Historic Coast Guard Station

The  Historic U.S. Coast Guard Station is just a quick ride from the St. Simons Light house and admission is included in the price of admission to the lighthouse tour and museum.  The station built in the Roosevelt era js now a museum highlighting life in the Coast Guard in the early 1940's.  There are several galleries with hands on exhibits featuring information about Georgia's beaches, marshes, and forests. 

A ladder on the second floor led to this room on the top floor with a doorway to the the outside peak.

 View from the top of the coast guard station.  Many years ago the station was closer to the ocean, in the latter years, the coast guard boats had to move to another location because of the addition of so much beach over time. 

Joy

129 Steps of the SSI Lighthouse

The original light house on the southern tip of St. Simons Island was built in 1810.  During the Civil War, an invasion by Union troops forced Confederate soldiers to abandon the area in 1862.  As the troops retreated, they destroyed the lighthouse to prevent it from being used by Union warships. The current light house was built in 1872 and is a 104 feet brick structure affixed with a Fresnel lens.  The cast iron spiral stairway has 129 steps leading to a galley or watch room.  We climbed all 129 steps to the top and walked around the outside walkway.  Of special interest to us is that the lighthouse is reportedly haunted by the ghost of light keeper Frederick Osborn who was killed in a duel with the assistant light keeper in 1880.  We did not see any evidence of a ghost on our visit, but we were haunted by the trip up the 129 steps on the following day.  

View of the pier from the top of the lighthouse

Neptune water park and mini golf

Fresnel Lenses

The lighthouse is attached to the light keeper's home

The museum highlighting the history of the lighthouse is in the light keeper's home on the lower level.  The residence is as it might have been on the second floor of the home.  Today, the house requires no keeper as the lights are electric now.  On May 26, 2004, ownership of the lighthouse transferred to the Coastal Georgia Historical Society under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, while the light mechanism is maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.


Joy

Happy Birthday Barry!

My little Brother is 50!!!!! I can't believe it because that makes me what--oh never mind.  The family got together to welcome him to the golden age with an ice cream party.  I took a picture, but it turned out awful so I borrowed this one from his face book page (sorry Barry) of when he was much younger...
It looks like he was getting some much needed rest while overseas.  Maybe he will respond and let us know where this picture was taken.  

Matthew and Coleman enjoying the food

Happy Birthday Barry!

Joy

I Pledge Allegiance

I looked out of the pilot house one day and saw that two boats had come in both with flags flying high. The wind was helping to display the flags beautifully.   It was such a pretty sight two see the red, white, and blue brightly flying proudly that I had to take a shot.  I was reminded of the pledge of allegiance and did a little research to discover The pledge of Allegiance was originally written by Francis Bellamy in 1892 but not adopted by Congress until 1945.  In 1954 the words "under God" were added.  Since I am not in school everyday anymore, where we recited the pledge every morning, I thought it was nice to have a reminder.  

Proud to be an American!
Joy

more Driftwood Beach

We were so impressed with Driftwood Beach that we (I) took lots of pictures.  I began looking at the remains of the trees like I used to look at the clouds when I was a child trying to see what shapes the clouds formed.  I never saw the Virgin Mary or Baby Jesus in the clouds, but I have seen dogs and angels.  That's intriguing in itself, because if anything were up in the clouds it would be sweet innocent dogs and angels.  Anyway---on to more driftwood beach pics.

Prehistoric fish with fin and razor sharp snout?

 Maybe a long skinny Shetland pony?

Volcano in Hawaii?

Two eyes, a nose , and a mouth!!!

Hey, what's that I see in the clouds?

Joy

Driftwood Beach

erosion:  the act or state of eroding, the process by which the surface of the earth is worn away by the action of water, glaciers, winds, waves...

 

When I hear the word erosion, beauty does not come to mind.  Jekyll Islands Driftwood Beach is an example of extensive erosion and also great beauty.  Along a stretch of about a quarter mile is what I call a  graveyard of oaks and pines that sit in the sand.  These trees at one time survived on higher ground, but the sea and dredging in the ship channel has played a part in the erosion that leaves them stranded and dying in the powdery sand.

