Greetings from Tybee Island, GA
Cliff and
I decided to take a 6-week winter hiatus (January and February) in a warmer climate—sort
of a practice retirement. We ended up at Tybee Island, GA, two houses from the
ocean and collected seashells in three states that we would never have found
at home. It is a great base to take day trips from (Charleston, Hilton Head,
Beaufort, SC, Amelia Island, FL, St. Simon’s Island to name a few). The first
two weeks were heavenly--abnormally warm and sunny in the 70’s, but in the end
it evened out. BUT, we didn’t see one snowflake and so we declared the trip a
meteorological success.
Tybee Island is 18 miles east of Savannah past extensive marshlands and over
a causeway or two. They say Georgia has 80% of the marshlands of the entire
east coast, and I believe it. The birding is spectacular. Its reputation as
a great vacation area is growing quickly and real estate is skyrocketing, especially
since John Travolta and Sandra Bullock bought here and Ben and Jen got caught
smooching behind Chu’s convenience store, but that’s old news. Sandra refers
to Tybee as the Martha’s Vineyard of the South, though others have called it
the Redneck Riviera. We like it. It is very down to earth and you are likely
to find fishermen and local blue collar workers elbow to elbow with millionaires
at the local hangouts. The fifties atmosphere here is somewhat in danger from
condo development, but nothing like Hilton Head or Myrtle Beach—not one golf
course or shopping mall sullies the landscape here. It is very in tune with
nature. 
It
is the only place I’ve ever seen “Caution: Turtle Crossing” signs, and there
is an ongoing sea turtle study. We were even fortunate enough to spot a rare
right whale. You can volunteer for the quarterly outings over the sea for the
dolphin study. They frolic by the beach and flock to the docked shrimp boats
on the Back River. Though slightly cooler in climate, what makes Tybee a much
better choice for us than Florida, is the absence of hurricane damage since
1979, and it’s only a day’s drive further than our granddaughters’ home in
VA.
We discovered new chefs of merit both gourmet and très casual. The hands down winner in the breakfast category is The Breakfast Club where owner/chef, Jody Sadowski, has been featured in a myriad of food and travel magazines and helped cater John F. Kennedy Jr.’s wedding on Cumberland Island, about an hour south of here. Our favorite hangout is Huc A Poos where the beer is always cold, Eric dishes up a great thin crusted pizza, and our dog, Dottie, is always welcomed to dine with us. A.J.’s on the south end serves up some excellent fare at reasonable prices with great views of the Back River, but Dottie can’t even eat on the deck there so we go with great guilt. Sugar Shack is about the only game in town for ice cream in the winter, though the feisty owner (Yale grad ’54) may refuse to sell you the flavor you want if he thinks the combo is too rich (like a hot fudge sundae with Triple Chocolate ice cream--making you one with Dutch Chocolate instead). How do you explain that to your visiting granddaughter who thought this was a “spoil me with anything I want” afternoon? Sundae Café across the street has great daily specials for lunch at $6.95 such as pot roast Mondays or fried flounder Fridays. Don’t go to the Outback Café for ambiance, but the fried oysters are worth the trip. Of course, you’ll read about Crab Shack in all the travel books, so it is THE spot for Low Country (seafood) Boil. You can watch pelicans snooze on the pilings or take a gander at the small alligators born into captivity and living in an enclosed pool area. There are many more places we need to try, but they’ll have to wait for the next trip.
Being near a city for cultural excursions was one of the reasons we picked
Tybee Island for our retreat. Nearby Savannah has a lot to offer and most of
them were free: poetry readings, folk music concerts, college basketball games,
art museums, foreign films, and lots more. The beautiful historic district
has much of its architecture restored and 21 of the 24 parks from the original
1700’s city layout still exist and are restorative in nature as well. What
a pleasure to just plop down on a park bench and chill out, people watch, snack,
etc.
Each park is named and unique with different statuary and plantings. 
A
larger park, Forsyth, had its grand fountain showcased in the film, Midnight
in the Garden of Good and Evil. It ends in the south with tennis courts,
a nice consignment dress shop, The Sentient Bean (a very good, politically
active coffee shop with movies and concerts) and a whole foods market. Yes,
I’m talking about food again, so let’s just get to it.
>>> Part 2