savannah sunday, part deux

After refreshing ourselves with some pizza, we all (cousins, aunt and uncle, mom, and me) trekked out to see Tybee Lighthouse.  It's gorgeous!  They have a keeper's cottage with furniture arranged in a way similar to one of the actual keepers, an informative video, and you can climb the lighthouse!  Mom and I spent some time in the air conditioning first, but then decided to make the trek of 178 stairs. 

 

 

The view from the top:

 

 

 

The above is a picture of the prism they have in the top of the lighthouse, along with its two bulbs.  The prism is called a first order fractal lens.  I'm not sure of all the mechanics, but I do know it magnifies those two bulbs there and the lighthouse stays lit. 

 

A daytime picture.

Of course, no trip to a coastal city would be complete without at least one abnormally large meal of mostly seafood, and this trip did not disappoint.  We trekked to The Crab Shack and ordered the mostly delicious thing on the menu: the chef special.  Mom and I ordered the size meant for two people -- TWO people -- and this is what we got:

 

 

Don't worry.  Mom and I are pros.  Mom advised not to waste time with potatoes and sausage -- you can get those anywhere -- and focus only on seafood.  Most of the table needed a refresher on how to eat some form of seafood or another, but we tucked in our napkins and got to work.

 

By the end, Mom and I had done some serious eating. This is the end result of our efforts:

 

See?  Pretty awesome, right? I think so.

The Crab Shack also had a gator pit and we were allowed to feed "gator treats" to the animals using poles and string with a bobby pin on the end.  Got a picture of Mom feeding one!

 

 

It was so fun! I've never fed an alligator before, and I doubt I'll have another chance any time soon.  It was pretty sweet.  I don't know what constitutes a treat for an alligator, but they seemed to love them and came to eat willingly.

 

A few more pictures from the restaurant:

 

 

We were tired, but Mom and I returned to the beach later in the evening to do a little extra walking around and looking for seashells. While there, I managed to snap a few pictures of the lighthouse in dusk light.

 

 

 

All in all, I'd call the day successful.  We managed to squeeze in just about as much tourist and local fun activities as any group of seven can manage. 

 

On Monday, we got up for breakfast and to hit a few of the cute stores in historic Savannah (there are so many!) then I caught a flight and Mom began her trek homeward.  It was a lovely, action-packed weekend!