The Golden Isles was today’s destination

Saint Simons Island, GA

Last evening, there was a tornado watch for our area from 3 – 9 pm but we barely got any wind at all here, just some thunder and lightening and light rain pretty much all night. And today started off drizzly and grey, but by 3 or 4 pm it had brightened up and now, just as the sun is setting, it’s all clear.

Today, despite the dreary weather I decided to head south a bit to two in the chain of islands called the “Golden Isles” (by the Georgia Tourism folks, at least). My first stop was Jekyll Island, which is the furthest south in the chain. It was easy to access just off Interstate 95 and a 15 minute drive east, over a couple of bridges and a causeway and I was on the island. One of the campers I talked to in Sugarloaf Key recommended I get there and raved about it. I found it to be a bit of an odd place.

Historically it was predominantly an upscale resort for the most wealthy and influential (names like Vanderbilts, Pulitzers and Cranes) with their cottages surrounding the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. The roadways are confusing because some of them are for golf carts or the tram that tours the property, and the shops are scattered throughout the property and the signs are “understated”, which I guess is the point. The whole area is undergoing a restoration and they are trying to increase tourism to the island. There is a small “beach town”, some of the chain hotels have built small properties, and there is what looks like a relatively new convention centre but it all seems artificial or something.

I took a few pictures, checked out the beach, (which was nice and the facilities are new and there is lots of parking), and headed off to Saint Simons Island hoping to appreciate it more. And I did.

Saint Simons Island is more established, has a historic beach town with lots of upscale, but not pretentious, shops and restaurants of all types along a well treed main street. They have the prerequisite Lighthouse and Pier and a small casino in the main town centre, which is a little different. Today there was also the added hubbub of an Art Fair going on which added to the cheerfulness of the place, despite the grey weather. I wandered around the Fair and the great locals artists had some interesting stuff, different from what you see elsewhere, which is always interesting.

By then I’d worked up an appetite so I stopped in at Barbara Jean’s and didn’t have the crab cakes even though they are the famous draw. I had a blue cheese salad with pan-fried shrimp which was not breaded and really nicely spiced. The bread basket had three choices of bread and I managed to restrain myself and try only the pumpkin bread which was awesome. I splurged though and had a Key Lime Tart, thinking it would be a nice dainty little tart. Not so much. It was quite large and I struggled to finish it, but it was fabulously tart, just the way I like it. Then I walked up and down the main drag and back through some of the art fair again to make myself feel better about working off dessert.

Next I headed to Fort Frederica National Monument further north up the island. Along the way there was lots to look at, historic and new homes, and resorts, and churches galore. And there was a memorial garden for John and Charles Wesley, brothers who were both ordained ministers who arrived in Georgia at the request of Oglethorpe group to start a parish in Savannah.

Fort Frederica was built 3 years after Savannah was established as part of the colonization plans, but also as a defence against the Spaniards further south at, yup, you got it, St. Augustine. You’ll recall that Spain had claimed all lands in “Florida” which to them meant most of the south east of North America. The British had a different interpretation of where their south boundary existed and so Fort Frederica was put at the mouth of the Altamaha River which they considered to be the southernmost point of their territory. The British had been repelled once at St Augustine and in 1742 the Spaniards sailed north in an unsuccessful attempt to take Fort Frederica. It resulted in a bloody ambush of the Spaniards and after that attempt Spain was no longer a threat to the British on the Georgia coast.

Oglethorpe’s regiment was disband in 1749 and without the troops to support the townsite, Frederica fell into ruin and lay dormant until the Parks Service started its archialogical exploration and opened it as a national park. It’s an interesting site, with few intact ruins, but you can see the whole town grid of houses as they have uncovered some of the foundations. They have posted artifacts that they have discovered in each of the buildings they’ve uncovered which give you a flavour for what life was like. And hey, a walk under the Spanish Moss and in the shade of 200 year old live oaks is never a bad thing.