It has been years since my family went on a true vacation for longer than a weekend somewhere.  So we decided this year was the year we were actually going to take a week and take a vacation.  We knew we wanted the beach but we had the hardest time deciding where to go.  My husband was absolutely determined he didn’t want a crazy jam packed beach.  With that in mind, we decided on Tybee Island, GA.  Neither of us had every done anything more than drive through Georgia, so we figured why not stay there a week!

Several of our friends had been to Tybee, and while most said the beach was fine, many commented that there just wasn’t much to do there, especially for kids.  We were looking for something a little more low-key so that actually sounded good to us, even though we do have an 8 year old though.  Even though low key sounded good, I’d be lying if I said we weren’t a little apprehensive about staying there for a week.

However, I am pleased to say we enjoyed it way more than we had even expected too.  No, there is not a lot to do there.  So if you have the kind of kid who needs to be entertained with something other than the beach, Tybee may not be the place for you.  My kid loves the beach so that wasn’t an issue for us.

The beach itself is super clean!  Not once did we see trash cans overflowing or litter everywhere.  Not saying we didn’t see an occasional something, but I think I can literally count two stray pieces of trash the whole week.  I remember we had to pay a fee to even walk the pier in Panama City Beach, but this pier was free and had a little pavilion with food shops as well as fishing pole rentals at the end.  Two of our beach days we were even treated to dolphins swimming by not far off shore.

*Please note – words in italics are links

These quaint little swings dot the beach.  I only wish I’d been able to spend more time in it.

We did take a tour of the Tybee Island Lighthouse and after 178 steps to the top that this out of shape girl thought she’d never survive, we were treated to a gorgeous view.

One of the highlights of our trip included Captain Derek’s Sunset Dolphin Tour.  My pictures turned out pretty awful, but this is indeed a dolphin and not a shark in the water.

Cockspur Island Lighthouse

While we were in Georgia, we took a day to explore Savannah.  While I was disappointed with much of Savannah, we did tour the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist and it is beautiful.

We also toured Fort Pulaski which was involved in a Civil War Battle.  It was so interesting to see hits in the brick where cannons had hit 150+ years ago.   Even better, the Fort contained underground tunnels to explore, a drawbridge, and a moat with a real active alligator warning.  It was truly like stepping back into time.

Our time on Tybee was wonderful and everyone we met was so friendly. Here’s to hoping we can return again someday.

Tybee and Savannah Food Finds and Reviews:

Lighthouse Pizza – Great Pizza!

Fannies on the Beach – Awesome Food! The only place we ate at twice.

The Rock House – Fair food at best at an outrageous price.  Want onion rings instead of fries, that will be $3.99 extra.  They were out of shark and crab cakes so we just had burgers.  But I won’t be going back.

Seaweed’s Sno-balls and Ice-Cream: Sno Cones and Ice Cream at a not totally taking advantage of a tourist price.  Link takes you to trip advisor reviews.

The Pirate House – We had the lunch buffet.  Not a ton of choices but decent eating.  No ghostly experiences for us though. 😉  It’s one of those places you go to for the ambiance and history.

North Beach Grill – Ok food.  Service a little slow but otherwise ok.

All the restaurants above are in Tybee except The Pirate House.

Our hotel:

Sandcastle Inn – Definitely a 2-star hotel at best.  Our room was pretty clean but it had a mildewy smell.  Not sure if it was the ocean and all the moisture in the air or what but our stay wasn’t too bad.  We chose to spend most of our money on doing things instead of a fancy hotel (as long as we had a decent and clean room, which ours was.  But the room was definitely small.  We all tripped over each other.)  The locations as great though.  A block off the beach and within walking distance of most of the food places.