Family at Tybee

A beach trip to the Georgia Coast with Randy's family was a great way to start our summer.  Typically we are headed out west to explore new territory and cooler temperatures, but it was time to put our feet in the sand close to home.  Randy's mom goes to Tybee Island every March to do porcelain art painting. She stays in this amazing house near the Lighthouse on Tybee.  The house sleeps 16, has a private pool, and a beach front that is far from the crowds.  It was lovely, but expensive...but YOLO!

View from the pool

The whole crew!

Girls enjoying the waterfall.

Randy and Aaron took their kayaks to Tybee.  They used them almost everyday.  One day Greg rented paddle boards.  That was amusing to watch! Jackson and Carrie did the best job of staying up on the boards.

Mornings at the beach were my favorite. So peaceful.

On Tuesday we decided to explore Savannah. We started on the riverfront and enjoyed lunch at Spanky's.  

Inside Saint John the Baptist Cathedral

Girls in a Savannah square!

The storm clouds were looming as we walked the squares, and some of our crew (there were 13 of us) decided to go back to Tybee.  The remainder ducked in and out of the showers. We found the square where Tom Hanks sat on the bench and said "life is like a box of chocolates".  

This is where the feather floated down in Forest Gump.

Found this great cookie store (Byrd's) that carries my motto: "may your cookie jar never be empty"!!!

Kate and cousin Lauren enjoying ice cream while we waited  for the rain to stop

Randy and his sister Karen

Our house included constant views of  cargo ships making the journey to and from Savannah.  

Lauren Tillman is a 2007 Berry grad who lives in Savannah and came to visit.

A tradition when you hang out with Uncle Greg is that he loves Krispy Kreme. We into Savannah one night just to get doughnuts.  Greg bought THREE dozen.  I bought one dozen. They were ALL eaten by the next morning.

Cousin Ashley, her friend Samantha and Kate sporting the KK hats!

Yum!

What do you do when it rains at the beach? We watched movies, Duck Dynasty, read books, played lots of Catch Phrase and Phase 10. One day was a complete rain out, so we headed back to Savannah to find a bowling alley.  

Carrie and her great form!

Uncle Greg also enjoys having a low country boil when we go to the beach. 

Aaron enjoying his crawdads!

It was a fun week with the family,  We came home to a new kitchen. The Rawlings returned to North Carolina before moving to Virginia where Greg starts a new job with NATO.