Two Days With Cary Grant

A few weeks ago Michele was surfing the net as she is prone to do and found that the Lucas Theater was having a Cary Grant film tribute. The Lucas was going to show three Grant movies. They were North by Northwest, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer and Arsenic and Old Lace. Michele and I both love Cary Grant and were excited to get to see something in the historic Lucas Theater. I was able to purchase tickets for both of us for all three movies online and print them at home. I love this convenience because it is a peace of mind thing with me. I won’t have to worry about seat availability and I’m just weird that way.

A few days after purchasing the tickets I got a phone call from an employee of the Lucas Theater and she told me that the time of one of the movies was incorrect on the internet but correct on the ticket. I have mixed feelings about this. I was a little surprised that a theater would make such a mistake but certainly impressed at the effort they were going to to correct their error. I was driving when she called me so I couldn’t write down the time correction so we were early anyway.

We arrived downtown and encountered what I knew would be a problem. Nowhere to park. I didn’t look long and decided to park in a private parking garage. This wound up costing more than the price of a ticket to the movie and I learned my lesson. We strolled around the downtown area before we took a seat in Reynolds square. There was a saxophonist playing in the square and it was soon very clear as to why he was not in a local blues club. Lets just say he will never be in danger of higher tax brackets from his coin in hat income.

After the sloppy sax solo we went on over to the Lucas and took care of the first order of business, popcorn. Unauthorized and unhealthy snack in hand it was time to find a seat. We discussed our options with an Usher and one thing became very clear. Don’t sit in the box seats. It seems they are privately owned and they are fiercely protected. We sat in the balcony almost dead center. As always we were early to the movies but this time it gave us a chance to observe the theater. The Lucas is certainly a beautiful building and is a wonderful place to spend an evening. The staff of the theater conducted a raffle before the movie started and of course we didn’t win. No Mr. Strickland, not you.

We watched North by Northwest and had a pleasurable experience.  The only complaint that I can muster is that the seats  are definitely historic. Michele and I were both squirming around like two children wanting to get out of church by the time the movie was over.

Knowing that Sarah has a love of the theater we invited her to come with us for the double feature the next day. I found a legal FREE parking spot and then we walked around killing time before the first movie started. As always, the afternoon was filled with Sarahisms and Sarah logic. Things like, “A man without a little toe is like a cat without whiskers”. This was her response to me whining about my little toe feeling like it was going to fall off at any moment. We sat in Reynolds Square again enjoying its peace mixed with Sarah’s profound observations.

The first movie that day was “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer”. I have to admit I had never heard of that one until this event came up. It was entertaining and showcased Grant’s natural charm and ability to be smooth yet at the same time funny. After this one we had an hour to wait before the next. We walked down Broughton Street and visited a few stores. We returned and watched Arsenic and Old Lace. This was my personal favorite of the three. By far the most entertaining.

I must say that the whole experience was wonderful as all time with Michele is. The charm and mystery of Downtown Savannah enhance any date night  and makes us appreciate the fact that we get to live here. The Lucas will be on our list of venues to visit as we seek our entertainment in our life in Savannah.