From the RIVER’S END... Gentle ocean breezes once again caress us as we walk the shores of Tybee like a congratulatory ‘pat on the back’ for another banner season. Whether a form of recognition for planning patronage aplenty - or for putting up with it – depends on one’s perspective. Either way, we’re no longer subject to the friction of the hectic pace of life during the summer doldrums. Most of us welcome the new world order as a time to emerge from our vocational molds fired within the metaphorical kiln of work ethic, limited supply, seasonal demand, and the will to survive that served our ancestors so well. Thankfully, this is our time of year to reacquaint ourselves with the reasons we decided to pick-up and move here, or found the proverbial grass across the bridge not quite as green. After the annual rite of passage enabling cubicle-dwelling swashbucklers to invade our tiny hamlet one last time over Columbus Day weekend, we are set free to appreciate the opportunity to host the wondrous experience of island life. The slowing of our island pace allows us to calmly gather our wits about us, exhale, and ‘get our groove back.’ With apologies to Jackson Browne, ‘between the longing for love and the struggle for the legal tender,’ October signifies a shift in our service demographic, or who comes to see us. Like any self-respecting beachcombers, we tend to notice these changes and adapt to provide the expected experience in one way, or another. Many marketing professionals from other places earn large salaries for attempts at replicating the Tybee experience in an effort to connect with folks such as those who choose to visit Tybee, year after year. Why is this such a popular experience after cooler weather brings a chill in the air, and the marketability of sun, sand, and surf wanes nostalgic for the next season, still months away? The answer is simple enough. We’ve watched the rest of the world become unnatural by their fixation with the organic, while we make our living frying fresh seafood. While other locations have allowed their culture to become lessened by generic, politically-correct versions of the area you’re visiting, we treat folks like we want to be treated when we cross the bridge to venture to their town. While the rest of the world has ‘fallen all over themselves’ addressing peanut allergies, and giving up gluten, we’re looking forward to gathering our loved ones around a turkey fried in peanut oil next month, and breaking bread together. We’ve changed by not changing – staying put, and remaining ‘ourselves.’ We like who we are, and other folks do too. Not a bad formula, and it’s worked well for us. (Clue: Eric had bought the pink-furred bra for his wife and Tommy Barlow wanted it.) No matter where you live, most of us plan for our vacations the same in that we develop expectations of the experience. When these are different than the actual series of occurrences, we tend to be surprised, or disappointed. When Tybee was an undiscovered find, it was much easier to impress our guests by offering a glimpse at our daily lives. As 34 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | OCT 2016 this opportunity has gained momentum, the island has begun targeting specific, target demographics to the island, as opposed to the come one, come all strategies of the carnival barkers of yore catering to the military on leave with a little change in their pockets, games of chance, and the possibility to implement questionable judgements armed only with a liberal allowance of time for outliving prior decisions, and the chance to do it again . . . Rather, the October experience of today consists of a twilight of sorts. Just as the traffic coming on and off the island may be not as bustling as those during the summer months, the arrival of our guests deem the experience as more of a homecoming, rather than a getaway. Like salmon in the stream of life, swimming alone all their lives, to arrive at the same place as previous generations – back to the sea, as it should be. By Woody Hemphill GENTLE OCEAN BREEZES OPEN YEAR-ROUND TUES - SAT 10A��-������������ SUNDAY 10A��-������ 843-304-4989 ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� FRESH FRUITS & VEGETABLES ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
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