Beach Walking on St. Simons Island

Finally I get back to our trip to Georgia.  Hopefully there won't be any more delays.  Hopefully I will be proven wrong, the house will sell and I will be delayed as I move into a new one. 

A quick walk past an old Coast Guard station now a museum and down a boardwalk and we were on the beach of St. Simons.  Obviously, the locals respect and love their beach.  There was one, count it ONE, small piece of litter that we saw on our walk.  It was a piece of paper or plastic caught in a nettle bush.  I was most impressed.

The historic Coast Guard station opened in 1937.  During WW-II a German submarine sank two United States merchant vessels off the coast of St. Simons.  Along with the Coast Guard personnel local residents rescued the crew of the sunken ships.  A new station was opened in nearby Brunswick in 1995 and this one was decommissioned.


Bayberry plant (and I thought bayberry came in round candles wrapped in cellophane).  Its uses are many from the obvious candles, to medicinal qualities, to helping the Yellow-rumped Warbler be able to withstand the colder climates for longer periods by eating the energy rich berries which to most are indigestible.

 I think this is Goldenrod.  If I remember right we asked the tour guide what the stuff was that looked liked goldenrod and she gave us "a look" and said "it IS Goldenrod".  For obvious reasons I have blocked that from my mind.

The beach is enjoyed by all no matter if it is bird watching, crab chasing (in the case of the dog that probably ran ten miles while we were there), sun bathing, or shell hunting.

The wind and tides make interesting

 patterns in the sand.  

But.....

This was a Road Scholar trip, one where you learn, and we were fortunate to have Georgia Graves, not only as our lecturer for the beach and marsh walk but all week as our tour director.  She walked with us and explained what we found along the shore.

This little guy goes to an underground bunker to protect himself from the shorebirds.  As you can tell by the prints he isn't fooling anyone.

Run little crabby, RUN!

He couldn't run from Georgia...although if I remember right (HAH!) this was an exoskeleton and not a live crab.  But it gives you an idea of the size of them.  Might take a few to make a Crab Louie.

This was a live one.

Another interesting guy on the beach was a horseshoe crab.  Much bigger than his cousin the sand crab!

Unfortunately this guy has gone on his merry way to crab heaven, but lucky for us he left his shell behind for us to look at and learn everything from their locations to their sex lives.  I will spare you that knowledge since this blog is G-Rated.

There are 4 species of horseshoe crab, 3 live in Asia and this variety along the eastern shore from Maine to Mexico.

They aren't known just for their good looks, they also have a role in science.  Their blue blood contains a copper substance known as Limulus amebocyte lysate which coagulates with the merest of traces of bacterial toxins.  This is used to test for sterility on surgical instruments and virtually all IV solutions.

It was soon time to leave the beach and head to the marsh.  You see pretty stuff when you turn your back to water too.

on to the marsh we go.....

Although a very interesting and complex subject I will not try to tell you about the ecosystem of the marshlands along the barrier islands.  Mainly because I can't remember enough to be sure of what I am telling you.  (Retention is a problem, honesty isn't).  Do know from the tiniest protozoa to the largest being the marshlands and the islands depend on each of them and how they support each other.  I also know that the encroachment of man and machines has an impact (the horseshoe crabs, for instance, are decreasing in numbers partly due to being caught in intake valves of factories along the coastline.

Found this on the UVm.edu page.  It is a salt plant and we each got to munch on one of the little "pellets" and they did have a very salty taste to them.  I tried a photo of my own but was in back of the crowd so couldn't get close enough to really get a good one.


 

 The marshlands are beautiful and full of surprises if you look (sorta like listening to the whispers along the back roads, ya know)

It could be a flock of egrets flying in to land in a small wetland just to the left of us. 


Or a Periwinkle snail, the size of your little fingernail in front of us.

It could be a snowy egret way out in the marshland sitting on a barren tree (better to seen that way).









Or crabs scurrying around ready to raise their giant claws to frighten a threat. 

Off to Mullet Bay for a delicious lunch (I chose a crab and lobster salad - YUM) and then on to the lighthouse and museum.

 St. Simons Lighthouse was built by James Gould in 1810 from tabby from Ft. Frederica at a cost of $13, 775.  He stayed as theeep of the light k for the next 27 years and built a home on the lighthouse grounds in 1830 for a cost of $1,700.

