An Anniversary Weekend on Tybee Island

An anniversary weekend is a small project with one job: make two days feel like they were arranged for the two of you. Tybee is well suited to it because the island is short on obligations. There is no must-do list, nobody needs to be anywhere at 9 AM, and the things worth doing are mostly walks, tables and light.

This is a Friday-to-Sunday plan built around four ideas: a night on the roof, one dinner that carries the occasion, a keepsake you make rather than buy, and a morning with no alarm. It is meant for a couple who wants a shape to the weekend without a checklist. We are an inn on Silver Avenue, a five-minute walk from the beach, and this is how we would spend the time if the anniversary were ours. If you want the wider menu of ideas first, our 8 romantic things to do on Tybee and the complete couples guide cover more ground. This post is the version with the hours filled in.

Before you go: the three decisions that matter

Choose the dinner first. Everything else flexes around it. Pick the restaurant, then work out whether it takes reservations. Some Tybee spots do and some don't, so for the dinner that carries the weekend, find out early and plan accordingly.

Choose the room for the occasion. Every room at Atlantis Inn sleeps two, which is the right number for this trip. Our two signature rooms are the Penthouse, with a raised, column-framed king bed and a separate sitting area, and the Red Room, with crimson walls, a king bed and an ensuite bath. Both have a reputation as anniversary rooms. They are two of our four room types, so if you would rather spend the budget on dinner, the others are comfortable too. Current rates and availability are on the booking page.

Decide how you will get around. Parking is free and on-site at the inn. For this itinerary, the beach, the pier area and several breakfast spots are walkable from Silver Avenue, and the dinners are a short drive or a longer walk depending on which one you pick. Plan one car and a little walking.

Friday: arrive, settle, go up to the roof

Afternoon: check in without a plan. The first hour of the weekend should be doing nothing. Drop the bags, take in the room, and let the drive from wherever you came from wear off. Resist the temptation to schedule something for 4 PM. If you are coming from Savannah, it is about 18 miles and a 20-to-30-minute drive east on US-80, the only road onto the island, so you can arrive late and still have an evening.

Early evening: a walk to the beach. From Silver Avenue the sand is about 300 yards away. Walk down with no destination, take your shoes off, and turn around when you feel like it. This is the low-stakes version of the beach, and it works better on a first evening than a sunset agenda.

Evening: a simple dinner, kept simple on purpose. The big dinner is tomorrow. Friday is for something easy and unbooked, so you arrive at Saturday still looking forward to it. A casual table near the south end does the job, and our dining page lists the places within walking distance. Come back to the inn afterward.

Late: the rooftop. We have rooftop access, and Friday night is a good use of it if the weather cooperates. Bring a drink from wherever you ate and stay up there longer than you planned. We are not oceanfront and none of our rooms have ocean views, so the roof is about being outside at night on a small island, not about a panorama. It is the cheapest romantic gesture in this itinerary.

Saturday: the anniversary day

Morning: breakfast out, slowly. There is no breakfast served at the inn, which turns out to be an advantage because it sends you out for one. Sunrise Restaurant is a no-frills diner a few blocks up with strong coffee and generous omelets, and Mi Vida is a café we also point guests to. Go to one, take a table, and order more than you need. Nobody is timing you.

Late morning: the one outing. Pick one thing and do only that. The Tybee Pier and Pavilion are a natural walk from the south end, and the lighthouse area on the north end suits couples who like a climb and a view. The lighthouse has its own site, tybeelighthouse.org, for climbing details. Go early. The beach and the lighthouse are both better before midday, and the crowd thins out as you head toward lunch.

Afternoon: the keepsake. This is the part most anniversary plans skip. Instead of buying something, make a small record of the day. Take a photo of the two of you at the one spot you walked to this morning, and have it printed when you are home. Or each write three lines about the year on the back of a postcard and read them to each other at dinner. It costs almost nothing and tends to outlast the dinner itself in memory. The point is that both of you contribute something, so neither is handed a gift.

Late afternoon: rest. Go back to the room. A long anniversary dinner is better when you are not arriving tired. Nap, shower, change. If you want a pool, guests at Atlantis Inn can use the pools at the other Tybee Lodging Group properties, which makes an afternoon swim possible even though we do not have a pool of our own.

