Second Time ‘Round

Last year was our first ever Tybee visit.

And we fell in love.

So this summer we steered the Suburban (or “suh-burr-ven” as Piper calls it) southeast to see if, in fact, our family and Tybee were still a great fit.

This year’s house was actually not that far from last year’s house.

We stopped for ice cream at last summer’s favorite spot, Tradewinds, the first night – before our toes even touched the sea.

Well.

That was a little disappointing.

Riley and Kevin’s favorite flavor – Savannah Mud – was sold out and the teenagers running the counter were bored, uninterested and seemed a bit burdened by our desire to pay their establishment money to purchase their advertised goods.  Turns out, the friendly store owner we conversed daily with last summer sold the ice cream store and Tradewinds was under new management.

So we didn’t stop there every day this year.  Which was probably good for both our stomachs and our wallets.

Plus, the pursuit of ice cream pushed us to discover a new dive.  A new-to-us, old-to-Savannah ice cream store.  Apparently Leopold’s Ice Cream has been around for a long time – since 1919 actually.  And you know how I am a sucker for places established long ago.  (They had me at “established in 1919”.)

The decor was charming and the place looked authentic.  And they sold ice cream. So that was good enough to satisfy every member of our band.

Even the discriminating tastes of Eagle.

And while we were on that new street in beautiful Savannah we stumbled across another sure to be favorite.

Savannah Bee Company.

Honey tasting.  A cool “hive” for the kids to play in while we shopped.   Honey packaged as if it was a work of art.  Which, I guess, it really is. Engaging employees.  We tried new honey flavors – acacia, orange blossom, winter honey, tupelo.  And as we were about to leave the store with our golden treasures one friendly employee we had been chatting with commented that he had a baby snake in his pocket.  Yes. Inside his pocket.  Right there.

The kids were far more impressed with this knowledge than with any statement we had made in the last half hour.

The young man offered to let the kids see and hold the snake if they were interested.

They were.

We all stepped out on the street in downtown Savannah for a stranger to pull a baby python out of his shirt pocket so we could allow our very young children to hold it.

Yes.  It was as bizarre as it sounds.

One thing that is cool about visiting the same place each year is that you have the opportunity to measure your children’s growth through “sames”.

Same beach.

Same favorite restaurant.

Same ice cream store.

And then you can remember how just last year Otto couldn’t run down the same beach.

Or just last year Piper was sitting in a booster seat at the Pirate House.

But this year she was wearing regular human-style underwear and sitting cross-legged in her own chair laughing at her big brother Bergen posing as a pirate.

This year we conquered what we could not conquer last year.

The 178 steps up to the top of the Tybee Lighthouse.

Last summer a thunderstorm kept us from reaching the top.

This year the skies were clear.

2,848 steps in total.

If you count all eight pairs of feet. Which you can’t exactly, since Otto Fox was strapped to my back and Piper Finn made most of the journey in Kevin’s arms.

(Thanks for doing the math Patty – those numbers have never been my strong point.)

It was worth it.

The view was worth it.

Listening to the kids talk about the climb and how they made it – worth it.

I haven’t purchased one of those circular black and white bumper stickers for the car yet.

Kevin says the third summer will be the make or break summer for Tybee.

I don’t know.

I just know – it was a great second round for us this year.