Our family was originally set to be in Savannah, Georgia later this year, but when that fell through, I found myself planning a last minute trip with only a couple of days to decide where to go. Since we already had Savannah on the brain, we decided to spend a week at nearby Tybee Island and make it more of a beach trip instead. And are so glad we did! After our very first beach trip with a baby back in 2018, we realized it was WAY easier to stay on the beach and drive to other attractions, rather than stay in a city and haul all our kid/baby beach gear to the beach, and then haul a carload of said items, plus sand, plus wet everything back into our car and then into a hotel room or condo.
The great thing about Tybee, we discovered, is that there is so much to do around the island that you really don’t feel the need to head into the city of Savannah unless you want to. We managed to go right before REAL summer temps set in, and it was mid 80s every day with slightly higher humidity than what we’re used to here in East Tennessee. That made for great beach weather and we were grateful we had evaded temps in the 90s!
Since we only had a couple of days to plan, our accommodation options were limited. We ended up staying at the Desoto Beach Hotel, which I picked for its great reviews, private beach access, pool, and free breakfast. Hey, a free meal and coffee each day goes a long way on a weeklong family beach trip! My only suggestion would be to update the rooms, but overall, we were very pleased with the cleanliness, convenient location, and friendly attentiveness of every staff member we encountered.
As far as meals are concerned, we ate breakfast at the hotel every morning, and the coffee was actually really good. We decided to eat out just once a day and keep the other meal simple, picking up something light from the little market. That made it easier on our budget and schedule, especially since we still have a napping toddler. I had also gone to Trader Joe’s/Sam’s Club/Walmart before we left and brought a huge tote bag of snacks that had a little bit of everything: protein, dry cereal, dried fruit, juice boxes, candy, etc. Not only did that help us survive the travel days, but it also helped on beach days when meals were at irregular times and all that water and sun made us extra ravenous.
Here’s an overview of how we spent our week vacationing on Tybee Island:
Day 1:
Drive down
Sevierville Buc-ee’s for breakfast
1 trillion more stops
Arrive at 7pm
Day 2:
Free hotel breakfast
Beach time
Lunch at Bubba Gumbo’s
Hotel nap/rest time
Trip to local IGA market for light dinner and lunch for next day
Day 3:
Free hotel breakfast
Fort Pulaski
Hotel room lunch
Naps/rest time
Dinner at Treylor Park Beach Party
Evening beach time
Day 4:
Free hotel breakfast
Tybee lighthouse
Lighthouse museum
Ice cream for lunch at the Sugar Shack
Naps/rest time
Pool time
Drive into Savannah
Dinner at The Pirates’ House
Brief walk down to Savannah riverfront
Family friendly Savannah ghost tour
Day 5:
Free hotel breakfast
Walk to beach store for t-shirts
Oatland Island Wildlife Center
Lunch with my cousin in Savannah at Toast! All Day
Beach time
Pool time
Carry out bar food dinner in hotel from Huc-a-poos Bites and Booze
Day 6:
Drive home in an exhausted daze
Make 1 trillion stops
Arrive home at 8:45pm
Dining Links:
- Bubba Gumbo’s
- Treylor Park Beach Party (has a kids’ play area!)
- Sugar Shack
- The Pirates’ House in Savannah (great for kids and adults!)
- Toast! All Day (brunch fare)
- Huc-a-poos Bites and Booze (we did carry out and this was the best priced, best portions food of the whole trip!)
Activity Links:
- Fort Pulaski
- Tybee Island Light Station and Museum
- Savannah Kid-friendly Ghost Tour
- Oatland Island Wildlife Center (if it’s too hot there won’t be many animals out)
Looking back at our trip, we were pretty happy with every restaurant and activity we experienced that week. If it had rained on the day we went to the wildlife reserve, our backup plan was the marine science center which has ocean animals, but the tickets were significantly pricier and we really wanted to see the bison at the wildlife reserve. That was definitely a highlight. And yes, even my toddler climbed up (and back down) every step at the lighthouse, holding my hand of course! As far as dining, we really enjoyed that Treylor Park had a sand play area for kids, and that The Pirates’ House, located in an honest to goodness original pirate pub and the oldest house in Georgia, had delicious food and was just so interesting (and supposedly haunted!). Besides the fact that taking kids on any sort of vacation is NOT relaxing (if you know you know!), we had an excellent time and enjoyed Tybee Island and Savannah so much.
If I missed any highlights of Tybee, leave suggestions in the comments!