The creek side: Bubba Gumbo's

Most of this weekend happens on the Atlantic side. The island's western side is a different picture. It is marsh and tidal creek, with low green grass instead of surf. It is worth one evening, and dinner is the easy way to see it.

Bubba Gumbo's is the place for it. It sits at the Tybee Island Marina on Lazaretto Creek, about a ten-minute drive from the inn. It has a covered creekside porch and serves lunch and dinner, and it does not take reservations. Hours change with the seasons, so check before you go. We wrote up Bubba Gumbo's creekside seafood if you want more first, and the romantic restaurants list compares all the options.

If you also want a sunset over the water, that is a separate stop. The spot is Back River Beach on the island's west side, and our 8 romantic things to do on Tybee covers it.

Saturday evening: the celebration dinner

You have three sensible ways to do this, and none is wrong.

The creekside dinner. Eat at Bubba Gumbo's and let the creek be the occasion. The food leans Cajun and seafood, with gumbo and po'boys on the menu. It is relaxed, not formal, so this works best for couples who want the setting to carry the evening and the food to be easy. Because it takes no reservations, get there early. Dinner here can mean a wait when the weather is good.

The cocktail-and-seafood dinner. Sea Wolf, on the north end, is the option with the most energy, and it has a serious drinks list. It takes no reservations. You put your name down and wait, which some couples find charming and others find annoying. If the wait is part of the evening for you, it works. We wrote more on how it runs in Sea Wolf: the island's occasion-dinner table.

The oceanfront dinner. If you want the Atlantic in front of you, The Deck Beachbar and Kitchen on Mid Beach is a real oceanfront restaurant. That view belongs to The Deck, a separate business, and not to our rooms. It makes sense as its own planned event, with the walk or short drive afterward as part of the night.

Two other options round it out. Wind Rose Bar & Grill is on the south end near the pier and suits a no-fuss dinner. North Beach Bar & Grill, by the lighthouse, is the easy choice if you spent the day on the north end.

Whichever you pick, book ahead if the restaurant takes reservations, go early if it doesn't, and check its own channels for hours and current policy. This is the single piece of the weekend where it pays to be organised.

After dinner: the short way home. Do not add a second venue. Walk, or drive the short distance back to Silver Avenue, and spend the last hour of the day on the roof or in the room. Read the postcards if you wrote them.

Sunday: a slow morning and a clean departure

Morning: the second breakfast. Go to whichever of Sunrise Restaurant or Mi Vida you did not visit yesterday. Sunday is a good day to sit longer than you meant to, and it keeps the weekend from ending in a rush for the car.

Mid-morning: one last beach walk. The same 300 yards you walked on Friday, in different light and with a different mood. Beaches look different at the end of a trip, and the walk gives the weekend a clear finish.

Before you leave: check the checkout time at the front desk, pack the car, and take the long way out if you can. The only road off the island is US-80, and it is easiest to leave before the midday traffic builds. If you are driving to the Savannah airport or back through the city, give yourself a margin.

What to book ahead

• The room. The Penthouse and the Red Room are the two we would book first for an anniversary. Check current availability and rates.
• The celebration dinner. Reserve if the restaurant takes bookings. If it doesn't, plan to arrive early and treat the wait as part of the plan.
• Anything with a fixed time. If you want to climb the lighthouse or add a Savannah afternoon, check the official site for current details.

What the weekend costs

The shape is simple: the room is the largest line, dinners on the list above are mid-range, and everything else in the plan (the beach, the roof, the walks, the keepsake) is close to free. Look at current offers before you decide on a room.

A few small things that make a difference

Bring a layer for the roof and the marsh, because the evening air near the water cools faster than you expect. Check the tide chart if you want a low-tide beach walk. Dogs are not allowed on Tybee beaches at any time of year, so if a pet is joining you, plan the walk elsewhere. Pets are allowed at the inn. The fee is $25 per pet, per night. In the off season, it is $25 per pet for the first night, then $10 per pet per night after that.

If the anniversary is the kind that carries a question, where to propose on Tybee is worth reading before the weekend. And if you would rather stay two quieter nights midweek, our midweek couples' escape lays that out.

Planning your trip

We are on Silver Avenue, about 300 yards from the beach, with free on-site parking. The rest of the plan is yours to bend. Check availability for your dates or look at the current offers.