From Savannah we drove about 2½ hours south to the Golden Isles of Georgia, our portion of the Country Heritage Tour that had a beach setting. Per a Golden Isles website
Nestled on the Georgia coast, midway between Savannah, GA, and Jacksonville, FL, lies the mainland city of Brunswick and its four beautiful barrier islands off of Georgia: St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Little St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island.We would be visiting two of the islands: St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island. Our remaining two overnights were at the posh Jekyll Island Club Resort
We arrived at St. Simons Island mid morning, around 9:30 am. This was our first expansive view of the water, where St. Simon Sound meets the Atlantic Ocean. The land at the far side is Jekyll Island State Park. We would arrive there later in the day
We entered the welcome center for the Golden Isles. Far beyond only advertising brochures in tidy bins, the walls were adorned with beautiful artwork of the area, both photographs and paintings.
Within the lobby were impressive statues, also. This sculpture is a tribute to Neptune Small, an enslaved African-American who held a close bond with his master's son Lordy. They were the same age and learned to read and write side by side. When Lordy enlisted in the confederate army for the Civil War, Neptune went along with him as his servant. When Lordy did not return one night in the battle of Fredericksburg, Neptune went in search of him at great personal risk. He found Lordy had died and brought his body back to Georgia from Virginia for burial. Neptune went on in service to Lordy's younger brother in the war until it ended with a Confederate surrender 1865.
We were on our own for lunch in the small town of St Simon and we chose to get a quick hamburger at Palmer's Village Café on Mallery Street. The tin ceiling was shiny and attractive and quaint. The food was tasty but when I asked for water as my beverage to go with the food, the waitress said in a sort of hushed conspiratorial tone, "Our water is not so good". I said, "That's OK. I am not too fussy. Just throw some lemon in it." She did, and she was SO right. The water was AWFUL. I switched to lemonade and then tried sweet tea but neither could mask the rank brackishness of the water. My thirst on the islands was henceforth quenched with bottled water.
Mallery Street where Palmer's was is lined with shops. We did not have a lot of free unscheduled time here but enough that Frank and I strolled its length and visited the stores, some were artsy, a few were touristy, but all were fun.
The south end of Mallery Street stops at at the water's edge. Maybe there was more town on other offshoot streets but we did not explore there.
We drove past St. Simon's Island Lighthouse. The original lighthouse on the site had been built in 1810 but was destroyed by the Confederate army when they were retreating from Union troops in 1862. This structure is a rebuild dated 1872. The lighthouse has a unique lens and is reputed to be haunted. If curious for more detail check the Wikipedia link.
These are some of the lovely homes we passed on our way to East Beach of St Simon Island. The southern live oak trees are also worthy of note. The frame of USS Constitution was constructed from southern live oak wood harvested from St. Simons Island, Georgia, and the density of the wood grain allowed it to survive cannonade, thus earning her the nickname "Old Ironsides".
Islanders are particular about keeping their beaches clean and trash free. A modernistic whale sculpture is a reminder.
In order to make the beach more accessible to the disabled as well as to make transport easier for parents with children in strollers, a heavy blue vinyl pathway is laid across the sand. It is porous and like shade cloth.
Here is my requisite feet picture to prove we were there. Taking it took many tries, all calling upon good timing and rapid scrambling when our prediction of wave action were amiss. I also had to dip my hand in the water. Direct your attention to my hand please, and not my butt.
There was a balmy breeze and the sun felt warm but not hot. Frank and I soaked up the caressing feeling of the weather.
Patti, our tour guide, is beginning to write Country Heritage in the sand as her way of proving we were there.
As we walked back toward the parking lot and our bus, I captured our shadows as they retreated from the shoreline and sandy beach.
Next to the parking lot for our bus was the Coast Guard Station for Public Beach Access #27.
The author Eugenia Price, known for historical novels set in the American South, wrote several books with this area as her backdrop that told stories of the ministers of past eras. I had checked in a book store in the town to try to get one of the books from the Frederica area trilogy she wrote, but it is out of print so it will require more effort on my part to get a copy.
Spanish moss actually has flowers on it. It also has tiny red bugs so never harvest some as a souvenir to take home.
Jekyll Island Resort Arrival (Friday 22nd - afternoon and evening)
From St. Simon Island we navigated to Jekyll Island and began to get acquainted to our home away from home for the next two nights.
This is that protruding porch area from the inside. One night Frank and I relaxed by playing Sequence on that glass topped wicker table overlooking the crochet court.
Our room had comfortable arm chairs facing a fireplace with an ornate mantel.
The beds also faced that fireplace. Our room was quite large and that does not consider the adjoining porch.
We walked out onto the wharf and enjoyed the evening breezes.
The office and ante room just outside it were where our tour members met to board the bus or tram.
We had beautiful seaside vistas.
We saw outside and within Faith Chapel. Built in 1904, the stained glass window is made and signed by Tiffany and the Gargoyles are reminiscent of Notre Dame Cathedral. It is now a popular wedding venue.
This is DuBignon Cottage. DuBignon came from France as a refugee from the French Revolution and established a very prosperous plantation based on African slavery. DuBignon purchased the island and successfully marketed it as a winter retreat for the wealthy in 1886.
Indian Mound was the dwelling of the Rockefellers. It was named because of a hillock in the front of it that Rockefeller, a history buff himself, took pride in believing to be an Indian Burial Ground. When he tired of it blocking his view of the sea he had it dismantled and leveled only to learn it was a trash heap and not a sacred burial ground.
