We thought today would mostly be about Tybee Island with a quick stop at Fort Pulaski. It turned out that Fort Pulaski was very interesting and we spent way more time there than we expected including a mile walk out to the Cockspur Island Lighthouse. The scuttling crabs along the way were such fun. The lighthouse was built in 1855 on an oyster bed foundation. As the website states - it stood silently in the line of fire during the Civil War when the Confederate forces fell to the Union and overtook Fort Pulaski.

Fort Pulaski has been restored very well but repairs to the cannon fire walls and some of the floors were NOT repaired so visitors can better imagine what the Fort has stood through. Who doesn't love a fort with underground rooms and a moat!

Then we drove into Tybee Island. We loved the live oak trees lining the road with their moss handing down. It wasn't a fabulous beach day but still we enjoyed our walk along the shore. It is a fun little town - maybe a stop again later for a week or more?

Speaking of the Live Oak - we learned on our tour why they are called Live Oak. Unlike Northern Oaks that lose all their leaves in the fall - Live oaks shred their leaves in two stages. Once in the fall 1/2 of the leaves fall, then again in the spring the other 1/2 let go. So at no point is the tree without leaves. It never looks "dead" like Northern Oaks.

December 2022