A Trip to Tybee Part One
24 March 2003-7:02 p.m.
Two weekends ago I got in a car with my friend Alyssa and we drove to Tybee Island. I had decided many weeks before that I needed a vacation. So when I got my tax refund I found a nice bed and breakfast on Tybee and booked it. I was going to go by myself, but at the last minute thought having someone around would be fun. I called Alyssa at work and said what are you doing tonight. To her credit she dropped her tentative weekend plans, packed a bag and jumped into a car with me.
We were to arrive on Friday evening. With one thing and another we set off later than we'd planned. We didn't even stop to eat first. "Oh we'll eat on the road,” we thought. It dawned on us about the time we started to get hungry that it was Friday and it's Lent, and that means No Meat. You don't realize how hard it is to find fast food in the no meat category. We eventually stopped at a Pizza Hut and got pizzas to go. We ate it in the car, because at that point we weren't going to get there until around 10:30. We had a relatively smooth drive down. We only got lost a couple of times, and by lost I merely mean that we missed an exit. The only time we really didn't know where we were was, oddly enough, at the very end. I had the address. I had mapblasted it. Let me just take a moment to say how useless this is. They were terrible directions that got us to Tybee and then just stopped. So we had the name of the street we needed. We thought we could find it. Street signs, you know. Well Tybee has those oh so cute, yet totally useless little white posts on the sides of the road. I'm convinced that this is because secretly they hate tourists. Tybee is not big. It's not like there are a lot of roads. But we couldn't find the one we needed. So we stopped at a gas station to ask directions. I was elected, by the other party, to go be the one to ask. I walked in; there was a clerk behind the counter who was somewhere in his teens. I asked him where Butler Ave. was. He looked at me like I had two heads. Then he pointed out the window. "There". Um where? "There, that road." oh, you see butler Ave. would be the big road that we are on. The main road through town. Now don't I look like a dumbass? Now we have the road, so where's the B&B? We drove up and down the road three times before we just guessed and got lucky.
It was worth it. We had the most wonderful room. Oh it was beautiful. The whole house was beautiful. Our room had a table to eat at, a giant bed, a sofa, a tv, various other furnishings, and the most wonderful bathroom on earth. I am in love with this bathroom. It was HUGE. It had a two person Jacuzzi bathtub. It had a shower you could fit four or five people in. I'm not sure why you would, but hey if you wanted to it was an option. The very first thing we did was to sit in the tub. Clothes on, we were just awed by it. So we had to get in. We were like little kids. We kept whispering because of that feeling that you're in someone else's house. It was great. It was also extremely late and we'd just driven for five hours so we went to bed with the promise of breakfast at nine.
The next morning we got up. That feeling of being a guest in someone's house was still prevalent so the bed was made, and we got dressed. After a quick debate about whether we should wear shoes or not (we didn't), we went out to breakfast. The B&B experience was a new one for us. One that I found highly enjoyable and if given the choice I would take this form of vacation every time. Anyway we knew breakfast was included, but neither of us was prepared for the feast that was put before us. We were the only guests that weekend, so we got to chat with our hosts. They were two very nice men, and they took good care of us. For breakfast that morning we had deepdish apple pancakes, orange and banana salad, and cheese grits. Oh yum. And coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice. Lovely.
Well fortified we set out to enjoy our day. I was lucky, in Alyssa I found yet another person with a deep attachment to the ocean. It's like going home to me. The day was horrible. Overcast and windy. On the beach it was cold. We went about four minutes and then I had to fun back and get my coat. But once dressed against the elements we were ready. I like the beach during the winter. It's cold and gray, but it's also quiet and relaxing. The crowds of summer haven't taken over. Everyone you run into is a beach person. It's pleasant. We walked along the beach, just talking. I couldn't even tell you what about. It was one of those nice aimless conversations. We must have walked about a mile and then turned around and walked back. One of the things I love about Tybee is they have swings, porch type swings, on the beach spaced out up by the dunes. We walked up to one of those and sat and rocked and looked at the ocean. Finally we went back to the house, changed, grabbed out purses and went off to see the lighthouse and find some more food. This trip quickly became about eating as you will see in the next entry.