St. Simons Island 2023 - Day 4: Fort Frederica, Sustained Silent Reading

 Just like yesterday, I slept in and spent some time reading on the back patio while the womenfolk went for a walk in the morning. Once they returned, we piled into the van and went out exploring.

We needed somewhere to lounge outside and read, other than the beach, because the forecast was hotter today (86F) than yesterday and none of us are sun worshippers.

Fort Frederica National Monument fit the requirements; it's essentially a 200-acre park, run by the National Park Service, with ample shade, bathrooms, parking, and free admission, on the waterfront of the Frederica River. It's also only about 15 minutes from here, toward the northern half of the island.

Along the way, we stopped for some takeout to bring with us for a picnic lunch at the park.

The weather cooperated nicely, and there was a steady wind coming from the river to keep us cool, even in the sun.

We spent a few hours at the park, reading, wandering around, and exploring the ruins of the town, magazine, and garrison.

The history of the place is interesting, I think. The NPS site has lots of info, buried in submenus.

Around 3:30 PM, we left Fort Frederica and continued north, aiming for the end of the road at the top of the island. The map shows a large loop at the end, through the high-rent district of Hampton Point, but we couldn't go all the way around because the middle is a gated development.

After turning around, we finished our mansion tour and returned to reality. Along the way, we made a quick detour to scout out tomorrow's kayak tour muster point, at Village Creek Landing.

Back at the house, we regrouped, cleaned up, and relaxed a bit more. Eventually, people started getting hungry, so we piled back into the van to go to Coastal Kitchen, a semi-fancy restaurant that's just across the river, at the marina on the small island west of St. Simons.

It was our last night here, so we wanted to have an above-average dinner, but at a place that didn't require us to get dressed up. Coastal Kitchen did not disappoint, aside from trying to have us eat outside with the biting gnats.

Tomorrow, we plan to go out for breakfast before our kayak tour, then load up the van and go back to JAX. Our flight isn't until 6 PM or so.

St. Simons Island 2023 - Day 3: Jekyll Island

I slept in this morning; everyone else went for a walk and got tea/coffee.

Eventually, we loaded up the van for the day and made the 30-minute drive over to Jekyll Island. The entire island is a state park, sort of. Except that some 800 to 900 people live there, also. And there are hotels/resorts. Either way, you have to pay $8 to get through the gate on the only road that goes to it.

Our destination: the bike rental company in the parking lot of the Days Inn & Suites. 

We took our beach cruisers south, on the lovely bike path, with the aim of circumnavigating the island on the 16ish-mile loop.

It was perfect biking weather, with a strong ocean breeze to keep us cool. The path meandered over boardwalks through marshes, through parks and lines of oak trees draped with Spanish moss, and through the historic district.

We did most of a lap around the Jekyll Island Club, so I could find the cafe and get my afternoon cappuccino.

Christie had seen mention of the annual treasure hunt while perusing the web for something, so we stopped a few places to search for the plastic orbs. The event runs January 1st through the end of February, so we just made it!

One of the places we stopped to look around was the Horton House.

Mostly, we took an extended break for water/snacks and stretching, while Christie searched the area.

Back on the trail, they made the mistake of letting me lead, so we took a detour up a side trail to Driftwood Beach.

Not really wanting to pause our bike circuit (or, more importantly, delay lunch), we voted to come back later in the day, in the van, to see the beach.

The ride down the east coast of the island was scenic, but a bit windier than the other side, and also lacking in shade trees. We found a bit of shade at a beach access boardwalk, and took a short break to watch the waves crash on the beach.

We returned the bikes some time around 2:30 PM, then drove down the road to Zachry's Riverhouse for light lunch.

After lunch, we still had a few hours of daylight left, so we drove roughly the same route we had biked, but in the opposite direction, to stop and see the beaches we had passed. Also to look for treasure globes.

First up was the St. Andrews Picnic Area & Beach.

The beach was beautiful and empty, but there was a sign advising against swimming due to water quality issues. Shannon helped Christie search for treasure, while Sabrina and I just went for a walk.

