Fall in the Golden Isles of Georgia

After leaving Savannah, we began our trek down scenic Highway 17 to Brunswick, St. Simon's Island, Sea Island and Jekyll Island. The Golden Isles are barrier islands that can be found along the Georgia coast.

They're named the "golden isles" because of their vast marshes that turn a beautiful golden color in the fall. Most of them are especially dramatic when lit by the setting sun.

We caught several great photos one early evening while out on the Lady Jane “shrimpin” on a shrimp boat trawler. While cruising along,  passengers were treated to all the fresh shrimp one could eat (after the shrimp were boiled). 

As folks snacked on the shrimp, the nets on the boat were lowered. After about 15 minutes, the nets were raised to dump the catch. and a marine biologist identified all the organisms for us.

An amazing variety of sea life was put on a sorting table and folks got a surprisingly educational experience about all the sea life caught.

 While we were on the boat, they caught horseshoe, spider and blue crabs, flounder, stingrays, pufferfish, two beautiful sharks and, of course, shrimp. Best of all, we could touch a lot of the sea life if we dared. 


                                    Blue crabs?,,,  Yes indeed.

 The views were magnificent with lots of sea gull action off the stern of the boat.

Sunset at the end of Shrimpin' on the Lady Jane was grand.

Jekyell Island known as the heyday resort of the Millionaires Club between 1890-1947 is still a tranquil and serene spot today. Its historic village has the grand Jekyell Island Club Hotel, old cottage mansions of wealthy gentry families like J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller, Joseph Pulitzer, and Goodyear, and the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center.



On St. Simon’s Island we enjoyed a long walk on the beach, checked out Christ Church, and visited the ruins of what was Fort Frederica and its colonial village settlement-- an early-1700s British outpost built, mainly, to defend Savannah to the north from Spanish Florida in the south.



Tiffany stain glass window inside  Christ Church













Frederica Fort sits as tabby ruins today


Heading to the town of Historic St. Marys has wrapped up our last days in Georgia. It allowed the chance to board a ferry for the day trip to visit remote Cumberland Island. 
The largest of Georgia’s barrier islands, it was the one most filled with romance, history, and intrigue. Cumberland Island is a preserved national seashore which does not allow any vehicle traffic other than the National Park Service.

We spotted some of the 200 wild horses on Cumberland Island
 A six hour National Park Service tour of the island by van on unpaved roads for 17 miles became quite an adventure. It enabled us to learn about the wild horses, loggerhead sea turtles, wild turkeys, armadillos, sand dunes, maritime forests, and salt marshes there.
Plum Orchard stands as the former home of George and Margaret Carniege on the Island

The island's past tells a tantalizing story of the Timucuan Indians, the French, the Spanish, pirates, wars, steel magnates, cotton plantations, Dungeness ruins, and the Greyfield Inn. Her fame spread internationally when, in 1996, JFK, Jr. wed there in this tiny First African Baptist Church.
 She is an island of pristine sandy beaches and beautiful ancient oak canopies. There is a mystical sense of wonder and quiet splendor here which only visitors are able to carry away in their heart.

As we cross the Georgia-Florida border to Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach next, does that  define us officially as snowbirds? Well perhaps, at least through the month of November in Florida, until we take wing to fly home for the holidays and nest awhile.

From Trolleys to Foot Walks to Carriages in Old Savannah, Georgia

Savannah, seventeen miles up the Savannah River from the ocean, boasts a historic district arranged around twenty-two Spanish-moss-swathed garden squares surrounded by just about every architectural style of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Cast iron seemed to adorn itself everywhere on most of the buildings.


We started with an Old Town Trolley hop on, hop off narrated tour to orient ourselves to the city.



It didn’t take long to discover that Savannah's combination of colonial architecture and southern charm are one of many reasons which have made it such a popular destination. In more recent years, fans of the Savannah-based book and movie, "Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil," have flocked here to see the Bonaventure Cemetery.

Each of Savannah's 22 garden squares has a monument to honor a hero

Forsyth Fountain design was taken from one at the Crystal Palace in London

Others find the Green-Meldrim House above where General Sherman set up his headquarters on his “March to the Sea” in 1864 of interest off Madison Square.                                                   


                               JR spotted this celebrity around the corner taking a run. 

Oh my God,,, Guess who?

Hello, my name is Forrest Gump, Mame.

Christa shared some laughs with Forrest on the sidewalk

This is the only place in America selling Girl Scout cookies every day of the year.

Juliette "Daisy" Low House, founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA

Grand steeple churches such as the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist became good trolley hop off spot for photo opts.

