Day 1, 2 & 3 - Arrival?
Tybee!
"Drift Inn". "Drift Inn" said the sign on the open air garage's post. It was dwarfed by a palm tree shedding it's fronds. Another post was swamped by the largest aloe vera plant we'd ever seen. And the scene was set -- azure blue skies, cotton puffy white clouds, low lush vegetation, swamp hiding alligators, and plants burgeoning with pink blooms, morning glories and oleanders.
12 hours, 1 London, Kentucky, overnight stay, and we 5 sea-seekers have finally arrived in Tybee, the Island of Spencer's dreams. He was giddy! He was bouncing! He was a sizzle of excitement in his seat, all hand movements, laughter, and joy!
Check in, check beds, and "check eyelids for pin holes" as darling hubby's dad used to describe his own napping. Checking beds included deciding where snorers & non-snorers would sleep as we had 2 queen sized beds and one pullout couch in this remodeled light teal mini-suite at Dunes Inn.
We were up with the birds! Oh, and two joggers. Unbeknownst to us most places wouldn't open until 10 a.m. so the world was quiet, except for those birds chirping the sun up and over the sea. And, it stayed quiet until 10!
We walked. Everywhere!
Found a place to eat breakfast, "Sunrise Cafe" where the people were friendly, the cleanliness questionable, but the food was good. As we strolled from the beach to Sunrise Cafe's doors, we inadvertently split -- us on the shady side of the street and lone Spencer on the sunny side.
Mary stated sadly that she missed her dog Augie's morning greeting and wagging tail.
So, I called to Spencer like calling a dog: "Whoo-hoo Spencer. Come here little doggie, say "Arf". He did NOT play along, he cried, "Stranger danger! Stranger danger!"
Here at Tybee you can speak to anybody and they will visit with you. In the Sunrise Cafe, an older thin well weathered man gave us advice, "I've been coming there since 1987 when this place opened but I've lived here all his life....."Get you a bicycle, ride 'round Tybee, it's flat as a flounder."
Spencer was full of fun. At Sting Ray's restaurant, after eating our blackened salmon, and fried fish, we discussed whistling and how Calvin, in high school, had decided he was going to spend the next year learning to whistle. Mary Ann showed us how she could whistle like various birds telling us she learned to do so to entertain her parakeet Oliver. I complained that I could only whistle one call and it was by pulling in air and then I demonstrated my "You whooo". The waitress came up and Spencer laughed, "Don't mind us, we're just being a nuisance!"
Walking North, "How far is the golf cart rental place?" I asked.
Spencer, "You don't wanna know."
1.8 miles and 40 minutes later we get our gas powered, 5 seater, easy-to-do wheelies, cart!
During this hot and let's-find-shade walk we see all the signs of island happy life on their blue and deep purple beach homes:
...Island Fever
...Break Away
...The Knot Cottage
...The Pearl
Back on the beach "Under the board walk, down by the sea, walking with my baby" was where we be, and the baby was the ugliest baby bird I ever did see, all skeletal body and fuzz-before-feathers and stepping back away from us in caution.
Me: Aw, look. It's all alone. None of the other birds are tending to it.
Mary retold a vet's comments: Hey, people, you don't pick up animals and bring them to the vet. Leave them where their mommies can find them, they just left briefly to forage for food!
Their mother's busy. Doesn't your mother leave you and go buy groceries? Of course, they're going to leave them behind sometimes, they can't get their own food. Leave the animals on the beach!
John listened then said: If I had a kid like that I'd leave it, too.
Riding the golf cart back to the Dunes Inn & Suites, I got the giggles.
Spencer: I feel something wet coming down my leg.
Mary: Ew, gross.
Spencer: Oh, no! It's coming from your purse! That styrofoam cup you're carrying!
Mary: Oh shoot, it's my cup of ice!
They all napped while Spencer and I did souvenir shopping via golf cart.
Of course, the news is all about the riots and Black Lives Matter, yet thankfully, we haven't experienced any of it in our travels across 7 states. We did, however, do our part in averting racism by helping a black man who'd lost track of his car...a white Toyota Nissan!!!! Did ya get that? Two types of vehicles in one, none having anything to do with the other -- Nissan OR Toyota.
He was all beaded with sweat and was frantic, flagging us down in our golf cart, wanting to know if we knew all the parking lots in the vicinity. I suggested, "Get on the back and we'll take you around hunting for it." He didn't want to, but we encouraged him. "Is it a Nissan or a Toyota?" and we laughed. Telling us which side of the road it was parked, and making the lights blink with keys in hand, he laughed at his own panic, "It's a Toyota."
Night fall and we all fall -- right into bed. Earlier in the day we recalled how during the last Tybee Island visit 2 years ago our room had rotting carpet and left our feet black. Mary, like a mercy maid, went around washing our black bottomed feet as they stuck out from under the white sheets. Spencer was sure Calvin would enjoy like treatment. The next thing we knew, she was pampering her nephew's feet with a warm wet cloth, "Are you on your feet all day at work, Spencer?" she sympathized. Spencer, who was taking advantage of time lapse between vocations, replied, "No! I lost my job!"
We've drifted in, we've been swamped by Island life, and John's defined his state of mind, "I've been kidnapped."
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