Monday, July 27, 2015

Tybee Island Beach

 

Tybee, a barrier island off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, is still an old-fashioned tourist magnet on a hot, sticky summer Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steamships first brought happy tourists and sickly seekers to the island just after the Civil War to "take the salt air" thought to cure such ailments as asthma and allergies.

The island's history goes way back beyond that, however, its name lIkely derived from a Native American word meaning salt.

Spain claimed it first as part of La Florida, which extended from the Bahamas to Nova Scoia.

Next the French came looking for sassafras, considered in Europe to be a miracle cure, followed by pirates who roamed the sea and saw a source of fresh water and meat.

 

 

 

Little Tybee's pretty beaches also played a part of US history during the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812. the Civil War, WWI, and WWII, but more on that another day.

White morning glories and native grasses cover the dunes of fine white sand.

 

 

 

 

 

In 1887 a railroad line was completed, the island summer population grew, and cottages soon dotted the shore. The cottages were soon dwarfed by grand hotels and the railroad built a huge pier and pavilion with a dance floor, arcade, and shops.

The original pier and pavilion burned in the late 60s and were replaced with a much smaller fishing pier and small pavilion 30 years later. The fisherman in red pulled in this sting ray while we sat on a shaded bench and watched.

 

 

 

Just beyond the modern hotels and high rise luxury units, there are still tiny beach shops and original old cottages with all the old charm of a summer day on Tybee Island.

 

22 comments:

  1. Looks a lovely spot Cynthia, just perfect for a walk on a hot day..

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  2. It must be quite a large island to have all that going on - including a railway. It looks like an interesting place. I would love to see all those old original buildings.

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  3. At first I thought you were going to be telling us all about Herman Melville's work, Typee.

    Fun - with the angle the camera is at, that stingray looks to be as tall as the man in back of it!

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  4. It is very interesting beach

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  5. Hello from my gorgeous island to yours - Life's pretty good isn't it? :) Love your wonder photo with the Stingray, it's really cool!
    It's my shout at the bar, shall we have sundowner cocktails?!
    Wren x

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  6. We like Tybee because it's not so built up. Hate the road out to it. Did you stop at Ft. Pulaski on your way? Worth a visit.

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  7. I"m looking forward to further reports / views of this area.
    I think I can guess WW2 activities / exercises on that beach.
    (Torch and Atlantic North Africa)

    Quite a long beach to patrol for the life guards ( life savers here) and
    the surfers / water frolickers seem to be in the water for as far as the eye can see.

    I'd be keeping a good distance away from that recently caught sting ray!
    It would be still exceedingly dangerous - that tail if flicked could be still fatal.
    I'm surprised that it is allowed to be hung up in / on a public area.
    I guess it must be dead, dead dead!

    Yes Wandering Wren - I'll have a schooner of 4XXXX - thanks for shouting.
    Cheers
    Colin

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  8. Certainly lots of history along that stretch of land.

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  9. I love Tybee Island. I will never forget my visit.

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  10. It looks like people knew the value of this island for a long time. Nice beach shot.

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  11. You took us on a wonderful stroll, a very interesting place thanks for sharing.

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  12. Amazing looking beach and would love to hear some more of the history. Like Huggybear, I'm thinking this may include invasion rehearsals. That stingray looks both astonishing (I've never seen one that big) and terrifying.

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    1. Yeah Mike - the more I look at that beach and having similar topography and tidal
      similarities as the Casablanca region, the more I see of Patton and his practice
      runs / trials here before Operation Torch in November 1942.
      Colin

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  13. The beaches look nice. Interesting history also

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  14. It doesn't look so touristic fortunately with high apartment buildings as they do here along the sand coasts.

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  15. Wow that stingray!
    Sassafras trees we have in Tasmania, might be a different species....most likely sure on that.
    Lots of history you have shared, I further went and researched...

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  16. The morning glories caught my eye. I've never seen them grow horizontially like that. Interesting! Hot, muggy and storming hear to start the day?

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  17. Cynthia, I finding that the class is taking far more time than I anticipated and is covering in depth a number of things I just not interested in. I want to get into info about people, not the development of the printed alphabet, I really don't care.

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  18. Wow I was enjoying my visit to the island until I saw the stingray, I am assuming it was left hanging there til it died, very unpleasant, though I'm hoping that wasn't the case and it was returned unharmed to the ocean.

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  19. I've never heard of Tybee Beach. You do find the most interesting places to visit. I love hearing about them.

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  20. Looks like a great place to visit! Hot and humid here, I made it half a day without AC and then turned it on. The wind is horrid today. Interesting how that plant spider webs over the sand:)

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  21. That is one pretty beach. I like those little white flowers. And by the way thanks for adding a historical fact. reading your blog is an entertaining way to learn :)

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