The lighthouse and keepers cottage were dynamited in 1862 by the Confederate Army so it would not aid the Union forces.  The new lighthouse, finished in 1872, has its own history including an earthquake, a lightening strike,  sickness - especially malaria, and even a murder which has produced a ghost whose footsteps can be heard in the tower to this day.

 There are 129 steps to the widows walk at the top of the tower.  You can see where I was...taking the picture at the base!!!

I don't think this guy needed the lighthouse for his sail

 At the edge of the grounds...

Beautiful oak on the grounds of the lighthouse, and a heart someone put on one of the branches....

James Gould...remember him?  He was the builder and keeper of the light of the first lighthouse.  He was also the main character in Eugenia Price's book "Lighthouse", one of a trilogy.  This typewriter is the one she used to write the book and is on display in the lighthouse museum.  Eugenia is buried at Christ Church and we will pay our respects later in the week.

Right now it is time to get on the bus and head to Ft. Frederica.

Ft. Frederica was originally meant to defend the British forces from the Spanish located in what is now St. Augustine, Florida.  It was fortified with earthen walls covered with sod and a wooden palisade constructed within the moat formed by the dirt removal for the walls.    Differences in elevation within the walls further enhanced the defense strategy.  Outside the walls more ditches and walls were built with the intent of confusing the enemy and wearing them down.

Now it is a beautiful area with hanging moss, sea views, and green lawns.  Outlines of the buildings that were once a part of Ft. Frederica are scattered throughout and a bunker, made from tabby as most of the buildings were, with two cannons are at the sea side. 

If I remember right (that retention problem again) this is the footprint of two quarters.  Each side had a fireplace back to back with their neighbors.

After a full day packed with information of the history, ecosystems, conchology (my new big word meaning the study of shells), good food, good company, and feet screaming to be released from shoes, it was wine time followed by supper and a discussion on turtles (fabulous lecture I might add).  The lecture was to prepare us for the next day when we headed to Jekyll Island and a visit to the turtle hospital.

Until I get that blog up....listen to the whispers and see what you hear.

Gone.

GEORGIA ON MY MIND

Georgia, Georgia
The whole day through (the whole day through)
Just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind (Georgia on my mind)

Georgia, specifically the barrier islands of Georgia have been on Pat's and my minds for a long time.  So we went.  Road Scholar had a tour that filled our needs and it was a done deal.  Well after we gave them our credit card numbers.  They do a better job of coordinating then we do, so we ended up with a day and a half to explore on our own.  Flying into Jacksonville, Florida it was a quick trip up the highway to St. Marys.

Our day started off pretty crummy, driving through moderate to heavy rain to the airport in San Antonio, but when we landed we were traveling in sunshine.

Those white clouds turned totally black before too very long.

What a difference!!!
 

We checked into the Cumberland Inn, a nice enough box motel, affordable, clean, and comfortable.  We were greeted by a local that explained the correct way to eat a pine cone.

He kept a close eye on us, sure that we were about to steal his tasty treat.  He had nothing to worry about since we were on our way to eat some good seafood, however it did look delicious.  

















After the educational stop at the local tree academy we headed on down to tour historic St. Marys and the waterfront.  Some of the  sights around this charming little town...it has been said that "there's something about St. Marys"  and there is.  

There are tons of cute cottages, homes and structures throughout St. Marys.  There was even a scarecrow display all up and down the main road, unfortunately I didn't get any shots of that, but their creativity did shine through.

I could hang my hat in either of those cottages, many of them had those name signs out with the family names on them - whether the original owners or present owners I don't know.


The rose with the plumbago background was in one of the flower beds at the hotel.  Nice cheerful good morning to us.













We passed Orange Hall on the way to the waterfront.  I apologize for the crookedness, but it was shot from the car and when I tried to straighten my goof, I cut off too much of it.

Orange Hall is considered to be the Grand Dame of St. Marys.  It is an example of the antebellum life in Greek Revival style circa 1820-1830s.  The man, Horace Southworth Pratt, who had the house built was unable to live in it upon its completion.  Prior to the completion he reluctantly honored a promise he had made to the University of Alabama years before to join the faculty.

