20th Anniversary Adventure 2016 - Day 5

Tybee Island Beach from our room

This morning Chad made coffee in our hotel room Keurig and we drank it in bed while talking about where we should go next. We relaxed in our room until 10:30, skipping breakfast because we had 11:00 lunch reservations at Paula Deen’s restaurant The Lady and Sons. We walked a few blocks from our hotel and lined up in front of the restaurant with forty other tourists.

The Lady and Sons

When the restaurant opened, we were promptly seated and each served a small plate containing a pancake and a biscuit. We ordered the southern buffet and sampled a number of small portions including fried chicken, meatloaf, brussel sprouts, black-eyed peas, and mashed potatoes. Everything  was delicious. After lunch, we walked to the gift shop, but first we stopped at the restrooms. When I came out of the ladies’ room, I heard a baby babbling and he sounded exactly like Jackson did as a baby. Sort of a grunting, growling noise. I turned the corner and saw a daddy holding his baby boy on his lap, the baby was standing and bouncing up and down, he was wearing a little striped onesie just like Jackson used to wear. Chad had also noticed the baby, and as he walked over to me, he said, “Jackson.” That was all it took for both of us to start crying. Which was embarassing because we were standing in a gift shop where every shirt, coffee cup, and dish towel said, “Butter y’all!” and there was nowhere to hide. We started laughing because we were crying, but we couldn’t stop crying because it was like we had been instantly transported back in time sixteen years and our little boy was right in front of us again. We finally recovered and went outside to walk off our lunch.

We strolled through the City Market, an open-air shopping area that spans 4 blocks, but it was packed with hundreds of people who had just completed Savannah’s Color Run. We picked up our bags and the car from our hotel and drove 30 minutes to Tybee Island.

Tybee Island is a small beach community that prides itself on being a place where people can kick back and relax. We didn’t plan on staying the night, but after driving through the town for 5 minutes, we knew we were going to stay. We picked a hotel, The Beachside Colony, and walked in to see if there were any vacancies. There was one room available for tonight only and we took it. Since it was still early, the unit hadn’t been cleaned so we used the hotel lobby bathroom to change and we went straight to the beach.

Beach umbrellas and lounge chairs were available to rent for $25 per day. We found a young man in a turquoise tank top sitting under an umbrella next to a stack of chairs. He was reclining, arms crossed, his legs spread out in front of him. He ignored us as we approached. I asked, “Hi, are you the rental guy?”

“Yup.”

“So, how does this work?” I asked.

“Um. You pay me and then sit down,” he said.

Well, that sounded easy enough. We picked our chairs, arranged our towels and waded into the ocean. Chad was disappointed because the waves were almost non-existent. I was fascincated by the pelicans and stood waist-deep watching them dive for fish. We played in the water for awhile and then went back to our chairs. Chad bought us beverages from our hotel’s restaurant Marlin Monroe, and that's when we went into total and complete vacation mode. We dozed, we baked ourselves, we stared at the water and didn’t say a whole lot. The sound of the waves worked like medicine for us. Today felt just like a Jimmy Buffett song. Minus the wasted-away-in-Margaritaville part.

At 4:30, our rental ended and we went to check out our room. Our room is actually a one-bedroom condo on the beach with a breath-taking view of the ocean, a jacuzzi tub, and a washer and dryer so we could do our laundry. We spent a couple hours in our condo and finally ventured out for dinner at the Crab Shack.

Situated on the bank of a creek, the resturant is famous for its seafood and its pond stocked with alligators which guests can feed. We sat on a patio under an enormous live oak and ordered Captain Crab’s Sampler Platter: Boiled shrimp, Snow Crab, Jonah Crab, mussels, crawfish, corn, potatoes, and sausage. In the middle of the table was a hole with a garbage can underneath, and we just shoved our trash into the hole as we ate.

World record alligator 19' 2"
Caught in 1890

Live alligators guests can feed for $3

I fed an alligator

Our seafood boil

The Crab Shack is home to cats that wander the patio, and we had one visit our table. Our waiter told us her name was “Tootsie,” and since she shares a name with our cat, we figured she must be pretty special. She let me scratch her chin for a moment, but when she realized I wasn’t going to feed her, she abandoned me. A name isn’t the only thing she shares with our cat.

Tootsie

By 8:30, we were back at our condo. The moon was rising over the ocean and the view was spectacular. Just as the sky went dark, a thunderstorm rolled in. I’ve been sitting on the couch watching the sky light up every 8 seconds, and I will probably spend the rest of the night on the patio listening to the waves.

Nibblin’ on sponge cake

Watchin' the sun bake

All of those tourists covered with oil

Strummin' my six string

On my front porch swing

Smell those shrimp they're beginning to boil

    -Jimmy Buffett

-Rachel