You absolutely have to go out on the water while you’re here. Georgia’s coastal waterways are amazing. Rich in wildlife such as dolphins, crabs, shrimp, birds, it’s a never ending source of beauty. Whether you would like to drift along and watch families of dolphins swim around your boat, or try and catch your very own crabs to eat for dinner, it’s a great way to spend the day. Another option not many people know about is renting a boat to drop you off at a near by island, Little Tybee. This unique place is actually TWICE  the size of Tybee Island, but is an unspoiled, uninhabited nature preserve.  You can stay there over night, for an amazing experience of camping on a beautiful beach. Or perhaps just have a relaxing afternoon of shelling on the beach, away from everyone.

Lighthouse in our Bay

There are several people who will take you out for any amount of time desired. Captain Harvey Ferrelle is a licensed master captain who not only will take you out, but  keep you captivated  with a history of the area.  He’ll not only take you shrimping or crabbing, but teach you how to do it!  You may bring whatever food or drinks aboard you’d like. Spoken from experience, once you enjoy this experience, it’s something you will want to do over and over.

Flipper!!

Perhaps you would like something a little more fancy for your evening out, maybe with a special someone? Then you need to call Standard Bay Charters, they offer to take you out for a romantic evening with a catered dinner. Or perhaps a photo shoot, so that you may remember the evening as if it happened that very day.

Are you already a seasoned captain? Then rent your own boat to explore the many inlets of Georgia’s coast. Tybee Island Bait and Tackle offers anywhere from one hour to weekly rentals!

There are options for everyone, from couples to large groups. But either way, don’t miss out on this experience!

We get asked all the time about our favorite places to go on Tybee Island, or  where the best restaurants are. Who has the most affordable prices? There’s no way for us to send everyone information on all the amazing places to visit on the island. So here are the answers to probably our absolute favorite subject. Where to eat!!!

Yum!

One of the best things about Tybee Island is that almost every single restaurant is non commercial. Each restaurant is privately owned, making it a truly unique experience. A prime example is a tiny little place called Sundae’s Cafe. Driving by you might miss it, but it is the place to go on the island. All the locals love it. Hidden in a little strip, next to a gas station,  you might think it’s a bit sketchy. But much to your surprise, not only is it spotless inside, the food is absolutely delicious. Whether you order the amazing, southern fried green tomato sandwich during lunch or decide to make reservations for dinner and have their rack of lamb, or blue cheese filet. I know it sounds unbelievable, but there is nothing there that we won’t recommend. Try it and you’ll understand why everyone who lives here loves this little place.

Sunset dinner on the water

Of course everyone wants to know where the best seafood is. Fresh seafood is found all over the island, but one of the best for food and atmosphere has to be AJ’s  Dockside Restaurant . They have the most incredible crispy, scored flounder. The presentation is great, and the taste doesn’t dissapoint. But by far, it’s the view that really sells this place. Most of the seating is right on the dock, with views of the coastal side of the island. A place that often gets overlooked on Tybee. Although the beach side is beautiful, so is the back river. By going here, you see a side of Tybee that many people don’t , but is well worth it.

If you are in the mood for some pizza and a beer we know just the place.  Huckapoos is so fabulous! It has inside and outside seating. The seating outside has umbrellas to shade you from our sometimes unforgiving sun. You pay only four dollars for “a slice of pizza” . Little do you realize, you actually need a pizza cutter to manage this huge slice of pizza that actually won’t even fit on your plate.  It’s delicious, and inexpensive. Perfect on- the- beach feel there , with music drifting out onto the deck and a breeze as the sun goes down. You can’t miss dropping in to this place.

Or go a little more upscale, and visit the Hunter House. It was rated as one of the best in the region by Celebration Media U.S. and Talk of the Town News.  Great, different specials each night, and an amazing wine selection for you to choose from. Also, each night with the purchase of two entrees you can choose a bottle of wine for half off! Yum, wine!

Don’t worry, we won’t forget the sweets. There’s lots of ice cream places around. But the best? No doubt in my mind, it’s Trade Winds. Cakes, ice cream, bagels, pastries, oh my! And of course, something we personally cannot live without…..mmmmm coffee.