During the Civil War, Orange Hall was occupied by the Union Army, but was spared from destruction for unknown reasons.  After that, the building had several owners and renters and was finally purchased by the city of St. Marys in 1965.

After toodling around for awhile we made it to the waterfront.  So pretty, clean and undeveloped.  A beautiful park, Howard Gilman Memorial Waterfront Park, drew us in to the fountain in the center where children played and laughed.  One beautiful little girl saw my camera and started posing for me.  I would point the camera at her and click my tongue to make a shutter noise and she would grin and pose again.  Idyllic!

We noticed some activity closer to the water and witnessed a photographer spouting orders to a bride on where to stand, how to stand, where to look, etc.  Sure hope her pictures turn out well.

We were hoping for a wedding, but alas no groom.

Perhaps he was waiting at the First Presbyterian Church.

 This church is why Horace Pratt moved to St. Marys.  He came as a young missionary and stayed until he left for the university.

The sea views (and I call everything sea, marsh or beach - it is hard to keep the different distinctions straight) were beautiful.  I think this was the St. Marys River but not sure.

In the last photo you can see the pfluff (or plough) mud.  Though generally seen off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, this has all the characteristics of pfluff.  Those characteristics are a sticky quicksand type mud along the tidal regions of the southeast coast.  It has a particular odor and if you step in it you will be able to get out, but don't count on your shoes coming with your feet.  

A quick look around and we were ready to find some nourishment.  That sandwich we had eaten in two stages earlier in the day had quit working on keeping the hunger bugs away.  At the advice of the motel clerk, we stopped at St. Marys Seafood & More on the main road.  A rustic place filled with locals and staffed with friendly and helpful waitresses (at least our Vickie was).  We soon filled up on their seafood platter (shrimp, scallops, oysters, fish, deviled crab, and clam strips with baked potato and grilled zucchini.  Tiramasu to go for dessert) and headed back to the hotel to thankfully fall into our beds.  

The next morning we woke to fog and couldn't wait to go explore Oak Grove Cemetery hoping against hope the fog would hang around until we got there.  

Spanish Moss hanging from the little tree outside the room.  So moody and wonderful (a word you will hear often on this trip).

Before going into the cemetery you must read and follow the rules.  Be sure to pay particular attention to the second one. As long as you are dead you are ok.

No hand rails.  But once across, you are met by the angel below.

Living in a high Hispanic populated area, I am used to different religious tokens on grave sites.  This little angel was wearing a rosary. I have seen rosaries before but usually just laying on the headstone, not draped around the neck.

The cemetery was one of the most beautiful cemeteries we have visited, and we are both ghouls of the first order.  Huge Live Oaks draped in Spanish Moss, Camilla bushes, palms, and other plants and trees made for a tranquil and yet mysterious atmosphere.

Although Oak Grove Cemetery was laid out in 1788, the oldest marked grave site is 1801.  One section of the cemetery is dedicated to the Acadian refugees, who were driven from Nova Scotia by the English, and the Acadian's descendants.  All walks of life, and of death, are represented here, from plantation owners to slaves and from natural deaths to traumatic deaths. The earliest grave we saw was 1804.

Do notice the war that Sargeant Bessent fought in.

A couple of the more beautiful graves at Oak Grove.

I think someone might have enjoyed the waters of the Georgia coast when they were living.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas the Camilla bushes should be brilliant based on buds we saw on the bushes.

One particular grave was unusual in its decorations.  It was actually two graves, side by side with slab type markers.  Between them was two metal dogs, and leading up to them were foot prints.

At the base of one was a horse statue with a miniature horse at the upright headstone.  Very beautiful but different.

It is obviously not a Dollar Store carving either.

That urn was huge and was slowly being eaten by the lichen which extracts the potassium from the stone.  Eventually, it will turn the urn to nothing but dirt.


Below is a sand ant hill, maybe nothing special to some, but I have never seen one made out of anything but plain ole dirt.  It was probably about 8" across or more. 

Warts growing on the face of the Goblin in the tree.  Do you hear the theme from Twilight Zone yet?



















