Vacation

I took this on the last day of vacation, yesterday.  I woke up at 5:45 to wander down to the beach on Tybee Island, about a block or so from the house we'd rented since Sunday.   There, I scattered a few of my Dad's ashes.

It's been a couple years since we lost Dad.  And there are moments that I still miss him so intensely that it feels like a physical pressure on my being.  I really wish he'd been here over much of the past year.  There's so much that I'd like to be able to talk to him about.  To bounce off him.  Even to just laugh about. 

Not being able to share this week with him was one of those. 

We had a good time down in Savannah/Tybee Island.  Like I said, we stayed about a block from the beach on the south end of Tybee, which was a refreshing mix of retirees, beach rats and tourists like us.  My nephew and I both drank about 20 gallons of ocean water swimming. 

We had a couple really good meals.  I hadn't been to the Pirate's House since one of Riceville school's summer enrichment trips.  We wandered that way.  The place is a little tourist-y, but the pecan fried chicken is truly excellent, and if you have the opportunity, have a "Pirate" take you on a tour of the building.

We wandered down to the river the next night, and grabbed dinner at Dockside seafood, before talking a haunted bus tour around Savannah.  That particular night was a dark and stormy one, fittingly.  Unfortunately for the Big Stupid Family, we didn't bring umbrellas or ponchos.  We didn't see any ghosts, but still enjoyed ourselves.

Here's my nephew and me before the tour, both a little waterlogged.

It was a quiet vacation, for the most part.  But I think we all needed to get out of town for a few days.  I know that I enjoyed myself. 

Except for getting crapped on twice by seagulls.

Or was it seagull?  One with a vendetta?

The earshot on the beach, while gross, was impressive.