Friday May 24th

• Tybee Arts Association Show and Sale – 7 Cedarwood Drive 6-9pm
• CoCo’s Sunset Grille – Sunset Toast – 6:30 – 8pm
• Sting Ray’s – Randy Hatman Smith –  7-10pm
• North Beach Bar & Grill –  Damon and the Sh@t Kickers - 7-10pm
• Hucapoo’s – Magic Rocks – 10pm -till
• The Rock House – DJ Xtreme – till 3am

Saturday May 25th

• Tybee Arts Association Show and Sale – 7 Cedarwood Drive 10am-6pm
• North Beach Bar & Grill – Time Walkers – 6-9pm
• American Legion Horseshoe Tournament - 6-9pm
• CoCo’s Sunset Grille – Sunset Toast – 6:30 – 8pm
• Sting Ray’s – Jason Courtnay – 7-10pm
• Hucapoo’s – Whiskey Diablo – 10pm – till
• Dolphin Reef  - Saturday Dance Party – 10pm -till
• The Rock House – DJ Xtreme – till 3am

Sunday May 26th

• Tybee Arts Association Show and Sale – 7 Cedarwood Drive – 10am-5pm
  
• Market at the Lighthouse – 10am-4pm
• Tybee Island Social Club – Bluegrass Brunch – 11am-2pm
• Marlin Monroe’s – Oyster Roast and Live Music  - 2-5pm
• North Island Surf and Kayak -  inaugural surf swap meet  Bring anything old/unloved/unused surf related for a genuine buy/sell/trade event. BYOB and pot luck. Dogs/kids welcome.  3-6PM
• CoCo’s Sunset Grille – Sunset Toast – 6:30 – 8pm
• Sting Ray’s – Robert Willis – 6-10pm
• North Beach Bar &  Grill – The Magic Rocks – 6-9pm
• Hucapoo’s – Eric & Jason – 6-10pm
• The Rock House – DJ Xtreme – till 3am

Monday May 27th 

• Sting Ray’s – Randy Hatman Smith – 6-10pm
• CoCo’s Sunset Grille – Sunset Toast – 6:30 – 8pm

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TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. –TybeeIsland, a laid-back island paradise located just 20 minutes east of historic Savannah, recently made FlipKey’s elite list of Top East Coast Beaches, joining esteemed summer travel destinations including Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. and Ocean City, Md.

The 16 winners were selected based on traveler feedback and industry research. Criteria for consideration on the list of America’s Top East Coast Beaches included spectacular beaches, access to restaurants, high-quality attractions and breathtaking coastal scenery.

“Tybee Island features a historic lighthouse and excellent restaurants in addition to beautiful beaches,” the FlipKey.com article raves. “An important port during the Spanish-American War, Tybee Island is also home to fascinating war museums, offering unique ways to spend a summer day.”

Tybee Island has been honored by Southern Living as one of America’s Perfect Little Beach Towns, by Fodor’s as one of America’s Best Family Beaches on the East Coast and by Parents magazine as one of the Best Beaches for Families in the U.S.

Tybee Island offers a wide range of lodging options for travelers including hotels, inns, vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts and campsites. A prime vacation rental destination, Tybee Island features a selection of nearly 1,000 privately-owned vacation homes, charming historic cottages and modern condominiums. Overnight guests enjoy experiencing all the comforts of home during their Tybee Island vacation, often returning year after year and  bringing with them extended family and friends to relax among the locals in their favorite laid-back beach town.

The island boasts plenty of fresh seafood, sunshine and family-friendly fun all year-round. With miles of public beaches and plenty of outdoor activities, Tybee is the kind of place where visitors can kick off their shoes, kids can ride bikes to a local ice cream parlor and families can spend precious quality time together on and off the beach.

The island is also home to several notable Civil War forts, informative museums, a historic lighthouse complex and the award-winning Tybee Island Marine Science Museum. Rich in relaxed style, Tybee offers a blend of eclectic art galleries, charming shops and exceptional restaurants.

FlipKey, a TripAdvisor company, is an online vacation rental marketplace featuring more than 135,000 rental properties in more than 7,000 locations worldwide. FlipKey helps travelers find and book vacation rentals from all over the world and has won awards from Travel & Leisure, Sunset Magazine, New York Post and others.