After that stop, we took a lazy ride back up to Driftwood Beach to explore it on foot. It might be more accurately called a tree graveyard.

Christie probably got some very artistic shots.

The tree-heavy stretch is maybe 1/2 a mile, and we walked most of it (twice). But around 5 PM, the bugs starting coming out, so we fled back to the safety of the van.

Back on St. Simons Island, we unloaded, cleaned up, and considered our options for a light dinner. We ended up at Ember, up by the Winn-Dixie.

Earlier, our lunch venue had teased the possibility of key lime pie, but they were out of it by the time we were ready. Because of this, some of us were on a mission to find key lime pie, and Ember didn't have any. Instead, we sought out another location for dessert, down the street at Fiddlers, not far from the brewery we tried on Saturday night.

Everyone agrees that we need a day of relaxation tomorrow, so we might find a quiet spot to sit and read. Kayaking has been pushed to Wednesday.

St. Simons Island 2023 - Day 2: Beach

We slept in this morning, had a light breakfast at the house, then went for a stroll downtown.

As we walked toward the "pier village", a fire truck raced by, and we could smell smoke. Once we got closer, we discovered the source of excitement and odor: a car was on fire, just sitting in a parking lot.

The town was rather sleepy and peaceful; the only excitement was at the pier, where maybe a dozen people were fishing.

From the pier, we had a lovely view of the lighthouse.

All that walking around had worn us out, and we planned to be at the beach all afternoon, so we opportunistically grabbed some lunch at Barbara Jean's restaurant. After eating, we continued our walking tour of the downtown area.

Between the pier and the lighthouse is a large park, including several pools (that are only open seasonally), and this sculpture of a whale. On either side of the whale, there are signs telling you not to climb on the artwork. The other one (not pictured) said something like "take a photo with me, not on me".

The lighthouse is as picturesque as any I've ever seen (not that I've seen that many, but probably more than the average person has visited). We were planning to meet a local friend of Shannon's for a beach trip around 1 PM, so we didn't really have time to go inside and climb the 129 stairs to the top. Also, the only way to do that is to pay the museum admission, which we weren't interested in seeing. (That's more of a rainy-day activity.)

On the walk back to the house, we witnessed the completion of the car fire story, as the burned vehicle was hauled away.

I was scoping out food options for later in the week; this local gem is only open Monday to Friday, 11 AM to 2 PM.

Back at the house, we loaded up the van with the cooler and some beach chairs, then found the public parking area about a mile up the road where we would meet Shannon's friend. Her friend also brought a friend, and a pop-up tent.

Our local acquaintances felt that the beach was crowded, but there was still plenty of space for everyone. We spent a solid 4 hours at the beach, relaxing, chatting, reading, and people-watching. I went for a swim, but it was too cold for everyone else.

According to seatemperature.net:

"Today water temperature in Saint Simons is 63.1°F. This is cool bathing water, but acceptable for  short dives for physically fit and hardened people. Continuous exposure to such water for more than four hours can lead to severe hypothermia."

As the sun was setting, the gnats starting coming out, so we packed up and retreated to the van.

Very close to the house, we had taken note of a fried chicken restaurant simply called "Porch", which our new local friends recommended. After unpacking the van, we walked over there to grab some dinner before they closed at 8. I can't pass up chicken and waffles; it was quite good, for fast/casual dining.

There happened to be an ice cream place a few doors down, called Moo Cow, which we obviously had to try after dinner. We sat outside and enjoyed our dessert while listening to the (outdoor) live music at the Mexican restaurant next door.

Having adequately gorged ourselves, we felt that an after-dinner stroll was in order. They're not big on street lights here, so we walked back to the park/lighthouse area. There were a few people just finishing up a round of mini golf, which also closed at 8.

As had been the case this morning, the pier was the center of activity, and also the only place that was well-lit, aside from the lighthouse itself and a few open stores on the main commercial street.

There were a lot more people catching fish tonight than we saw this morning, so I guess if you want to fish from this pier, do so under cover of darkness.

Tomorrow's weather looks as perfect as today was, so we'll probably either go kayaking or rent some bikes, possibly over on Jekyll Island.