Aargh, Maties! The Tybee Island Pirate Fest

Yeah, I'm wearing a pirate hat. So what?

The dog was pretty cool about the fact that his owner had perched a pirate hat on his head.

Tongue lolling, he just seemed to be enjoying the lovely October weather on this beautiful barrier island as much as the rest of us.

And he was not alone in his pirate garb by any stretch of the imagination. We had journeyed back to friendly Tybee Island, Georgia, one of our favorite places, to check out their annual Pirate Fest and were amazed at how truly into the pirate spirit the inhabitants and tourists were. Everywhere we looked, we saw pirates. Pirate wenches, pirate babies, pirates, pirates, pirates!

Pirate family!

Pirate Couple!

Pirate Wenches!

Before the Pirate Fest even began and we were amazed by the utter pirate-ness of Tybee Island, we were floating about in happiness because we had checked into our completely and totally fabulous beach house, thanks to Tybee Joy Vacation Rentals. Quit Yer Crab Inn, with its hardwood floors, huge kitchen, marvelous whirlpool tub and sumptuous screened in porch was possibly the nicest beach house we had ever occupied.

Most fabulous beach house EVAH. Photo courtesy of Tybee Joy Vacations.

The annual Tybee Island Pirate Fest is held in October every year (plan for October 10-13, 2013!) and is a very big deal with tons of vendors at the Thieves Market selling everything possible pirate-y, great musical concerts every night, plenty of kid-friendly activities and a parade of floats down the main street on the island. Everyone on the island seems to get involved with everything from dressing up to decorating their homes and rental properties for the event.

Pirate flags decorate a beach condo.

There’s plenty of places at the Pirate Fest selling great food but don’t forget to check out the local restaurants, most of which are selling fresh local seafood that is absolutely delicious. Shrimp boats leave Tybee every day and come back full of wonderful, freshly-caught shrimp. Our personal favorite is either the Low Country Boil at The Crab Shack or the unique and quite fabulous fried strawberries at Coco’s Sunset Grille.

Fried strawberries from Coco's Sunset Grille. To. Die. For.

A little rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the parade watchers on the next to the last day of the Pirate Fest and we lined up with everyone else to see the homemade floats roll by.

The tiniest parade float.

The beach chair brigade!

A fishy float!

The Tybee Island Pirate Fest is such a fun and unique event and is very family-friendly. Kids would absolutely love it. Mark your calendars for next October – maybe you will see us there!

Full disclosure: Our visit to the Tybee Island Pirate Fest was provided by Tybee Visit and Tybee Joy Vacation Rentals, but as always, I will share my honest opinion about any travel experiences I have.

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