In the summer of 2010, Drew’s family invited us to Tybee Island, Georgia for a beach vacation, so we decided to make the most of the opportunity by taking highways and back roads rather than the interstate.
First, we drove over the mountains to Raleigh, then through North Topsail Beach, Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington, North Carolina – where we visited Battleship North Carolina.
Raleigh Farmers Market
North Topsail BeachBattleship North CarolinaBattleship North CarolinaBattleship North CarolinaBattleship North Carolina
Next we hopped on a ferry and made our way to Charleston, South Carolina.
Jini feeding birds on the ferryDrew feeding birds on the ferryGrabbed lunch at this delish little seafood restaurant on the waterfront in Southport, NCBridge into CharlestonCharleston open-air marketThat’s Jini up there next to the old Custom HouseSelf-timed picThe Anchorage, a cute B&B we stayed at.Had an amazing dinner at High Cotton. Located right on the main drag, East Bay St.
From there we meandered down the coast to meet up with the fam in Tybee Island, Georgia.
Bridge into SavannahView of the Tybee Island Lighthouse from our beachhouseIf you’ve never been to Tybee Island, you should go. It’s a wonderful place.Our fav dive on Tybee, Huckapoos.Huckapoos – Bites & BoozeHistoric Tybee Island Light Station & MuseumView from the top of the lighthouseTybee Island PierFort Pulaski, an American Civil War fortificationCockspur Lighthouse, the less known lighthouse on Tybee Island. To reach it you have to hike from Fort Pulaski and it’s only accessible during low tide.Playing around in the fortPoor Jini locked away in the fort
During our week-long stay on Tybee, we spent a couple of days in Savannah doing the tourist-y bus tours, eating southern comfort food and taking part in an epic bar crawl. Also – we found a $100 bill laying on a busy street one afternoon, what luck! (We did decide that it was only fair to ‘give it back’ to Savannah – you know, for good karma. So naturally we spent it all on our bar crawl.)
SavannahWe love to stay at Hyatt properties, and the one here on Savannah’s riverfront is no exception.Selfie with the municipal building – note its gold domeHere were are on the riverfront with Drew’s parents, Nellie and DonSouthern Living called Jones Street the most beautiful street in North America.Had lunch at Clary’s Cafe, you know from “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” fame. It’s delish, by the way.So many historic districts, squares and cemeteries in Savannah.
On our trip home, we stopped in north Georgia and visited Cornelia – a quirky little town with one of the world’s largest apple sculptures, and Helen – a neat city with obvious German heritage.
Selfie in Cornelia, GA with one of the world’s largest apple sculptures.Cute little Helen, GA. A German-inspired town that is rumored to have an awesome Octoberfest celebration each fall.Goofing offAll the buildings in Helen must conform to strict design standards. Even the fast food joints have German flair.
On the final trek back through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, we stopped at Fontana Dam for a look-see.
Fontana DamFontana DamSelfie on Fontana Dam
What a fun trip! We crammed as much sightseeing as possible into those couple weeks, and it was totally worth it. Shout out to our awesome fam, specifically Nellie and Don, for making the trip possible.