Before I learned pictures in the home were not permitted I took this one of a stained glass window.
Outside Indian Mound, encased in a plexiglas box, is a phone that was used in making the first transcontinental phone call. Per a Jekyll Island history website
1915: The first transcontinental telephone call was made in the United States. Presiding over the ceremonies by telephone were President Woodrow Wilson in Washington, DC, Alexander Graham Bell in New York, Thomas Watson in San Francisco, Henry Higginson in Boston, and AT&T President Theodore Newton Vail on Jekyll Island, GA.
Georgia Sea Turtle Center (Saturday 23rd - late morning)
This portion of the tour exceeded my expectations. The ongoing operation to rescue injured sea turtles and release them back to the wild is commendable. The facility has six to eight of these tanks, each housing one recovering turtle or partitioned to medically assist up to four. The most I ever saw was two in a tank.
The center's record for rescues is in triple digits for the five different Sea Turtle species. Note that the number of turtle species in the world is in single digits. Five are named by the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. A Florida website also included an Olive Ridley (declining population) and a Flatback (Australian).
We learned about the different species and got to see and handle their skulls. This is the logger head, the biggest.
The exhibit portion of the center had an assortment of interactive educational displays. This visit was interesting and well worth our while. When we were through we could answer such questions as
- What lives on my shell?
- How long did I live?
- Where did I migrate to?
- Where was my nest laid?
- Am I male or female? (Because sea turtles lack sex chromosomes, the temperature of the sand when they hatch determines their gender.)
Once again I included my prerequisite foot photo to prove we were there. Our tour guide Patti mentioned we might be standing on shells. Per revised hardscape design guidelines for Jekyll Island, paving materials could include Tabby Concrete. I wondered what Tabby Concrete was and if we were standing on it. Tabby Concrete per Wikipedia is
a type of concrete made by burning oyster shells to create lime, then mixing it with water, sand, ash and broken oyster shells. Tabby was used by early Spanish settlers in present-day North Carolina and Florida, then by English colonists primarily in coastal South Carolina and Georgia.I cannot prove it but I choose to believe yes, indeed, it was tabby concrete under foot.
Driftwood Beach (Saturday 23rd - afternoon)
I was so amazed by the landscape I kept taking photos. These are but a few.
Instead of only our feet these photos prove we were there for real!
Farewell Dinner (Saturday 23rd - evening)
Saturday night was our Farewell Dinner in the DuBignon Room. It was a quiet three course meal at round tables seating about eight folks so we could chat and dine at leisure. The event was an ideal way to wind down.
Departure and On the Road (Sunday 24th - morning)
Each of our breakfasts had been scrumptious buffets in the Grand Dining Room. Our final morning we happened to be seated at a window with a lovely view of the grounds, a fond remembrance of our stay there.
Each of our breakfasts had been scrumptious buffets in the Grand Dining Room. Our final morning we happened to be seated at a window with a lovely view of the grounds, a fond remembrance of our stay there.
We do not have magnetic key cards at the Jekyll Island resort. Instead there were the old fashioned metal-put-it-in-the-lock-and-turn-it type keys. We had been in Room 3104. The "3" told the building number and the second digit "1" relayed that we were on the first floor. We loved our room!
A few of us are relaxing in the rockers on the front porch waiting for Rick to bring the bus around. At this resort it is was understandable but, at many of the places we had gone, I have no idea where he managed to park that thing!
Everyone seems happy to be heading home. Or maybe they are just wearing smiles because they know we are going to visit one more quilt shop today!
Frank brings out the last of our carryons.
The bus is here ready for loading...
... one last glance back at the busload of fellow quilters,
... another view out the front, and we were off.
This was to be our route to the Jacksonville Airport in Florida, about 1½ hours away south.
We made a rest stop shortly after crossing the Florida border. The welcoming center gave out free samples of orange or grapefruit juice.
The travel brochures to be handed out were so numerous they were categorized library style by regions of the state.
Someone with a sense of humor hung this trio of clocks on the wall.
Frank and I had to make friends with the astronaut and dolphin displays.
Quilt Shop (Sunday 24th - still morning)
Of course with a tour of quilters we had to hit a quilt shop in each state and Florida was no exception. I wrote about Cinnamon's Quilt Shoppe in Jacksonville FL in my other blog DianeLoves2Quilt in a post dated 3/29/19.
JAX airport (Sunday 24th - early afternoon)
We got to the airport around 2:00 pm. Our flight did not leave until 7:30pm. With that much spare time we chose to enjoy the scenes around the airport. There were wild life murals of sea turtles, herons, and deer when you looked up, around the ceiling by the check in counters.
Of course there is also bathroom decor. Before passing through the security checkpoint, these mosaics around the restroom entries were worthy of note. They reminded me of the jaw dropping quilts that one might see at an international quilt show
Once through security, the rest rooms at our gate also sparked my interest. I had never seen so many icons representing gender before.
We were grateful when we boarded our flight to Denver and that it was on time. Enough is enough at the Jacksonville Airport.
Apparently enough is enough at the Denver airport, too. Frank is looking a bit travel weary. Fortunately our flight to Oakland CA was also on time.
We got in slightly after midnight, which according to our body clocks was 3:00 am! We were weary but glad we had made the trip. This is the carnage on the kitchen table the next morning. Time to empty suitcases, do laundry, catch up on mail, and stroke newly purchased fabric, not necessarily in that order.
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