So…..that’s all we have  for now. But as we try out new places, we’ll keep you updated. And as for you, you have the easy part. Let us know if you agree, or if there are any places we’ve left out. Or even better, some places we might need to try. Because without a doubt, if there is one thing we’ll do for you, other than of course find a  beautiful beachfront home for you to rent….it’s eat! Haha.  Don’t forget to tell them that Oceanfront Cottage Rentals sent you. Enjoy!

Avast Ye!, Thar be pirates a comin ashore Tybee Island!

On Oct 8th thru 10th, Tybee Island will be having it’s 6th annual Pirates Festival.

Why a Pirates Festival, ye’re wondering?

Argghhh! Long, long ago, the island was used as a hiding place for pirates such as the dreaded Blackbeard. It is widely believed that Blackbeard used the Georgia coast, where its meandering tidal rivers, inlets, and barrier islands served as excellent hiding places. He and his crew would quickly strike at ships then retreat to hide. It is believed that somewhere on Georgia’s barrier islands is buried treasure. Treasure hunters with metal detectors are a common sight on some of Georgia’s developed islands, looking for lost booty.

Ahhhh!

The Tybee Island Pirate Festival began in 2005 and has been a big event ever since. Pirates come from far and wide to pillage and plunder Tybee Island. Aye, this be the place to be, so if ye be anywhere near Tybee Island, don your fiercest pirate costume, bring yer little Buccaneers and join in on the festivities. Remember Pirate Fest is Columbus Day weekend so if you’re fortunate enough to have this holiday off stay over and enjoy the Sunday festivities, as well, you won’t be disappointed. If you need a place to stay Oceanfront Cottage Rentals can assist you.

Tybee Island Pirate Fest has been named one of Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events for the month of October 2009. This year is going to be even better.

Here are a few highlights for this years Festival:

The Crab Shack presents the Buccaneer’s Ball to kick off the Tybee Island’s Pirate Fest. Thar be live music, costume contests, and of course the coronation of the Pirate King and Queen.

Then comes the Pirate invasion. They will make themselves known throughout the island wrecking havoc, as only a pirate can do, engaging in mischief and sword fights.

Thar be a Thieves Market which will be filled with treasures, grog and grub.

And throughout the weekend there will be scheduled of events for the kiddies, at Little Matey’s Cove to include: the Pirates of Treasure Coast Ship and Pirates (Performance at Pirate Ship), Captain Jim & Krew- Illusion Show, face painting, Children’s Costume Contest and Petting Zoo and much much more, located on the South Beach Parking Lot, Tybrisa St. to Strand Ave.

And thar be plenty of live music and merriment. A variety of local bands will be performing throughout the weekend with headliners Eddie Money and Drivin’ N’ Cryin’!

Saturday, October 9th at 1pm, is the Pirate Victory Parade that will follow along Butler Ave, this is something you don’t want to miss.

Thar be Pirate Costume Contests for Male, Female and Krew, a Children’s Costume Contest and even a Pet costume contest. Cannot forget our Canine cuties

Then the treasure hunt begins, X marks the spot.

This is just a very few things highlighted, there’s so much more. A full schedule of events can be found here and tickets can be found here

For a Swashbuckling Good Time, come to Tybee!

For your vacation stay call Oceanfront Cottage Rentals on Tybee Island at 1-800-786-5889

Tybee island is the new place to be! Everyone here was so excited when the summer movie, The Last Song, starring Miley Cyrus, was filmed here on our island. It brought so much great attention to our area. So many people were interested in seeing the beautiful area featured in the movie. It’s so peaceful and calm here, and  really was portrayed that way in the movie.

But that was by no means our first experience with people wanting to capture the beautiful essence of Tybee Island. Some of the scenes from the beautiful movie, Forrest Gump, were taken right on the north part of Tybee. In fact, some of our homes look  right onto the water where the shrimping boats from the movie sailed, followed by dolphins.  It doesn’t  just happen in the movie, but every day here you can see that exact scene from the decks of some of our homes.

Some directors come back again and again. Robert  Redford filmed his movie, The Legend of Bagger Vance, in 1999 rigth near us in Savannah. Then he returned this past year to film his newest movie, The Conspirator, starring Kevin Kline and Evan Rachael Wood.

