So, Matt and I emerged from our cave this weekend (finally).
Actually, the story begins with me waking Matt up at 5:30 am and insisting on an adventure. We headed to Savannah at 6 am, braving the rain and lack of sunlight. The drive is about 4 hours, and the scenery makes every minute drag by. The freeway is a two lane straight away, lined with trees and more trees. Not much to see on the way to Savannah, that's for sure.
As we drove into Savannah, I was in complete awe. The city is gorgeous. It houses the history I've been looking for these past few months. The plan was to drive straight through to Tybee Island first, and then head back to Savannah.
There is one way in and one way out of Tybee island. A freeway made up of bridges and dips over the salt marshes. And then suddenly you have arrived in what I can only describe as a crunchy little town with a definite Ocean Beach feel. We followed signs pointing us to the "south beach" part of town, eagerly trying to peer through buildings and beachy houses to catch a glimpse of the ocean we have come to miss so much. The parking lots at the beaches in this city are lined with huge sand dunes, blocking any view of ocean. These dunes are pristine (no foot prints or tire tracks) and are covered with reeds.
In this particular parking lot I found a small building at the back with a huge painted turtle standing guard at the entrance. Being a huge turtle fan, I was of course drawn to the statue. As it turns out, the building was a small aquarium. After paying the $4 entrance fee, Matt and I toured tank after tank of aquatic creatures. Turtles, snakes, fish and baby alligators! We also learned that this is nesting season for the sea turtles in Georgia! After the aquarium we headed to a wooden pier. We feasted our eyes on ocean, finally, at this point. Ahh the east coast. The water laps gently at the clean and wide beaches. There are no waves. People line their chairs up in long rows and relax in the abnormally warm weather (as we have been getting hit with rain storms non stop in Atlanta).
Along the pier there were people fishing and we stopped to watch a man struggle with his line. His fishing neighbor pulled up a small rainbow colored fish while he fought to bring his catch in. In the end his line broke and we overheard him tell his buddies it must have been a skate.
Let me set the scene of the Ocean Beach pier and compare to Tybee Island.
Ocean Beach pier is covered in fish guts and seagulls. Tybee Island pier is covered in fish guts and what we now call "Georgia Seagulls". They are scraggly, diseased looking brown birds.
I cannot begin to explain how different the people are at the beach on this side of the country. We did decided there are 3 types of people you might see. 1) Mothers in flowing, brightly patterned frocks with huge floppy hats 2) Hairy men in tank tops tucked into their cut off jeans...and sneakers and socks and 3) very pale young women, heavily oiled in skimpy bathing suits. I saw one man wearing a tank top that said "Big Bikes and Whiskey" with a picture of a scantily clad woman. His top was tucked into his cut offs, and he was proudly showing his large gold belt buckle which proclaimed "Country Music". He apparently felt the need to list his likes on his clothing. Perhaps the back had his dislikes?
We headed back into Savannah after touring the island and the lighthouse. We wandered through the streets of stately old houses, ornate gates and spanish moss covered trees. The town's atmosphere takes you back to a different time, where I imagine horse drawn carriages and parasols would dot the streets instead of tour buses and tourists. It feels very muc
h like New Orleans and sort of what I imagine Paris in the country would look like. And along the Savannah river you can watch steamboats paddle by and eat fresh seafood. It was truly an amazing place.
From Savannah we headed to St. Simons island, about 60 miles south. The Georgia coast line drive is so much different than California. You can't see the ocean from the freeway, but there are swamps! Some areas in these swamps looked deep and had large signs that read "Caution! Manatee Area!" I thought Matt was pulling my leg when he told me there were manatees in Georgia! St. Simons island I'm afraid, was a bust. We immediately got lost and found ourselves frustrated and ready to head home.
Actually, the story begins with me waking Matt up at 5:30 am and insisting on an adventure. We headed to Savannah at 6 am, braving the rain and lack of sunlight. The drive is about 4 hours, and the scenery makes every minute drag by. The freeway is a two lane straight away, lined with trees and more trees. Not much to see on the way to Savannah, that's for sure.
As we drove into Savannah, I was in complete awe. The city is gorgeous. It houses the history I've been looking for these past few months. The plan was to drive straight through to Tybee Island first, and then head back to Savannah.
There is one way in and one way out of Tybee island. A freeway made up of bridges and dips over the salt marshes. And then suddenly you have arrived in what I can only describe as a crunchy little town with a definite Ocean Beach feel. We followed signs pointing us to the "south beach" part of town, eagerly trying to peer through buildings and beachy houses to catch a glimpse of the ocean we have come to miss so much. The parking lots at the beaches in this city are lined with huge sand dunes, blocking any view of ocean. These dunes are pristine (no foot prints or tire tracks) and are covered with reeds.
In this particular parking lot I found a small building at the back with a huge painted turtle standing guard at the entrance. Being a huge turtle fan, I was of course drawn to the statue. As it turns out, the building was a small aquarium. After paying the $4 entrance fee, Matt and I toured tank after tank of aquatic creatures. Turtles, snakes, fish and baby alligators! We also learned that this is nesting season for the sea turtles in Georgia! After the aquarium we headed to a wooden pier. We feasted our eyes on ocean, finally, at this point. Ahh the east coast. The water laps gently at the clean and wide beaches. There are no waves. People line their chairs up in long rows and relax in the abnormally warm weather (as we have been getting hit with rain storms non stop in Atlanta).
Along the pier there were people fishing and we stopped to watch a man struggle with his line. His fishing neighbor pulled up a small rainbow colored fish while he fought to bring his catch in. In the end his line broke and we overheard him tell his buddies it must have been a skate.
Let me set the scene of the Ocean Beach pier and compare to Tybee Island.
Ocean Beach pier is covered in fish guts and seagulls. Tybee Island pier is covered in fish guts and what we now call "Georgia Seagulls". They are scraggly, diseased looking brown birds.
I cannot begin to explain how different the people are at the beach on this side of the country. We did decided there are 3 types of people you might see. 1) Mothers in flowing, brightly patterned frocks with huge floppy hats 2) Hairy men in tank tops tucked into their cut off jeans...and sneakers and socks and 3) very pale young women, heavily oiled in skimpy bathing suits. I saw one man wearing a tank top that said "Big Bikes and Whiskey" with a picture of a scantily clad woman. His top was tucked into his cut offs, and he was proudly showing his large gold belt buckle which proclaimed "Country Music". He apparently felt the need to list his likes on his clothing. Perhaps the back had his dislikes?
We headed back into Savannah after touring the island and the lighthouse. We wandered through the streets of stately old houses, ornate gates and spanish moss covered trees. The town's atmosphere takes you back to a different time, where I imagine horse drawn carriages and parasols would dot the streets instead of tour buses and tourists. It feels very muc
h like New Orleans and sort of what I imagine Paris in the country would look like. And along the Savannah river you can watch steamboats paddle by and eat fresh seafood. It was truly an amazing place.From Savannah we headed to St. Simons island, about 60 miles south. The Georgia coast line drive is so much different than California. You can't see the ocean from the freeway, but there are swamps! Some areas in these swamps looked deep and had large signs that read "Caution! Manatee Area!" I thought Matt was pulling my leg when he told me there were manatees in Georgia! St. Simons island I'm afraid, was a bust. We immediately got lost and found ourselves frustrated and ready to head home.
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