By Mary Pannabecker Steiner

Upon returning to Bluffton after spending over one week on Tybee Island, Georgia, we file this report. Click here for more columns by MPS.

On my summer vacation, I...

.... learned that not all jellyfish are created equal....only after having avoided them for about two hours. A young woman taking care of four very active 8- to 10-year-olds who were carelessly picking up the jellyfish and flinging them onto the beach, informed us that they were not the stinging kind.

And how did she know this, we asked? "Oh, I grew up here and you just get to know the difference." The next morning the beach was strewn with dead jellyfish.

....discovered that sea turtles are NOT slow. It's nesting season on Tybee Island, so it's lights out after dark since artificial lights draw the turtles toward land and predators.

Anyway, a smallish sea turtle kept coming up out of the water onto the beach one afternoon and the young woman (see above) was concerned that the turtle wasn't old enough to nest.

We helped her capture the turtle until the experts arrived, then learned that it was in fact, an adult terrapin who had nested in previous years. She was actually trying to nest, so we freed her to go about her business.

....ate LOTS of fresh mahi and crab. And hush puppies...real, southern hush puppies.

....remembered why it is crucial to run early in the day on Tybee. The Georgia sun can be brutal.

....relearned how to ride an upright coaster bike. After two years of riding only a recumbent tricycle, this was a challenge and there were a few unbalanced moments. Once we got the brakes adjusted, travel by bike was the ONLY way to get around.

.... found that sleeping on the beach is best done under an umbrella.

....watched dolphins playing about 100 yards offshore. First, you see a fin moving slowly across the water. Suddenly the dolphins are playfully diving - showing off for their audience.

.... watched some gorgeous sunsets - best from the Back River Beach.

.... took a long, early morning walk on the beach during low tide, and stared, fascinated, at the pelicans standing at the far end of the sand bar.

Later in the afternoon, five pelicans flew overhead in formation. Only by watching them in flight, can one appreciate their amazing wingspan.

...spent an afternoon in Savannah - a beautiful, old city - but breathed a sigh of relief as we left the city behind and felt myself relax again as Tybee came back into view.

.... remembered how nearly impossible it is to get the sand out of one's bathing suit.

.... remembered that if one takes a water bottle to the beach, one will inevitably take a slug of water only to realize that sand had somehow infiltrated the bottle....thus resulting in a mouthful of gritty sand. Yum.

.... had to ask - at least once a day - what day of the week it was (the true sign of a relaxing vacation).

.... found not one, but five cottages that most certainly meet my requirements for a retirement home.

.... documented a whole slew of ideas for continuing to make our house seem more of a "beach house"...including a shell-embedded toilet seat.

To be continued...