Brrrr!

It's not supposed to be this cold on Tybee, even in January! But it looks like the cold spell is easing, and we're open with hot, delicious pizza, even when it is freezing!

Be sure to check our ad in the January Tybee Times for January specials.

Winter hours Monday through Friday 4-10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday noon to 10 p.m.

All dressed up for the holidays!

Friday Tybee Island held its Christmas tree lighting. Sadly, the weather didn't cooperate – the rain discouraged people from wandering along Tybrisa and visiting all the businesses that were decorated and ready for the event. But those who showed up still had a nice view.

The exciting news for Lighthouse Pizza was that we were selected as the business with the best decorations – for the second year in a row. We hope lots of people will come down and see our lights.

Tybee is very different during the holidays. We don't have the crowds that we have during spring or summer, so things are quiet. But a lot of people visit friends or family, or just take their vacation in the Savannah area during the holidays. So if the weather is okay, we see lots of them touring Tybee.

We've also learned that many of those visitors are looking for good places to eat, so we were open on Thanksgiving Day and will be open on Christmas. Pizza or barbecue is a change from the normal turkey or ham, so if you're in the mood for pizza, we'll be here!

Pirate's Fest '09 - what a party!

What a party! The 2009 Pirate's Fest was spectacular. We don't know how many people turned out for the festival, but the crowds were huge and they ate a lot of pizza!

First, the setting. It was warmer than usual for this time of year, about 90 degrees, but felt great. The weather stayed great except a brief downpour Saturday that, unfortunately, drenched the parade and parade-goers, but even that didn't stop the fun. The arrangements were wonderful -- congrats to the Pirate Fest committee for the setup. At one end of the South Beach parking lot was a huge, huge tent, complete with chandeliers, that covered the stage and plenty of space for attendees to enjoy the concerts, which went on Friday evening and Saturday evening, ending with a great performance by the Marshall Tucker Band. Rows of matching tents stretched along either side of the parking lot, housing all the vendors and creating a kind of carnival midway in between.

The food vendors were on the street side of the parking lot, which was a good thing, because it made it easier for staff to bring refills of hot, fresh, pizza to our booth -- which happened about every 15-20 minutes. It seemed we couldn't keep up with all the hungry pirates, big and small. From what we could see, the other food booths -- all local Tybee businesses and organizations -- were kept busy, too. And the other vendors, with pirate costumes, jewelry and other pirate related items, had lots of customers, as well.

The crowd was a wonderful mix, from locals, often with children, out for a day of fun to serious pirate fans who travel to events all over the country. Some of our out of state customers had planned their trips to include Pirate Fest, others were pleasantly surprised when they found out about it. And the costumes! Everything from off-the-shelf kids Halloween costumes to improvised to elaborately recreated outfits. We saw several people with stuffed parrots attached to their shoulders, so were quite surprised when a very realistic one started moving. No wonder it looked so real, it was!

We'll look forward to an even bigger and better Pirate's Fest next year!

It's hard to believe that summer passed so quickly. We're finding that on Tybee the seasons aren't quite the same as in other places. There's winter, then spring break, then summer, then after summer, then fall. September and early October are "after summer," the weather is still warm and you can enjoy an afternoon on the beach, but with kids back in school the pace is a little more leisurely. It's a great time for couples or a friends' get-away at the beach.

Just like Labor Day weekend is the end of summer, Pirate's Fest weekend is the end of after-summer. This weekend we're looking forward to thousands of buccaneers, pirates, privateers and their friends and families arriving on the island. Main events will be Friday afternoon and evening and all day Saturday, in the area around the pier and South Beach, with entertainment, vendors of all sorts of treasures and great food, of course.

Lighthouse Pizza will have a booth at the festival with slices of our delicious pizza and the restaurant, right up the street, will be open with its full menu and huge selection of beer -- "grog" in pirate-speak.

See you there!

Neighbors' referrals -- long distance

We always love it when a new customer comes in and says a friend or neighbor recommended us. It's even more fun when we find out that the customer and neighbor live out of state! We've had that happen several times lately, visitors from out of state who told us their neighbors visited earlier in the summer and said to be sure to eat with us. So, a big thanks to our new customers and their neighbors!

August is a great time to visit Tybee Island. Many of the school systems within day-trip range started back to school over the past couple of weeks, so the island is a little less crowded. But the weather is still great, the beach is beautiful and the water wonderful. And, of course, lots of great places to eat, like Lighthouse Pizza!

The next big event coming up is the Labor Day Beach Bash. This is the second year, and should be a great time, with the Swingin' Medallions playing and a fireworks show on Sunday night.

And we're looking forward to the Tybee Island Pirate Festival, Oct. 8-10, with entertainment, a parade and all kinds of swashbuckling action. We'll have a booth there, selling pizza by the slice, and giving out information on our new sister restaurant, which will open in January. Check back soon for more details!

Tybee Island called healthiest beach destination

We already knew that Tybee is a great place to visit -- or live! But now the secret is getting out. This month Health Magazine did a story on the 10 healthiest beach vacation spots in the country, based on beach, water and air quality, "fit" activities, healthy food options and costs. Tybee Island topped the list!

And today, July 24, The Today Show did a story on this list.

Here are the links:

Health Magazine

Today Show video

Summer is busy and fun on Tybee

With the great weather, and the movie filming on Tybee, it has been the place to be this summer. We had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend, with thousands of people enjoying the fireworks off the pier.

Lighthouse Pizza has welcomed many of those visitors to Tybee. In addition to our dining room and patio, they've enjoyed our new sidewalk cafe, shown here.

Late in June the movie was filming on the beach, right down the street. It was pretty interesting seeing a carnival set up on the beach. At the end of the long day of filming, someone from the crew ordered pizzas from us for a late night snack.