In all of our previous visits to the Savannah area, we’ve never been to Tybee Island. We made plans to meet up with Tom’s cousin in downtown Savannah at 3:30 on Saturday, but that left us plenty of time to do some exploring on Tybee Island first.
The Tybee Island Light House is at the north end of the island, and was our first stop.
It’s a very picturesque light house, worthy of numerous photos, but that’s all we did. We didn’t pay the fee to climb to the top or go through the museum.
Very pretty!
The light house also happens to be the only place on Tybee Island where you don’t have to pay for parking. We knew we wouldn’t be able to leave the Jeep parked there and take the bikes off, so we just took a quick walk across the street to check out the north beach.
This beach is away from the main business district of the island, so it’s pretty quiet. It was also a little chilly on Saturday, so we only saw a few hardy souls enjoying the beautiful day.
Kids – it’s never too cold for them at the beach!
Not much need for a lifeguard at the beach today! There were a few pelicans out, though.
It was still a beautiful day!
From the north end of the island, we travelled roughly 3 miles to the south end of the island, where the main beach and business district were. We had our bikes, and considered riding them, but there was really nothing to see along the way, so we just left them on the Jeep.
We found a place to park in the beach parking lot, and walked through the business district, which consisted of several restaurants and your typical touristy T-shirt shops.
There was also a boarding house on the corner that looked pretty cute.
From the main street, we walked out along the pier.
The main beach was a little busier!
Still not many in the water, though!
Before leaving the island,
we drove through the one RV Park that’s there. It’s a cute little park, near the Light House, with some full hookup sites that look long enough for bigger RVs. The roads throughout the park are narrow, though, and wind around quite a bit. In addition, Tybee Island is pretty far from everything else around Savannah, so you better want to just hang out at the beach if you stay out there.
On the way off the island, we stopped at a small artists’ area that we had seen on our way in.
Interesting shops!
They take care of the husbands, too!
We still had some time before we were meeting Andrea, John and Emily, so we decided to stop in at Fort Pulaski to check it out. The good thing about having a National Parks pass is that you can stop to visit parks, even when you don’t have time for a thorough visit, because it doesn’t cost you anything.
Fort Pulaski was constructed by the United States as a coastal fortification following the War of 1812. It was designed to be invincible, and “as strong as the rocky Mountains”".” Before it was complete, though, South Carolina seceded from the Union and the Civil War began at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
Since Fort Pulaski was not yet garrisoned by the Union Army, the Governor of Georgia ordered his state militia to seize the fort, which they did easily.
The Confederate Army maintained control of the fort through the first year of the war, but as the Union advanced the Confederates eventually deserted Tybee Island, leaving Fort Pulaski vulnerable to attacks by the Union.
Using experimental longer-range cannons, the Union Army attacked Fort Pulaski from multiple locations on Tybee Island, and conquered the fort.
The Fort is in amazing good shape, and most areas are open for exploration.
We walked around the inside perimeter of the Fort,
and then climbed the stairs to walk along the outer wall.
Volunteers were getting set up for the cannon firing demonstration. We had been plenty of cannon firings at Fort McAllister and Fort Morris last year, so we didn’t stay, but it was a really nice fort to explore.
Leaving the Fort, we returned to downtown Savannah, and met up with John, Andrea and Emily in City Market.
After catching up for a while, we went in search of dinner in one of the many restaurants available.
Interesting alley
Saturday afternoon/evening were definitely busier in Savannah. We must have seen at least 6 different Bachelorette Parties, many of them utilizing these interesting methods of exploring Savannah.
There were also some Bachelor parties in town,but they weren’t as easy to spot as the girls – no matching T-shirts, or veils!
We ultimately decided on the Paula Deen Restaurant, and got our name on the waiting list for a table.
It was a long wait, but the food was good, and we had plenty to talk about to pass the time!
After dinner, we walked back to City Market and listened to the music a little longer.
The music was good, and there were lots of people-watching opportunities that provided entertainment!
Whenever there’s alcohol involved, thing definitely get interesting!
We had a great evening, and it was fun to catch up with the Georgia cousins again! See you guys again soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for reading! We'd love to hear your comments!