This morning when I left for work I overheard Basil on the phone trying to arrange transportation to the beach.

“I wanna get wet.”

Go for it, Basil.

Really the only beach around here is out on Tybee Island. Tybee is one of the larger barrier islands that divides the marsh of the low country from the Atlantic ocean.

The beach is about 14 miles or so from downtown across a causeway through the marsh with an encouraging sign that says something along the lines of “Warning - Roadway may be underwater at high tide.”

But that didn’t deter Basil.

Check out this cool overhead satellite map of Savannah and Tybee Island if you want a feel for where things are. Back near turn of the last century there was a passenger rail line that took people back and forth to the island from downtown so that folks could enjoy a day at the beach. But it is no longer there and the old rail right of way is now a favorite of hikers and bikers.

One of the most prominent landmarks on the island is the Tybee Island lighthouse which rises 154 feet into the coastal air. There have been several iterations of the light dating back to Oglethorpe’s first wooden tower which was completed in 1736.

The story goes that Oglethorpe supposedly got so frustrated by the length of time it was taking the contractor to build the first lighthouse that he arrested the head carpenter and threatened to hang him. His workers apparently liked their boss and pleaded with Oglethorpe for his release. After he was let go they finished construction in something like 6 weeks, doing more in that time than they had in the 16 months they had previously been working on it.

There’s several morals to that story, eh?

Anyway, Basil’s take on the whole thing was, “It’s pretty tall.”

Take a look at some of the cool photos on the LighthouseFriends.com Tybee Island page. The lighthouse has been knocked down various times by hurricanes and such. The current version was erected just after the Civil War and has been guiding ships to the mouth of the Savannah river ever since.

Next Basil went out and enjoyed the sand. Coming from Canada, Basil thought they beaches were outstanding. Me, I’ve lived in Florida for a number of years and I think Tybee Beach is OK. I guess those sorts of things are relative. Basil brought back some photos so you can decide for yourself.

Basil didn’t appreciate the fishing pier and pavilion that they have, but I guess he’s not into fishing. You can get a hot dog, an ice cream bar, or a cold bottle of water from one of the concession stands in the pavilion. But basil said he doesn’t eat hot dogs for some reason.

“I don’t get it,” summed up his view of the pier.

I want to leave you with one other good link. Check out the interesting Tybee photos at Flickr. There are some truly amazing shots there. (There are folks with way more photography skill than me out there!)

(Related Tags: travel, tourism, savannah, georgia, tybee island)