A Day at the Beach - Savannah

One of the joys of visiting Savannah is going to Tybee Island. Before we went with Emily to preview SCAD, so long ago, her junior year in high school, we knew nothing of the beach in Savannah. Luckily, however, someone let us in on the well-known secret of Tybee Island, where families spend weeks in the summer, playing in the surf, lying on the beach, eating and drinking at local joints both on the main drag and on the beach, and just generally having fun.

We went that year to Tybee Island and ate at the Crab Shack, which someone told us about. It was November, and not very many people were out, but we were. We drove over, found the beach, found the Crab Shack, and had a great time eating fresh seafood at the only tourist restaurant that serves it NOT fried! It was great. Since that time, we have gone to Tybee Island during every trip to Savannah and loved looking at the water and walking on the beach.

So this time, when we were finishing Emily's education in Savannah, we went over to Tybee Island on Saturday. Our plan was to eat at a place called North Beach, or something like that, and then just enjoy the beach and the water. Our previous visits to the island had been during the week, and were not impeded by a crush of people, so imagine our surprise when we found the beach so crowded that parking spaces at the North Beach place were not to be found! We circled and circled, and finally gave up. Then we headed back to Crab Shack, and, after we ate, we couldn't remember why we were going anywhere else. While parts of the Crab Shack are kitschy and touristy, the food part is really good and really well-priced. And best of all, none of the food is fried. We had you-peel boiled shrimp, crab salad, cole slaw, she-crab soup (which was merely okay), and a "boiled dinner," which is shrimp, potatoes, corn, crab, clams, and other delicacies, cooked together like a stew and then served in a pot. Susie and I had, in honor of Kim, who could not be there, glasses of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, and Dick and Max had their choice of a plethora of interesting beers.

We spent some time looking at the alligators (yes, really - but they were fat and lazy and in a watery swampy area far down from the quizzical, rubber-necking tourists) and then headed out to the beach, where we spent a lovely couple of hours watching the water encroach on the shore, watching a couple of guys who took para-kiting to a new level, and watching the two love-birds who were so taken with each other that they didn't even notice our smiling at their amorous necking. We also watched a group of incredibly selfish people. How do I know they were selfish? Susie, who is our family historian, asked politely if any of them would take a picture of us together; they all kind of looked at each other, and then kind of shrugged, and then one of them said, "I don't really want to because I would have to get up." I guess the looks on our faces shamed at least one of them, because she, the only one of the group who even really looked in our direction, got grudgingly to her feet and took a snapshot. I was really irritated, and wondered could be important to these people who, when they could help someone, chose to do nothing.

After a while, we headed back over to the mainland, and had some down time. We split up for dinner, Max, Emily, Jeff and I eating dinner at Thai, and Susie and Dick not eating at all! Thai was an okay restaurant, but I can't say that it was much different from any other Asian eatery I have frequented. The food was fine, the wine selection was fine, and the decor was fine. In fact, it was so non-memorable that I had to stop writing and try to remember where we had dinner.

That was our last stop before we all took the Graveyards and Ghosts tour, which was at 10 p.m. The tour was the most disappointing, and the most expensive, part of our trip. Susie and I expected to be taken to some of the old buildings and some of the old cemeteries in the area; instead, we were taken on a trolley tour around some of the old buildings, we looked through the gates into one of the large cemeteries, and we experienced a Disney-like event complete with an actor, theatrical lighting, and visual and sound effects. Please understand that I am a Disney World and Disneyland freak. I LOVE going to those parks, and nothing is more fun than seeing the robotic Abraham Lincoln and the Pirates of the Caribbean and It's a Small World, along with everything else animatronic, but I was not expecting that kind of entertainment in Savannah, Georgia, which is rich in real history and legendary ghosts, and needs no animatronic enhancement.

ANYWAY! We separated that night determined to sleep late the next day, and then strike out on our own. Mother and Don were leaving the next morning, and we decided to simply hang out until dinner time, when we would meet Dick and Susie at the only deserving chain restaurant in town: Bonefish Grill. If you have not tried Bonefish, please do so. The food is good, it is reasonably priced, it is fresh, and the restaurant has nightly specials and a wine list with something for about everyone. In Kansas City, Bonefish is located in both Olathe and up by the airport. In Memphis, it is somewhere south of the city, in a really Yuppie part of town; the location is similarly upwardly mobile in Nashville. We were rewarded Sunday night, and Bonefish in Savannah showed its best side. It was good to take a break from the bustle of being a tourist, and it was good to sit together as a family. Emily was with us, and she enjoyed so much getting to spend time with Susie and Dick. Although we are separated by half a country, it is good to feel close.

The next morning, we finally met Savannah Dan. You will love hearing about him.