When we walked in I noticed some Live Oak stumps and thought they would make a good place to hide a cache.  So I pulled out my trusty little iPhone and pulled up the Geocaching.com App and said search for nearby caches.  Quick as a wink, it comes up and says there is one called Mighty Oak over yonder and then promptly ran out of battery.  

I was walking around "over yonder" through a multitude of "mighty oaks" and saw a tree that probably was the location of the cache.  Sure enough I found it, but not a log.  So I took the following picture as proof I had found it and waited until that night after the phone charged to log it.

The only problem was when I pulled up Geocaching.com on the iPad and looked for the cache it wasn't there.  I tried both my phone and my iPad, not that it would be different but figured the phone at least would tell me since it was what told me one was there to begin with....nope.  I do believe I was was "spooked".  When I got home I even tried on my computer...nope.

Time to head out of town via the Sugarmill Tabby Ruins

Built in 1825 it is the best and largest tabby ruins in the Southeast.  So before seeing the ruins, let me explain tabby to you.  Being on the coastline, the early settlers used the resources available to them...mainly oyster shells.  By crushing the shells and then boiling them, they produced lime.  The lime/shell mixture was placed in a wooden form and sand and water was added.  To build a wall they just kept moving the form upward until the desired height was reached.

This is a close up of tabby. 

A lot of pictures but it was a beautiful place and an interesting place.

 

 

 The Historical Marker read:

TABBY SUGAR WORKS OF
JOHN HOUSTOUN McINTOSH

These are the ruins of a tabby sugar works built by John Houstoun McIntosh at New Canaan Plantation soon after 1825.  In his sugar house McIntosh installed what was, according to Thomas Spalding, the first horizontal cane mill worked by cattle power.

McIntosh, born in 1773, in what is now McIntosh County, settled in East Florida as a young man and became the leader of a group of American citizens who, during the War of 1812, plotted the annexation of East Florida to the United States.  This plot crushed by the Spanish government, McIntosh removed to Georgia and acquired two plantations in Camden County.  Marianna, where he built a home, and New Canaan, where he began the cultivation of sugar cane under the influence of Thomas Spalding, who had experimented in sugar production and seen the use of steam-propelled horizontal cane mills in Louisiana.

After McIntosh's death in 1836, New Canaan was sold to one Col. Hallowes, who changed the name of the plantation to Bollingbrook and lived there until after the Civil War.  During the war, Hallowes planted cane and made sugar in the McIntosh sugar house.  He also used the tabby sugar works as a starch factory, producing arrowroot starch in large quantities.

You can see the horizontal lines where they stacked the molds in the photo on the left and the vertical construction in the columns below.  Reminds me of the blocks we used to build with, leaving doors and windows as we went along.

Details, whether for functionality or aesthetic  purposed were in every room of the ruins. 

I would love to see blueprints or something showing how each of these rooms were used.  The mill held a boiler room, vats, cisterns, and an area for the cattle that provided the power.  It had to have been a grand operation in its day.

I had to include the picture below, not only for the beauty of the area leading back to the parking lot, but for the two people in the picture.  It was a husband and wife who pulled up right after us and got out of the car, her on her cell phone chattering away about the purchases she had bought earlier that day.  In the picture she is still on the phone, having walked around this bit of history with fascinating architecture on beautiful grounds more interested in the conversation she was having with her friend/daughter/mother.
  
D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G 

Too bad she didn't trip over this stump and have her eyes opened.

Nahhh...the stump is too pretty to ruin with her flabby foot.


And we are off to St. Simons .... and of course I found some rust and some age to photograph.

What I didn't get a chance to shoot were a couple of signs we passed.  The first was outside a thrift/junk/used store.  The sign was prominently displayed on a sandwich board beside the road "Dead Peoples Stuff for Sale".  



While we were giggling like schoolgirls over that one we passed another, a hand painted large sign with huge letters R I B followed by a teeny weeny little s crammed in between the B and the edge of the board.  Measure twice paint once.....

These were everywhere, bright and beautiful along the roadways. 

Soon we were coming out of the forest and seeing some of the marshes.  

Lots of folks enjoying the beautiful weather, the richness of the marshes and rivers, whether in kayaks or in boats. 

The Marshes of Glynn

Oh, what is abroad in the marsh and the terminal sea?

  Somehow my soul seems suddenly free

From the weighing of fate and the sad discussion of sin,

By the length and the breadth and the sweep of the marshes of Glynn.