 We found the best way to experience what Savannah had to offer is to stroll the city’s streets and soak in the beauty of the moss-draped squares and their monuments.

 The renovated Lucas Theater with its decorative plaster and gilded molding was extremely impressive. 

Both the City Market and cobbled waterfront on the Savannah River edged by towering old cotton warehouses have since become popular areas with gift shops, boutiques, galleries and restaurants.

Paula Deen, the famous southern cooking celebrity, originates from Savannah. Folks are seen lined up for a block trying to get seating at her restaurant

We opted to have lunch at Five Guys for cajun fries, burgers, and a bacon doggie instead of trying Paula Deen's Lady & Son joint's southern comfort foods (blackeye peas, chard,fried chicken,ham and grits,etc

Wormsloe Plantation 

Savannah’s Wormsloe Plantation had a gorgeous stone entry gate and spectacular main drive lined in large oak trees covered in Spanish moss. It provided a chance to admire the mile long stretch of live oaks used in the "run, Forrest, run" scene of Forrest Gump and work off some calories on the hiking trails.

For a paranormal experience, a ghost tour by horse carriage in the dark for some of Savannah’s haunted tales, became a strange, but fun sort of date night as we bid farewell to Old Savannah

Grace, Gentility, and Great Oaks in Charleston, South Carolina

Deep in the South amidst old plantations, swamplands with oaks draped in Spanish moss, rare birds, turtles, and alligators, there has been lots to discover and history galore being taken in here.

 Long before Charleston gave birth to the Civil War at Fort Sumter this coastal port city enjoyed wealth unprecedented in America. Charleston rice planters reigned as landed aristocrats, while its shipping merchants amassed fortunes from slaves, rice, and cotton.

Middleton Place rebuilt after Union troops destroyed it

Visiting several Charleston plantations has revealed each one to be very different from the others. Middleton Place is one of the oldest formal landscaped gardens in America which began in 1741. 

It took 100 slaves 10 years to complete its landscaped terraces. Huge magnolia trees and fourteen hundred year old live oaks abound everywhere. Taking a horse carriage ride through the woodland area provided a good overview of life as it once was on this rice plantation. 

 

Several alligators basking in the sun at the edge of a pond only10 feet away brought us some excitement.

JR captures a smile

White Ibis

Magnolia Plantation with its 500 acre-acre estate contained 60 acres of incredible gardens with 900 varieties of camellias and 250 types of azaleas and hundreds of other flowering species. The Drayton Family for twelve generations since 1676 have added to making its gardens and surroundings one of the most beautiful landscapes in the country. 

Magnolia Planation House
Its Audubon Swamp Garden that encompasses acres of black water cypress and tupelo swamp was accessible by boardwalks, bridges, and dikes.There were opportunities for viewing waterfowl, more alligators and other wildlife.

Boone Hall Plantation below was primarily an indigo and cotton plantation long ago. It also produced bricks and tiles The current mansion, built in 1915 to resemble an antebellum house, contains plantation made bricks as well as woodwork and flooring from an earlier house.

Boone Hall is a living working planation farm today

Slave quarters for domestics and skilled craftsmen working at Boone Hall slept 8-16 per cabin

 Seeing its slave quarters, pecan and oak trees draped in Spanish moss, wetlands, working produce farm, and hearing a Gullah storyteller talk about her culture was a great way to experience the plantation.

Fort Sumter, where the first shots in the Civil War rang out, meant taking a ferry in Charleston Harbor over to the island’s national historic site. The Fort reduced in size after the Confederate bombardment on April 12, 1861 never was rebuilt. It has a battery bunker built in WWII standing in the center today.

 

Fort Sumter  with Battery Huger which serves as a museum

Time spent strolling down Charleston’s colorful tree-lined historic district streets, alleys, and gardens on a self-guided walking tour revealed the architectural legacy of sixty-five buildings and their hidden stories. We caught a glimpse of the old City Market and one of the Slave Marts. Our feet tired out from so much walking, but it was a great way to get a feel for the pulse and heartbeat of the city.

Rainbow Row was renovated in colorful Caribbean colors from being a slum after the Civil War

Talking an hour carriage ride certainly became a much easier way to travel on another day. Charleston is a celebration of history, culture, and lowcountry charm. From watching Gullah folks weaving their sweet grass baskets to lunch tasting she crab soup, shrimp and grits, and key lime pie, it would be easy to continue on about this most unique and delightful city.

Oh, and let’s not forget the enduring appeal of those alligators either.

Anyone for alligator wrestling?