Debby Downer

I'm not busy procrastinating about vacation planning any more ... I'm ON vacation!  The trouble is, Tropical Storm Debby is wreaking havoc.  Fortunately we're not in Florida, but Debby has managed to move from the Gulf, across Florida, and north toward the Atlantic, passing through Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia.  Saturday when we arrived, the weather was mild and we managed to dip our toes in the sand and surf for a few minutes before we got settled into our rental cottage.

The calm before the storm

Sunday was a good beach day, although it was a little more crowded than we'd like because a lot of people from the city (Savannah) come out to Tybee on the weekends.  The three of us bobbed in the waves for a while before The Teen returned to the cottage and his computer and The Mr. and I read books under the protection of umbrellas at the beach.

Yesterday the waves were so strong that I couldn't go any farther than letting the tides roll in across my feet.  You see, I'm the idiot who sprained her foot about three months ago.  My foot has not healed and may never at this point.  Walking across soft sand is torturous.  With the strong surf that Debby brought in Sunday night, I can't even go out in the water because the waves are so strong that even my able-footed guys could barely stand on Monday. 

We did manage to brave the light rain on Monday night for our Tybee Beach Ecology Trip.  I actually have a degree in biology and wanted to be an ecologist even in college, so this was right up my alley.  The Mr. took a while to warm up to it, and The Teen was just bored the whole time.  They're tough nuts to crack.  Here are a couple of the creatures we found in the tide pools.  Unfortunately because of the rain I had to leave my good camera in the car, so these are from my Android phone.  The zoomed in photos are quite grainy.

Horseshoe crab, live and kicking!

Hermit crabs (the right one is without a shell)

Baby flying fish?

Grumpy teenager

The fish we found is one that washed up with the Sargassum seaweed (which you can see on the beach in the photo above), which has been washing onshore at Tybee since last week.  It has nothing to do with Tropical Storm Debby, but Dr. Joe Richardson, the biologist who was our guide, suspects that the Sargassum broke off from a large pod of it out in the Atlantic and a current brought it here.  The cool thing is that it has also brought species of ocean life that they don't normally see inland, such as the fish Dr. Joe can only surmise is a baby flying fish.  There are fish and crabs, etc. that normally live within the Sargassum, so they got brought with it when it floated hundreds of miles away from its normal habitat.

This morning we were supposed to go on a bike tour of Historic Downtown Savannah, but Debby is roaring outside, so we're stuck in the cottage.  And guess who forgot to bring any board games when we packed?  Today would be a perfect day for Settlers of Catan or Risk (two games The Teen actually agrees to).  We have playing cards here in the cabin, but I can't think of any fun three-person card games.  I guess that's what the internet is for, huh?

We leave on Saturday, so I hope Debby gives us a chance to do some sightseeing in and around Savannah, and a chance to get back in the ocean without being knocked over by crashing waves.  Cross your fingers I don't come back as pasty white as when I left home.  It's not a pretty sight.  And for pete's sake, I need to have a chance to take some decent photos of the beach and of the gorgeous old sights around Savannah.

What a downer!

Hollie