Hi all! The family is taking a road trip to Tybee Island at the end of June. My main question is…we are planning on doing a 4 hour kayak tour one of the days we are there and I was wondering if anyone has done one of these and which is the best tour in your opinion. There are several different tours with different sights. We have been kayaking for several years, only on flat water…It is my wife and I, and a 15yr old and 11yr old. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
The secondary questions involve any advice for cool/great dining places all along the trip. Nothing fancy, just memorable. Here are the overnight stops on the trip:
Nashville
Atlanta
Savannah
Tybee
Ashville
Louisville
Thanks so much for any tips and advice. Sorry if I posted this in the wrong place!
Scott
with Georgia Sea Kayak ?
Tybee marsh is sprayed with mosquito poisons. SKG runs tours down the beach a ways, an area probably free of spraying when windy from the sea.
SC State parks are excellent, Edisto State Park. Edisto is the Low Country, an American region of note. Charleston has kayak tours to Fort Sumter. Charleston has online kayak clubbing for direct contact with local information.
Cumberland Island is tour able yet there’s a paper mill somewhere around there.
Breakfast Club in Tybee
Best chicken fried steak I have ever eaten. They cut their own steaks, hand pound and bread them, make great gravy and buttered grits, reasonably priced.
I miss that stuff! PNW does not cater much to the CFS afficionados.
Beaufort !
search for food in Beaufort SC.
Hunting Island SP
Thanks
I love me some chicken fried steak! We will definitely check out the Breakfast Cub
I second the Breakfast Club
And hooking up with Sea Kayak Georgia and will get you all good to go. Check out Bonadventure Cemetery (what a name). You can easily google its location. There’s a pic on the end of this link:
http://g3.img-dpreview.com/DB227EA2BDED45AEA116101D2EF1B1CC.jpg
Atlanta
You want local favorites, you got to go to the Varsity and Mary Mac’s, both near downtown.
Hunting Island State Park…
…just outside Beaufort, then eat at Johnson Creek Tavern. Kayak tour companies abound here in the lowcountry of SC. Google SCDNR also for more ideas.
is the golf course
before or after the chicken fried steak ?
dolphin activity
with outgoing tides on the long river estuaries carrying chicken fried steak…
whet your appetite with Utubes kayak South Carolina Islands videos.
Remember…the vast marshlands are not bug free…bring headnets and thin cotton gloves…thick long neck socks for rolling over the pants legs. As ‘Be Prepared’ equipment.
No golf
no golf for us on the trip. We really just want to have a nice family vacation. We have little time between each stop so we can have three full days at Tybee. We will definitely hook up with Sea Kayak Georgia for help with the tour! Thanks every one for the advice.
?
Skipping Chattanooga?
Chattanooga
We did not make Chattanooga one of our stops. Was that a mistake? This is our first trip to the Southeast. For the trip down and back from KC we planned just a couple of hours in each stop along the way. The “American Picker’s” place and Parthenon in Nashville, World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Biltmore Estate in Asheville and Louisville Slugger Museum in Louisville. Are we missing the boat anywhere?
SHERMAAAAAN !
pardon me boys is this…
okra ?
http://noc.com/plan-your-trip/nantahala-river
http://wildwaterrafting.com/locations/wildwater-chattooga/
http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/cherokee/recarea/?recid=35096
visit Atlanta ? Atlanta is a XXXXXXXX.
The Varsity
Thanks for the Varsity recommendation! That’s right up our alley!
Well, I Enjoy Savannah
Friend of ours moved there and she showed us around VERY friendly people. Love that old downtown, the cotton exchange, and all the interesting stores on the riverfront. Best food I've ever put in my mouth was the times we went to Paula Dean's "Lady & Sons." I wasn't as impressed with the supposedly haunted "Pink House." Only thing "Impressive" was the prices IMHO?
And as long as you're so close to Charleston, it's worth it to spend a day there. Fort Sumpter was worth the boat trip out there.
I wished we would have had time to paddle Tybee when we were there, but I had a relatively tight schedule since I was at a professional seminar. Sure wanted to stop in at the kayak outfitter there. Definitely a place I want to return to.
http://www.pbase.com/ozarkpaddler/savannah_and_charleston
do yourself a favor and…
stop in Chattanooga. You wont regret it. If I had to pick between Atlanta and Chattanooga; it would definitely be Chattanooga. One caveat, if you want to visit an extremely populated city, shop and go to the clubs, Atlanta is your place. But, if you like the outdoors, a cool community, easy to get around with plenty to do, Chattanooga would be my recommendation.
Hang gliding, rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, fishing, WW and Flatwater paddling, whatever floats your boat.
Another bonus, if you’re planning on going to Asheville, one of the most beautiful drives in the Southeast starts in Chattanooga, travels through the Ocoee, Nantahala, Blue Ridge and finishes in Asheville. You’ll think you’re in Colorado.
Hit me up for specifics. If you’re interested, I can maybe get some paddlers together to give you a tour.
pansapien9@yahoo.com
Asheville
Tupelo Honey Cafe for breakfast. Plan to wait an hour (don't think they take reservations) but you are right next to Pritchard Park and there is usually something entertaining going on there. Plus there is a lot of shopping, cafes, bars, and breweries within THC's beeper range.
Barleys Taproom and Pizzeria has great pizza and the like, also a game room upstairs with pool, foosball, darts, etc...
kru
Chattanooga
Agreed. Nice river front, the Chattanooga Aquariam is really interesting, especially the freshwater. Following the TN river from the mountain stream with brookies and otters to the lowlands with cypress and Spanish moss with alligator gars. More than just an "Aquariam."
Paddle the TN River in town or the gorge. Lookout Mtn, lots of sights in Chattanooga.
http://www.pbase.com/ozarkpaddler/image/157583733
Going to have to do Chattanooga next
Chattanooga sounds great! We just can’t do it this trip. This is really our first family vacation other than to Grandparents. We wanted to maximize our time at Tybee so we booked a vacation rental there first for four nights so we would have three full days there (two on the Island and one in Savannah). Then we thought we would want to get there as quick as possible with just enough to keep the kids(and us) interested on each day of the long drives to and from Kansas City (and a swimming pool at the hotel each travel night). Each of us picked a location we wanted to see along the way to and from and we have already booked our hotels (Non-Refundable - Hotwire - some great deals, though). We are locked into our stops.
For the record, I chose the first stop, Nashville…want to see Music City.
Next stop my daughter (11yrs) picked the World of Coca-Cola, hence Atlanta (I am not down with the crowds or nightlife)
Then Tybee/Savannah for three full days.
On the way back, my wife choose Biltmore Mansion, so Asheville.
Finally, the last stop on the way home is my son’s (15yrs) pick with the Louisville Slugger Museum/Factory in Louisville.
We have literally planned a couple of hours in each stop on the way in and out, so we unfortunately don’t have much room for deviations. That’s why I am looking for kind of iconic/great local dining places in each place. I figure we have one or two meals and one tour in each place along the route. Obviously more in Tybee!
Sorry for the rambling!