Joy


 

Jekyll Island Pier

Jekyll Island Pier is located in the Clam Creek Picnic Area on Jekyll Island. This is a great location for fishing and crabbing. The pier is also a great place to take a stroll and enjoy the wildlife.  Jekyll Island Pier  one of only three ocean piers on the Georgia coast; the others  are at St. Simons and Tybee Islands. 

It looks like this fishing shop has everything one might need for a day at the pier.


Joy

Jekyll Island Club Hotel

Steve and I have become very interested in Jekyll Island.  We visited again this week and will probably make several more times while we are nearby.  The Island has an interesting history. The Jekyll Island Club was a unique family oriented resort when it was founded in 1886 when members of the incorporated recreational club purchased the island from John DuBignon fro $125,000. Construction of the clubhouse began in August of 1886 and the club opened its doors in January of 1888.  Ground was broken on the clubhouse building in mid-August 1886.

The membership was made up of many of the world's wealthiest including names such as Morgan, Rockefeller, and Vanderbilt.  The club operated for 54 years before complications form WWII and poor financial times forced it to close in 1942.  The state of Georgia purchased the island from the remaining members and began to operate the club  as a resort.  The operation was not financially successful and closed in 1971.  Fortunately, the Club and it's grounds were designated an historic landmark in 1978, restored and reopened as a luxury resort hotel in 1985.  

A tidbit of trivia about Jekyll Island for those who frequent  local trivia competitions  is that Jekyll Island was the location of a secret meeting in 1910 of many of the country's leading financiers to discus monetary policy and the banking system of the US.  It was at the meeting that legislation was written to create the U. S. Federal Reserve.  

The turret of the club peeking through moss covered oaks

Of course, we got hungry.  The historic wharf has two restaurants--Rah Bar and Lattitude 31.  Because it was so hot, we decided to eat inside at Lattitude 31.  

Lainey had shrimp tacos

Grilled Mahi with pineapple salsa for Joy

More pictures and posts of Jekyll Island to come....



Joy

Croquet Anyone?

Sweet Lainey dropped by this week so we decided to take her to Jekyll Island for a few hours.  We stopped at the historic Jekyll Island Club first to see if anyone was playing croquet.  This is not your mother's croquet game.  This is some seriously competitive croquet complete with all white apparel and strategy.  

This event was so competitive that I was afraid the flash would accidentally go off on my camera and disturb/distract someone. 

Apparently anyone can play on this course--one doesn't need to be staying at the hotel to reserve the course.  I have got to study up on the rules before I attempt this game.

Joy

Good Morning Sunshine!

I ran out in my pajamas to capture this shot and was surprised when the dockmaster stuck his head out at the same time.  Didn't want to get caught in my pj's but sometimes that  happens.

Good morning sunshine,
I hope that you're well
Honey I missed you,
Last night when night fell
You should know, sunshine,
You brighten my day
The world gets so dark, love,
When you go away

(lyrics by Alex Day)

Happy Happy Day to You!

Storm Clouds Forming

We have a rain storm almost every day here in St. Simons.  Around 5 p.m. the clouds form and send a cooling rain over the island.  The temperature drops about ten to fifteen degrees and everyone goes out again after the rain.  

Frederica & Altamaha Rivers

Lainey came to visit today for a little while!  We took her on a dinghy ride on the Frederica River and the Altama River.  

Epworth By the Sea came into view quickly after we passed under the bridge.  We could see several groups enjoying the warm breezes and shade from the mossy oaks.  

Eventually we found Fort Frederica before we crossed the ICW and scooted into the Altamaha River

We wound our way to the Two Way Marina and Sport Fishing Club. 

Lainey and I both got hungry (nothing new) so we decided to go over to Jekyll Island and eat.  We tried to tie up to the Jekyll Island Club Historic Marina but the water was so low we were touching the soft mud.  Quick change of plan--we went to the Jekyll Island Marina and ate at SeaJays before coming back to the boat to get out of the blistering sun.  

Steve let Lainey take over the wheel for a while.