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Tybee Island, Georgia will proudly host the 2013 EVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tournament on Tybee tomorrow, featuring elite professional and amateur beach volleyball players. Come out and watch Gold Medal Olympian, Riley Salmon. He played last week in the EVP Texas tournament and took 2nd place and now is heading to Savannah/Tybee to try to take 1st place.

Click here for Player Profile from USA Volleyball 

Click here to visit the EVP website

Special contests and promotions will be held throughout the tournament. The Beach Bum Open will feature top beach volleyball players competing for cash prizes and awards. This event is free and open to spectators.

Saturday, May 11, 2013
Tournament from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.

WHERE: On the beach just south of the Tybee Island Pier and Pavilion
16th Street and the strand
Tybee Island, Georgia

COST: Attendance is free for spectators.

To start planning your Tybee Island getaway click here

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This is one of those great times of the year when you can see why Tybee Island is such a great place to find a large variety of animals and sea weeds. This is one of those times when cold species from the north, and tropical/warm species from the south are overlapping each other right here. For more information about this, here is a link to a page I put on my website. We have been seeing signs of this recently during our Tybee Beach Ecology Trips.  The Horseshoe crabs are coming up on the beach to mate, the fishermen are beginning to catch a larger variety of fish, the windy weather is stirring up the bottom and offshore things are washing ashore; so every beach trip is producing something new and unexpected.

~ Joe Richardson
Dr. Joseph P. Richardson received a BA degree in Biology (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Tennessee in 1974, and a Ph.D. degree in Marine Sciences from the University of North Carolina in 1978. He joined the faculty at Savannah State University in January 1979, helped develop the marine sciences programs at SSU, retired as a full professor of marine sciences in 2007, and is SSU’s first Professor Emeritus of Marine Sciences. He has taught graduate-level and undergraduate courses in invertebrate zoology, marine and environmental chemistry and analysis, botany, marine science field studies, oceanography, biological oceanography, physiological ecology, and mariculture. While working to develop improved methods for citizen-based water quality monitoring projects in coastal environments, Dr. Richardson served as the Director of the Coastal Region Training Center for the Georgia Adopt A Stream Program and assisted citizens throughout the coastal zone establish volunteer water quality monitoring programs. Over the past recent years, Dr. Richardson has trained thousands of individuals to collect, analyze and report basic chemical water quality parameters. For more than twenty years, he has secured funding and taught a graduate-level marine field studies course for Georgia teachers in the Bahamas.

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Additional Information
Loggerhead Sea Turtle Release! After the race, the GEORGIA SEA TURTLE CENTER is releasing a Loggerhead Sea Turtle patient back to the ocean from Tybee! You’ll also have a chance to meet their mascot Scute and learn all about sea turtles at the GSTC’s Education Station located in front of the Tybee Island Marine Science Center.

Tybee Island Sea Turtle Project

During nesting season, May to October, Loggerhead Sea Turtles nest on our beach. Females dig their nest, lay eggs, and head back to the ocean. In 60 days, the babies hatch and, on their own, make their way across the beach and out to the sea.

Sea Turtle Project volunteers conduct daily dawn patrols to check for turtle nesting activity that occurred during the night. When we find a nest, we evaluate the site and nests below the high tide line are relocated. To protect the nest, we mark off the site and then monitor it daily. Prior to the hatch date (60 days), we start “nest sitting.” When the Ping-Pong ball-sized eggs hatch and the hatchlings emerge from the nest (called a boil), we watch over them as they make their way across the beach and into the sea.

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This event is part of the USA CRITS Speed Week.  CRITS is short for criterium – a unique form of cycling that stresses high-speed racing contests in a thriving urban atmosphere.  Tybee is one speed week location where bicyclist will speed race around the Downtown loop (Strand Avenue, 18th Street, Butler Avenue and Tybrisa Street).  Spectators encouraged!

Tybee’s race will benefit AMBUCS™, Inc., a non-profit service organization dedicated to creating mobility and independence for people with disabilities. With the race’s proceeds, Amtryke’s will be awarded to disabled children who cannot ride a “normal” bicycle.

Free and open to the public, attendees will enjoy a charitable and impressive showing of professional men and women’s races, amateur races, a beach cruiser drag race and the Amtryke Freedom Ride.  With the start/finish line located at Fannies On The Beach-1613 Strand Ave, the races are set to start at 4:00pm.