 - Sidney Lanier

 Over the Sidney Lanier Bridge we went to Brunswick, Georgia where we stopped for lunch at Marshside Grill and Bar only because we were hungry and didn't want to take the time to find Willie's Wee-Nee in Brunswick proper that Siri recommended.  Delicious shrimp po-boy and a cup of Brunswick Stew (in Brunswick, how cool is that????) 

 

 Thar be pirates in them thar marshes, mate!
I assume it is a party boat or tour boat.  Surely nobody has it as a family boat....do they?

It was docked by the restaurant.

Main road leading into St. Simons.  So many of the roads and streets around us looked just like this.  Just beautiful.


With a little time left before the official tour began, we poked around a bit on our own and stumbled upon a beautiful garden dedicated to the Wesley brothers (John and Charles).  All good little Methodists will recognize John's name as the founder of Methodism.

I've transcribed the next two signs for you, skip on down if you aren't interested.

Wesley Memorial Garden
Dedicated to the Glory of God and in memory of
the Reverends John and Charles Wesley
~
An unrealized dream of Alfred W. Jones Sr. of the Sea Island Company became a reality when this garden was established.  In 1984, his son A.W. Jones Jr. proposed a generous gift of 20 acres of land to be divided equally between Christ Church Frederica (Episcopal) and the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church with the understanding that the two denominations come together to create a memorial honoring John and Charles Wesly. Anglican priests in Georgia and founders of Methodism.  
Both denominations set aside one adjoining acre for the development of the Wesley Memorial Garden and established a foundation to build and maintain the garden in perpetuity.  Henry D. Green, working with landscape architect, Candace Brewer, designed the Garden and managed its construction.  The focal point of the azalea woods garden is the 18', 15 ton Celtic cross cut from granite in Elberton, Georgia.
Wesley United Methodist Church at Frederica was organized and erected their first  unit on their remaining nine acres.  The dedication of the Garden was held June 12, 1988, with the Reverend Thomas Fitzgerald, Rector of Christ Church Frederica, Bishop Frank Robertson, founding pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church at Frederica and Right Reverend Harry W. Shipps, Bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Georgia presiding.
Trustees from Christ Church Frederica and Wesley United Methodist Church at Frederica manage the trust to ensure the garden in perpetuity.

Reverends John & Charles Wesley
"About 3:00 in the afternoon I first set foot on St. Simons Island and immediately my spirit revived."  Charles Wesley, March 9, 1736
~
Ordained ministers of the Anglican Church, the Wesleys joined General James Oglethorpe, founder and first Governor of Georgia on his second trip to Georgia.  John Wesley is recognized as the founder of Methodism.  His brother Charles is remembered as a prolific poet and writer of over 6,000 hymns.
John Wesley was authorized by the Trustees of the Colony of Georgia to perform religious and ecclesiastical offices in the colony.  Charles Wesley was to be secretary of Indian Affairs and to perform religious duties at Frederica.
Both and some bitter experiences and believed their ministry in Georgia was a failure.  However, history has proved otherwise.  Their work in Georgia is called the second rise of Methodism; the first being with the Holy Club in England.
The Wesley memorial Garden is a place where people may experience the same revival of the spirit felt by Charles Wesley when he arrived on St. Simons Island and when John Wesley felt his heart strangely warmed during his Aldersgate experience in London on May 24, 1738.  

The entrance to the gardens.  The base of the cross has inscriptions on three sides.  In the front it reads:

In the Glory of God 
and in memory of
The Reverend John Wesley
1703 - 1791
and
The Reverend Charles Wesley
1707 - 1788

 


The sides list the two brothers and their accomplishments and assignments.






















The grounds were beautiful to say the least and there are a gazillion azalea plants that would be spectacular when they all bloom at once.  For us we had the Live Oaks, the Palmettos, the ferns and the Spanish Moss.

A fabulous couple of days but it was time to head back to the hotel and get dressed for the "meet and greet" dinner with the tour group.  Tomorrow promised to be a busy and long day filled with everything we ever wanted to know about the barrier islands and the ecosystem that makes them possible.

While we enjoy a low country boil, listen to the whispers on your roads, they have a story to tell.