Hundred90 Inn and Restaurant.”
Now, I don’t know if ghosts exist or not, but I was glad that we stayed in the Hampton Inn. Also, I was glad we walked to the restaurant because I didn’t want any one of the alleged “haints” to jump in our car’s back seat and ride with us back to Auburn. But I digress once more.
For our appetizer, Mike and I chose the fried green tomatoes, which were topped with tomato chutney, diced mozzarella, fresh basil and finished with a balsamic reduction. They were really amazing.
Scarlett brought us 17Hundred90’s honey butter biscuits. Those biscuits were slap your Grandma three times good; just the biscuits were worth the trip.
For his entrée, Mike chose the shrimp scampi, which consisted of shrimp sautéed with cherry tomatoes in white wine with basil and garlic cream sauce served over linguine and paired with haricot verts. I selected the Boursin chicken, which consisted of a crispy chicken breast stuffed with Boursin herb and garlic cheese paired with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. Both entrees were outstanding.
For dessert, Mike and I shared a slice of key lime pie with vanilla ice cream. Oh, my two times. It was beyond delicious, and sweet Scarlett had the chef drizzle “Happy Anniversary” on the dish.
As I said, we love Savannah, and now we have found a new favorite restaurant when we go back there, the Good Lord willing.
Besides our extraordinary entrees, 17Hundred90 Inn and Restaurant also offers diners; sautéed or blackened shrimp, lobster gnocchi, lemon primavera pasta, braised short rib, Pacific halibut and surf ‘n’ turf.
Mike, this review was for you. Thank you for making the last 20 years the happiest of my life. I love you, and I hope that God blesses us with many more happy anniversaries.
17Hundred90 Inn and Restaurant is open seven days a week for dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. Eastern Time. Brunch is served on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
17Hundred90 Inn and Restaurant makes the grade with an A+ from this retired English teacher. Remember. “Pooh-sized” people never lie about food. Enjoy!
Stacey Patton Wallace, who retired from teaching language arts for 30 years, is a professional diner. Her column, “Making the Grade,” will appear every other week in The Observer. Stacey may be reached at retiredlangartsteacher2020@gmail.com
