It's All a Matter of Perspective

My hubby and I took a little vacation this week – a 30th anniversary kind of thing – to Tybee Island, GA. When he asked me what I wanted to do, since this was somewhat of a milestone year, I said, “Disney World!” Whereas I meant it, I think he thought I was only joking. So off to Tybee we went and The Ocean Plaza Hotel.

First of all, websites lie – or may I say, can be highly deceptive. The picture showed a grand hotel sitting on the sand dunes of the Atlantic Ocean. But upon further inspection – like when we had actually checked in and unloaded the car – we found that there was public parking, and lots of it, behind those sand dunes and directly below our 3rd story balcony. And, of course, there was the street light directly in front of our balcony to give light to that busy parking lot below.

Oh, yes. The balcony. Did I mention all the birds and their droppings? Yes, if I tracked it in once, I tracked it across the carpet a half dozen times! But that’s only because it rained the entire time we were there and I could barely get out on the sand! And when I did, it was gale force winds. Did anybody see Mike Seidel this week on the weather channel?

The lock on the sliding door was no longer in function, and so the establish- ment had put a “hook” into the wall. Moths had played havoc with the curtains. There was no refrigerator, no microwave, no continental breakfast, and NO INTERNET SERVICE, though each time we called the desk, they said they were “Wireless” and “It must be the weather”!

Why anybody would choose outdoor dining on a stormy night, I don’t know. But following the hostess through the rain in the mud between lightning strikes, we did get “indoor” seating at The Crab Shack. “Indoor” meaning screened, sitting on posts above a body of water.

We spent of our first morning going in and out of stores on River Street in Savannah trying to stay dry. (Have I mentioned it rained just about the entire time we were there?) Downtown on Broughton was no better. Neither was parking.

Plans for our anniversary morning were to spend it at Fort Screven touring the museum and fort. At least we’d be inside out of the rain and wind! When we got there, we found it was “closed for renovation” until the summer. So we took in a junkyard. After which we stopped for two cups of coffee which costs us $25. We didn’t know you had to pay to park.

As our usual routine, we watched episodes of NCIS from our brick hard bed that sat about a foot off the floor. But even those concluded at 9:00 and nothing else was on but WWE. World Wrestling Entertainment. And we watched it. (I cannot believe I just admitted to that atrocity.)

Before leaving the island on Wednesday morning, we took a quick walk – it had stopped raining and now the humidity was 100% -- to a highly recommended breakfast establishment. So recommended that it was packed and we had to sit at the counter on one of those old fashioned bar stools with no back support and sweat to the heat of the grills directly in front of us.

This was definitely an anniversary to remember.

OR – it could go like this.

My hubby and I took a little vacation this week – a 30th anniversary kind of thing – to Tybee Island, GA. When he asked me what I wanted to do, since this was somewhat of a milestone year, I said, “Disney World!” Whereas I meant it, I think he thought I was only joking. So off to Tybee we went and The Ocean Plaza Hotel.

Just as the website dictated, we had a grand view of the beach and ocean from our 3rd floor balcony. The room was spacious and clean, and the staff and room service attendants were all kind and helpful. And as long as I have a working coffee pot in the room, then I am happy. Room service even gave me extra decaf! And the light outside our balcony gave extra security at night.

Oh, yes. The balcony. I was so thankful for the balcony. It was spacious and kept us from all the elements – the wind and rain which seemed to be the object of the week. Did I mention all the birds? What fun entertainment they gave us. When the wind got so terrible, the little things would fly by in slow motion, eyeball me, lose their concentration, and be blown straight off in another direction. I didn’t even need my “children and animals” feature on my camera to slow them down enough to get a picture. They just sort of hung there in space. What fun it was feeding them, too. (Yes, we shelled our $10 bag of peanuts and threw them to the seagulls.) The pigeons actually ate out of our hands!

We were able to get out on the beach only a couple of times. The wind was rough, but it was absolutely exhila- rating. I felt like I was in some type of “B” horror flick with the sand swirling by me and moving down the beach. And the “art” it left in its path was breathtaking in places, though I do understand the concept of beach erosion now.

The Ocean Plaza took extra measures for security by placing a lock on the sliding glass door. And at night while lying in bed, it looked like the stars were out as light peeped through tiny holes in the curtains. A nice effect indeed. I’m sure it was an inconvenience for any one on business, but we didn’t need their internet service – except to check emails if we desired. But this was suppose to be a vacation, so it worked in our favor.

Dinner at The Crab Shack was a memorable experience – and their crab stew is about the best you can find anywhere! So thick you can eat it on a cracker. And have you ever experienced a thunder storm over a marsh? Wow!

We love Savannah – rain or shine. This trip introduced us to a new little place downtown called The Savannah Bee. I bought 4 bottles of honey! Some of the best I’ve ever found. And nothing’s better than a Starbuck’s French vanilla Americano on a rainy day on Broughton.

Plans for our anniversary morning were to spend it at Fort Screven touring the museum and fort. But when we got there, we found they were temporarily closed due to renovation. And so we checked out some of the little shops around the island. Unique “treasures,” to say the least. (And, yes, that's a $25,000 price tag on that flying turtle!) In the meantime, we found a little coffee shop, and next door to that was a candy shop that served “artisan” gelato. Both places were owned by locals who gave us the scoop on island eateries.

As our usual routine, we watched episodes of NCIS from our spacious king sized bed at night. And whereas my father-in-law would buy a spy magazine on his vacations, we watched WWE. I must admit I have never laughed so hard as I did at Randy Orton and Ric Flair! They were just too much.

Rain or shine, eat is what we like to do and eat is what we did. The Crab Shack, The Cotton Exchange, The Oyster Bar, The Chart House, The Sundae Cafe, Seaside Sweets, and Leopold's Ice Cream on Broughton! (Their rum bisque ice cream is the best ever!)

And then on Wed. morning, the rain had subsided, and before leaving the island for home, we took a quick walk to a highly recom- mended restaurant called The Breakfast Club. So recommended that it was packed and we had to sit at the counter with the locals on one of those high old fashioned bar stools. I looked at my husband, and with a big grin on my face said, “I thought it couldn’t get any better. But this just caps it.”

This was definitely an anniversary to remember!

Linda Dillow writes in “Calm My Anxious Heart,”
Two women looked through prison bars
One saw mud, the other saw stars.

What do you see when you look at life?