SCHEDULE:
Masters 35+/45+ = 4:00pm
Men’s Cat 4/5 – 4:45pm
Men’s Cat 2/3 – 5:20pm
Women’s Pro/1/2 inv 3 – 6:05pm
Amytryke/Ambucs Races – 7:10pm
Men’s Pro/1 inv 2 – 7:30pm

COURSE AND DISTANCES:
Women’s Pro – 40 laps
Men’s Pro – 65 laps

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By Oceanfront Cottage Rentals

The City of Tybee Island has invested its resources to help visitors have a better Tybee beach vacation experience.  Whether you have rented a Tybee vacation home for a week, weekend, or just enjoy coming for the day, these signs will help make your stay more enjoyable.

 Tybee is a vacation destination for many Guests from all over the world. When you first approach Tybee Island on Hwy 80 please pay attention to the speed limits.  Exceeding the speed limit is dangerous to our locals and guests and is a certain way to make your good day end badly!  Yes, we had a serious pedestrian injury several years ago and ask everyone not to speed.  Our speed limits are posted very clearly so you should have no trouble driving legally.  We even have a flashing sign when you reach Tybee to let you know your speed.  It is helpful to be reminded that you are on island time and need to slow down.

In the busier areas of the island we have pedestrian crosswalks for the safety of our visitors and those of us who live on Tybee.  We ask everyone to pay attention to these crosswalks so that our friends can cross the road safely.  If you see someone trying to cross the road at a crosswalk please be mindful that the family trying to cross the street expects you to stop and allow them to and from the beach.  The pedestrian has the right of way…even if that person is on a bicycle.  Our Tybee Island vacation rental homes are near many other activities and you will need to use the cross walk when exploring the island.

These crosswalks are clearly marked and here are some photos so that you know what to look for when driving onto Tybee as a visitor.  Our Tybee vacation rental visitors enjoy accessing the beach and frequently use these crosswalks.

Tybee is a bicycling community. Whether you have a vacation rentalhome on Tybee or are just here for the day…our favorite mode of transportation on Tybee is the bicycle.  Enjoy your first bike ride in years or keep up your exercise routine while visiting Tybee Island.  We have a bike path that goes through Tybee in our less busy areas so that friends and family can enjoy the day and travel from one end of Tybee to the other exploring the parks, playgrounds, or different areas of Tybee’s five miles of beach.

Tybee is a Tree community. Ecofriendly vacations on Tybee are very popular.  We love our trees, beaches, and waterways.  Every effort is made to keep our island clean and we have signs that help visitors locate recycle containers and other trash receptacles.  We are a no litter community.

We have signs that advise each guest accessing the beach at

Dos and Don’t of the Beach

our numerous crosswalks of the “dos and don’ts” for everyone’s safety.  No Glass On The Beach.  No Pets On The Beach.  Yes, you may bring alcohol on the beach in a plastic cup.  Please use the trash receptacles to dispose of your trash.

Tybee Island vacationers enjoy keeping up with the number of turtle nests each year.  Our island and the adjoining barrier islands are the homes for returning Loggerhead Turtles every year.  These nests are counted, covered, and protected until the hatchlings head out to sea.  Please read the signs to educate our guests on the nesting of Sea Turtles along our beaches.  Other signs explain which is a live sand dollar and which ones are dead.  We want you to take the dead sand dollars home.  However, please allow the live sand dollars to return to the sea and reproduce.  Tybee Island is the perfect family friendly beach destination to enjoy our many natural resources.

Tybee Island’s Birding Trails are marked and we are home to the Painted Bunting and a wide variety of species that thrill the birders who visit Tybee.  Many of our beach rental homes on Tybee are reserved for people who just want to explore our ecotourism.

Kayaking vacations on Tybee are very popular as are kite surfing, paddle boarding and more.

Beach water quality signs are posted at each beach ramps where Tybee beach vacationers can clearly see that our water quality is good.  Seldom have we had a “beach closure” for high bacteria count.  However, our water quality is monitored and areas of our beach could possibly be closed if the bacteria count is high.  This is for the safety of the Tybee beach vacationer.

If you are trying to locate the “Doggie Parks” or Lighthouse we have cute little signs that look like a pale green turtle to help you find your way.  There are also directions to Jaycee Park, Police Department and other points of interest.

