St. Simons Island, Georgia coast

Another day spent sightseeing on one of Georgia's coastal islands. Fun - fun! Actually we went over there on two different days. The first day was spent checking out Ft. Frederica which turned out to be mostly story. It is little more than ruins now. They had laid out ground markers to depict the ruins of an 18th century British Fort and Town within land that was used to guard Georgia's southern frontier. At it's peak there were some seventy houses at Frederica. It is best remembered for the battle with the Spanish won by the British, thus preventing the Spanish invasion of Georgia. I found the little white Christ's Church of Frederica built in the 1800's to be more interesting because of the cemetery around it with interesting headstones . The name we saw most often on large family plots was Stevens. We also noticed a street on the Island named Stevens. However, there were many, many other names from both the Island and Brunswick on the mainland. I'm sure you genealogy people would have appreciated it.

John and Charles Wesley, two brothers from England, were known to have preached under the limbs of the large oak tree near the church. They were considered the fathers of Methodism in America. We were not able to go into the church as it was being prepared for a wedding that day.

The reason for the second trip to the Island was to go up into the lighthouse. It was not open the first day because of the fog hanging over south Georgia causing the steps to be too wet to be safe. It was 129 steps to the top . So we got our exercise that day! These are pictures of the views from the top . We later walked out on the pier and took pictures from that direction of the shore also. The house connected to the lighthouse was interestingly furnished to depict the time era when the light house was rebuilt, but we were not permitted to take pictures in it. However, in the museum going into the lighthouse we saw this interesting secretary and I did take a picture as it is different from any that I have seen before. I liked the way the front of what appeared to be a leg swung open and displayed a set of three drawers. Fancy hiding, huh?

There are businesses, normal shopping and fast food areas, Inns , museums ,

and condominiums all around this area. We enjoyed going into the little gift shops also leading to the pier. There was a restaurant, Barbara Jean's, known for the crab cakes, She Crab Soup, and Chocolate Stuff. I looked her up on the Internet and she has restaurants in seven locations in GA, FL, and SC. She also has cookbooks out and sells her specialties wholesale. We want to go back there before we leave the area!

Gary got his Georgia fishing license near the pier so he will have something more to do with his time while here. Then maybe I will get some scrapbooking done. All I have been doing with my extra time is the blog and reading. But then I am not complaining!

We spent more time driving the streets and checking out the housing. We were surprised at how many tiny houses were in horrible disrepair and I should have taken a picture of one. It made us want to buy and fix them up. Just a little TLC! I imagine that zoning restrictions would be prohibitive. We did take a photo of one that is for sale by owner for just $400,000 ! I suppose they think that it is worth it because of the corner lot???

Many or I should probably say, most of the homes are for vacation rentals . So we were thinking it would also be nice to buy one just across the dune from the beach with more than one unit so we would have a permanent vacation location and a rental. ??

And then there were more single family homes that were even much more expensive. The one that I would have like to go through, took five photos from the car to get all of it on film . It reminds me of Quaker Lane back home.

Then we went back to our motorhome and this was our view from our front window through the rain! Yes, that is a sofa on top of the picnic table and it has been there since before we got here on December 13th. But then there are many motorhomes and fifth wheels that come in and out every day heading farther south! But the campgrounds in the south have permanents living here year around because of the mild weather.

Stay safe and hope to see you again soon.