May 20th saw Tybee Island celebrate the 30th annual Beach Bum parade. Those unfamiliar with this unique Tybee celebration it is essentially a water fight that begins over on North Beach near the lighthouse and travels over three miles ending near the pier downtown. It is Tybee's way of opening tourist season. It does cause some interesting discussions on the island. It may be the only city in the United States where the city council and the mayor debate what steps should be taken to enforce rules and keep the public safe during a squirt gun fight during a parade. No water balloons, no squirting ice water, no pressure washers, no jumping off floats or on floats to spray people, and no spraying police. This year they banned parking on the parade route. Folks were filling the back of pickup trucks and hauling in 1,000 gallon tanks of water and parking along the street. The concern was that kids were darting out from between the vehicles and someone would get run over. Here are some pictures of the event.
This picture gives you an idea how crazy this gets.
I was amused by this young lady. The trash can was full of water so she could easily reload. When return fire came she would duck down below the upper edge.
The street started dry. No rain that day. All the water is from the fight.
Pretty slick idea by the float builders to protect their shooters.
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