Now, we hear rumors of yet another movie! The newest X-Men installation. X-Men- First Class.  It hasn’t been finalized, but Tybee Island has already started applying for permits, and the city of Tybee council has given produces official approval for filming. Once again, it would be on the beautiful North End of the island. The combination of beautiful beach, along with being so close to the coastal waterways makes this area unique and the very essence of peaceful.

The movie is actually a prequel, which has given director Matthew Vaughn, whose last project was a blockbuster hit. A whole new cast of amazing actors! Who will all be staying hopefully here on Tybee while filming. Just some of the stars  include people like Kevin Bacon, who is portraying evil villain, Sebastian Shaw. Michael Flemyng (from the movie Inglorious Bastards) will play a young Magneto! January Jones, who is most known for her serious role in the hit show Mad Men, will play psychic Emma Frost. Just a few other names are Oliver Platt, Morgan Lily,and  Jennifer Lawrence.

Considering how small our beautiful island is, I think it speaks volumes that it has gotten as much attention as it has . I believe it must be a very special place indeed to be  an island only a few miles long, yet so very much in demand. Perhaps it’s time for you to find out how very special it is for yourselves……

Just about a year ago filming for “The Last Song” wrapped on Tybee Island. With it’s April 2010 premiere, businesses on the island kept their fingers crossed that the exposure would put Tybee on the radar. According to the Tybee Tourism Council it did. “Year to year we are up about 11 percent, so we have definitely had an up year,” says Lindsay Fruchtl of the Tybee Tourism Council. While the movie didn’t specify Tybee as its locale, the stars made sure the world knew where they filmed. Miley tweeted about Savannah and Tybee on Twitter. The stars themselves raved about Tybee as well in television interviews. One New York Times article tells the story of a Tennessee family who were forced to change their vacation plans after the Gulf oil spill. At their daughters urging the family re-routed to Tybee just because Miley filmed there. “I think a lot of the teenagers were telling their families and getting them to come to Tybee so it’s been good,” says Fruchtl. With Georgia’s enticing tax incentives, Nick Gant of Meddin Studios says interest in Savannah and Tybee is booming. “There’s consistently hundreds of projects coming through the region. Of those that are real, I would say about a dozen are looking at Georgia and about half of those looking at he City of Savannah also.” While it may seem like big budget filming has slowed since the filming of Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator”, Gant says he expects some big announcements in the near future. “I can’t say exactly where and when but I can promise you there will be a great Fall season for the city of Savannah when it comes to the film industry.” By the way, “The Last Song” pulled in almost 63 million dollars at the box office. The movie comes out on DVD Tuesday.

Copyright 2010 The Coastal Source

Ed and Lisa Wu Hartwell enjoying Tybee Beach

We’re so excited to host our second ever Tybee Throws a Fit festival. The idea was originally co-conceived by our very own Stacye Jarrell, owner of Oceanfront Cottage rentals. People all over Tybee Island are constantly active, and there are so many different activities to partake in. Constantly we are asked what there is to do on Tybee, and this is the perfect way to show them how many things there are to do. We were voted America’s #1 Healthiest Beach last year in the nationally acclaimed, Health Magazine. This just goes to show, it’s not only the beach, but also the people.
A couple months ago, when we hosted the first Tybee Throws a Fit, we had such an amazing time. Everyone met down on the pier and were led by Savannah’s very own Ruby Gettinger, from the Style network’s show, Ruby , in a great dance, exercise workout. We also had Michael Banks, creator of Body by Banks workout routine, really pumping everyone up and inspiring everyone to work out and have an amazing time. People of all ages and sizes enjoyed themselves as we learned different workout routines. Believe us, NONE of us got it the first time, but we all laughed and just kept on trying. It was really amazing.
This time, we’re aiming for even more people, and we have even more events planned. Lisa Wu-Hartwell, from the hit show, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, is a regular visitor of our island and she was so excited when we contacted her about helping host our labor day Tybee Throws a Fit! She’s going to show us her favorite cardio workout, that she uses herself, while also being in charge of the music that’s going to keep everyone upbeat and in the mood to really keep going.
After starting out with cardio, we’re moving onto all sorts of different ways to exercise. You can meet us at AJ’s Dockside Restaurant at 9:00 am to learn how to Stand up and Paddle. Don’t know how to do it? Neither do we! We’ll be doing it all, from kickboxing to learning how to belly dance on the pier in the morning! Probably very badly, but hey, that’s not the point. It’s getting out there together and having a great time. We hope to see each and every one of you bright and early on September the 4th!

