Thanks everyone. I miss you too, but thank the stars that my DH brought his laptop and we can get a connection. We are here with my DH's parents and sister and hubby and their 2 teenager kids. Our room is on the third floor and that just happens to be the only level in this house that we can get a connect. (happy me!) The ocean here is not bathtub warm, but it is warm. Feels cool, but you can just go right in with having to get used to the temp, no matter how hot it is. Feels cooler at night but still not chilly by any means. It seems much saltier to me than the Pacific...maybe because this is an inlet...dunno. Is the Atlantic saltier? Body buoyancy is much greater as a result (or could it be that my increased body fat just makes me float like a cork?----hmmmm. :) They are shooting fireworks again. The Garden City pier is 1.7 miles northeast of our beach house. A nice walk that I have become accustomed to doing every morning. The first day, it was all I could do to climb the stairs every day. I thought I would die from lack of air! I took it a little at a time, and walked a bit further each day and swam out a bit farther each day. Now I am able to comfortably stroll down the beach every morning and having a blast in the surf. At low tide every morning around 5:30, I go out and comb the beach for shells and things. Most of the shells are broken, but some manage to make shore intact. The moonstones are lovely - tumbled pieces of shell or quartz, about half the size of a dime. So lovely. I am finding black shells, which I had never before seen. Found a piece of branch coral yesterday. That is very rare in the inlet. There were some guys on the beach this morning that had been finding tiny shark's teeth. They gave me one - the best one they had. Very cool! I am enjoying the children on the beach. they are so cute to watch and delightful to chat with. The Legend of Captain Jack is one that is famous around here. I asked two little kids this morning who were sitting at the shore digging if they had found any of Jack's treasure yet. They looked up with complete earnest and said, "Nope, not yet". I said, "Me neither. Darn." they bobbed their heads in complete agreement of my sentiments. I asked them if they were searching for buried treasure and they looked up and beamed, "Ya!" "Have you found any yet?" "Nah, but we think these might be broken pieces. Not sure" They held up little black pointed slivers of something, and I could for certain say whether they were or were not pieces of shark teeth, but I suspect they were in all actuality slivers of black oyster shells and not shark's teeth at all....but I was not going to spoil their enthusiasm and fun. Darling little sprouts they were of about 5 or 6. ((HUGS)) ~ Annie Down here with some sorry "sunny beaches", but having a great time in spite of it all.

Oh my! Too funny!

Refugee from the cooking forum here....and one "of that age group" who really resents implications that we are not able to stay out and need to eat an "early supper". While I don't do 2:00AM by choice any more...the people I hang with rarely eat before 7...more often 8, staying out until midnight and are perfectly capable of driving after dark....we eat pizza, tacos, and all manner of garlic laden and spicy stuff... Ok...got that out of the way! LOL! I think a 5:30 start time is too early...Ideally I would like 6:30 for a party to begin, but perhaps a compromise at 6:00 would be best, with dinner scheduled to appear at 7:00 to 7;30. People of that age group remember fondly standing around drinking cocktails and eating h'ors douvres as a way to interact with friends. I would do an open bar and have the makings for martinis(traditional kind with Noiley Pratt or Martini&Rossi dry vermouth) and Manhattans as well as bourbon, Scotch and Rum with traditional mixers....but most will likely drink gin or vodka and tonic. Will you cook the dinner or have it catered?....and how many people? I'd be thinking simple and stand around food, unless your cottages are bigger than most...I'd think things like oven roasted chicken pieces with a huge bowl of lightly oil and vinegar dressed greens, baskets of French or Italian bread and a casserole of perhaps a cheesy pasta or a pesto pasta....or something fairly light and simple.... Have a small wedding cake made for dessert, coffee and you are done....unless people want to stay around for after dinner drinks. Linda C

HD and I (with 2 children) have been to Savannah several times since we live in GA, it makes for a nice getaway. Be prepared however to fight the crowds, gnats and other flying varmints too! Also, don't forget the meat tenderizer if going to Ty Bee especially....our last vacation there ended after HD was stung by a stingray. We didn't see it and he thought maybe he had just scrapped his leg on something under the water..but after 2 days of pain, swelling in redness...we began a long trip home to North Georgia. He was in terrible pain, nauseated etc. It wasn't until several days later that I finally convinced him he needed medical attention. The MD was quite sure after hearing our account of the days leading up to our visit that it was a "vicious" stingray attack and without medical attention could have proven extremely dangerous. He strongly recommended when visiting there again (or another beach for that matter) meat tenderizer applied in a paste like form would give relief from insect bites and other creatures of the deep...look out for the jellyfish too! sorry to bring you down,,,,it's a lovely place...and we have enjoyed many days strolling across the beach early in the morning, but found the night life to be a little overwhelming...just be safe and careful...that River Walk can become quite overwhelming and crowded at night! Just don't venture too too far and expect parking to be an issue.