That's What Shell Said

Happy New Year! We are BACK on Tybee Island because we can’t get enough of this place. Last night we celebrated our 10th anniversary (New Years Eve) and today we are just taking one more day to enjoy the island. I thought while I have some downtime this may be a good chance to recap our trip!

Instead of a hotel, this time we rented a VRBO on the North Side of the island. It’s so quiet, and the beach is close to empty. Waking up the morning to walk the beach has become my new favorite activity and I’m not sure how I’m supposed to go back to Kansas tomorrow.

We rented Fin’s Watch from Anderson Tybee Adventures. I love this condo. It’s clean, it’s so cute, has everything we could possibly need (including 2 bikes that we never managed to take out) and it was less expensive than a hotel room! For just the two of us it has been the perfect size. I would absolutely recommend this place. After a small trip to the grocery store (don’t forget coffee!) This is all you would need for a trip!

The only downside would be if you wanted to be on the South Side of the island, close to all the restaurants and bars. For us, it was a toss up. We really enjoyed the peace and quiet on the uncrowded island, but it’s a LONG way to walk or bike across the island after having a drink with dinner. I think next time we will opt to stay in a condo closer to the South Side. BUT all in all we loved this condo and it was so incredibly peaceful. If you aren’t going to want to spend time downtown, this would be perfect.

The first time we came to Tybee was NYE 2018. I had accidentally discovered this place because I was sick of being cold all the time when we went on our anniversary trip. I googled East Coast beaches with fireworks for New Years Eve. The rest was history. During non-pandemic times the City of Tybee puts on an incredible firework display off of the pier. It can be seen from basically anywhere on the island. In 2018 we hung out downtown popping in and out of bars (you can walk around with alcohol here as long as it’s not in a glass bottle). Then, we hitched a taxi ride (we used Breezy Riders) back to our hotel. We went out to the beach at 11:50 to watch the fireworks. It was perfect.

This year has been a bit different of course. (Whoever would have guessed we would be walking around with masks on?) But even in a pandemic, it’s been an amazing time. Tybee’s peak season is summer so this is great time to visit while social distancing. I hate crowds so this is perfect for me. Lots of room to spread out, open air seating, and not much to try to do inside.

Besides eating and beachcombing, the only thing we have done is had a photo session done. Tangible Traditions Photography met up with us on North Beach to do our 10th anniversary photo session. It was such a fun session. Krystena is so talented and got our images back to us quickly! I would highly recommend her for a photo session on Tybee!

We ate at a handful of different places on this trip:

Rock House- for the third time in a month. This is old faithful. Never had anything bad from there. We did burgers this time. And their mojitos are perfect.

AJ’s Dockside– We ate there for New Years Eve. Reservations are required since the pandemic started. It was ok, but not great enough to want to go back.

Coco’s– This was the best meal of our trip. I had surf and turf, the husband had tuna steak. They were both mouth watering delicious. If you are coming to Tybee eat there for sure.

Pier 16 was good! We ate there on our last trip. It feels a little more fancy and modern, but you won’t be in the only one in a sweatshirt and messy ponytail. We both had fried seafood platters. Typical yummy fried food.

Agave– We ate there the first night. It was close enough to walk from our condo. I had a pineapple stuffed with steak, chicken and cheese. So so good.

North Beach Bar and Grill- Ate here for lunch on New Years Day. They had black eyed peas which was a big deal for me because I literally brought black eyed peas to cook in the condo if I couldn’t find any.

Breakfast Club– The PMS omelette was so good. This is a have to eat kind of place.

Other than eating we just walked around on the beach, collected shells all over the North Side of the island, avoided stepping on Jellyfish (there were a lot!) and watched the boats float past. Perfect socially distanced anniversary vacation. I love Tybee during the winter during the off season. It’s nothing short of perfect. The weather is gorgeous. Bring pants and long sleeves, maybe a t-shirt or two and a jacket. I wouldn’t worry about fancy clothes. Tybee is not a “dress up” kind of place. Jeans and a cute top are more than enough to dress up for dinner. The whole island is such a relaxed vibe.

We did jump in the car on a rainy day and go to Saint Simon’s Island, and Jekyll Island. I’d love to see those a little more in depth. I’ll post about that trip at a later time.

Have you ever been to Tybee Island?