Happy Little Cottages By The Sea

Cottage Charm, Coastal Calm

February 2010

A lazy day on the dock watching the tide roll out

I love the salt marsh. I love how the colors change with the seasons. I love hoe the pluff mud ( marsh mud) smells in low tide. I love how the birds and the fish and the fiddler crabs and the other marsh creatures live and eat and love the marsh like I do. The tides here on Tybee are some of the highest on the Eastern Seaboard and the tides in the salt Marsh rise and fall to dramatic levels. When it’s low, the bottom is one big mud flat. You can actually watch the tides go down if you sit long enough!

We finally had a taste of Spring today with the sun and the blue skies and the warm breeze. We literally just out on the end of Bobby and Suzanne’s dock and watched all the marsh activity which included watching the tides. Victor and Fran, our snowbird friends from Michigan and Sista Jean from West Virginia joined mom and I for our afternoon. I wish all of you could have been there with us to just relax and enjoy this beautiful scene.

Vintage Trailers – what amazing uses!

I love vintage trailers. I’d love to find one to restore and park in front of my home. Not for any reason other then I just love how it would look!

I can’t find one to restore- so any leads anyone has- please, please , please let me know. As long as I can trailer it back to Tybee and then start the restoration process, I’m there to pick it up!

On our road trip, we spent time in the Seaside, Florida area. We stayed at a vacation rental owned by one of my long time industry friends- Brown Eyed Girl Beach House. The home was great and if you’re ever looking for a home in the area, please check this rental out!

Seaside is wonderful on many, many levels. I still love Tybee, but there were things about this place I loved. These trailers and their new lease on life was one of those things. They are lined up right in the town center of Seaside and are now being used as cupcake shops, BBQ shops, coffee shops and even a organic farmer’s market style cafe. Add to this the plants, flowers, awnings and great seating and you have a place that everyone wants to come and experience. Keep in mind I was there in the middle of the winter and they still were incredibly appealing and inviting.

I’m keeping my search open, who knows, my next venture maybe a cupcake shop set up in a vintage airstream!

2992 miles….

Thanks to everyone for welcoming us back to Tybee. We drove a total of 2992 miles on our across the road trip- from Northridge, California to Savannah, Georgia. The trip was truly memorable for so many reasons and I highly recommend this to everyone who’s said to me- of I wish I could do this! Air travel is a miracle of modern man and a great way to get around, but there’s something to be said to physically moving yourself across this amazing country of ours. The topography alone is worth the trip to see how vast and big our country is. I’m still thinking about how flat and wide and quiet the Interestate was in Arizona and New Mexico and how that same highway becomes busy and full of people the closer you get to the east coast.

One of my 10-10-10 adventures is now checked off the list!! Thank you to all my Marriott friends who where so generous with helping me with my travel accomodations and thank you to sisse, Mom and Donna for being part of the mini van!

The Last Song Church’s new life!

The Last Song Church which we love so much is about to embark on her new life as a wedding chapel on Tybee! She’ll be moved to a great location right across from SeaSide Sisters on Highway 80 and will be up and running by October 2010 as a wedding chapel and special events facility!

Today is a very important day in that process- there will be a press conference and reception to welcome everyone to see what’s going on. I hope if you’re reading this, you’ll be able to come join us and see everything. The church sits directly across the street from Fish Camp Cottage and we’ll be here and would love to say hello to anyone who wants to come by and see the cottage. Our gate is open!

Here’s the info on today’s event:

WELCOMING THE TYBEE ISLAND WEDDING CHAPEL – TYBEE ISLAND’S NEWEST VENUE HOLDS A VIP MEDIA EVENT –
ANOTHER RECESSION BOOST FOR THE LITTLE ISLAND THAT COULD

Tybee Island is moving on up indeed. The Tybee Wedding Chapel will be the site of a press conference and launch event as Tybee becomes the next national wedding destination with this new venue. Formerly used as a set for the feature length movie filmed on Tybee in Summer of 2009, this new improved Chapel will be moved to Hwy. 80 and take front and center as Tybee’s latest attraction. Dignitaries and VIP’s from the Capitol will be on hand to share why this is an important and bold economic move for Stacye and Lannie Jarrell, owners of The Tybee Wedding Chapel and Oceanfront Cottage Rentals on Tybee. The Jarrell’s believe this new venture will positively impact Tybee’s future. Many venues, towns and even historic buildings through out the US are reinventing themselves to become wedding destinations. Some make this effort for sheer financial survival. The revenues created from weddings span venues, lodging, restaurants, retailers, florists, transportation and many other small businesses.

Time: 1:30 p.m. – Invocation by Pastor Darrick Fitzgerald of New Mercies Christian Church
Location: 603 13th Street (Corner of 13th St.& 6th Ave.)
Tybee Island, GA
VIP Confirmed Speaker list – Press conference begins at 1:30 p.m. – 603 13th Street Tybee Island – note: Parking near Chapel held for Media in attendance
– Special Guest, Bill Thompson, – Georgia’s Deputy Commissioner for Film, Music & Digital Entertainment – Topic: How the film actually came to Tybee/Savannah and the impact of location film shoots for Georgians.
– Representative Jimmy Pruett, Eastman, GA – Topic: Economic impact of the Chapel for the region.
– Senator Buddy Carter, Pooler, GA – Topic: The Tybee Wedding Chapel – Optimism and creativity during tough times results in positive change.
– Mayor Jason Buelterman, Tybee Island – Paying it forward pays big dividends for a small community like Tybee. What commitment like the Jarrell’s can mean. How support, sowing and embracing a vision can be the difference in surviving & thriving during tough times.

Elephant Seals, One of my 10 to do’s for 2010

Look at that happy mama and baby!
Thousands have come to this part of the coast to mate, give birth and grow strong.

 

I just love Marine Mammals. I love dolphins and whales and seals of all varieties. I really love these elephant seals! This is my second trip to visit them, they come a shore in Jan- March to the Central California coast to bred, give birth and give their young the right start in life.

. I decided that I wanted to do 10 things this year that I’ve always wanted to do or have already done and want to do again. This is one of them…. I was born Oct 10th, 1955 and this is the year I turn 55. on October 10th, 2010. 10-10-10! Pretty good huh!

Enjoy these pictures and if you’re ever in California in the winter months- be sure you make the trek to see this amazing natural phenomena. Next Januray Cambria, CA will be having their 2nd annual Elephant Seal Festival and I’ve already told the organizers I want to come back next year and volunteer. Not sure what they need me to do, but I know I’m back for the Elephant Seal birthing season for yet another year!!