GS LakeMom Scout Notes

Our troop just returned from visiting Savannah, the Birthplace of Girl Scouts. We had an amazing time! I’m going to break our visit out over several posts. There was so much to see & do & experience!

I admit, I was a little nervous about taking the girls to Savannah. I am a nut about all things Girl Scout! They look at me a little strange when I talk about the history of Scouting or other dusty, ancient things!

But the girls impressed me! They were open and listened and asked questions – not questions we “prompted” them to ask – genuine, thoughtful questions during our trips to Tybee Island and the Birthplace. They were engaged and excited for every part of the adventure!

The girl’s planned the trip and it was FULL of things to do – with some free time thrown in for shopping or sleeping in (or oversleeping!).  There were requests for dining choices (Paula Deen please!) and excitement to see dolphins (are there dolphins in Savannah in November?!). Some kind of tour was a must but which kind – trolley (looked like a trolley, but acted like a bus) or a horse drawn carriage (carriage please!).

As troop leaders we learned a lot of lessons from our last big troop trip to Washington DC (I’ll write a post about that adventure in the future!).

1. Calculate your travel time and add 5 – 10 minutes (especially walking time). It takes a group longer to travel/gather. The Internet is a great tool to help estimate travel times between destinations. (I still have no clue how to get a group to gather quicker! Just when one part of the group was assembled, another part of the group would wander away!)
2. Choose your parent chaperones wisely. They can be your biggest ally or your worst nightmare. Remember, this is a Girl Scout Troop outing, you really only have to follow the Girl Scout standards on Girl/Adult ratios. Parents that travel with the troop have to follow troop rules as well as the girls. That means joint decisions usually.
3. HAVE FUN!

I’ll have more posts in the future on specific details on our Savannah adventures – stay tuned!