On our trip to the south, Suzanne and I had such a fun evening at the Crab Shack on Tybee Island. We sat outside enjoying a cold beer overlooking the tidal marsh. We shared the Low Country Boil, one of their specialties. I wanted to go out to Tybee Island and relive the experience. Today was the day. It was just the same with its tacky shack look. The tables all have a hole in the middle with a trash can below so you can just throw your shells away. Nice plan! We had a perfect table overlooking the marsh. They didn’t just dump the Low Country Boil on white paper today. I got it on a plate covered with foil (I rather liked the white paper). It was yummy!
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| What a table at the Crab Shack on Tybee Island |
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| Chris with her Deviled Crab served in a crab shell. |
A surprise today was a visit to Fort Pulaski. We thought we were kind of done with coastal forts but this one caught our eye. When we drove in we thought something special was going on. There were way too many cars. We lucked out to come across a reenactment weekend. Construction began on 1829. It required 25 million bricks and took 18 years to complete. It had an amazing cistern system storing 200,000 gallon of water. It has a wet moat with water coming through a canal with flood gates. Most of the labor was supplied by slaves from local plantations. Amazingly, there are not any cracks in the mortar today. When the Civil War was heating up, the Confederate army took over the fort spending 18 months getting it up the snuff. The Union Army secretly arrived across the river on Tybee Island bringing in cannon and forces during the night and camouflaging them in the early daylight until they were in position. When the firing began, the Union Army experimented with a new cannon, the Rifled cannon, that had more power behind it and was more accurate. It proved itself in this battle in
April, 1862. The walls were penetrated. No cannon had been able to break through the 7 1/2 foot thick walls of the coastal forts up to this point. The Confederates waved the white flag when it appeared that there was a possibility of the magazine holding 40,000 pounds of gunpowder could be blown up. The Union forces moved in. After the war, with the Rifled cannon now on the scene, the coastal brick forts became relics of a bygone era.
Reenactments bring a sense of realism. History comes alive. Of course the men and boys were all dressed in various period clothing. The south didn’t have much in the way of uniforms and they were all dressed differently. They had brought in all the necessary items to live in the fort for the weekend. The officer’s quarters had a desk all set up. The doctor had his tools laid out. The bunks were made up and they were cooking food over the fire. We stayed for the musket demonstration. Cannons were being fired across the river from the Union side. They were all eager to talk to us folks of the modern world and share their knowledge. We hit the jack pot!
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| Fort Polaski |
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| The doctor is part of the reenactment. |
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| Firing the Muskets |
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| The Rifled cannon's damaged to the & 1/2 foot thick walls. We could see some of the cannon shells stuck in the wall. |
Tybee Island is a funky little beach area compared to so many beach communities we have seen. This laid back town would make a nice family vacation spot. We drove out to the lighthouse but declined the climb to the top.
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| Tybee Island Lighthouse |
We heard that the painted bunting, a small little brightly colored bird, had arrived in the area. The state park at the campground has set up bird feeders making it a good place to see so many birds. We went over there at about 6:00 and sat very quietly for about a half hour. Sure enough the beautiful painted buntings showed up along with cardinals, a small wood pecker, three different humming birds, a flicker, and an unusual looking jay. Being amateur birders we were thrilled.
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| On the lookout for the Painted Bunting |
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