Morning Beauty on the Beach

If one picture is worth a thousand blogs, then click on this link... http://www.oceanplaza.com/ and you'll see what I'm looking at this AM. The beach in front of this hotel looks almost exactly as it does in the picture. This is my view from the Pavilion on the Pier, where I'm sitting, alone at 7:58 this morning.

It's August 14th, and we're having unusually cool weather, it was in the 60's the morning and is in the low 70's now. There were 10 people walking along the mile of beach and 3 people swimming in the water. The East Coast Ocean is warm, in case you didn't know, as I didn't until I moved here. It's not at all like the Pacific Ocean, where you have to wear a wet suit to surf even in August. So, it's not unusual to see a few people swimming early or late at night.

There are swings along the beach. Not metal swings but Solid Wooden Garden type swings that seat two. There are several of them planted ...parallel to the surf, but far enough away from high tide, to be almost hidden in the dunes. The swings provide sweet solice to walking on the beach. When I sit in those swings, and watch the waves, and the sand and sunrise, I imagine I must be related to King Solomon with all his splendor, and I'm swinging in my private Garden in front of the Ocean.

When my husband and I moved from our last home an hour away, to Tybee Island, my husband was worried about us leaving our expansive acre lot and moving to a lot just over 1/10th of an Acre. "You'll have no yard" he said. The first night in our new house, as we walked on the beach. I said to him, "This is my front yard." And every morning as I greet sunrise, alone on the Pier, I know, the ocean is my front yard. It's bigger than any yard I could ever afford. And is tended by some giant landscape engineer. It's a very personal thing, this enjoyment of morning beauty on the beach.

Coming back to the Island

I've had to be away from Tybee working on a home in a county where there is no easy access to anything. So, coming back to the Island, where I can walk to Groceries and a small hardware store and restaurants and the library, and on the beach...and up the small back residential streets on the South side...all seems more precious by comparison. Plus I love the ocean breezes, even in August.

I recently came across a walkability score at www.walkscore.com
and was shocked to find Tybee Island is rated 'car dependant'. I wouldn't rate it that, unless you want to leave the Island. But, then, one of my jobs, being a property manager for a small investment firm (that's the job that supports my writing) is such that I have to leave the Island and drive an hour away. So, maybe I'm just 'in love' and you know how 'blind' love can be. Tybee, you will never be rated Car Dependant to me!

Walking with my family out on the Pier

OK, here's the deal. Earlier when I wrote that I love to take my computer out and write on the Pier - what I meant was the Pavilion which is at the beginning of the Pier. http://tybeeisland.com/tybee-island-pier-pavilion.shtml

I've lived by lots of beaches, but never one with such a cool Pavilion (Or such a cool Pier, for that matter). There is something about the huge round wooden structure with it's soaring ceilings and giant open air windows to the Ocean...that is inspiring. There are public restrooms and four concession stands under the roof - where you can buy everything from Hot-dogs and Hamburgers to Ice Cream and Icy flavored treats to beer or wine. The Pavilion is furnished with about 40 picnic tables. It's nice because on a hot day you can walk up to the Under Cover picnic tables and watch people walk by or you can just sit and watch the Ocean. And on any given day, the Pavilion is only about 100 steps to all the restaurants that line the Ocean front street of Strand Ave. http://tybeeisland.com/tybee-island-restaurants.shtml

My new favorite thing about Tybee is the brand new habit my family and I have begun, of walking after dinner, usually about 9PM, from our home, down to the Pavilion and then out to the Pier. We watch the moon on the water or the people dancing to the Music.

It seems there is always music on the Pavilion. Someone, I'm not sure who, runs a computer generated stream of beach type music, which appears to be piped into several speakers around the Pavilion. Or, if that music is off, as it is, around 9PM - you can sometimes find a live band setting up and enjoy an impromptu live performance.

Sometimes when I think about living on Tybee, it's been a month now, we've been in our new home...I think I've discovered some old fashioned artsy/music loving/community that is forgotten by the rest of the world at large.

Going for walks, out to the Pavilion and then out to the end of the Pier, by the light of the moon - my new favorite thing about living on Tybee Island.