Pet friendly vacation rentals on Tybee have the added bonus of lots of parks and great places to take your pet including Tybee’s Doggie Parks!

Tybee is a Pay To Park Community and it is clearly marked which areas of Tybee rquire parking.  These signs confirm that you must Pay to Park 7 Days a Week 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

If you have a vacation rental home on Tybee your parking is included in the rental.  Please read your lease there may be limited free parking.

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For nearly two months, Union troops erected 36 guns in 11 batteries on the western shore of Tybee Island. The Union cannon on Tybee Island, over a mile away, converged on Fort Pulaski on April 10, 1862. After 30 hours, the brick walls of the Fort were breached, and the Confederate fort surrendered. The historic battle featured the first significant use of rifled artillery against a masonry fort and had international ramifications on the future design and construction of coastal forts.

Schedule of the Battle of Fort Pulaski 151st Anniversary Program is as follows:

Saturday, April 13, 2013

1:30 PM “Fort Pulaski Naval Campaign” – Boat Tour
Meet at Captain Derek’s dock, Tybee Island.

Join us for a tour of Fort Pulaski from the water. The naval campaign for Fort Pulaski was as important to the Union victory as the much-vaunted rifled artillery. Faced with confusing channels, treacherous tides and a fort bristling with powerful cannons, the Union Navy was still able to encircle and isolate the fort. We will get a small taste of naval operations as we wind through Lazaretto Creek, the “back door” to the fort from Savannah, and cruise around the eastern edge of Cockspur Island past the historic North Wharf. The tour lasts approximately 2 hours.
Limited seating. Advance reservation required via phone at (912) 786-5787 extension 113.

Fort Pulaski interior (Confederate camp inside fort)
10:00 AM Guided fort tour
11:00 AM Cannon Demonstration
12:00 PM Musket Demonstration
1:00 PM Cannon Demonstration
2:00 PM “Siege of Fort Pulaski”
3:00 PM Cannon Demonstration
3:30 PM Guided fort tour

Fort Pulaski exterior (Union camp outside fort)
Various living history demonstrations throughout the day.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

1:30 PM “Fort Pulaski Naval Campaign” – Boat Tour
Meet at Captain Derek’s dock, Tybee Island.

See Saturday’s listing for description.

Fort Pulaski interior (Confederate camp inside fort)
10:00 AM Guided fort tour
12:00 PM Musket Demonstration
2:00 PM “Siege of Fort Pulaski”
3:00 PM Children’s Drill
3:30 PM Guided fort tour

Fort Pulaski exterior (Union camp outside fort)
Various living history demonstrations throughout the day.

Fort Pulaski National Monument is located on U.S. Highway 80, 15 miles east of Savannah. An entrance fee of $5.00 per person is charged; ages 15 and under are free. For more information, please visit the park website at www.nps.gov/fopu or call (912) 786-5787. You can also follow the park on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FortPulaskiNPS or like the official Fort Pulaski National Monument Facebook page at www.facebook.com/FortPulaskiNPS.

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We assist many visitors throughout the year in our Tybee Island Visitor Information Center and one question we get quite frequently is, what can I do on Tybee for a day? Quite a few things come to mind and it all really depends on what your interests are. A few things you don’t want to miss while you’re here.

Our shining beacon on the northend of the island is our Tybee Island Lighthouse, which is also Georgia’s oldest and tallest lighthouse. The Tybee Island Museum is located directly across from the Lighthouse and is included with your admission to the Lighthouse. Please make a note that the Lighthouse is closed on Tuesdays. Many people come to Tybee Island enthusiastic about capturing that eye-catching view from the top of the Lighthouse only to be disappointed that it’s closed for the day.

From there you’re probably going to be thinking about where to eat for lunch. Of course, being by the ocean we’re known for our delicious seafood and we have many locally owned restaurants for those looking to grab a bite to eat or a cold beverage . After lunch take a stroll at the Tybee Island Pier & Pavilion. It will get The Drifter’s classic “Under the Boardwalk” dancing through your head. From there you can stroll down the beach or learn about local marine life at the Tybee Island Marine Science Center.

On your way off the island stop into some of our local art galleries and shops. There are many by the pier and at Tybee Oaks located on the northend of the island. If still have some time left over take in the rich history of Fort Pulaski. Kids love it!

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