http://savannahnow.com/accent/2010-09-03/tybee-throws-fit-and-dance-party

We went to my very first Taste of Tybee event here on the island. Wine, great food, fresh seafood, what’s not to love? It was set on our beautiful pier, on the south end of the island. The time was perfect, right at sunset, giving us the cool breeze off the ocean.
I tried food from so many different restaurants that I always have wanted to go to , but just never seem to get around to going by. One that was surprisingly good was Alligator Soul,from Savannah. They had samples of this amazing white bean chili, that would have been too spicy if it wasn’t for the baked tortilla strips on top. Then there was this amazing chicken salad from our very own new restaurant, Social. Not only is it super cute and stylish, but taking a look at their menu, which includes everything from sweet potato fries to tacos with duck, you can see it’s different and delicious! The chamber of commerce provided a variety of different beers, along with chilled white wine, which was great, really refreshing, especially in this summer heat.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience. Tybee Island is small, yet the events are still well organized and fun. Everyone seems to get into whatever they’re doing. Whether it be exercising at seven in the morning together on the beach, like they did for this years ,Tybee Throws a Fit, or dressing up like pirates for three days straight during Pirate’s Fest. Or even just socializing with everyone, while enjoying food and wine during an evening on the beach.
I can’t wait for next year!

September 5th, Tybee Pier and Pavillion will be the host to “The Landsharks” and the most Beautiful Firework display in Georgia! “The Landsharks” are a Jimmy Buffett Tribute Band. Admission is Free and the Music starts at 7 pm followed by the Fireworks at around 9:15pm, followed by more music!

www.oceanfrontcottage.com

“We already have a rental staff and a maintenance staff so if we can just get connected with the other reception locations we could really help Tybee’s economy, ” says Jarrell. A movie set on Tybee Island could be back in business next year! If everything goes as planned, it could help the island become a wedding destination. After filming ended, Disney donated the church to the island historical society. However, the high costs to move the church and bring it up to code made it a no go for the the Tybee Island Historical Society.

A movie set on Tybee Island could be back in business next year! If everything goes as planned, it could help the island become a wedding destination. After filming ended, Disney donated the church to the island historical society. However, the high costs to move the church and bring it up to code made it a no go for the the Tybee Island Historical Society.

Tybee resident Stacye Jarrell is hoping to take over the project and make Tybee’s wedding chapel a reality.

“We already have a rental staff and a maintenance staff  so if we can just get connected with the other reception locations we could really help Tybee’s economy, ” says Jarrell.

She hopes to turn this one time movie set into a place that will draw weddings and meetings to the island.

“The building will be available for rent but we will have strict guidelines on occupancy, noise and parking,” adds Jarrell.

The Historical Society has offered to give her the church. However, the high costs still remain. Bringing the building up to code will cost over $600,000 dollars.

“There is no heating or cooling or electrical. You have to replace 2×4′s with 2×6′s,” says Jarrell.

Then you add on buying a lot, 33 parking places, two ADA baths, a bride’s room, a groom’s room and a small kitchen area for catering and that number gets even higher.

But Jarrell feels the financial investment will be worth it. “I can see us becoming a wedding destination. This could help Tybee’s economy during the slow season and the shoulder season, ” adds Jarrell.

Jarrell has applied for the loan and the Small Business Association has agreed to underwrite it.

City Council will vote on the issue at the January 14th meeting.

Jarrell says if she gets approval from City Council and the bank financing the project, she plans to have the chapel up and running by July 1st.

Jarrell is a Tybee resident and owner of Oceanfront Cottage Rentals. It’s a business that just might be the perfect companion for Tybee Island’s future wedding chapel.

Copyright 2009 The Coastal Source

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