Jesse Blanco’s We
Unless you see it every day, it’s incredibly easy to take the beach for
granted. I know I do. I grew up in Miami, a very short 12 minute drive from
the nearest beach. A 5 minute drive from the nearest marina and bay view.
In high school it was always a great time to jump in a car and head to South
Beach before it became “South Beach - International destination and the
capital of pretense.” Yeah, it’s my home town, but I have no trouble saying
that.
Later, as Miami grew into what it is today, that 12 minute drive got longer
and longer. You had to time your trip to the beach or get caught in traffic. The
next thing you know, if you got caught in the mess, it was a 40 minute ride.
Then there was parking to deal with. Oh yes, and the $11 beers.
Years ago, I did the math and determined that I didn’t go to the beach
in the last 5-6 years before I moved away from South Florida for good in
February, 1993. Now, when I visit, I love it. I miss it. Totally taken for granted
all those years ago.
I think it would be fair to say that’s about the state of my relationship with
Tybee Island. When you visit, you can’t help but love it. You drive home back
into Savannah thinking to yourself, “I need to do that more often.”
That was pretty much my experience a few weeks back when I decided
to spend a winter weekend “Eating and Liking” my way around the island.
There was drinking and liking as well, but we’ll get to that later. My wife and
I had discussed it for the better part of 2017 actually. Januarys are slow for
everyone. If we got lucky and were able to pop off a 72 degree Saturday,
then it could make for a nice post-holiday break.
That’s just what happened.
My daughter and I were dropped off at Tybee Golf Cart Rentals to start
the weekend. Bags pulled out of the car, then the car drove away. I felt like I
had just stepped off of a bus in Los Angeles in search of stardom, fame and
fortune. Only I was about to hop into a 6 seater golf cart and race somewhere
for a bite to eat and a cocktail.
One of my favorite dishes on the island has always been the Manchego
Skillet at Tybee Island Social Club. It’s also one of the most popular.
Fortunately, Social Club was right across the street from our beautiful condo
at The Georgianne Inn, owned by DeSoto Beach Properties.
Admittedly, it had been a couple of years since I had the skillet, Manchego
Cheese, white wine, roasted garlic and herbs. It felt like it had been 2 days.
Same exceptional dish. Served with practically an entire baguette, sliced for
dipping and “gooing” of the cheese of course.
A couple of well-behaved hours later, my wife now in on the fiesta, we
made our way to Spanky’s for dinner. Home of the original chicken finger.
Yes, if you don’t know the story, back in 1976, a couple of Savannah boys
were in their restaurant on River Street looking for something to fry. I’m not
exactly sure how much, if any, alcohol was involved in that exchange, but
someone decided to take a sliver of chicken, batter it and fry it. Spanky’s
has been giving thousands upon thousands of people the finger ever since.
We enjoyed a few cocktails off of their specials menu. I tried Spanky’s
version of the Rum Runner. They were the flavors of summer. The kind of
joy you get after a parched afternoon on the sand, knowing that not only
was the cocktail great, but there are likely going to be a few more and great
friends to go along with your evening. There was also a Watermelon/Basil
cocktail we very much enjoyed. We had a laugh at how “Summer Nights”
the evening felt as we grabbed our coats to bundle up for the drive to the
8 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | MARCH 2018
Tybee Post Theatre.
If you haven’t been to the renovated Tybee Post Theatre, you’d never
know that such a beautiful venue exists tucked among the trees on the
Northern end of the island. It’s small, but the attention to detail is as good
as any concert venue you will find. $3 beers never hurt anyone’s feelings
either. Georgia girls Caroline Aiken and Jill Knight wowed us for two hours. A
beautiful show. Beautiful space.
There’s a special place in my heart for Doc’s Bar. There always will be. It
is where the first lengthy conversation about what later became “Eat It and
Like It with Jesse Blanco” went down late on a Friday night in May of 2010. It
was a few hours removed from the Tybee Beach Bum Parade, which is quite
possibly the most fun an adult can have with their clothes on. Never heard of
it? Throw it a google. How do you turn away from an island-wide water gun
fight and parade? You don’t.
I think it would be fair to say the people of Doc’s are Tybee personified.
They never met a stranger. Been around almost 70 years. You walk in there
alone, you will make some friends, listen to some music and have a few
laughs. Welcome to Doc’s.
My night was over, or so I thought. Walking up Tybrisa I resisted the
temptation to stop in to any number of spots that had music coming out of
them. It’s like a row of tractor beams are coming out of every doorway. A
song you like could suck you in. A good crowd at the next spot could do the
same. Get caught up in that wash and you could find yourself doing shots of
Hennessey out of an ash tray at 3am. For the record, I do not know of this
from experience. Maybe. I think.
Unable to fight off all the temptation, I found myself at Nickie’s. I don’t
know if this spot is known for its people watching, but it is now. That
designation was made by the time I made it half way into the room to the
bar. In the back of the house was some bad karaoke (most of it is, right?), to
my left was a group sitting along a wall waiting their turn at a pool table.
By Jesse Blanco