Tybee Island & Savannah

Over Memorial Day weekend we made a short trip to Tybee Island, GA.  We hadn't been there before, and I didn't do too much research beforehand, so there were some surprises along the way- some pleasant, some less so.  Surprise #1: be prepared to pay. There is NO free parking on Tybee.  Day 1 we actually paid someone $20 to park on their lawn for 4 hours. Day 2 we arrived much earlier and got a spot at a more reasonable meter rate.

The walk to the beach wasn't bad though.  Just a couple of blocks. Surprise #2: pack your lunch. There is nowhere near the beach to get food or drink.  Thankfully, I had packed us a cooler of lunch, snacks, and drinks for the day we arrived and on our second beach day we picked up subs at IGA in the morning.  Jakey LOVED the beach.  He loved the "dirt" as he called the sand.  And especially the fact that he could dig in it for hours and no one minded (unlike when he digs up my garden plants at home.)

Toby was pretty happy about being buried in the sand.

Jakey would go, go, go until he could go no more.  Then he would come to me and say "night, night" and I'd wrap him in his Superman towel and he'd sleep for about 30 minutes before getting up and continuing on his way.  I am so glad our kids are such easy travelers- I know not all 21 month olds would be so reasonable.

Can you see that purple speck in the middle of the photo?

Yup, that is Charlotte.  She was not interested in being buried in the sand.  Or the sand at all for that matter.  She is our water baby 100%.  I had to drag her out to eat, drink, and reapply sunscreen.  She socialized, splashed, and swam until she was barely able to walk back to the car.  The tidal pool in the foreground was the perfect spot for Jake to splash and play without being pounded by a wave, and all three of the kids spent time lounging there with other little ones.

On day 2, Toby got his revenge.

(With a little help from his mom.)

All things considered, Tybee Island is not going to be a beach spot that we are in a hurry to return to.  Edisto was much more simple to get to for a short trip, and Outer Banks, NC is still our all time favorite (US) beach vacation place.

Surprise #3: Savannah.  I like it.

I am not a city dweller by any stretch of the imagination, but if I had to pick a city to live in, I think Savannah would be way up on my list.  We had some hotel credit saved up, so we stayed at the Country Inn & Suites in Historic Savannah (for free.)  Since I was thinking "beach trip" I didn't plan to spend much time in the city, but each evening after cleaning up and changing clothes we headed out for dinner and a stroll.  And it is really such a beautiful, green, friendly city.  People talked to us everywhere!  People played games and music in the city squares, and jogged with their baby strollers through the park!  The houses and buildings are colorful and historic instead of gray and blah!  It was kinda awesome.

 

Look at these trees!

Surprise #4: if you want to eat at The Lady and Sons (Paula Deen's) you must plan ahead and make a reservation. Oh well.  I didn't do that.  So I guess we will just have to go back to Savannah again.  :)